Gayest Episode Ever

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I Dream of GEE-nnie Feb 09, 2022

Show notes

"Indispensable Jeannie" (November 25, 1968)

We're as surprised as anyone that we've found an episode of I Dream of Jeannie that we can cover on this podcast. All credit goes to Brett White, who's not only host of the Must Have Seen TV podcast but also the guy currently writing a book on the life of Hayden Rorke, who played Dr. Bellows on Jeannie but also was openly gay to the show's cast and crew — and who pulled some important strings in TV history. This episode is even more interesting when considered in the context of Rorke's life, but it does actually feature a real live gay joke.

Listen to Must Have Seen TV's I Dream of Jeannie episode with Jackie Cox

Yes, the Jeannie cartoon spinoff is online in all its Mark Hamill-inclusive glory

Beware The S From Hell

Follow Brett on Twitter and also give him money to write his book about Hayden Rorke

Also follow his husband Sebastian Dekken on Twitter and buy his book on the music of Final Fantasy VI

Listen to the episode of Sam Pancake Presents the Monday Afternoon Movie about the Barbara Eden movie The Stranger Within, in which Sam followed up having Drew and Glen as guests with founding SNL star Laraine Newman, making us look like real chumps

Purchase the first issue of Drew and Glen's new comic anthology, Beyond Sunset

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: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • 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.

Happy Endings Explores Gay Subcultures Feb 02, 2022

Show notes

"Ordinary Extraordinary Love" (January 8, 2013) Bears, twinks, otters, wolves, panthers, yetis and bunniculas. The breadth of subcultures that gay life offers is both wide and weird — and a subject rarely approached by mainstream sitcoms. However, Happy Endings brought this to broadcast in the mid-2010s, all centered around the uncategorizable Max. The content warning that wasn't: In the original intro clip, Max references a trans slur that, if we're being responsible, would have gotten a warning. It's a garbage joke. I cut it from our episode, and it could be removed so cleanly that 1) you won't notice it being gone and 2) you have to realize how unnecessary it was in the first place. Should you watch the Happy Endings episode, be forewarned that it does feature this pointless joke. See the framed otter photo that Drew thinks looks like Glen here.

Read After Elton's piece on Happy Endings opting out of a same-sex kiss in its first season

Read the NY Magazine piece on Happy Endings

Purchase the first issue of Drew and Glen's comic anthology, Beyond Sunset.

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: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • 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!

Rose Nylund vs. the Stigma of AIDS Jan 26, 2022

Show notes

"72 Hours" (February 17, 1990) We figured the only proper way to start this season would be to say goodbye to Betty White — and a great way to do that would be to discuss a Golden Girls episode where Rose takes an HIV test. Not only does it showcase a wider range of Betty's acting chops, but it's also a great kickoff to a new sort of episode we'll be covering on GEE in the future: very special episodes about HIV and AIDS. Even if there are no LGBT characters in this episode, the subject matter hit home for the community — and the fact that so many AIDS/HIV episodes revolved around the heterosexual experience of the disease is itself very telling. Goodbye, Betty. You will be missed. Read NPR's piece "What The Golden Girls Taught Us About AIDS" "Why Was HIV/AIDS Never Discussed on Will & Grace?" The episode of Date With the Angels we discuss is "Brown Derby" — worthwhile watching for diehard Betty White completionists The pilot to the Alfred Molina series Ladies Man, with a stacked female cast that included Betty, is also on YouTube Listen to our previous AIDS episode, "Julia Sugarbaker Plans a Gay Funeral" Listen to our previous Golden Girls episodes:

Purchase the first issue of Drew and Glen's comic anthology, Beyond Sunset. 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: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • 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.

The Cartoons That Made Us Gay: Jem & The Holograms Jan 10, 2022

Show notes

"The Bands Break Up" (September 28, 1987)

We're not *quite* ready yet to swing into regular production, so we're tossing up an episode of our Patreon-only bonus podcast, The Cartoons That Made Us Gay, onto the main feed. It's the Jem and the Holograms episode that is titled "The Bands Break Up" but would me more accurately titled "Kimber and Stormer Are Gay Lesbians Making Beautiful Queer Music Together." Intentionally gay or not, it is hard to dismiss these girls' relationship as just platonic, to the point that we don't have to work hard at all to find the queer elements — especially in a show that already offers a lot for LGBT viewers. Showtime, Synergy!

And if you like this episode, you might also like the newest episode of Cartoons That Made Us Gay, which is all about Sailor Moon. You can listen right now on Patreon by pledging just $1 a month. And we're not charging you all for the next month to account for the lighter content output.

Show notes:

Watch a featurette on Jem's speaking voice singing the main theme for the anime Project A-ko.

Read the L.A. Times story on Barbie's victory over Jem.

Read all about Bill Sanders, creator of Jem and (we're guessing) a gay person.

Queer readings of kids shows, previously:

He-Man with special guest Henry Gilbert
Fraggle Rock with special guest Matt Baume
Dungeons & Dragons
Dinosaurs
80s Cartoons with special guest Ted Biaselli
Batman: the Animated Series episode "Harley and Ivy"

The logo for The Cartoons That Made Us Gay was designed by Jeff Hinchee. This is a TableCakes podcast.

