Also.Also.Also: Molly Kearney Is the First Nonbinary Cast Member to Join “Saturday Night Live”
Feature image of Molly Kearney, Saturday Night Live’s first nonbinary cast member, by Mary Ellen Matthews/NBC
How are you holding up these days? I have been running around all day and I am exhausted! But productive! And I’m having something frozen and coconuty to have with my dinner. That makes it worth it.
Queer as in F*ck You
Today NBC announced four new featured players who will be joining the cast of Saturday Night Live, including Molly Kearney, who to the best of our research will be SNL’s first nonbinary cast member in its 48-year history. Molly was selected for Comedy Central’s “Up Next” showcase in 2019. They can also be seen in Amazon’s A League of Their Own (this is maximum gay) and Disney+’s The Mighty Ducks (a show that’s technically not very gay, but has lesbian moms). Their birthday is May 2, which I thought was included in their bio for all the astrology gays, but apparently NBC announced the birthdates of all the new cast members? Why? I have no idea.
Molly joins a pretty strong queer history on SNL. Obviously they are coming on the heels of Kate McKinnon’s notorious reign (she left the show last season after an impressive decade long run). They also join Bowen Yang and Punkie Johnson, two current queer cast members (Bowen also writes on the show). Danitra Vance and Denny Dillon are past lesbian cast members, neither were out during their time on the show, and there was also Terry Sweeny, the first openly gay male cast member of SNL.
I think you are going to really appreciate this example of Molly’s sketch comedy chops, just saying.
Ok let’s see what else was in queer news today…
Finally, a Brittney Griner update! From the AP Wire: “Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a frequent emissary in hostage negotiations who has worked to secure the releases of WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, visited Moscow this week and held meetings with Russian leaders, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday night.”
According to people who are following Brittney Griner’s case closely, this is a big deal. If Richardson was there it could mean they’re close enough to talk details. That’s not the same as a guarantee by any means, but at the very least it’s a sign in the wind that BG hasn’t been forgotten. And on that note, it also was reported this evening that President Biden plans to meet with Cherelle Griner, along with the family of Paul Whelan, at the White House on Friday.
Today (and every day) is a good day to light a candle, keep a thought, say a prayer, do whatever is your thing if you have one, for Griner’s family and her safe return home. Always.🧡💜
How One Bisexual Designer Is Using Fashion Week to Talk About Mental Health
This Trans Artist Has Been Creating Art From Behind Bars for Nearly Three Decades. “The work of Jamie Diaz, a transgender woman and painter, will be front and center in her first solo art show, ‘Even Flowers Bleed.'”
And hot gamer tip alert from Heather! “Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life is getting a Switch remaster and rebrand as Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life — and it’s adding nonbinary as a gender option! (and woman! in the gamecube version you could only play as a man). AND! all villagers of all genders are marriage candidates for all gender of player! this is the first farming/village rpg from a major developer to offer this. AND! the first nostalgia remake to remaster and open up more gender options!”
Saw This, Thought of You
‘What Happened After I Quit.’ “Five women reflect on the financial fallout of their own ‘Great Resignation,’ a year later.”
‘Yellowjackets’ and Our Arrested Imaginations
If you are going to billionaire, this is how you do it. Billionaire No More: Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company, “Yvon Chouinard has forfeited ownership of the company he founded 49 years ago. The profits will now be used to fight climate change.”
Oye Mi Canto: The Nostalgic Music That Cures Our Homesickness. What a sweet meditation to kick of Latine Heritage Month.
Political Snacks
Lindsey Graham’s 15 Week Abortion Ban Is a Joke—and We Should Be Terrified. “The senator’s proposed abortion ban is a political stunt that has little chance of passing. It’s also a preview of worse things to come.”
Related, The Myth That America’s Abortion Laws Are More Permissive Than Europe’s. Adam Serwer, “The talking point will be that a 15 week abortion cutoff is ‘just like Europe’ but unless it subsidizes abortion, makes it easy to get one before 15 weeks and offers broad exemptions after, and makes abortion more accessible it is not actually like Europe.”
Pop Culture Fix: Kate McKinnon Bids a Tearful, Hilarious Goodbye to SNL
Every time the seasons change, my Long Covid-induced dysautonomia has to readjust to the weather, which causes a couple of weeks of more intense brain fog than usual. This weekend, it was like 100 degrees so I was trying to order four bottles of Gatorade and ended up ordering four 32-packs of Gatorade — so if anyone needs some Lemon-Lime Zero or Glacier Freeze Zero, I’ve got plenty to share! My kitchen looks like a Costco. In the meantime, here’s your Monday Pop Culture Fix!
+ This weekend, Kate McKinnon said goodbye to Saturday Night Live. She laughed, she cried, I have no doubt she’ll go on to make a million movies. Also, I’m sorry, but Natasha Lyonne remains the most confusing straight person I have ever encountered. HOW?
+ The Owl House is becoming a queer-friendly Harry Potter alternative. (I’ve been saying!)
+ Joyland is a daring queer Pakistani drama about desire.
+ Auli’i Cravalho is more than Moana.
+ DeWanda Wise’s pilot is bisexual in Jurassic World Dominion.
+ Thirsty Sword Lesbians won a Nebula Award for best game writing.
+ Fans are hyped for Netflix’s new gay vampire anime.
+ Gentleman Jack’s costumes will feature in a Halifax exhibition about Anne Lister.
+ How Ellen DeGeneres won and then lost a generation of viewers.
+ The WNBA Player’s Association has doubled down on the call to bring Brittney Griner home.
“We must keep Brittney’s case on the forefront and make clear to the White House that her release should be one of the highest priorities for our government.”-Cherelle Griner about the new House resolution pushing for Brittney Griner's immediate release. #WeAreBG #BrittneyGriner pic.twitter.com/oXUPablEdk
— WNBPA (@TheWNBPA) May 20, 2022
Kate McKinnon Says GAY GAY GAY in Response to Homophobic Florida Bill
Saturday Night Live didn’t have an easy task of, you know, being itself this weekend, what with the entire world engulfed in flames. Which makes it kind of like kids in Florida who are facing down HB 1557, a Republican bill that’s come to be known as “Don’t Say Gay,” and which has already passed in the Florida House of Representatives. The legislation would prohibit K-3 teachers from talking about gender or sexuality in any capacity, or any other teachers from talking about LGBTQ people or issues “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
It’s homophobic trash and so Kate McKinnon stopped by the Weekend Update desk with her take on it last night.
Kate McKinnon stops by the Update desk to discuss Florida's Don't Say Gay Bill pic.twitter.com/NjLd7HXXXq
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) March 6, 2022
And now GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY will be stuck in my head all week.
Just kidding it’s always stuck inside my head every day!
Watch Ariana DeBose and Kate McKinnon Feel Witty and Pretty and GAY Together on “SNL”
After a good long year, at least, of living inside that Verizon commercial, Kate McKinnon returned to Saturday Night Live. She made her first appearance last night during Ariana DeBose’s monologue, where she chatted about winning a Golden Globe, then broke into song from West Side Story — and, boom! Kate McKinnon was freed from her 5G prison. Autostraddle Editor in Chief, Carmen Phillips, SNL super fan and comedy nerd, was talking about the moment even quicker than Twitter. “My complicated West Side Story feelings aside — did I nerd out seeing these two queer women pull up stools and sing Broadway? You already know I did.” It’s true, I already knew she did! The episode as a whole wasn’t quite as awesome as this moment, but when is SNL ever a total package anymore? Enjoy, queer Broadway nerds! (So: all my favorite people!)
https://youtu.be/tLOEKEwjGKk
There’s also a pretty hilarious Sappho skit with an unfortunate defense-of-Ellen joke, but it’s still funny.
https://youtu.be/QfhHSY9uULs
Punkie Johnson Is the First Out Black Lesbian to Join Saturday Night Live Cast
This afternoon’s Saturday Night Live press release ahead of their new season came with some interesting tidbits: Jim Carrey will be recruited to play Joe Biden, if that’s your thing; they will go back to performing in front of a (limited) live studio audience inside Rockefeller Center — which sounds more dangerous than I’d be willing to be for 90 minutes of comedy, but hey maybe that’s just me; and one of my favorite players Ego Nwodim is finally getting her well-earned promotion to main cast member.
By far THE MOST EXCITING NEWS is that this season of SNL is about to get very real about who’s all gay here… adding self-proclaimed “brutally honest Southern lesbian” Punkie Johnson to the ensemble!
I personally feel great about this development. And her hat game.
Let’s run some stats on that: With the addition of Punkie Johnson, SNL just got roughly 100% more lesbian than last season, joining Kate McKinnon for a record breaking two (lol, yes TWO!) out lesbians in the cast at the same time. Punkie and Kate will obviously also be joining out gay cast member and writer Bowen Yang, which certainly makes this the gayest ass season of SNL yet — and it hasn’t even started yet. But wait! There’s more! Punkie Johnson will officially become first out Black lesbian in the show’s 46 year history. Gay gasp!
She’s not the first Black lesbian to become a Saturday Night Live repertory player — that was Danitra Vance, who joined the cast in 1985, although she was not out at the time. Vance was the second-ever lesbian cast member, after Denny Dillon, who also was not out. She was cast the same year as Terry Sweeny, the first openly gay male cast member of SNL, marking the first time there were two LGBTQ+ cast members at the same time. Vance left the show a year later, reportedly “frustrated with being relegated to stereotypical black female roles.” She passed away in 1994 from breast cancer.
Punkie Johnson also adds her name to the small cohort of only just 22 Black cast members that have worked over the course of ensemble comedy behemoth’s 46 years. That group includes only seven Black women: Yvonne Hudson (1980–1981), Danitra Vance (1985–1986), Ellen Cleghorne (1991–1995), Maya Rudolph (2000–2007), Leslie Jones (2014–2019), Sasheer Zamata (2014–2017), and Ego Nwodim (2018-present).
From the press release, here is Punkie’s bio:
Punkie Johnson is a comedian and writer whose recent credits include “Space Force,” “Corporate,” “Adam Ruins Everything” and “Bill Burr Presents: The Ringers.” She was a New Face at the Just for Laughs Festival in 2019 and is a proud paid regular at the world famous Comedy Store in Hollywood.
Hot damn!
You might also know Punkie from her NOTABLE guest starring role in last summer’s A Black Lady Sketch Show where she competed as the “dance biter” in what was easily one of the show’s most iconic and gay sketches (thank you to Autostraddle TV writer and noted Internet research sleuth Natalie for the hot tip):
While we’re here, let’s go ahead and peep this stand-up of Punkie talking about how role playing saved her marriage:
I don’t know a lot about Punkie just yet. Luckily, I have a month to obsessively learn everythiiiing possible to there is learn! SNL comes back on October 3rd. Personally I look forward to getting on my Issa Rae and:
18 Kate McKinnon Sketches We All Deserve Today
I was going to write some long introduction justifying the existence of this article, but there’s no real reason at hand. Sometimes, I just want to spend the day laughing. I bet you do, too. So I got together with the young legend Kate McKinnon and we made you a gift.
(PS: I’m aware there’s no “Kate as Ellen” sketches on this list, even though Ellen DeGeneres is one of Kate McKinnon’s most famous impressions. For some reason Saturday Night Live, which otherwise has a Smithsonian-level catalog of their offerings available on YouTube, only has one single sketch available of Kate as Ellen. And that sketch has a pretty offensive take on an African character, so I refuse to include it.)
1. “The Calvin Klein Ad” // Season 40 // 2015
If you’re gonna deep dive Kate McKinnon on YouTube, it’s required that you start here. Those are the rules of lesbian comedy. Kate had already been a regular cast member for a few seasons at this point, but this moment was her true breakout – and she brought the “Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber” joke to the mainstream in a single swoop!
Fun Fact: Kate once revealed the secret to her perfect Justin Bieber impression while on Conan: “It’s looking like a puppy who just piddled and is sort of sorry about it.”
2. Weekend Update: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Not Retiring // Season 42 // 2017
Tina Fey has Sarah Palin. Amy Poehler has 2008’s version of Hillary Clinton. Will Ferrell has George W Bush. Chevy Chase has President Ford. The greats of SNL usually end their tenure with a political impression that’s theirs to claim. Kate McKinnon has Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and 2016’s Hillary Clinton and Kellyanne Conway and approximately half of the Trump Administration. My girl don’t quit.
Kate’s take on Notorious RBG almost always goes viral. It was really hard to pick a single sketch to sum it up, but I went with this one because she mainlines a bunch of powdered Vitamin C to “stay healthy,” which went on to become an infamous GIF in its own right.
Looking for more laughs and interested in Ginsburg’s take on Judge Brett Kavanaugh? Got you covered.
3. First Got Horny 2 U // Season 41 // 2015
Few things give me happiness like an SNL girl group musical number, largely because it allows me to imagine the kind of weekly sketch show I wish already existed on TV – the kind without men. They have a few hits to their name (and if you haven’t seen their take on the small joys of coming home for the holidays – Back Home Ballers – I can’t recommend it enough) but this one is my favorite. Kate’s childhood crush on Taylor Hansen because of his long hair and soft lips NEVER fails to make me laugh out of gay recognition. If you want to laugh at the bluntness of your horny ass tween years, this is for you. (And they are dressed like the Backstreet Boys! C’mon!)
4. Close Encounter // Season 41 // 2015
Kate McKinnon’s chain-smoking Ms. Rafferty is the kind of stroke of genius comedy that’s guaranteed to make all the actors in the scene break character. She’s been abducted by aliens in her past and her stories are… well you have to see it for yourself. It’s a character she’s brought back many times, but I picked this one because really nothing is a good as your first.
And may none of us ever have to know the singular indignity of being left pants-less atop a Long John Silver’s. Amen.
5. Kristen Stewart Opening Monologue // Season 42 //2017
THE BIG DYKE ENERGY OVER THIS ENTIRE SKETCH.
6. RBG Rap // Season 44 // 2018
I tried very hard not to “repeat characters” over this list, but I made two exceptions. One for Hillary Clinton, who’s still coming up later, and one for Justice Ginsburg. The song alone is too good to pass up. WARNING: Only listen if you’re prepared to have “Cuz I Live For Ginsburg/ And I Ride For Ginsburg” stuck in your head on a loop for the rest of the week.
7. Whiskers R We with Kristen Wiig // Season 42 // 2016
Barbara DeDrew (Kate McKinnon) and Furonica (Host Kristen Wiig) show off the cats that are available for adoption during a Thanksgiving giveaway. Whiskers R We is yet another mainstay that’s worth it every time. Listen, lesbians love cats.
8. Bok Bok // Season 44 // 2019
I really don’t get the whole Momo internet meme that swept last year, but even without the sufficient background I know that Kate captured the goth queer icon perfectly. It’s the death in her hallowed eyes, the way her voice is sublimely creepy as she caresses little children’s faces with chicken tenders.The entire sketch is, pardon my pun, *chef’s kiss.*
9. Susan B. Anthony // Season 42 // 2017
Out here asking the hard hitting questions: What if the homie Susie B. really was that girl who just won’t shut up at the party?
10. Hillary Clinton Election Video Cold Open // Season 40 // 2015
When Kate McKinnon takes her final Saturday Night Live bow, we’re still going to be talking about this one. In her impression of Hillary Clinton, Kate not only found a way to parody the most famous woman in politics, she also never lost track of the grotesque sexist critique that surrounded her by those who wouldn’t trust a woman in power. She married the two and final product is legendary. Even more impressive, her take on Hillary Clinton appropriately shifts and matures over the course of the 2016 election cycle – Here we start at the beginning, with Clinton at her most robotic and absurd in her quest to be our Overlord.
“Buckle Up America, The Clintons Are BACK!” is such a terrifying 2015 Mood.
11. Dyke and Fats // Season 39 // 2014
A pitch-perfect tribute to historic lesbian icons Cagney & Lacey. We’ve seen Dyke & Fats on the show a few times, but few SNL sketches pay off as well as this one does in its final 15 seconds. So promise me you’ll watch all the way to the end, OK?
Fun Fact: Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant share an office in the SNL writers’ room! Roomies! Cuuute!
12. Kellywise // Season 43 // 2017
Fuck it. Kellyanne gives me nightmares anyway. Might as well lean all the way in to the crash.
13. Film Screening // Season 42 // 2017
Oh, Debette Goldry. Dear, sweet, always inappropriate and simultaneously horrifying Debate Goldry. The premise of this reoccurring bit is simple: SNL actresses pretend to be Hollywood actresses on a panel to discuss sexism in Hollywood. Then Kate plays Ms. Debette Goldry, there to remind everyone around her how absolutely tragic it was to be a leading lady during the Silver Screen era of cinema. “You think you had it bad, we had to swallow arsenic pills to lighten our skin!” Hardy-har-har.
It’s the #MeToo equivalent of “When I was your age I had to walk uphill both ways in a foot of snow” – which sounds like it should be tiresome, but somehow it works? I picked this version of the sketch because it features Jennifer Aniston playing herself.
14. This Is Not A Feminist Song // Season 41 // 2016
Feminism is complicated. Rather than risking they’d get it wrong, Kate McKinnon and the SNL girl group line up wrote this fake ass “feminist anthem” that you can play during SoulCycle instead. Look, it has soft light lens flairs and pictures of a boardwalk and close up shots of an old woman’s hands! They stand together in a line and hold hands for empowerment! Stop asking them for more! (Features Ariana Grande for maximum gay culture points)
15. Welcome to Hell // Season 43 // 2018
Sure, it’s all sugary and sweet until you have to stab a man with your hand full of keys just to make it home safe at night.
16. Weekend Update: Billie Jean King on the Sochi Olympics // Season 39 // 2013
Tennis legend Billie Jean King stops by to discuss being “the big gay middle finger” at the Sochi Winter Olympics. I had somehow never seen this sketch until doing research for this article, and it is perfect?? How have we never talked about it? How is it not going down in the lesbian hall of fame? I think it might be because at the time of her 2013 appearance, Kate McKinnon had yet to become a gay household name. That is our mistake and we must remedy it. THIS IS THE MOST LESBIAN SKETCH EVER AND IF YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT. IF YOU WATCH ONE THING, WATCH THIS.
17. Election Week Cold Open // Season 42 // 2016
This list isn’t ranked, but I saved the best two sketches for last.
Granted, this sketch isn’t quite funny per se, but damn it is superb. Here’s what I wrote about it in 2017:
In her political autobiography What Happened? Hillary Clinton specifically references this performance, which originally aired the Saturday following her election defeat, as an emotional release. I can personally attest that it reached into the most beaten parts of me at a time when the depths of my darkness felt insurmountable and instead lit a match. It’s a masterfully multi-layered sketch, simultaneously paying homage to Leonard Cohen during the week of his passing, giving deference to Clinton, and seeking to comfort those of us grieving in the audience. Ten months later, I still cannot hear the song without imaging McKinnon, at the piano, in Hillary’s signature pantsuit, telling me to never give up.
It’s now two years later, and that last part is still true. This is what it looks like to be a master of your craft.
18. Themyscira // Season 43 // 2017
Oh did you want to revisit Kate McKinnon making out with Gal Gadot while she’s dressed as Wonder Woman?
Of course you did. This is the gayest shit SNL has ever done. And you’re welcome.
Gal Gadot and Kate McKinnon Sure Did Make Out on “Saturday Night Live”
I was lying in bed last night around 12:30 am, listening to my upstairs neighbors bowling, thinking about how nothing good has happened at all in 2017, and then I felt my whole apartment shake and I was like, “Well, of course my building is collapsing.” But friends! My building was not collapsing! The world was simply trembling because Gal Gadot and Kate McKinnon mashed their mouths together on Saturday Night Live during a Wonder Woman skit that was one of the the gayest skits SNL has ever done. (In a good way, SNL has done some real stupid gay panic bullshit in its day.)
Themyscira might not be lesbians (Themyscira is totally lesbians) but Gal Gadot really got in there is all I know.
Please note that we are not qualified for and do not have the time to host or moderate a safe and constructive debate or conversation regarding Zionism and/or the Israel/Palestine conflict in the Autostraddle comments, an issue that is often raised by readers on posts relating to Judaism or Gal Gadot. All comments attempting to initiate said debate from any standpoint, or any comments equating Judaism with Zionism, will be deleted.
Kate McKinnon Is Witch-Cursed Kristen Stewart on SNL
America’s second favorite lesbian Harry Styles was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live last night, but that wasn’t the gayest part of the whole shebang. That honor was reserved for the big queer inception of Kate McKinnon playing Kristen Stewart on a time-traveling episode of Family Feud. It’s 2017 stars vs. 1977 stars and if you close your eyes or throw your laptop out into the street you don’t even have to see Jimmy Fallon playing John Travolta on both planes of the space-time continuum.
https://youtu.be/JWWfVqswylo
I actually don’t know which thing is funnier: McKinnon’s spot-on impression, dude, or the gentle clowning from Steve Harvey and Liza Minelli. “You look like a witch cursed you not to smile but you’re trying anyway.” “You look like a little orphan boy but you’re so beautiful!”
It’s no Totinos but if it distracts you from the various nuclear wars Donald Trump is trying to start, that’s a well spent eight minutes.
Tag Yourself in This SNL Lesbian Reality Show
feature image via youtube
This week’s Saturday Night Live debuted the lesbian answer to Logo’s actual and upcoming drama-filled reality show that follows six gay men during a summer-long, gay-mecca beach party. Fire Island, meet Cherry Grove, the affluent-lesbian-with-child silent retreat. (Careful with this one, finding this offensive would make you the exact kind of person it’s parodying.)
These tropes that package gay women into overly emotional bores and gay men into hot beds of fun have been very, very, very well established to a point that could be classified as tired, and the queer landscape has changed so much even in the past five years that this really feels like the last year you’re going to be able to get away with something like this without calling attention to the fact that you haven’t met a gay person below the age of 30 in a decade, but in the meantime, who are we here?
I’m Beth, the lesbian that no one seems to be able to find.
Boob(s) On Your Tube: Fall TV Ends With a Whimper, Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant are Accidental Lesbians on SNL
I think we can officially call a wrap on fall TV. It’s been a roller coaster of emotions these last few months, huh? We lost Sara Lance on Arrow (but we’re getting her back). We lost Charlie on Supernatural (but we’re probably getting her back too). The show I was most excited about (Gotham) let me down in a major way, and the show I was most skeptical about (Jane the Virgin) became my favorite new series of the whole season. None of the sitcoms with leading lesbian/bi characters (One Big Happy, Marry Me, Weird Loners) survived. Kalinda departed from The Good Wife with a scrap of fire in tact. Recurring characters Haddie and Crickett from Parenthood and Hart of Dixie rode off into the sunset with their shows. Santana and Brittany from Glee did, too, but at least they were married!
ABC Family’s summer programming starts in just two weeks, which means Pretty Little Liars, The Fosters, and Chasing Life will be back. Plus, other lesbian summer favorites like Faking It, Defiance, Rookie Blue, Under the Dome, and ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK.
MTV’s Scream is supposed to feature a lesbian character, also!
Next Monday, I’ll post a preview of all the queer TV coming up this summer, but first, let’s see these last few shows across the finish line.
Jane the Virgin
Mondays on The CW at 9:00 p.m.
Her name’s Renee Montoya and honestly you could use the extra security.
Jane the Virgin wrapped up a brilliant freshman season last Monday night. I cannot say enough good things about this show. Luisa is only in the finale for a second, as a sounding board for Rafael to decide he wants to sell his father’s business/hotel so he can be the father his baby deserves. Usually, I’d be like, “Well, the queer characters was in a little less than half the episodes and one of the major season-long plots is a straight love triangle, so this isn’t really essential viewing,” but Jane the Virgin is a thing I have never seen on TV before and I think it’s worth all your time. It features so many different (and different kinds) of relationships between well-rounded Latina characters. It gives almost as much weight to Jane’s career as it does to her family life and romantic life. It’s also just really fun to watch. The pace is breathless, the plot is sometimes high level telenovela bonkers, and the emotional punches almost always land.
In the last moments of the finale, notorious crime lord/Luisa’s former stepmom-lover Sin Rostro kidnaps Jane’s brand new baby, so it seems like next season is going to land at full throttle, just like this one. I can’t wait.
Arrow
Wednesdays on The CW at 8:00 p.m.
Straight married but still breathing, sugar!
There are two Arrow things we need to talk about.
One: Nyssa survived the finale and didn’t consummate her marriage to Oliver and didn’t fall in love with him and it seems very likely that she’s going to be a big factor in season four.
Oliver finally reveals that he’s been faking his brainwashing this whole time, and of course it’s in an airplane like a million miles in the sky when he finally comes clean. The ensuing scuffle finally sees Nyssa get her groove back, and also it sees the plane get busted. So Ra’s takes the only parachute (again, of course) and dips out, leaving Oliver and Nyssa to crash land the thing. They do. And they survive. And they spend the rest of the episode trying to track down Ra’s so they can take their revenge on him. In the end, it’s Oliver who kills him (and then, amazingly, it is Felicity who saves Oliver in the A.T.O.M. (fake Iron Man) suit.) Shockingly, it’s a very girl powered finale. Laurel kicks some asses too.
Nyssa is pissed because she doesn’t get to kill her father, and then doubly pissed when Merlyn — the guy responsible for Sara’s death — takes over the League and forces her to bow before him. But there’s something about her face before she bends her knee that says Merlyn will be at the end of one of her arrows before it’s all said and done.
Two: Sara’s alive! Caity Lotz is returning as White Canary in the CW’s latest Arrow tie-in, Legends of Tomorrow. Apparently, there’s big crossover potential here. Katie Cassidy is coming over full time and Nyssa will be able to move between shows at the writers’ leisure. Here’s a trailer:
https://youtu.be/4MubNoWQiSc
That? Is the power of lesbian fandom.
Younger
Tuesdays on TVLand at 10:00 p.m.
Want me to set up a Boobr profile for you?
This week’s Younger features Maggie in the role of Grown-Up Best Friend, offering Liza a moment’s respite from the world where her boyfriend’s bedroom doesn’t have a door and her career duties involve babysitting her boss’ love interest’s kids while he heads out to some black tie book awards. I’d love it if Younger could find a way to incorporate Maggie into the story as more than a time-out pep-talker, but it’s tricky because three of the four main characters all work for the same publishing company, and so much of the show is (awesomely) career-focused. Watching it is a fun way to spend 22 minutes a week, though, and a queer character on TV Land is still a big dang deal.
Newlyweds: The First Year
Tuesdays on Bravo at 10:00 p.m.
(That Pomeranian’s face, though!)
Last week was the last episode of Newlyweds: The First Year, and Sam and Laura spent the entire episode celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary at the place where they got married, only with their adorable puppies this time. Honestly, their parts of the episode were so gay and wonderful and a thousand times better than the other couples’ baby stuff. They just lounged around on the dock and in a hammock and talked about how much they love each other, how much they’ve grown since they met in college, how they’ll be together forever. Also: skinny dipping. They were so unlike what I was expecting, and I mean that in the best possible way. Just a couple of lesbians who adore each other and want to be happy. If The Real L Word had been like this, I wouldn’t have cancelled Showtime five minutes into the first episode.
Grey’s Anatomy
Thursdays on ABC at 8:00 p.m.
I don’t know who Jenny Schecter is but she said she’d rather be waterboarded than ever see her again.
As I mentioned last week, Jenn had a death in her family and she’s still busy taking care of everyone, so she won’t be able to recap the season 11 finale of Grey’s Anatomy. That’s okay, though, because there wasn’t any queer stuff to write about. The time jump between Derek’s death and these last two episodes is going to make things interesting in terms of Arizona told Callie’s story in season 12. It’s been over a year. What we’ve seen these last two weeks is that they can work together like grown-ups now. They make a good team again. And they can tease each other about dating/sleeping with the interns in a playful way without any underlying passive aggressiveness. Maybe they really do need to grow apart to grow back together. Shonda said to trust the journey, whatever that means. I just want them to be okay!
Lost Girl
Thursdays on Syfy at 10:00 p.m.
Threesome, Ontario, here we come!
On last week’s Syfy showing of Lost Girl, it was Bo’s birthday!
Tamsin gives her a stuffed cat that is supposed to bring her good luck, and it does. But also, it starts turning her into a literal cat. Bo laps up a martini with her tongue, falls in a hole and lands on all fours, the whole thing. Bo and Lauren and Tamsin team up to find the missing Oracles, which seems like a fun road trip, but basically is just Lauren and Tamsin having a pissing contest for Bo’s affection. In the end, Bo does find the Oracles. They’re blind now, which is sinister, and all of Lauren’s crushed elevator patients are coming back to life. After the adventure, Tamsin gives Bo the birthday gift of wrapping her naked self up in a red bow for sexytime scissor shenanigans. They do the deed and then Bo confesses to Tamsin that her dad is Hades and she was born in hell. Just your standard succubus pillow talk, nbd, whatever.
The Returned
Mondays on A&E
Hello bluebirds, it’s me Riese. Rumor has it that there’s this new show The Returned on A&E with some lesbian characters in it or something? Well, the rumors are true: The Returned has two lesbian characters in its ensemble, Julie and Nikki, and their sexual orientation is, as it so often seems to be these days, a minor fact of their existence, presented without much fanfare. It’s honestly quite rare to have an ensemble cast with two queer females and zero queer men, so hurrah!
The cast of The Returned also includes the following notable humans: Billy Chenoweth from Six Feet Under, Jesús and Maryann from True Blood, Sara Ryan from “Breaking the Girls,” Tyrol and Helena Cain from Battlestar, Commander Shumway from The 100, Catherine Rothberg from The L Word and — as of the most recent episode — Myka Bering from Warehouse 13! What a star-studded event for passionate watchers of queer-ish television.
