Gayest Episode Ever

“Can’t Help Loving That Man” (October 20, 1991) Looking at the various 90s-era Fox shows that focused on black characters, Roc was the one with the reputation for tackling social issues with the most gravitas. Early in the show’s run, Richard Roundtree — Shaft himself! — guested as the title character’s uncle, who comes bearing the news that 1) he’s gay; 2) he’s getting married; and 3) his beloved is a white man. To discuss the various layers of this Roc episode, Drew and Glen are joined by University of Iowa professor Dr. Alfred L. Martin Jr., whose field of study includes a focus on the depiction of gay black men on sitcoms. Alfred’s forthcoming book is titled The Generic Closet: Black Gayness and the Black-Cast Sitcom. Yes, we would love to interview him when his book comes out. Read more about Alfred’s work on his faculty page. We mention the episode of Golden Girls that was recently pulled from Hulu for its alleged use of blackface, and Alfred mentions the larger racist implications of that episode that

Content warning: In this episode we talk about sexual assault. “For Every Man, There's Two Women” (July 20, 1985) This week, we’re not talking about an explicitly LGBT-focused episode of TV. No, we’re talking about the episode of Too Close for Comfort in which a male character, Monroe, is sexually assaulted by two women. No, really. Jim J. Bullock, the actor playing that character, is gay in real life, and because Monroe is coded as queer as well, this episode serves as a bizarre example of not just how a sitcom can handle a sensitive topic but also how some actors’ offscreen sexuality can color the way their performance is received and even how their characters get written. Jeffrey McCrann joins Drew and Glen to try and make sense of this strange, strange bit of TV history. RAINN is an online organization that offers both information about sexual assault and counseling. You can chat live with a counselor here. Have a listen to the episode of the Drew-Tony podcast You Have to Watch the Movie that Jeffrey gu

“Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying to Murder Her” (November 5, 1951) Can we do a whole 52-minute episode that is essentially about one single joke? Hell yes we can. The fourth episode of I Love Lucy sure seems like it might feature the first gay joke in the history of sitcoms. And although we are open to arguments otherwise, it’s nonetheless interesting to think that the show that wouldn’t allow its married leads to share a bed onscreen would slip even a small gay joke past the network censors. Visit our new Tee Public store and plaster your body and household with the Gayest Episode Ever logo. The Boy Culture blog’s excellent timeline of LGBT milestones on TV. The 1980 People magazine interview where Lucy says she’s down with the gays. The Washington Blade article on Lucy Ricardo’s appeal to gay men. A compilation of Frank “That Guy Who Says Yes” Nelson saying yes. And if you want to listen to us debate whether the Dick Van Dyke Show ever made a semen joke, listen to that episode here. Buy Glen’s movie, Being

GEE TV is a weird little art project that Drew felt compelled to do. It’s six 80s-era NBC sitcoms in a three-hour block, complete with of-the-era commercials. In order: Silver Spoons, The Facts of Life, Gimme a Break, 227, Empty Nest and Night Court. Hit the audio to hear Drew explain it all to Glen, who’s being a good sport about this. Watch the video here. And it’s on Vimeo here. Episodes, in order: Silver Spoons, “Me & Mr. T” (October 16, 1982) The Facts of Life, “Cousin Geri Returns” (December 30, 1981) Gimme a Break, “Nell’s Friend” (December 1, 1983) 227, “Toyland” (February 14, 1987) Empty Nest, “Rambo of Neiman Marcus” (November 11, 1989) Night Court, “Dad’s First Date” (October 17, 1985) If you dig this, check out Drew’s other weird video art. There’s All the Colors of the Night, which is horror movies set to 80s music, and there’s VHSmas, which is all 80s Christmas magic. It’s all up at Phanto Films. Buy Glen’s movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitte

