Gayest Episode Ever

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The Nanny Has Bad Gaydar Jun 22, 2022

Show notes

"A Fine Friendship" (February 6, 1995)

One hundred episodes later, we return to The Nanny to find out what happens when Fran Fine mistakes a straight guy for a gay guy. This episode essnetially works as an inverse to the first Nanny episode we covered, right down to Fran being horrified by a gay-seeming person being straight rather than delighted by a straight-seeming person being gay.

Watch Matt Baume's video on LGBTQ representation on The Nanny

Watch Fran Drescher's TikTok on why The Nanny had a gay sensibility

Read Brett White's column "'The Nanny' Is a Crucial Gay Text That Must Be Preserved and Celebrated"

Go shop at our TeePublic store! Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • 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.

NewsRadio Never Did a Gay Episode Jun 15, 2022

Show notes

"Halloween" (October 30, 1996)

Considering that every other major Must See TV sitcom did at least one gay episode, it's surprising that NewsRadio didn't — especially when you consider the fact that its lead actor, Dave Foley, jumped straight to NBC from Kids in the Hall, which experimented with gender and sexuality a lot more freely. This episode was as close as we could find to a real gay episode. And while it does feature Dave Foley donning drag once again, there's a lot more weird stuff going on, including Phil Hartman's character getting a premonition of his own death — about a year and a half before he'd die in real life. All this plus Andy Dick and Joe Rogan! Yeah, this is a weird episode!

Read:

Uproxx's oral history of NewsRadio

The interview where the NewsRadio creator compares Must See TV Thursdays to a "shit sandwich"

Watch:

Dave Foley in Anne of Avonlea

Listen:

American Hysteria, the podcast all about moral panics, urban legends and conspiracy theories — and how they shape culture.

The Science Versus episode on Joe Rogan

The Astonishing Legends episode on the alien autopsy video

Rosa Diaz Is Bi... And Brooklyn Nine-Nine Is Copaganda Jun 08, 2022

Show notes

"Game Night" (December 12, 2017)

Right off the top of the bat, we need to admit that yes, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a show about cops. There's no getting around that. We try our best to discuss how to weight its copaganda status against every other aspect of the show, and while we're not going to try to sell anyone on this show, we will say that dismissing it means skipping over one of the better episodes of a sitcom ever to address bisexuality head-on. Speaking of addressing bisexuality head-on, we're joined by Queer Quadrant co-host Brooke Solomon to discuss the Michael Schurverse, Eleanor Shellstrops on other shows and why Stephanie Beatriz is awesome.

Listen to Queer Quadrant

Follow Queer Quadrant on Twitter

Also listen to American Hysteria, a podcast all about moral panics, urban legends and conspiracy theories — and how they shape culture.

Watch the weird, Latina-free Quebecois remake of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Escouade 99.

Listen to Stephanie Beatriz's episode of Nicole Byer's Why Won't You Date Me?

Troy McClure Isn't Gay, But… Jun 01, 2022

Show notes

"A Fish Called Selma" (March 24, 1996) In this episode, The Simpsons send up the glass closets of Hollywood and what some actors are willing to do to pass for "normal." Troy McClure explicitly says he's not gay, but the way the industry treats him for not fitting the leading man mold and what he does to find success anyway parallels what a lot of gay stars have done and what some are still doing. Read:

Listen:

Talking Simpsons' take on A Fish Called Selma
The You Must Remember This episodes about American Gigolo and Body Double

Trailer 3.0 May 29, 2022

Show notes

It's just a new trailer, for promotional purposes. Please go about your day.

Janet from The Good Place Is a Nonbinary Icon May 25, 2022

Show notes

"Janet(s)" (December 6, 2018) Spoiler warning: We totally spoil The Good Place, so if you have not seen it and want to go in fresh, go do that! It seems weird that The Good Place was a show on a broadcast network at all, much less one that ran for four seasons and gave viewers so much to think about. Perhaps one of the more surprising aspects was D'Arcy Carden's Janet, who rose above "Busty Alexa" status to become one of the more interesting characters. Janet is not nonbinary, but as five-timer Emelie Bataglia points out, Janet can work as metaphor for the nonbinary experience. In fact, there's a lot thats nonbinary about The Good Place in general. Go shop at our TeePublic store! Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • 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. Articles read in preparation for this episode:

The 150th Episode Spectacular: Hot Takes May 18, 2022

Show notes

It's our 150th episode, and we've decided to celebrate this milestone with something different: a hot takes episode, where we share our pop culture hot takes and we also share hot takes submitted from our listeners. Disclaimer: we cannot guarantee that you will find all takes equally hot, nor can we guarantee that you will find this episode to be spectacular. We did not, in the end, have time to get to every hot take submitted by listeners, but we thank you for submitting anyway and hope to address them in a hot takes follow-up episode, should that be deemed worthwhile. And because we lifted this idea directly from a recent hot takes episode of the Guide to the Unknown podcast, here is that episode, which you may also like. Go shop at our TeePublic store! Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter

Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • 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.

Coach Meets a Gay Guy May 11, 2022

Show notes

"A Real Guy's Guy" (October 25,1991) Hear us out here: Coach is a good sitcom even if you don't like football. In fact, Drew likes Coach even though he actively despises football. This fourth-season episode has Craig T. Nelson's character reacting to news that one of his players is gay, and it's actually pretty flawless in terms of what a gay episode can be: a sympathetically written one-off queer character + a realistic model for how someone who isn't comfortable around LGBTers can admit this without taking it out on anyone else. In short, a total grand slam. Watch the opening sequence to Princesses. And check out Coach's Clare Carey playing a sexy robot alien woman on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show as a reminder of how weird this show actually was. Go shop at our TeePublic store!

Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter

Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn

Girlfriends Hosts a Lesbian Baby Shower May 04, 2022

Show notes

"And Baby Makes Four" (November 3, 2003)

Before she was the literal mom on Blackish, Tracee Ellis Ross was the glue holding the figurative family together for eight seasons on Girlfriends. Drew and Glen are joined by Jennifer Eden to discuss why Ross is maybe one of the better examples of showbiz royalty and why this episode of TV is unique in offering viewers two black queer women in a relationship (guest stars Dawnn Lewis and Samaria Graham). Also: William is THE WORST.

When they reunited for Blackish, the Girlfriends cast explained how their show ended the way it did.

BTW: Two more viewing suggestions beyond Girlfriends: the "Feminisn't" episode of Blackish featuring that reunion and the "There's Something About Dr. Mary" episode of Frasier.

Go shop at our TeePublic store!

Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter

Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn

Madame's Place Was TV's First Gay Puppet Sitcom Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

"#001" (September 20, 1982)

Look, Madame's Place wasn't a good sitcom, but it was the gayest puppet-focused sitcom and also a contender for one of the first gay sitcoms, on account of its draggy sensibility and the fact that the man behind Madame was one of the first openly gay entertainers. Drew and Glen discuss how weird this show is, including the fact that its antagonist is a TV executive who's literally missing a face and who can control the weather. All this plus dick jokes.

Read a 1985 L.A. Times interview with Wayland Flowers.

Decades before Joan Rivers, Faye Emerson might have been the first female late night talk show host — and also the first late night host of any gender identity.

Watch: Bea Arthur vs. Madame and Playboy's Roller Disco & Pajama Party.

Listen to the Round Springfield episode where Jeff Martin discusses naming Waylon Smithers after Wayland Flowers.

The anime Glen fails to name, BTW, is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Go shop at our TeePublic store!

Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE's Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter

Listen: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn