"The Ruptured Duck" (October 10, 1961)

On the surface, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis tells the story of a teen boy who falls in love with every girl except Zelda Gilroy, who pines for him hopelessly. All of this is complicated by the fact that the Sheila Keuhl, the actor who played Zelda was in real life a gay woman who ultimately lost out on getting her own spinoff because she didn't fit the idea for what a leading lady was in the early 1960s. But Keuhl got the last laugh IRL, and Zelda Gilroy's queer adjacent legacy lives on in Velma from Scooby-Doo.

We have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode's art was designed by Ian O'Phelan. Sound cues for this podcast were composed by Meika Grimm.

"Werking Mom" (November 18, 2018)

Yes, The Simpsons did a drag episode, and you might be interested to know that the idea did not originate with "Hey, let's do one about RuPaul's Drag Race." In fact, co-writer Carolyn Omine provided some background info, including how the surprising success of drag queens in the Tupperware sales market ultimately resulted in both Marg and Homer donning drag, and we say this is a great example of how latter-day Simpsons can bend with the times. Our blue duck has become a swan!

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We have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode's art was designed by Ian O'Phelan. Sound cues for this podcast were composed by Meika Grimm.

"The Neighbors" (September 14, 1985)
"Victor / Vicki-toria" (February 14, 1987)
"The Bad Seed" (November 7, 1987)

Ignore whatever you might have heard about Small Wonder and focus instead on how the show spotlighted Vicki (a.k.a. V.I.C.I), a kid who was labeled as different just for acting the only way she knew. As a result of being defiantly resistant to social norms, Vicki has become iconic to all sorts of 80s kids also failed to fit in, and in this episode, we'll make the argument for the ways she speaks to queer audiences. Tiffany Brissette, you should have been a star.

Works cited (among others):

• This Yahoo! Entertainment retrospective

• The Mike & Juliet Show cast reunion