Matt Baume

In researching James Burrows' work for the recent video, I kept coming across little tidbits of his connection to Frasier -- first as the co-creator of the show where the character Frasier spawned, and then as the director of the spinoff pilot and any of the subsequent episodes. Several years ago, I

One of the best-written sitcoms of the 1990s never was broadcast: Gloria Vane. It's an incredibly funny show, it's got an amazing cast, it's surprisingly queer, and yet it never went to series. And I think that's actually a good thing. For this week's bonus video, we're diving into this long-lost si

From the 1990s into the 2000, Republican TV commercials said some genuinely deranged things about queer people. (Of course, Republicans are still huge weirdos about queer stuff; women's sports is just their fixation du jour.) And in making my recent marriage equality video, I was surprised at just h

My guest on The Sewers of Paris this week is Jon Kinnally, author of the new memoir I'm Prancing As Fast As I Can: My Journey From a Self-Loathing Closet Case to a Successful TV Writer With Some Self-Esteem. Jon knew from an early age that he wanted to entertain people, and he got his shot in the ‘9

You are almost certainly acquainted with my guest on this week’s episode of The Sewers of Paris podcast — through the episodes he wrote of Will & Grace, Cybil, Frasier, and the show he helped create, The Chris Isaak Show. Bill was a theater guy who get his foot in the door of TV thanks to a few luck

You might know Dante Basco as Prince Zuko from Avatar, or as Jake Long, or as Rufio from Hook. But back in the 90s, he was a break-dancer and he played a gay wrestler in But I'm a Cheerleader -- though the director was worried that he wouldn't manage to pull off the required gay kiss. Not only did h

My guest on The Sewers of Paris podcast this week is writer Christopher Tradowsky, who loves nothing more than to slip into the sanctuary of an old-fashioned movie palace, to commune with strangers all indulging together in whatever escape is unspooling up on the screen. These days, those great vint

Happy mother's day, let's talk about the horniest mom in the galaxy! I've dug up some fascinating behind-the-scenes details about Star Trek, the character Lwaxana Troi, and the real-life saucy shenanigans going on behind the scenes of the show from the 1960s to the 1990s. Plus! If you're as excited

Cast your mind back, if you will, to the 1990s, when reality TV was new. Though the genre was young, many had already written off shows like The Real World as trash. But one young man saw an opportunity, and thought that maybe there was a way he could use television to save lives. His name was Pedro

Hello there! Imagine it's 1992, when being an openly gay person is tremendously dangerous in most of America -- and you've volunteered to have your big queer life broadcast to millions of homes. Norm from season 1 of The Real World had absolutely no idea what he was signing up for, but he knew enoug

Hello there! I'm recovering from some back trouble this week so I'm sliiiiiightly woozy on muscle relaxers... but I won't let that stop me from making a bonus video! This week, I have the real life story of how MTV created The Real World in a desperate attempt to prove that they were still cool, and

My guest this week is director Sav Rodgers, whose new film is Chasing Chasing Amy. It began as an exploration of the origin of the infamous ‘90s rom-com, but in the process of making the documentary, interviewing folks, and digging deeper into the movie’s message, Sav uncovered some surprising truth

I'm chatting with a super exciting guest this week: It's the delightful Senta Moses, who played Delia Fisher on My So-Called Life! We talk about her early career, the inspiration for her performance, the real-life confession that may have influenced the coming-out scene in the finale, and even take

When last we left Angela and Brian and Rickie and Rayanne and all their friends, they were in the early days of 1995 and at a point of no return in their teen lives. So what's happened to them in the intervening 30 years? On this week's episode, we have a reunion episode of sorts, with a roundup of

UPDATE: Very annoyingly, Warner Bros (or someone???) copyright-claimed this video because of a snippet of Madonna music, so I've replaced the video with a new un-Madonnaed version. Hopefully that works. Hello there! In this week's video, I'm sniffling my way through the last vestige of a cold and sh

Hello there! I was doing some research on Wilson Cruz and My So-Called Life when I came across a BONKERS semi-lost sitcom called Great Scott -- not only is it Wilson's first(ish) TV role, it's also an early role for Tobey Maguire, before he was the Spider-Man. But the most interesting thing about it

