Back in the day, a major sitcom doing a gay episode was a big deal. A proper gay episode would get headlines, but it would get the attention of two young guys who were still figuring things out — sexuality-wise and culture-wise. Gayest Episode Ever has screenwriter Glen Lakin and stay-at-home journalist Drew Mackie going through the great and not-so-great gay episodes of sitcoms past.
https://www.gayestepisodeever.com/
episode 26: What’s Gay About Scooby-Doo?
If you listen to this podcast, you’ve probably noticed that Scooby-Doo’s resident brainiac, Velma Dinkley, can read as a little queer. It’s all subtext and implication, really, but what if we told you there is a canonical connection between Velma and lesbian pop culture? Listen as we unmask her, in true Scooby-Doo style, to reveal that Velma is actually Zelda Gilroy, a character on the 1960s teen sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis — and Zelda, in turn, is Sheila Keuhl, all-around badass, a queer trailblazer in California politics and someone who’s still serving Angelenos today.
Check out the Tom of Finland Foundation, the world’s largest repository of erotic art. The foundation is planning events worldwide for Tom’s 100th birthday, and see which events you can check out digitally here. And read Drew’s article about the foundation. Link is actually SFW!
Listen to Not Alone, the paranormal podcast that Drew thinks reminds him of himself and Glen, just with more ghosts.
Ride the Great Space Coaster.
“Sounds like Daphne!”
Watch Zelda in action in a clip from Dobie Gillis.
All of Hanna-Barbera’s self-cannibalizations of Scooby Doo. ALL OF THEM, courtesy @johngraywb on Twitter.
Sheila Keuhl’s interview about Zelda Gilroy with the Archive of American Television.
The New York Times article about Sheila’s election win: Zelda’s Unwavering Love Is No Longer Unrequited.
An episode of Sheila’s LGBT talk show, Get Used to It.
Buy Glen’s movie, Being Frank.
Support us on Patreon!
Follow: GEE on Twitter • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter
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And yes, we do have an official website! And we even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson.
This is a TableCakes podcast.
The episode’s outro track is “The Garden” by ’Lectric Workers.