Considering how utterly obsessed the gay community is with remembering to not forget its own history (there is a fine distinction between that and actually, you know, remembering), a remarkable amount of gay pop culture has completely disappeared. Whether that’s early YouTube cult favorites like Planet Unicorn or an entire gay sketch comedy series that aired for multiple season on Logo and starred everyone from Kate McKinnon to Colman Domingo, we’re the sadder for jumping straight from Will & Grace to its reboot, with no stops in our collective retelling of LGBTQ representation in TV.
The Boys—and the Apologies—Are Back
But gather round, children, because before late-night sketch comedy had Colin Jost and Michael Che making sure we know how hilarious they find queer and trans people, we were blessed from 2007 to 2010 with three seasons and 22 episodes of The Big Gay Sketch Show, created by Rosie O’Donnell. There were entire sketches about Elaine Stritch! And most indelibly: Colman Domingo reading aloud craigslist m4m ads as Maya Angelou.
There’s something so deliciously mid aughts about these sketches. But more importantly, these are the kinds of jokes that queer audiences immediately get. They may work for straights but they don’t land the same way.
That’s why it’s so disappointing that, as writers at at gay editorial sites pick up the GQ story about Domingo meeting his now husband from a missed connections ad on the site, not a one has mentioned his own memorable connection to craigslist. The Big Gay Sketch Show was a hit or miss proposition—but then, isn’t Saturday Night Live? But all of those sketches seem lost to the sands of time, except for a handful of Domingo-as-Maya videos.
Make up for that by enjoying one now!