The Returned is an adaptation of a French series by the same name, produced by the same guy who did Lost. It’s about a small town where terrible shit happens way too often, resulting in myriad untimely deaths. However, NOW THE DEAD ARE RETURNING. It’s captivating and dynamic storytelling with a stellar cast (although it lacks racial diversity in a major way), and is enormously better than last year’s ABC flop, Resurrection, which had a similar premise but quickly spun off the rails. The worst thing about this show is that the A&E app is the worst app I’ve ever used in my life and watching one episode on it takes about three hours, a ceremony which’ll include at least 45 Geico commercials and several slow-mo Benihana ads. Another cool thing this app does is that commercials will interrupt mid-scene without warning, and then play half a commercial, and then return to the scene? Furthermore, the closed captions show up about five minutes after they’re spoken onscreen, which is a bit disorienting. For example:
Just as I always dreamed my wedding day would be
Sandrine Holt (The L Word) plays Dr. Julie Han and Agnes Brucker (Breaking the Girls) plays Deputy Nikki Banks. They’re lesbian lovers but it’s unclear how serious their off-and-on relationship is. We learn that Julie survived an (attempted?) homicide some years back when she left a party early (Nikki stayed behind) and was attacked on her way home. In the first episode of The Returned, Julie takes in “Victor,” a small boy who was murdered during a home invasion 29 years ago and continues returning to the town to get taken in by another innocent well-meaning woman, at which point he proceeds to pursue his hobbies of “looking creepy,” causing bus crashes, and making people kill themselves. Nikki suspects something is up with “Victor” and is slowly uncovering the details of his history in this town, but Julie refuses to accept his awfulness until he tries to murder Nikki. I actually thought he’d succeeded until this episode when Julie gets rid of Victor and picks Nikki up at the hospital. BLESS US ALL, THE LESBIAN IS NOT DEAD. Although, on this show, being dead isn’t necessarily the end of your story, anyhow!
Meanwhile, Hellen Goddard (Michelle Forbes) is scheming and Rowan marries Tommy, even though I think Tommy is the worst. Also in this week’s episode, journalist Kara Pine (played by Joanne Kelly) rolls into town in a pick-up truck and a tank top, looking to do a story on the returning dead, a phenomenon which’s not, she says, isolated to this town. I think it must be an artifact!
Saturday Night Live
Saturdays on NBC at 11:30 p.m.
On a dicey episode of SNL hosted by Louis C.K., Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant played a couple in a sketch about the forgotten TV gem Whoops I Married a Lesbian. It hilarious and depressing. You’ll see why.
Team TV coverage you may have missed
+ ABC Family Brings the Real-Life “Transparent” with “Becoming Us” (And That’s Not a Great Thing)
I found myself crying halfway through the first episode — not because the show was touching my heart, but because I couldn’t believe how Carly was being talked about by her family.
+ Fan Fiction Friday: 15 “Warehouse 13″ Bering and Wells Stories to Honor Endless Wonder
Do you smell apples? I smell apples.
See you next week, strawberry milkshakes!
12 SNL Women I’d Like To Co-Parent a Kitten With
Saturday Night Live’s 40th anniversary reunion show made me think: I totally would love to date these SNL ladies.
12. Tina Fey
Let’s start with the obvious: who hasn’t dreamed about co-parenting a kitty with Tina, spending romantic afternoons needlessly worrying together at the Vet’s practice? Don’t lie. Just think about it and you’ll find it in your heart that the scenario just feels right.
However, she suffers from White Feminism Syndrome™ and the way 30 Rock handled race issues didn’t help her case.
11. Amy Poehler
Amy is a golden goddess made of sunshine. She was a GREAT Weekend Update host and gave us memorable moments like bitch is the new black and the Really?! Bits with Seth Meyers. She’s also a great performer and Leslie Knope has forever changed my standards in terms of dateability. Like Tina, she is not perfect but has the capacity for improvement.
You can do it, Amy.
10. Ana Gasteyer
I don’t know a lot about Ana, but she’s to blame if I now find the turtleneck+vest combo extremely sexy. Let me clean your pool at your California holiday home, Ana.
9. Nora Dunn
via chicagomag.com
Nora Dunn walked out of SNL to boycott Andrew Dice Clay and his misogynistic bullshit. Nora Dunn was done with that shit. Cast member accused her of pulling a stunt just for the attention but in my opinion she didn’t have NEARLY as much attention as she deserved. Walking out of the show once isn’t enough; I endorse hiring Nora Dunn next season so she can quit again. You do you, Nora.
8. Jane Curtin
She’s stunning, she’s funny and she slammed Chevy Chase in front of Oprah. What more could you ask for?
7. Julia Louis-Dreyfus
SHE SURVIVED THE SEINFELD CURSE! I get strong witch-vibes from Julia and I want her to protect me from the evil of the Patriarchy. We could be happy together.
6. Ellen Cleghorne, PhD.
Yes, as of 2014 Ellen has a PhD in Performance Studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her research focuses on Black comedy and “Black humor practices as critical race theory deconstruction methodologies. How do you like me now?,” she says.
A lot.
We like her a lot.
5. Maya Rudolph
Although Ellen had the best cameo at the SNL 40th Anniversary Reunion, Maya almost gave me an heart attack when she showed up as Beyonce. What can I say, I’ve got a soft spot for ladies that can pull off a good Oprah impression.
4. Jenny Slate
Jenny Slate is a PEACH and, unfortunately, so is her husband David Fleischer-Kamp.
She was grossly underrated at SNL, but luckily she moved on and gave us her gift of Marcel the Shell and her perfomance in Obvious Child.
3. Janeane Garofalo
Janeane is just effortlessly cool. She worked for Lorne for about five months and yet she made it to number 3 in my heart on this list. She had the misfortune of landing at SNL when Adam Sandler was also part of the cast.
Janeane is a martyr and she deserves all the happiness in this world.
2. Danitra Vance
Danitra was the best thing that ever happened to SNL since Gilda Radner. Not only was she first black female member of the cast (it only took Lorne ten years to hire one!) but she’s still the only black lesbian woman to ever grace studio 8H. She was vocal about the way show writers treated cast members. She died of breast cancer in 1995, way too soon, and she even wrote a solo piece about the experience of getting a mastectomy, years before Tig Notaro’s stand-up set at Largo.
1. Gilda Radner
*Notable absentees: Kristen Wiig, Laraine Newman, Cheri Oteri, Molly Shannon, Rachel Dratch and Joan Cusack. I’m sorry ladies, but I had to stop at some point.
Girls Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost: New All-Women Ghostbusters Lineup Announced!
It seems like almost a decade ago we were promised a new Ghostbusters sequel or reboot or whatever, often with the promise of a new, all-female cast. Well, now we finally know who it will star! The Hollywood Reporter reports that comedy stars and co-Bridesmaids Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig will be joined by current SNL hilariladies (that’s a term, right?) Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones as the new, funnier team of Ghostbusters.
Wiig and McCarthey in Bridesmaids copyright Universal Press
Of course Melissa McCarthy first hit the big time as the chef Sookie on Gilmore Girls (now on Netflix) and then has enjoyed a huge career resurgence since her Oscar-nominated role in Bridesmaids, starring in movies like Tammy, The Heat and the upcoming Paul Feig spy comedy Spy, as well as her Emmy-winning role in the TV show Mike and Molly. Wiig, who not only starred in Bridesmaids, but also co-wrote it, first became famous from being amazingly funny on Saturday Night Live. More recently, she’s starred in more indie movies like The Skeleton Twins, dressed up like Harry Styles on The Tonight Show and been the funniest presenter along with friend Bill Hader at the recent Golden Globes.
This will be the first major film role for McKinnon, an out comedian who has been the funniest member of the SNL cast for the last few years. Maybe she’ll play a queer Ghostbuster, wouldn’t that be amazing? Or hey, if any of these actresses play a queer ghostbuster that would be amazing. Jones is also a super funny current SNL cast member, probably most famous for her appearances on Weekend Update. She also had a role in the recent Chris Rock film Top Five.
