Gayest Episode Ever

Yes, we're wrapping up the podcast. Is it Heated Rivalry's fault? Kinda!

We had a really good go, but after a lot of conversations about this, we have decided that we will end Gayest Episode Ever with one last ten-episode season. The below episodes will be going live every other week (in the way new episodes have appeared in the feed in the las...

"A Night Alone Together: Usagi in Danger" (August 17, 1996)

In our fourth look at Sailor Moon, we're discussing the final season, which features the Sailor Stars. Canonically, they're female superheroes who magically become boys in order to remain in disguise, and as a result some Sailor Moon fans consider them to be trans-coded or metaphorically transgender. It's not really for us to say one way or another, but there's enough disc...

"Ellen's First Christmess" (December 17, 2001)

Yes, we're closing 2025 with a lump of coal rather than a sugarplum fairy. Believe it or not, Ellen Degeneres had a second sitcom between her first one and her reign as the iron-fisted queen of daytime. It's mostly lost in the shuffle today, but we're taking a look at her Christmas episode to point out how she chose to shut up about her sexuality this time around. Was it worth it? No.

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"The Artist" (December 19, 1987)

Over the years, we've shared a lot of laughs with the girls on the laini, but our journey with the four horniest seniors in the history of Miami has come to an end, as "The Artist" is the final gay episode of The Golden Girls that we have much to say about. It's a slight episode, in terms of gay rep, but it actually has a lot to say about the show and the way gay men relate to it, we'd rager.

Links ...

"More Like Skanksgiving" (November 20, 2012)

Here you have it: the one other gay-themed Thanksgiving episode of a sitcom. Three seasons in, this one reveals heretofore-unheard canon that the Happy Endings characters exist as they do solely as a result of MTV's The Real World — and that Max things he might have been the first gay person on TV. Meanwhile, no one is remarking how Jane's 2002 raver outfit is one of the more explicitly ...

 "The Ruptured Duck" (October 10, 1961)

On the surface, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis tells the story of a teen boy who falls in love with every girl except Zelda Gilroy, who pines for him hopelessly. All of this is complicated by the fact that the Sheila Keuhl, the actor who played Zelda was in real life a gay woman who ultimately lost out on getting her own spinoff because she didn't fit the idea for what a leading lady was in t...

"Werking Mom" (November 18, 2018)

Yes, The Simpsons did a drag episode, and you might be interested to know that the idea did not originate with "Hey, let's do one about RuPaul's Drag Race." In fact, co-writer Carolyn Omine provided some background info, including how the surprising success of drag queens in the Tupperware sales market ultimately resulted in both Marg and Homer donning drag, and we say this is a great example of ho...

"The Neighbors" (September 14, 1985)
"Victor / Vicki-toria" (February 14, 1987)
"The Bad Seed" (November 7, 1987)

Ignore whatever you might have heard about Small Wonder and focus instead on how the show spotlighted Vicki (a.k.a. V.I.C.I), a kid who was labeled as different just for acting the only way she knew. As a result of being defiantly resistant to social norms, Vicki has become iconic to all sorts ...

"Truth and Consequences" (September 29, 1997)

Though it didn't even get a chance to finish out its second season, Fired Up was one of the rare Must See TV sitcoms to feature two female leads. What's more, the recurring gay character, Shannon (played by Mark Davis), is unusual in that he's out, confident and going about his life in a way you just didn't see on other NBC shows of this era. What's even odder is that his traditionally ...

It may not be news to listeners of this podcast, but the Looney Tunes cartoons can be very gay. In celebration of the nearly 800 shorts being hosted on Tubi, Drew, Glen and returning guest Tony Rodriguez look at some of our favorites that also lend themselves to a queer reading. And no, it's not all Bugs Bunny in Drag. In fact, we probably didn't pick the drag moments you're expecting. But no worries: There is zero Tweety content i...

"Siskel & Ebert & Jay & Alice" (March 12, 1995)

Finally, we get around to discussing one of our more formative comedic experiences, and it's one shared more or less exclusively by elder millennials: The Critic, which somehow managed to be both more grown up and more juvenile than The Simpsons. In this episode, we discuss how the two seasons of this cult favorite repeatedly insinuated that the title character was gay, and how and ep...

"Honeymoon Hotel" (February 22, 1977)

You innocent TV Land watchers may not have suspected that there was anything queer about Laverne & Shirley, a show about two women who share an apartment and work at a brewery. Sure, they're boy crazy, but also there's this episode where they scam their way into a bridal suite and downtown Milwaukee's finest hotel. Here to help us unpack the sapphic undertone...

"Terry Unmarried" (February 20, 2011)

The second season of the Family Guy spinoff makes the surprising decision to have Terry, Cleveland's womanizing coworker buddy, come out as not straight. And while that's good, it's sort of weird how no one ever suggests that he might be bisexual. This retcon underscores problems with bi representation in media, but we're also going to talk about how during the four years it was on Fox, The Cle...

"A Kiss Is Still a Kiss" (December 3, 1987)

We're supporters of Shelley Long on this podcast, but in advocating for the Diane years of Cheers, we've overlooked the Rebecca years. As such, we're bringing Jonathan Bradley Welch back in to speak about what works well during the back half of the show. In a lot of ways, Kirstie Alley saved Cheers, but does what she became IRL affect how we should feel about her heyday? Well, it's...

"Handsome Ransom" (October 25, 2009)

Let's say this at the top: We are both fans in general of The Venture Bros, but this extremely homosocial show has a tendency to tiptoe up to being full-on gay and then laughing it all off as a joke. It's a product of its time, and even explicitly gay characters like The Alchemist and Shore Leave don't get their own episodes. So when it comes to picking one installment of the Adult Swim series t...

"The Throuple" (January 17, 2017)

We're back! Officially, but also now bimonthly — or biweekly, depending on how you want to look at it. And we are coming back in grand Canadian style by doing a show that Drew for years refused to do: Schitt's Creek! Because you asked! And asked and asked and asked! But have chosen not to do a Patrick epsiode for reasons that are well-known to loyal listeners.

And special thanks to Patreon supporte...