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Back in the day, a major sitcom doing a gay episode was a big deal. A proper gay episode would get headlines, but it would get the attention of two young guys who were still figuring things out — sexuality-wise and culture-wise. Gayest Episode Ever has screenwriter Glen Lakin and stay-at-home journalist Drew Mackie going through the great and not-so-great gay episodes of sitcoms past.
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How I Met Your Mother Meets a Gay Brother
"Single Stamina" (November 27, 2006)
Now that HIMYM has been off the air for a full decade, it’s worth considering how this show holds up better than most from the early 2000s did. Not only did it give us Robin Sparkles, it just might be the only TV show to compare equally well to both Friends and Lost, as improbable as that sounds. This episode has Wayne Brady playing a gay character in a bit of stunt casting that worked a lot better before he came out, but it also just might be the thing that convinced Neil Patrick Harris to finally come out as well.
Listen to the newest episode of Cartoons That Made Us Gay, all about Conan: The Adventurer and the inherent gayness of the “barbarian” genre in general.
Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE’s Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter
Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn
And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode’s art was designed by Ian O’Phelan.
This is a TableCakes podcast. -
Cartoons That Made Us Gay: Conan the Adventurer
Heads up: This episode has a brief discussion of suicide, but I will tell you where to skip ahead if you don’t want to hear about it.
The first live-action Conan movie is a spectacle of blood and beefcake. The sequel, however, eschews violence in favor of something more kid-friendly, which makes sense on paper until you stop and notice that Arnold Schwarzenegger is wearing a loincloth the whole time. Is it strange to insert a Physique Pictorial aesthetic into children’s entertainment? Regardless of if is, that’s very much what this 1992 cartoon adaptation of Conan did — and in this particular episode, Conan and his daddybear viking buddy join a pirate crew where shirts are not allowed.
Per Mattel, He-Man was not a reworking of Conan the Barbarian toys, but Wheeljack’s Lab lays out all the info: https://wheeljackslab.com/blog/the-he-man-and-conan-connection-exploring-the-myths-and-reality/
Glen’s posting of the gayest moment in this episode: https://twitter.com/iwritewrongs/status/1796585908822843473
Drew’s posting of the official arcade flyer for the Capcom game Black Tiger, which features a prominent barbarian butt: https://elcomfortador.tumblr.com/post/751967647231524864/elcomfortador-i-remember-playing-this-capcom
Enrique Dueñas’ interview with Christy Marx: https://www.enriqueautor.com/post/christy-marx-interview
Christy Marx’s tribute to the writer of this episode, Katherine Lawrence: https://christymarx.com/kath/tributes.htm -
What’s Gay About Jeopardy(!)?
What if we broke format to discuss America’s favorite smartypants game show? Well, we did it. And special guest Emily Heller joins us to discuss Amy Schneider, who became Jeopardy’s second-longest-running winner ever — and as a result became a household name and a trans icon.
Listen to Emily’s Jeopardy podcast, What Is…? A Jeopardy! Podcast on Apple or Spotify!
Listen to Peaches Christ and also Drew on Matt Baume’s new My So-Called Life podcast!
Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE’s Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter
Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn
And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode’s art was designed by Ian O’Phelan.
This is a TableCakes podcast. -
Amen’s Closeted Sitcom Star Smackdown
“The Courtship of Bess Richards” (October 4, 1986)
The second episode of Amen concerns Sherman Hemsley’s Ernie trying to land his choir a new singer in Nell Carter’s Bess, and the result is a comedy of errors in which both he and she perform romantic interest that neither is capable of actually feeling. The result is a WWF-style wrestling match between these two iconic sitcom stars, and we’re joined once again by Dr. Alfred L. Martin to discuss how this is rendered all the stranger because Hemsley and Carter both were closeted and therefore all too accustomed to acting out hetero identities different from how they lived privately.
This episode mentions a TV Guide article about Sherman Hemsley’s private life that I now cannot find online. However, I bought the issue on eBay and will post as soon as it arrives. You can see Zach Wilson’s posting of it on Twitter. Thanks, Zach!
Buy Dr. Alfred’s book, The Generic Closet: Black Gayness and the Black-Cast Sitcom.
Listen to Hemsley in the performance of Purlie that Alfred mentions.
Watch a clip of Hemsley’s gay villain turn in 2000’s Screwed.
Listen to Dr. Alfred’s previous episodes:
Roc Has a Gay Uncle Moesha Meets a Gay Guy Sanford Arms Meets a Gay — And He’s Black! -
Mary and Phyllis Date a Possible Homosexual
“Menage a Phyllis” (November 2, 1974)
In the third-season episode “My Brother’s Keeper,” Rhoda famously said the word “gay,” turning a plot about her association with Phyllis’ brother on its head. Two seasons later, Phyllis shows up in another episode that discusses gay issues but weirdly doesn’t say that word. Regardless, there’s perhaps more to be made of the newsroom’s opinions about what codes as gay, and Dan Steadman returns to discuss this and what we’ll call the “Murray Slaughter problem.”
Read Dead Buckley’s 2018 piece “Queer Coding on the Mary Tyler Moore Show”
Episodes referenced:
Dan’s previous episode, “Mike Seaver Actually Said the Word ‘Gay’” Our previous Mary Tyler Moore episode, “Mary and Rhoda Meet a Homo” Our episode “Phyllis Dates a Homo” Our episode “The Dream On Guy Has a Gay Dad” -
Facts of Life Does a Covert Gay Episode With Cousin Geri
“Cousin Geri” (December 24, 1980)
Fun game for listeners: Take a shot every time Drew mentions the phrase “gigantic bitch” in connection with Lisa Welchel’s Blair, who is in rare form this episode as she shuns her disabled cousin Geri for reasons that aren’t the ones you’re probably assuming. In this discussion, we bring up why Geri Jewell is a trailblazer as far as being queer and also one other thing and also why “actress recurring on Deadwood” is lowkey code for lesbian.
Erin Fletcher, we want you back for that Saved by the Bell episode.
Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE’s Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter
Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn
And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode’s art was designed by Ian O’Phelan.
This is a TableCakes podcast.