Jones on Weekend Update via splitsider
All four of these women are extremely funny and talented and I can’t wait to see them fighting ghosts together. We already know that Wiig and McCarthy have great chemistry together in the movies and Jones and McKinnon have it on SNL, so things are looking really good. Although I loved the original Ghostbusters, I’m way more excited for this than the rumored sequel with the original cast (minus Harold Ramis who recently passed away). I’m pretty sure everyone who saw the original wished for more Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts and Gozer, right?
Paul Feig, who directed both Bridesmaids and The Heat will be directing, and there is no announced release date.
We’re still waiting to find out what role the hilarious and super talented Brittani Nichols will be playing, although roles including “mayor,” “person whose home or place of business is being haunted,” “and/or lovestruck,” “the talk show host who interviews them and asks if they’ve seen Elvis lately” and “Vigo” (of Ghostbusters II fame) have been hitting the Autostraddle rumor mill.
image made by our own Cecelia
Autostraddle’s 2014 Fall TV Preview: Queers and Women of Color All Over Your Teevee
Well this week kicks off what’s certain to be a groundbreaking fall television season, chock-full of racially diverse casts and pioneering explorations of gender identity. Lesbian representation isn’t exactly fantastic, however, especially with Pretty Little Liars and The Fosters not returning full-force until 2015 and Glee‘s premiere date TBA, and we’ve got some waiting to do for the return of queer female characters on Chasing Life, Orphan Black, Masters of Sex, Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, The Bridge and Lost Girl. But hopefully the lady-loving ladies of Gotham, Faking It, Transparent and a few more shows will tide us over. Let’s talk about it.
Monday
Gotham (FOX)
September 22nd, 8pm – NEW
Intern Grace will be recapping Gotham for Autostraddle.
This series tells the story of Batman before he became Batman and was just a wee little thing in the world surrounded by villains before they become villains. It’s also shaping up to be a very diverse enterprise — as reported by The Advocate, “in this reimagining, women of color are depicted in positions of power on both sides of the law, and strong LGBT characters are an essential part of the story from the first episode.” Latina lesbian detective Renee Motoya will be played by Victoria Cartagena and we have it on good authority that Jada Pinkett Smith’s character, mob boss Fish Mooney, won’t be “entirely straight” either.
Sleepy Hollow (Fox)
September 22nd, 9pm – Season Two
By Rachel: “Although not explicitly gay, Sleepy Hollow has won my heart via having a variety of PoC actors in starring roles (Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones, Lyndie Greenwood, John Cho), fairly scary monsters, little-to-no boring hetero romance subplots, and I have not had to see Tom Mison naked, nor watch anyone have sex with him. Although last season ended on a fairly dark note, even for a show about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse bringing about the end times, next season promises that our favorite characters will be at the very least alive and that the Mills sisters will continue to look dreamy while carrying lots of guns and Ichabod will bring even more wacky anachronisms into our lives.”
Jane The Virgin (the CW)
October 13th, 9pm – NEW
Based on Venezuelan telenovela Juana la Virgen, this show stars Gina Rodriguez as a straight-laced virgin who is accidentally inseminated by an exhausted ob-gyn who was supposed to give her a pap smear. It’s a wacky and undoubtedly heterosexual premise but considering that Hispanic and Latin@ folks are the most under-represented racial group on television relative to their representation in the actual US population, I’m down to give this show a chance. Plus, Diane Guerrero (Maritza on Orange is the New Black) and trans actress Carmen Carrera will both make appearances in Season One! Entertainment Weekly notes that “to nail the cultural references, Urman hired two Hispanic writers, including tele-novela veteran Carolina Rivera. Rodriguez, 30, gives notes too.” It’s a sad day in the world when a show about Hispanic people gets a pat on the back for hiring actual Hispanic writers but um, baby steps?
Tuesday
Faking It (MTV)
September 23rd, 10pm – Season Two
Riese will be recapping Faking It for Autostraddle.
You’ve probably already got some strong feelings about this show, negative or positive. I personally feel very hopeful! This season has a lot of promise — in addition to Amy boldly braving the murky waters of lesbian dating, Lauren will [SPOILER ALERT] come out as intersex, making her (I believe) the first intersex character since that one girl on Freaks and Geeks. I also look forward to meeting Amy’s eventual love interest Reagan, a “hip, edgy lesbian with a rebellious streak,” and Laverne Cox‘s Margot, “director of Hester High’s elite drama club.” For more about Season Two, check out our post here.
Wednesday
American Horror Story: Freakshow (FX)
October 8th, 10pm – Season Four
Chelsea will be recapping American Horror Story for Autostraddle.
If you’re a fan of gay lady Sarah Paulson, how do you feel about two Sarah Paulsons at one time? You’ll find out this fall on American Horror Story, when Sarah Paulson will be playing conjoined twins. Kathy Bates returns to the franchise as the bearded lady, Angela Bassett will have three breasts, Jessica Lange will be a former German cabaret star and Evan Peters will be Lobster Boy. Also, Pepper from Asylum is returning to tell the tale of who Pepper was before Asylum. Undoubtedly, showrunner Ryan Murphy will find a way to offend people repeatedly during this season but you’ll have to tune in to find out how! (Sidenote: two longreads I’ve enjoyed recently about the “freak show” business: I Was a Teenage Freak and Behold! The Heartbreaking, Hair-Raising Tale Of Freak Show Star Julia Pastrana, Mexico’s Monkey Woman.)
Red Band Society (Fox)
September 17th, 9pm – NEW
Andrea Parker will be playing a lesbian mom on “Red Band Society,” a new drama that also features GLAAD spokesperson Wilson Cruz, best beloved for his role as Ricky Vasquez on My So-Called Life, and takes place in the pediatric wing of a hospital. Executive Producer Margaret Nagle was tapped by Fox and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertinment to develop the show, based on the Spanish drama Polseres Vermelles. It’s narrated by a boy in a coma and features a rag-tag band of teenagers who basically live in the hospital due to various circumstances such as cancer and anorexia. Octavia Spencer plays Nurse Jackson, who supervises the wing with a dude played by a dude.
Black-ish (ABC)
September 24th, 9:30 PM
This sitcom got a lot of buzz during upfronts! Of the initial trailer, Brittani wrote, “I am in. I am all in. I do not care about the think pieces to come. I do not care about the policing white people will do. I do not care about the microscope this show will be put under. Sign me the fuck up.” SO THERE YOU GO.
Thursday
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
September 25th, 8pm – Season 11
Gabby will be recapping the gay parts of Grey’s Anatomy for Autostraddle because loyal reader Carmen Sandiego asked us to.
In the season premiere, lesbian couple Callie and Arizona will “come to a decision about surrogacy.” Probably mostly we’ll be listening to Meredith Grey complain about shit though. Just a guess.
Scandal (ABC)
September 25th, 9pm – Season 4
You were gonna watch Scandal anyhow because everybody watches Scandal and everybody has a crush on Kerry Washington, but you’ll REALLY wanna watch Scandal this season ’cause Portia De Rossi has been confirmed for a multi-episode arc.
How To Get Away With Murder (ABC)
September 25th, 10pm
This show rounds out Shonda Rhimes’ total domination of Thursday nights and promises a “healthy dose of violence and sex.” There’s a gay male character, Connor Walsh, played by Jack Falahee, and Bennett from Orange is the New Black also stars, but we’re way more excited about having such a racially diverse cast with Viola Davis at the helm. Also CRIME DRAMA.
Friday
Cristela (ABC)
October 10th, 8:30pm – NEW
Comedian Cristela Alonzo created this semi-autobiographical sitcom about a legal intern in Texas based on her own struggles to balance work and family. “The only auditions I used to get were housekeepers,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “Those are great stories, and those stories should be told. But we all have different jobs. It’s 2014. You have a Latina who created, writes and stars on this show on network TV. Let’s celebrate this.”
