149: Coach Meets a Gay Guy

“A Real Guy’s Guy” (October 25, 1991)

Hear us out here: Coach is a good sitcom even if you don’t like football. In fact, Drew likes Coach even though he actively despises football. This fourth-season episode has Craig T. Nelson’s character reacting to news that one of his players is gay, and it’s actually pretty flawless in terms of what a gay episode can be: a sympathetically written one-off queer character + a realistic model for how someone who isn’t comfortable around LGBTers can admit this without taking it out on anyone else. In short, a total grand slam.

Watch the opening sequence to Princesses.

And check out Coach’s Clare Carey playing a sexy robot alien woman on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show as a reminder of how weird this show actually was.

Episode artwork by Ian O’Phelan.