It's a Will & Grace Christmas! Dec 22, 2021

Show notes

"A Little Christmas Queer" (December 8, 2005) Lest you be tempted to believe that Christmas miracles aren't real, we finally found an episode of Will & Grace that Drew doesn't hate. This one, from the final season of the show's original broadcast run, focuses on Will and company spending Christmas with his family and the problems posed by the fact that Will's nephew seems so very gay. It's actually a more nuanced look at the difficulties of being gay and leaving your life to spend the holiday with your (presumably straight) family. It doesn't suck! Not even the Grace storyline!

Mental Floss has an article detailing Kellogg's Cornflakes and their origin as an effort to get people to masturbate less.

And Daily Beast has a piece on William Faulkner's long-term love affair with binge drinking.

Listen to the Monday Afternoon Move episode about The UFO Incident with Scott Philbrook.

Listen to the Smart Mouth episode titled "Why Are U.S. School Lunches Like This?"

Listen to the Singing Mountain episode titled "My Save Point Is a Hot Shower."

Buy the first issue of Drew and Glen's new comic anthology, Beyond Sunset.

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: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • 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.

Totally Trans Talks All in the Family and Beverly LaSalle Dec 21, 2021

Show notes

Special presentation! The Totally Trans podcast is covering the All in the Family character of Beverly LaSalle in a three part series this week because it marks a pairing of trans representation on a sitcom with the Christmas season. In an effort to promote this in-depth look at All in the Family, we're posting the first part on our feed. Have a listen — and then subscribe to Totally Trans to hear parts two and three as well as everything Ada-Rhodes, Henry and Katie will be discussing in 2022. Subscribe on…

Also follow Totally Trans on Twitter support them on Patreon!

Out of This World Does a Gender Swap Episode Dec 15, 2021

Show notes

"Evie Stevie" (December 16, 1989) Whether you remember it as the show with the talking geodesic dad cube or the one with the girl who could freeze time, Out of This World has been relegated to the further reaches of 80s nostalgia. You might even believe some naysayers that it wasn't a good show; however, it was exactly as good of a show as you could hope for about a half-alien teen girl whose supernatural powers cause wacky, zany hijinx. It's not Norman Lear, but you know what? Neither were ALF, I Dream of Jeannie or Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Watch the episode we're talking about here (PW: garland)

And here's the weird clip Drew mentions about the episode with the twins who materialize to sing about bad breath.

If you want to see what David Lynch TV looks like minus the macabre, watch this clip of On the Air.

Finally, here is the Lincoln Center performance of Twelfth Night starring Helen Hunt.

Buy the first issue of Drew and Glen's new comic anthology, Beyond Sunset.

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: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn

This is a TableCakes podcast.

Mad About You Hijacks a Coming Out Storyline Dec 08, 2021

Show notes

"Ovulation Day" (January 7, 1996) Mad About You was one of NBC's major sitcoms in the 90s, but it hasn't left a legacy the way many of its Must See TV mates have. We talk about why in this episode, which is actually the part one of a two-part crossover with the queer film podcast A Piece of Pie, where we're also discussing Helen Hunt's Oscar-winning turn in 1997's As Good as It Gets.

Listen to Drew and Glen guest on A Piece of Pie's discussing of As Good as It Gets here.

Subscribe to A Piece of Pie on Apple Podcasts and follow them on Twitter.

Read the New York Times' write-up on the history of the show.

Read the Vulture piece on how Mad About You defied categorization.

Watch Helen Hunt do PCP and then jump through a plate glass window in the after school special Desperate Lives (which is actually not the angel dust movie, which is called Angel Dusted and which is also entertaining).

Buy the first issue of Drew and Glen's new comic anthology, Beyond Sunset.

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: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • 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.

Empty Nest Uses the F-Slur Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

"Single White Male" (January 7, 1995) Even if you were the kind of person who watched all of NBC's Saturday night sitcoms back in the day, the following things may surprise you:

1) Empty Nest is a solid sitcom.

2) Empty Nest was a strong ratings performer that often beat the show it spun off from, The Golden Girls.

3) Empty Nest was still on in 1995.

4) When it uses the "f"-slur, it actually uses it appropriately — to mark someone as being heinously gauche.

Watch the interview where Rita Moreno talks about hating the filming of the backdoor pilot to Empty Nest.

Read the Slate article about how Drew's tweet inspired an SNL sketch.

Also read the Slate article about the history of the effeminate wrist.

Buy the first issue of Drew and Glen's new comic anthology, Beyond Sunset.

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: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn

This is a TableCakes podcast.

Bob Belcher Is Bi Nov 24, 2021

Show notes

"Turkey in a Can" (November 24, 2013) Why did the fourth-season Thanksgiving episode of Bob's Burgers make some people think Bob Belcher is bisexual? In short, it's a single line — "I'm mostly straight" — but the real answer is a more complicated one that has to do with the show's queer sensibility, its overall gentle nature and the fact that Bob is a TV patriarch who operates differently than Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin. Who's the real sloppy bear?

Read the Mary Sue's piece on Bob Belcher being a bi icon, which is probably the best-written argument in favor of this.

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: iTunes • Spotify • Stitcher • Google Play • Google Podcasts • Himalaya • TuneIn

This is a TableCakes podcast.

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