Suddenly Susan Meets a Gay
Explicit content warning
12/13/23 • 101 min
1 Listener
“A Boy Like That” (April 24, 1997)
Heads up: We briefly discuss suicide episode in discussing on of this show’s cast members. If you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts, the U.S. hotline to call is 988.
Well, it took us 214 episodes, but we finally arrived at Suddenly Susan. You might dismiss Brook Shields’ entry into the post-Friends landscape as an also-ran, and you are maybe right, but this first-season gay episode manages to give more depth and consideration to its one-off gay character than its fellow Must See TV alums did. That’s something. Plus Kathy Griffin is here.
Here’s the LA Times article cited in this piece, and here’s the Entertainment Weekly piece
Buy Josh Trujillo’s new book, Washington's Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron Von Steuben.
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 • 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.
“A Boy Like That” (April 24, 1997)
Heads up: We briefly discuss suicide episode in discussing on of this show’s cast members. If you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts, the U.S. hotline to call is 988.
Well, it took us 214 episodes, but we finally arrived at Suddenly Susan. You might dismiss Brook Shields’ entry into the post-Friends landscape as an also-ran, and you are maybe right, but this first-season gay episode manages to give more depth and consideration to its one-off gay character than its fellow Must See TV alums did. That’s something. Plus Kathy Griffin is here.
Here’s the LA Times article cited in this piece, and here’s the Entertainment Weekly piece
Buy Josh Trujillo’s new book, Washington's Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron Von Steuben.
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 • 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.
Previous Episode
A Queer History of SNL, Part Three: The “Not Ready for Prime Time” Era
Welcome to the first of our in-depth looks at LGBTQ humor in specific eras of Saturday Night Live. Of course, we’re starting at the beginning, in the classic era, and yeah, some of them are better than you’d guess and some of them are so much worse. It’s a real grab bag, but there are lessons to be learned about how SNL came to be what it is today and how American humor has evolved since 1975. Buy Josh Trujillo’s new book, Washington's Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron Von Steuben. Watch all the sketches featured in this episode here. Here are the sketches, in order:
- Jamitol (S1E1: George Carlin, Oct. 11 1975)
- Long Distance (S1E4: Candice Bergen, Nov. 8 1975)
- Latent Elf (S1E8: Candice Bergen, Dec. 20 1975)
- Household Hints (S1E16: Anthony Perkins, March 13, 1976)
- The Snake-Handling O’Sheas (S2E2: Norman Lear, Sep. 25, 1976)
- Monologue (S4E11: Cicely Tyson, Feb. 10, 1979)
- The Ex-Police (S4E11: Cicely Tyson, Feb. 10, 1979)
- Miles Cowperthwaite (S4E18: Michael Palin, May 12, 1979)
- Not for Transexuals Only (S4E20: Buck Henry, May 26, 1979)
- The Continuing Correspondences of Eleanor Roosevelt (S5E3: Bill Russell, Oct. 20 1979)
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 • 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.
Next Episode
Frank’s Place Makes Hanukkah Gay
A new episode on a Tuesday?! Well, the way our schedule ended up working out was that we are finishing the year with two Christmas episodes, and we figured it would be better to get those both out before the actual holiday, so you’re getting this today and then our second Christmas ep (and the last ep of 2023) on Friday. Enjoy, we hope!
“Season’s Greetings” (December 14, 1987)
Perhaps you haven’t heard of Frank’s Place. All the incentive you need for this episode is that Frank’s Place is that it won Emmys, it won critical praise, and it’s still remembered today as a showcase for a type of black American who wasn’t often depicted on the small screen. Despite all that, it only lasted a single season. Brian Cronin joins us to discuss perhaps the only sitcom episode to feature a Hanukkah dinner ruined by a coming out. And BTW, there is a twist ending we are still unsettled by.
Read Brian’s work at CBR but also at his website, Pop Culture References, which frequently dives deep into sitcom history.
Watch this Frank’s Place (and all episodes, if you want) at archive.org.
Read the LA Times piece we cite in this discussion here.
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 • 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.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/gayest-episode-ever-35560/suddenly-susan-meets-a-gay-39263864"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to suddenly susan meets a gay on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy