152: Troy McClure Isn’t Gay, But…

“A Fish Called Selma” (March 24, 1996)

In this episode, The Simpsons send up the glass closets of Hollywood and what some actors are willing to do to pass for “normal.” Troy McClure explicitly says he’s not gay, but the way the industry treats him for not fitting the leading man mold and what he does to find success anyway parallels what a lot of gay stars have done and what some are still doing.

Read:

• The strange history of the 2019 film Yesterday and Jack Barth, the screenwriter who wrote this Simpsons ep

• Mel Magazine’s history of the Richard Gere gerbil story

• Did Sylvester Stallone start the Richard Gere gerbil rumor?

Listen:

• Talking Simpsons’ take on A Fish Called Selma

• The You Must Remember This episodes about American Gigolo and Body Double

Episode artwork by Ian O’Phelan.