Saturday
Saturday Night Live (NBC)
September 27th, 11:30pm – Season 40
Praise Lesbian Jesus for Kate McKinnon who is undoubtedly the highlight of this legendary sketch comedy series these days, which got in trouble last year for hiring a bunch more white guys when it already had SO MANY WHITE GUYS. Black female comedian Sasheer Zamata joined mid-season and will be returning for Season 40. Furthermore, Michael Che, who wrote for the series last season, will be joining the cast as Weekend Update’s first black anchor. He’s replacing Cecily Strong at the Update desk, which I hope means she’ll be doing that annoying girl at the party character again because that shit was HILARIOUS. Noël Wells, the show’s first Hispanic female cast member, won’t be returning for Season 40, nor will white dude John Milhiser or white dude Brooks Wheelan. I think a new white guy has been hired to replace one of those white guys, but IDK they all look the same to me.
Sunday
The Good Wife (CBS)
September 21st, 9pm – Season 6
Is Kalinda gonna hook up with any girls this season? You guys should watch it and let me know.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox)
September 28th, 9pm – Season 2
This show is really funny and racially diverse and the captain is a black gay man who really breaks type. Mic even declared it the most progressive sitcom on television.
The Walking Dead (AMC)
October 12th, 9pm – Season 5
By Laura Mandanas: Since we last spoke, the less developed half of The Walking Dead’s queer lady couple got killed off during a battle between Rick’s party and a hostile outside group. Although I was sad to see Alisha go, the good news is that Tara Chalmers (played by Alanna Masterson) lives on and has been promoted to a series regular! As of the the end of last season, Tara was being held hostage in a boxcar with Michonne, Sasha, Maggie, Glenn, Rick, Carl, Daryl and a couple others I don’t really care about. Season 5 promises to be a bloody one, as a) all signs point to the “Termites” being cannibals, and b) Rick literally just ripped some guy’s throat out with his teeth. Also! The show’s creators have been hinting that they’re going to introduce a gay male character and it might be Daryl. (Except, duh, he was totally into Beth last season, so he’s either bi or they’re talking about someone else.) The premiere is on October 12.
The Comeback (HBO)
November 9th, 1opm – Season 2
UGH THIS SHOW WAS SO GOOD WHEN IT WAS ON. Then it got cancelled because the world is a cruel dark place and Lisa Kudrow is too good for this world (except for Web Therapy, that show is the worst). The Comeback picks up nine years after the 2005 cancellation with washed-up actress’ Valerie Cherish’s continued attempts to recharge her dwindling career. There aren’t any queer females in it, but her hairdresser Mickey will finally be out of the closet and embracing his gay identity.
Streaming
Transparent (Amazon Prime)
September 26th
Rachel will be recapping Transparent for Autostraddle.
One of this season’s most buzzed-about shows for queers won’t be on television — it’s on Amazon Prime, and it’s called Transparent, and it centers on Maura (played by Jeffery Tambor), a mother coming out late in life as a trans woman. Show creator Jill Soloway (Six Feet Under, The United States of Tara) has loaded the program with LGBTQ characters. Plus, according to Entertainment Weekly, twenty-five members of the cast and crew are transgender! Amy Landecker plays Maura’s daughter Sarah, who has dated both men and women and sees a girlfriend from college resurface in the pilot. Gaby Hoffman plays Maura’s child Ali, who is coming into her own genderqueer identity.
The cast includes transgender actress Alexandra Billings, the adorable Alison Sudol of A Fine Frenzy, transgender actress/producer Zackary Drucker (who you may recognize from Amos Mac’s Translady Fanzine), bisexual actress Carrie Brownstein, lesbian comedian Tig Notaro, lesbian writer Ali Liebegott, transgender actress Roxy Wood and transgender comedian and actor Ian Harvie.
Words With Girls (Color Creative TV)
September 23rd
Okay, so this is just a pilot, not an entire series, but if you want it to be an entire series, you should definitely watch the pilot. Written and created by our very own Brittani Nichols, the show will premiere on Issa Rae and Denise Davis’s Color Creative TV on my birthday, September 23rd! This smart and funny “lesbian relationship comedy” dropped its first trailer today and you can read alllll about it right here. Imagine if this was like, on FOX, then we would’ve officially Won Television.
What are you excited to watch this fall? Did I miss anything? Let’s talk about it.
Kate McKinnon, Super Funny Queer Comedian, Wins American Comedy Award
Kate McKinnon, a Saturday Night Live featured player since 2012, won the American Comedy Award for Best Supporting Actress, TV at a ceremony Thursday night.
via Zimbio
Before she was on SNL, she was a star of Logo’s Big Gay Sketch Show. McKinnon is SNL‘s first openly lesbian cast member (Danitra Vance, also the first African American woman to be a repertory player on the show, wasn’t out during her run) and only third LGBT cast member ever. Last year she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Emmy for her work on SNL, but did not win.
She’s largely known for her skill at celebrity impressions, whether it’s a perky and mischievous Ellen DeGeneres, a defiantly confident Billy Jean King headed to the Sochi Olympics or a smoldering hot Justin Bieber. She, along with Aidy Bryant, is also the co-creator and one half of “Dyke and Fats,” probably the funniest thing SNL has done in years.
Other awards went to Amy Poehler for Best Actress in a TV Show (Parks and Recreation), Melissa McCarthy for Best Actress in a Film (The Heat), Katie Dippold for Best Screenplay (The Heat) and Maria Bamford for Best Club Comic.
Brittani’s Video Party: “Be Here Nowish” with Kate McKinnon’s “Obvious Child”
Header by Rory Midhani
Be Here Nowish is a comedy webseries by Natalia Leite and Alexandra Roxo about two sexually progressive New Yorkers who head to Los Angeles in search of a spiritual awakening. Episodes 1-7 have been up on their website for a while and episodes 8-10 came out today. Start binge watching now.
Visit the Be Here Nowish site.
Obvious Child is an upcoming film that stars Jenny Slate who according to every thing on the internet gives one hell of a performance. The movie is about a comedian in crisis and also stars her bestie Gabe Liedman. I’m so into this you don’t even know.
A Southwest flight attendant served up a 3-minute safety speech that had an entire plane in stitches. If I was on that plane, I’d have already been sleep because that’s how I do.
I thought about putting SNL’s Dyke & Fats in the last video party but I’m glad I waited because Kate McKinnon gave some backstory on how this sketch with Aidy Bryant came to be.
This is Brittani’s Video Party, where I bring some of the “best” videos from all over my internet together so we can clap, cry or deconstruct. Have you ever gotten to a video and it already has 33 million views and you wonder where the heck have you been? Well I’m here to help you so that you see it when it only has 32 million views. Aim low, world. Aim low.
Brittani’s Video Party: Obama Kisses 14 Strangers Backstage
Header by Rory Midhani
Lena Dunham hosted SNL and the most delightful thing to come out out of that might have been this backstage video. I regret that we never got to hear Kate McKinnon‘s relationship history but we did get a line of her Beyoncé impression.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP2cJ9x1Q1o
Zach Galifianakis’s awkward yet hilarious interview series, Between Two Ferns, had its highest profile guest ever when President Obama dropped by to do what most people on the show do — plug their shit. His plug was for healthcare.gov. The deadline approaches y’all.
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/18e820ec3f/between-two-ferns-with-zach-galifianakis-president-barack-obama
Smoukahontas is a YouTuber from Finland that’s been getting a lot of attention because of her video, One Girl, 14 Genres, in which she sings in 14 different “genres.”
Filmmaker Tatia Pilieva paired off 20 strangers and got them to kiss. People have been calling it tender, touching, emotional, etc. but mostly it’s kind of awkward. They even included the gays. You can decide for yourself if this is cute or cringeworthy.