There’s a double-feature of drama on this week’s episode, as rumors and innuendo swirl around two separate calamities: After a gun goes off during class, only Brian Krakow can reveal the parties involved — but he’s not talking; and gossip about Angela’s dalliance with Jordan reaches Patty’s ears, to

My guest on this week's Sewers of Paris podcast is Karel Bouley. Back in the 90s, Karel and his partner Andrew Howard were the first openly queer couple to host a major market drive time radio show in the US. And after Andrew unexpectedly passed away in the early 2000s, Karel helped change Californi

This week I’m talking to Mayor John Bauters — yes that’s right the actual mayor of Emeryville, which are the words on the sash that was made for him by Pixar studios, just one of the constituencies in his East Bay town. John never planned to become an elected official, and he doesn’t care if people

Dynasty's known for cliffhangers, and the bizarre UFO scene in the finale of the Colbys spinoff is -- I think -- their greatest work. Alas, America didn't quite see it that way, because the show was cancelled before it had a chance to explain itself. But we can still speculate about what the hell th

Hi Patreon friends! I hope you’re doing well! You probably saw that my last video was about Rocko’s Modern Life and gay cartoons of the 90s. In making that video, I dug up a lot of interesting stories and tidbits that I just didn’t have room for in the final script, but that I still think are super

Hello Patreon friends! I have a feeling a lot of you have been waiting a long time for this: I finally have a video coming about the show Friends. (An obscure little indie show from the ‘90s.). I’m planning on releasing the video on my YouTube channel Sunday April 4 at 11am pacific (Patrons at $10+

My guest this week is Chris Pepin-Neff, the world’s foremost expert on human-shark interaction. His life was shaped, you will be shocked to hear, by the movie Jaws — but also by his time in a socialist commune, as well as working alongside Frank Kameny, one of the leading gay rights activists of the

Hello Patreon backers! I'm bringing you a new thing this month -- Patron-exclusive video messages to update you on some of the fun weird wild stuff I'm working on. (If you can't see the video embedded above, you can also view it here: (https://youtu.be/sOF0esDjUFQ) Right now I'm gathering research f

Last week I chatted with comic book author Dale Lazarov, and this week we’ll hear from a comic artist — Joe Phillips. Jos images were some of the first glimpses of gay life I ever saw, back in the 90s as a teenager. His art was simultaneously sexy and wholesome, depicting smiling scantily clad young

On this week's Cozy Pants podcast, we've got the HOT GOSSIP about Kathleen Turner in The Graduate. James indulges in some filthy speculation about holes, and we have a little classy literary talk about the book A Confederacy of Dunces, which we love despite it having QUITE a few problems. (But oh bo

We're going back into the Sewers of Paris archives this week, for an interview with ex-boybander Kevin Yee. Kevin's new comedy special recently premiered Hulu, as part of the Comedy InvAsian series. He's been a performer for almost all his life, with his career taking a wild twist in his teens when

My guest on this bonus episode has a difficult task ahead of her, a different kind of gay marriage -- not of people, but of industries. Trish Bendix is the managing editor of Into, the queer news site connected to Grindr. And in that role, she's in charge of bringing news of the world together with

Thanks to everyone supporting The Sewers of Paris on Patreon, I'm able to bring you bonus episodes every month. We're going to go Beyond the Sewers of Paris, with special guests beyond just gay men, and deep-dives on topics I think you're going to love. This month, I'm bringing you an unusual conver

This Week's guest: Hamed Sinno What did you rebel against when you were a teenager, and are you still rebelling today? This week's guest is Hamed Sinno, whose Lebanese upbringing afforded him only brief glimpses of gay culture and queer voices in pop culture. In college, he formed a band with some f

What happens to fussy little boys who love musical theater and have lots of feelings? If they're lucky, they grow up to be fearless women. My guest this week is the fabulous Miss Coco Peru, who you've seen in movies like Girls Will be Girls, To Wong Foo, Trick, and as a guest star in the greatest co