“Les on a Ledge” (October 2, 1978) For reasons we can’t imagine, WKRP in Cincinnati decided its third episode should feature a trans-themed B plot alongside an A plot about one of the characters contemplating suicide because people think he’s gay. It’s a lot. And while that plot synopsis might seem like a recipe for disaster, this one is funnier and more progressive than you might expect. Don’t get us wrong: It does things that today’s audiences will probably roll their eyes at and might even shake their head at. But among these are some things that might surprise you in a good way. Visit our new Tee Public store and plaster your body and household with the Gayest Episode Ever logo. Listen to Drew on this week's Talking Simpsons. Hell, listen to his previous Talking Simpsons while you’re at it. This L.A. Times article on The New WKRP in Cincinnati explains how the original series became so successful in syndication. Is “Bruce” a homosexual name? Stan Lee says yes. Listen to “Once I Had a Love,” Blondie’s o

“Surro-Gate” (December 7, 2007) Okay, hear us out. Some of you may be surprised that we’re doing American Dad or that Glen and Drew are both fans of it. We put forward the case that it’s a different sort of show than Family Guy is. This episode follows a previous gay-themed installment, and it demonstrates how bringing a homophobe around to respecting queer people as equals isn’t a one-and-done thing; it’s a continual process, and lots of people who think they’re tolerant need to realize when their tolerance has limits. Buy Glen’s movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast. This episode’s outro theme is “America” by Baby’s Gang (Apple Music / Spotify / Amazon Music)

“Sperm ‘n’ Herman” (September 20, 1992) At long last, we’re finally talking about the series that you’ve been dying to hear about… if your name is Drew or Glen. Yeah, we both have memories of liking Herman’s Head. And while its one gay episode does some things right and some things wrong, it’s the first sitcom we’ve discussed that tackles the complicated issue of being queer and also being a parent. It also allows us to talk about all the crazy stuff happening on Fox back in the early 90s. The Junger-Witt font, BTW, is Clarendon Bold. Here is Lisa Simpson’s Herman’s Head moment. And here is a second possible Herman’s Head moment. And listen to Small Town Dicks if you want to hear Yeardley Smith talk about heinous crime in rural America. Also Listen to Happy History, the new TableCakes podcast that Drew produced, if you want to hear not-Lisa Simpson talk about not-true crime. Check out the work of Norn Cutson, the talented artist who contributed some original art to a forthcoming GEE merch project. Thanks, Nor

“The Gay Bar” (December 3, 1977) And then there’s Maude — for a second time! In this final-season installment, Maude battles Arthur (Conrad Bain) over his opposition to a gay bar that’s just opened up in town. It’s basically Arthur having conversation after conversation in which other character break apart his justifications for homophobia. But funny! Listen to Happy History, the new podcast Drew produced. Check out the work of Norn, the talented artist who contributed some original art to a forthcoming GEE merch project. Thanks, Norn! If you want the backstory about how Maude came to be, listen to our previous episode about it. And if you want to find out about the strange way Maude ended, listen to our Night Court episode, in which Drew apparently ended up talking about it. No, he doesn’t remember why either. Back in the early days, SNL was brutal to Anita Bryant in a way it’s not really capable of anymore. Also here is a song she never had any business singing. “Inuyasha!” “Kagome!” “Inuyasha!” “Kagome!

“Unidentified Funk” (December 10, 2008) and “Happy Endings (December 17, 2008) The New Adventures of Old Christine may not rank among the sitcom heavyweights, but hey — if it’s good enough for TV Land, it’s good enough for us. In 2008, this CBS series managed to skewer homophonic-leaning companies like Chick-fil-A with an episode won an award from GLAAD. Airing immediately post-Prop 8, the episode features not only a newly out Wanda Sykes but also Megan Mullally playing against type. And while this is all great, the next episode — the latter of a “to be continued” two-parter — manages some transphobia that squeaked by in 2008 but doesn’t in 2020. It’s an interesting combo. Buy a bag of Nat’s Quarantine Blend of coffee at Lucky Coffee Co. Glen was right: there really is a weird connection between Hobby Lobby and ancient Iraqi artifacts. Buy Glen’s movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podc

