The Simpsons Does a Riff on Lesbian Cult Classic
Explicit content warning
02/14/24 • 103 min
1 Listener
“Lisa the Drama Queen” (January 25, 2009)
So here’s an interesting one. In its twentieth season, The Simpson did an episode inspired by Heavenly Creatures, the 1994 Peter Jackson movie that has Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey playing schoolgirls who flee into a fantasy world and also each other. More than a decade later, this story would play out again, only with Lisa Simpson and a new character voiced by Emily Blunt, and that might seem like a strange combo, especially because the Simpson version nixes the sex and violence of the original, but it nonetheless works.
Special thanks to the writer of this episode, Brian Kelley, for sharing his memories of how this episode came to be.
For a limited time, you can still screen Heavenly Creatures via the GEE Patreon, but that window is closing. Info here.
Listen to Drew on the In Retrospect podcast’s episodes about the “lesbian/Lebanese” joke (part one & part two)
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.
“Lisa the Drama Queen” (January 25, 2009)
So here’s an interesting one. In its twentieth season, The Simpson did an episode inspired by Heavenly Creatures, the 1994 Peter Jackson movie that has Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey playing schoolgirls who flee into a fantasy world and also each other. More than a decade later, this story would play out again, only with Lisa Simpson and a new character voiced by Emily Blunt, and that might seem like a strange combo, especially because the Simpson version nixes the sex and violence of the original, but it nonetheless works.
Special thanks to the writer of this episode, Brian Kelley, for sharing his memories of how this episode came to be.
For a limited time, you can still screen Heavenly Creatures via the GEE Patreon, but that window is closing. Info here.
Listen to Drew on the In Retrospect podcast’s episodes about the “lesbian/Lebanese” joke (part one & part two)
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
How Does a Conservative Sitcom Do a Gay Episode?
“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (November 29, 2011
Yes, Tim Allen’s follow-up to Home Improvement got branded as the most conservative sitcom on network TV, but is that fair? We’re honestly not sure, because the ninth episode of Last Man Standing’s first season features a gay couple. We’re mostly good with how this plays out, but we also think this show changed in its second season. We’re also skimming over the second-season episode “Bullying,” which ended up arguing that it’s okay to say “gay.” Key takeaway: Tim Allen may be less conservative than Kelsey Grammer.
Listen to our Home Improvement episode.
Remember a short-lived sitcom from Fox's early days? Tell us about it (there’s a thread on Patreon that’s open to even non-members), and we may cover it for our upcoming bonus miniseries, The Fox Files!
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
Gimme a Break Transformed Into a Lesbian Perfect Strangers
“Joey’s First Crush” (January 28, 1987)
Few other shows changed as much as Gimme a Break, which began as a fish-out-of-water sitcom that had Nell Carter playing mom to three white girls in California but ended up with Nell and her best friend, Telma Hopkins’ Addy, co-parenting two white boys in New York. Minus the kids, it’s basically a female-female twist on Perfect Strangers, only they don’t get steady boyfriends. Perhaps in an effort to make the show seem less gay, they tossed in a happily married character... who was played by newcomer Rosie O’Donnell. This episode, which is the second of Gimme a Break’s outings to feature actual gay characters, showcases a lot of how this show ended up pretty damn gay.
... Now that I think about it, maybe the only sitcom that changed as much over its run was Ellen — and that’s pretty notable, right?
Listen to our previous Gimme a Break episodes.
Learn all about Betty and Barney Hill in the Monday Afternoon Movie episode about 1975’s The UFO Incident.
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