This is Brittani’s Video Party, where I bring some of the “best” videos from all over my internet together so we can clap, cry or deconstruct. Have you ever gotten to a video and it already has 33 million views and you wonder where the heck have you been? Well I’m here to help you so that you see it when it only has 32 million views. Aim low, world. Aim low.
‘Saturday Night Live’ Finally Hires A Black Woman, Say Hello To Sasheer Zamata
Following months of dismay about the absence of a black women on Saturday Night Live and rumors about if and when that would cease to be a reality, it’s been announced that Sasheer Zamata will be joining the cast. She is the first black female cast member since Maya Rudolph’s departure from the show in 2007.
Zamata trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and performs stand-up and sketch in New York. Her television appearances include Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell and Inside Amy Schumer. You might recognize her from many a viral video or her guest appearance on Little Horribles. She will make her debut on January 18th. In what can only be described as fate (because too much awesome), Drake will appear as the musical guest.
Comedy Crush: Liza Dye, “SNL Ready”
As you probably know by now, comedy and women are about the extent of my interests. So why not combine these two things? Comedy Crush will highlight the work of current comedy writers and/or performers in hopes of encouraging a queer lady following so they’ll pander to us for the rest of their careers. Hey, at least I’m trying.
Liza Dye is a stand-up comedian and actress after my own heart. An Upright Citizens Brigade Theater NY Diversity Scholarship winner, the 24 year old is the Managing Editor of Class NYC and DJ at Free Cable Comedy Show. Her candidness about how sucky things are sometimes and unwillingness to shy away from what it’s like for a black woman trying to make it in comedy is refreshing and relatable. She strives to infuse her comedy with creativity (referencing Twitter, YouTube videos, and online occurrences), extensively uses .gifs as humor devices, and showcases her impressions on Vine exhibiting the way being a comedian has been reinvented by social media.
You recently produced a show called Funny Women that brought together some of NY’s most talented stand-ups that happen to all be women of color the same night Kerry Washington hosted SNL. What was the inspiration for that?
The Funny Women show came from the fact that there are all of these hilarious lists of ‘Black Women Who Are Ready for SNL’ going around right now on like every website and every blog ever. By the time the 5th or 6th list rolled out, I was like–it would be hilarious if there was just a huge ‘Black Women Who Are Ready for SNL’ type night. So I put one together and it was amazing, if I do say so myself. It was just a physical embodiment of all the lists.
After that went down, you had people like Key and Peele throwing your name out there as someone who’s ready now. Is SNL your dream gig?
SNL is definitely a dream job for me. I think it is for most comedians or comedic performers whether they want to admit it or not. Apparently no one gets paid in this business and that’s a job that you could get paid to do so it’s pretty tight.
https://vine.co/v/hP2YAMU0ppY
Do you think Kanye West would like your stand-up?
I think ‘Ye would absolutely adore my standup. I love and understand him and I think he would see that through my comedy.
How does it feel being Chelsea Peretti’s unofficial protégé?
Am I known as Chelsea Peretti’s unofficial protégé? That is so tite. She is a god.
Is there an impression you’re still trying to nail or one in your repertoire that was a lot harder to master than others?
Michelle Obama is my hardest impression that I’m struggling with right now and I definitely feel like she’s the most important, seeing as how no one can really nail her voice. It’s very hard because she sounds a lot like Barack but in a more feminine tone. I definitely feel like Kate McKinnon when she said struggled with her Ellen impression for the longest and then one day she just stayed in her apartment all day and she finally got it. Hopefully I can nail it down soon. Pray for me.
Twitter: @LizaDye
Vine: @LizaDye
Brittani’s Video Party: Wednesday Addams Interpretive Dances with Justin Bieber on SNL
Greetings. This is Brittani’s Video Party, where I bring some of the “best” videos from all over my internet together so we can clap, cry or deconstruct. Have you ever gotten to a video and it already has 33 million views and you wonder where the heck have you been? Well I’m here to help you so that you see it when it only has 32 million views. Aim low, world. Aim low.
Header by Rory Midhani
An Interpretive Dance For My Boss Set To Kanye West’s “Gone” has gone (heh heh) viral. In the video, Marina Shifrin quits her job for, I don’t know, reasons. The real story here is that “Gone” is one of the most underrated Kanye songs and maybe now people will appreciate its greatness.
SNL welcomes six new featured players this season, one of which is a woman. Yayyyy equality. In this Girls parody, Tina Fey plays Hannah’s new Albanian roommate. Everyone is hilarious but said new cast member, Noël Wells, is almost indistinguishable from Lena Dunham.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/539038
Adult Wednesday Addams is exactly what it sounds like. If this premise sounds appealing to you, then do your thing and hit play. This new web series will be premiering new episodes every Wednesday and this one guest stars Erin McGathy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHUajqrhF30
I can’t tell what note Justin Bieber was trying to hit in his Between Two Ferns interview with Zach Galifianakis. It doesn’t matter though because Galifianakis kills it the whole way through. He manages to take the signature Bieber topics we’ve heard/read/seen a thousand times (hair, douchebaggery, general suckiness) and still make them funny.
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ca8e174a54/between-two-ferns-with-zach-galifianakis-justin-bieber
If you have a video you think everyone should see, tweet it to @bishilarious for consideration. And of course feel free to post your favorite videos from the week below.
Kate McKinnon Will Be Saturday Night Live’s First Real Live Out Lesbian Person!
Our very own Kate McKinnon has been handed the keys to potential international stardom: she will make her debut on Saturday Night Live next Saturday, April 7. Kate co-starred on The Big Gay Sketch Show alongside Julie Goldman and Nicol Paone for three seasons where she played Barbara Walters and most memorably, Fitzwilliam, a British boy whose only wish was to have a vagina. Since Big Gay, she has performed several one woman shows at New York City’s Upright Citizen Brigade theatre, starred in Vag Magazine, a web series about running a third-wave feminist magazine, and sailed the high seas with Autostraddle on the 2009 Sweet cruise.
Kate with Julie Goldman & Nicol Paone
Kate is poised to fill the missing shoes of Kristen Wiig, likely to leave SNL for a big movie career when her contract expires this May. Beyond Wiig, her cast of characters and range of impressions is reminiscent of the women who have come before her, including Molly Shannon, Cheri Oteri, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph so she will clearly be the Next Big Thing and probably have her own NBC sitcom in 2018. Have I mentioned she’s the first out lesbian cast member in SNL’s 37 year history on television?
photo by Robin Roemer for Autostraddle
Interestingly, Kate was one of Autostraddle’s very first interview/photoshoots way back in June 2009, and although we’ve since been asked to take it down, there’s a quote from the interview that seems particularly relevant:
“My ultimate dream would be to be Lily Tomlin or to be Tracy Ullman, you know, just a character woman. A character woman who does characters where characters are needed. “I would kill to be the first gay person on SNL or have a Tracy Ullman-type show. That would be my ultimate dream.”
In honor of Kate’s big SNL debut (and to prove we knew her when), I present the top 5 Kate McKinnon Things We Love (that weren’t removed from the internet by Logo).
Commitment Ceremony with Julie Goldman
[yframe url=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE6UtcJtqE4′]
Speed Dating
[yframe url=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKn0DWskifU’]
Celesbian Interview featuring Dani Campbell (Part 1)
[yframe url=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rf2bmqxDGI’]
Celesbian Interview featuring Dani Campbell (Part 2)
[yframe url=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VT8uVSzfK0′]
Big Gay Sketch Show: Fitzwilliam Goes to Hogwarts
[yframe url=’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsEbNPP8Edo’]
Kate with Autostraddle's Robin & Carly
Now if only they could hire a woman of color….