Do you ever feel like some songs have too many words? Well, good news: instrumental music eliminates that very problem! In this episode, Drew and Glen each list off five sitcom theme songs that they think are good despite their glaring lack of lyrics. Spoiler: many of them actually do have lyrics, it turns out. But still! If you like this episode, you may also like Singing Mountain, Drew’s other podcast, which works a lot like this but with video game music. There’s even an episode with Glen! Watch Fatal Farm’s alternate intros for Doogie Howser, M.D. and Dynasty. Hamburger Penis as Alexis! Yes, Dick Van Dyke really was rescued by porpoises. Here’s the Tiny Toons parody of The Dick Van Dyke Show opening. Because it never hurts to point it out, the number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1 (800) 723-8255. There's also an online chat option. Here is the “Suicide Is Painless” scene from the movie version of M*A*S*H. And here is the interview with Johnny Mandel about the creation of the song. Is it

If you listen to this podcast, you’ve probably noticed that Scooby-Doo’s resident brainiac, Velma Dinkley, can read as a little queer. It’s all subtext and implication, really, but what if we told you there is a canonical connection between Velma and lesbian pop culture? Listen as we unmask her, in true Scooby-Doo style, to reveal that Velma is actually Zelda Gilroy, a character on the 1960s teen sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis — and Zelda, in turn, is Sheila Keuhl, all-around badass, a queer trailblazer in California politics and someone who’s still serving Angelenos today. Check out the Tom of Finland Foundation, the world’s largest repository of erotic art. The foundation is planning events worldwide for Tom’s 100th birthday, and see which events you can check out digitally here. And read Drew’s article about the foundation. Link is actually SFW! Listen to Not Alone, the paranormal podcast that Drew thinks reminds him of himself and Glen, just with more ghosts. Ride the Great Space Coaster. “Sounds

“My Own Private Rodeo” (April 28, 2002) Hank finds Dale’s long-estranged father at a gay rodeo, and we’ve gotta say: for a conservative guy, Hank takes this news rather well. In our second King of the Hill episode, we’re happy to find that the show once again hits that sweet spot between red and blue, progressive and conservative, goofy and bittersweet. BTW, the four season 13 episodes that only aired in syndication are “The Honeymooners,” “Bill Gathers Moss,” “When Joseph Met Lori, and Made Out with Her in the Janitor's Closet” and “Just Another Manic Kahn-Day.” Watch them on Hulu! Buy a bag of Nat’s Quarantine Blend of coffee at Lucky Coffee Co. Click here to listen to our previous King of the Hill episode, “Peggy Hill Meets a Drag Queen.” And here is the What a Cartoon episode about “Peggy’s Headache.” Read the Gothamist article about how “Y.C.M.A.” became a crossover hit. Buy Glen’s movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spot

“The Blizzard” (December 6, 1984) Night Court aired on the same Thursday night block that included The Cosby Show, Family Ties and Cheers. And while Night Court never received as much prestige as the other three did, it ran for nine seasons, it landed joke after joke and it demonstrated a better understanding of its characters than most sitcoms do. In its second season, it pit its prissy, debatably gay-seeming character, played by John Larroquette, against an actual homosexual in a way that’s funny but also shows that the show could go deeper than zany. We approve. Buy Glen’s movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher •Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast. This episode’s outro track is “In the Night” by Daydream.

“Discovery” (October 30, 1975) Somehow, Barney Miller managed to make comedy in gritty, 1970s-era New York City, and it managed to address the rampant crime of the day even though the action never left the precinct office. In this episode, a man has to overcome his fear of homophobic police officers in order to report that he was harassed, threatened and extorted because he was gay — yet it’s still funny. Because it never hurts to point it out, the number for the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1 (800) 723-8255. There's also an online chat option. Buy Glen’s movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast. This episode’s outro track is “Konya wa Hurricane” by Kinuko Ohmori.

“The Apartment” (November 9, 1979) And now for something slightly different. Katherine Spiers, TableCakes CEO and our first-ever heterosexual guest, joins Drew and Glen to talk about the British sitcom Are You Being Served? and in particular its resident homo Mr. Humphries. It’s also our first remote guest, because this was recorded during pandemic times, so please forgive the fact that this outing has less-than-optimal sound quality. We will do better next time. If you can hang with Zoom-level audio, there’s some interesting talk about how sitcoms play out across the pond. Shop at Smellbent, a queer-owned, L.A.-based cologne house. Listen to the game show episode that Katherine also guested on. Listen to Katherine’s food podcast, Smart Mouth, and in particular the soda series that Drew guested on. Watch the pilot for Beane’s of Boston, the attempted American remake of Are You Being Served?, which stars Charlotte Rea as Mrs. Slocombe. And regardless of what Katherine says, watch Smack the Pony — the dating ag

“As the Will Turns” (April 10, 1995) This is as close to a gay episode as Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ever got. And while it’s not necessarily the funniest piece of TV ever, it makes for a hell of a discussion of Will Smith’s personal life. This episode has some weird parallels with actual events in Will Smith, real-life actor. We’d say it’s unprecedented for a rapper-turned-actor to seemingly confront rumors about their sexuality in a network sitcom, but it plays out remarkably similar to the Living Single with the Queen Latifah parallels we did last season. Special thanks to patron Erin Hardy for recommending this episode! Shop at Smellbent, a queer-owned, L.A.-based cologne house. Listen to our Living Single episode, which has some remarkable parallels with this one. Why Aunt Viv No. 1 left the show, per this Bustle article.  Buy Glen’s movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts

“Oy Vey, You’re Gay” (October 23, 1995) With her over-the-top outfits and bigger-than-life persona, Fran Drescher has a certain queer appeal. In fact, more than a few little boys probably turned a love of Fran Drescher and Fran Fine into a love of drag. However, the show didn’t necessarily mine its Broadway theater milieu for a ton of gay storylines. In its third season, it did give us Catherine Oxenberg as a potential rival for Mr. Sheffield’s affections, were it not for a plot point that’s given away in the episode title. We mention the Monday Afternoon Movie episode about the Wes Craven film Summer of Fear, which stars Fran Drescher. Listen to that episode here. Buy Glen’s movie, Being Frank. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilso

Happy Friday! Or maybe just tolerable Friday. Since everything sucks, we decided to give you an extra episode this week: a Patreon exclusive that we decided the general audience might want to listen to in case you’re needing extra entertainment. We’re still giving you a regular episode this next coming Wednesday, but meanwhile please enjoy this.  America or burst! For most of us ’80s babies, Perfect Strangers is a quintessential sitcom of the era — it looked ’80s, it had a perfect ’80s opening theme, and like so many situation comedies aimed at families, it was maybe not the most ambitious show in terms of jokes and plots. However, there’s also a lot there that reads as a little gay. In fact, Drew and Glen even dream up various ways a reboot could double-down on this queer element. Listen to the two “lost” episodes that SoundCloud took offline but which are live again since we migrated to Libsyn: Everyone Loves Raymond’s Possibly Gay Brother and Rebecca Howe Suffers From Gay Blindness. Suck it, SoundCloud! Su

It's a GEE Q&A! Following the Golden Girls table read, we decided to take a week off, and it turns out we needed one more before we jump into the cycle of actual “episode” episodes. So in lieu of that, Drew and Glen answer a bunch of questions we've been sent by listeners over the past two years. We swear it’s actually content! Call us and leave a message on the TableCakes Hotline at (209) 566-CAKE. No, really. Listen to the two “lost” episodes that SoundCloud took offline but which are live again since we migrated to Libsyn: Everyone Loves Raymond’s Possibly Gay Brother and Rebecca Howe Suffers From Gay Blindness. Suck it, SoundCloud! Buy Glen’s movie, Being Frank. It’s not exactly a Spotify playlist of all the GEE outro tracks, but if you want to spend some time in that general territory, this might do the trick. Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn • SoundCloud And yes, w

“Vince Meat” (February 22, 2020) Have you seen that one Golden Girls where Blanche accidentally sexes a man to death and the girls have to hide the body? Well, your answer should be no, because that episode didn’t air back in the day. It's a script written by our own Glen Lakin and then, for the purposes of this episode, read by a host of our actor friends. It’s fucked-up and funny, and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate our fiftieth episode. Cast: Dorothy: Meghan Parks Rose: Tony Rodriguez Blanche: Sam Pancake Sophia: Ted Biaselli Violet: Janie Haddad Tompkins This episode was produced by Meika Grimm Special thanks to Michael Iemma and Blaine Amidon! Support us on Patreon! Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn  And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This is a TableCakes podcast.