A Queer History of SNL, Part One
Added 2023-09-21 02:04:29 +0000 UTCWelcome to a new season of Gayest Episode Ever. It will be a Saturday Night Live-centric season, in which we will be doing periodic deep dives into the LGBTQ-focused sketches that ran on the show during its various eras.
To kick it off (and to kick off the new season), we are starting with a two-part look at the various queer-adjacent recurring sketches from SNL. This first episode covers the launch of the show until the mid-90s, and next week’s episode will get us through the current era. Enjoy? Maybe? It’s a lot to take in, honestly, but we swear it’s worth discussion.
Here are this episode’s sketches:
- Anita Bryant (s5e16 — Burt Reynolds, April 12, 1980)
- Dion (s9e8 — Flip Wilson, December 10, 1983)
- Nancy Reagan (s11e2 — John Lithgow, November 16, 1985)
- Coffee Talk (s16e13 — Roseanne Barr & Tom Arnold, February 2, 1989)
- It’s Pat (s17e3 — Kirstie Alley, October 12, 1991)
- Lyle the Effeminate Heterosexual (s17e16 — Mary Stuart Masterson, March 21, 1992)
- Mickey the Dyke (s22e8 — Martin Short, December 7, 1996)
- Ambiguously Gay Duo (s23e20 — David Duchovny, May 9, 1998)
- Jeffrey’s (s26e12 — Sean Hayes, February 2, 2001)
- Mango (s27e9 — Ellen DeGeneres, December 15, 2001)
You can watch the sketches on Patreon. You can see Drew’s master list of LGBTQ-focused SNL sketches here.
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Comments
We will see how the SNL one goes, but I’m not sure you’re correct about Downey being related to those Downeys.
Drew Mackie
2023-09-28 18:47:44 +0000 UTCI had to double check but James Downey is Robert Downey, Sr.'s brother. Also, please pivot this series to Mad TV. It's not as long running but as an elder millennial, it had a similar cultural footprint for a shorter period of time and seems much more interesting honestly. Which is impressive because, once again, y'all have made something extremely interesting.
Stephanie
2023-09-28 18:14:50 +0000 UTCI think I might be the only person that loves the It's Pat movie. Not a fan of theSNL I rewatched it recently and it still makes me laugh. BUT it was NEVER the androgyny that made me laugh. That's the unfortunate shell that holds Pat who is a truly funny character. Pat is a maniac completely oblivious to the world around them. Pushy, nosey, self-centered, bad mannered, yet enthusiastic and confident. I never found the gender confusion jokes funny but sometimes Pat's reactions to the questions are funny. Plus I was the biggest Ween fan during high school and I was beyond myself when they showed up in the movie. I implore you to give the movie a watch. I think it fits in alongside the Brady Bunch movie and Wayne's World. Great supporting cast too. Just FYI Im a big midwestern gal who always felt too femme to be butch, too butch to be femme. I too have a history of being bullied, misgendered, called every name in the book and I have nothing but love, respect, and compassion for anyone who was called Pat or teased because of it. I love the pod and I'm so grateful you are covering SNL so I can learn more about it. Their commercials plus Deep Thoughts were always my fav parts. 🫶
Carla Tortelli's Earrings
2023-09-23 02:46:48 +0000 UTC
