(MATT BAUME) How Sitcoms Handled Homos in the 70s and 80s!

When did TV first permit joking while gay? I've been combing through sitcoms of the 70s and 80s to figure out when queers stopped being a scary threat, and were allowed to be real people with love lives and funny punch lines. Here are just a few of my favorite early gay characters on sitcoms.

(Blank on Blank) Gene Wilder on The Truth!

"On stage or in the movies I could do whatever I wanted to. I was free."
- Gene Wilder, March 2007

Conversation with Ms. magazine founding editor Letty Cottin Pogrebin

Hear the entire interview at http://92YOnDemand.org

GIFs and more Gene Wilder @ blankonblank.org

(MATT BAUME) A Salute to Sissies!

Who are your favorite sissies from TV and film? Here are a few of mine, and why, as far as I'm concerned, they're all heroes. Sissies are strong, they're brave, they're upbeat and utterly shameless. For nearly a century they've been fearlessly flouncing through movies and shows, teaching us that it's ok to be honest about who we are -- which ones are at the top of your list?

(92nd Street Y) Neil Patrick Harris with Jonathan Tisch!

Star. There’s no other way to describe Neil Patrick Harris.

From “How I Met Your Mother” to his iconic performance in Hedwig and the Angry Inch; from the beloved Doogie Howser, M.D. to Dr. Horrible; from Gone Girl to the Harold & Kumar movies; he’s won multiple awards and gained a massive and devoted following. Irreverent, sharp, witty and completely charming, he’s hosted the Tonys, the Emmys and the Oscars, and written a bestselling memoir, Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography. He’s also an accomplished amateur magician, and the father of twins. Join him as he talks about it all in a career interview with moderator Jonathan Tisch.

(The Snap Daily) The Top 10 Best of Britney Spears!

Louis brings you the Top 10 moments of the best artist ever... to be named Britney Spears EVER!

(SCREEN JUNKIES) Before They Were Famous - Summer 2015 Edition!

Check out some of this summer's hottest movie stars - before they were famous!

DEBUT! (Koffee Klatsch w/ Derek Hartley) Day One Antics!

Spend a few minutes in Derek's wrap room while he discusses daily life since the DNR Show ended on SIRIUS OUTQ

(The Snap Daily) My Advice to the Campaigning Donald Trump!

The Donald-In-Chief? Not likely, without my advice.

(The Snap Daily) How'd Beyoncé, Miley, and Nicki End Up In 'I'm Madonna, Bitch?'

Madonna's got a new music video and it's packed with stars. How?!

(Blank on Blank) Kurt Cobain on Identity!

"I even thought that I was gay. I thought that might be the solution to my problem." - Kurt Cobain

Interview by Jon Savage
July 22, 1993. Cassette Tape

Hear the full interview @ Rocksbackpages.com

(Blank on Blank) Elliott Smith on Freaks!

"A lot of people are kind of depressed. I'm happy some of the time, and some of the time I'm not."
- Elliott Smith in 1998, as told to Barney Hoskyns

We came across a really lost special tape for this episode of Blank on Blank: Elliott Smith interviewed in 1998 by Barney Hoskyns. It’s a little eerie hearing him now more than 10 years after his death, but it’s also kind of soothing to hear his signature comfort and discomfort bubbling beneath the surface. It’s kind of like his timeless collection of music. Smith died under mysterious circumstances in 2003 at the age of 34.

In this animated film Elliott Smith talks about feeling like a freak in high school, how he initially didn't feel confident singing in the style that became his signature voice, what he said when people compared him to Paul Simon, writing about people with addictions, the internal chaos that people face, and how his music isn't happy or sad. "I couldn't say what it is"

Enjoy, everybody. RIP, Elliott.

(Blank on Blank) Tom Robbins on Jitterbugs!

"If I knew how it was going to end, I probably wouldn't write it.”
- Tom Robbins in 1994, as told to Tod Mesirow

Tom Robbins, author of classics like Still Life of Woodpecker, Jitterbug Perfume, and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, takes us inside the mind of a writer who'd prefer writing with a raven quill dipped in lizard blood. For many, including tons of college students, Robbins transported readers to another world where it seemed possible that enormously oversized thumbs could bring you happiness, and romance could take place inside a pack of cigarettes. Where do these fantastic stories begin?

We present outtakes from a previously unheard interview Robbins did with Tod Mesirow back in 1994 for a film about authors that was never made. In this episode of Blank on Blank, Robbins dreams about a nurse serving him tequila sunrises when he’s 85, why he took a two-by-four to typewriter and works in pen and paper, how his first attempts at writing began when he was five and a story about a pilot stuck on a deserted island, and how he pours over every word in his books 30 or 40 times.

Colorful chatter from Tom Robbins = made for animation.

(Blank on Blank) John Lennon and Yoko Ono on Love!

"It's all true, folks: all you need is love."
- John Lennon, 1969

Interviews by Howard Smith
Hear the full interviews @ TheSmithTapes.com

GIFs and more John and Yoko - blankonblank.org

DEBUT! (Louis Virtel's But What I Really Want to Know Is..) Diablo Cody!

Diablo Cody is an Oscar-winning screenwriter, an acclaimed author, and one of the big reasons Twitter is worth tolerating, but we mainly love the "Juno" scribe because she's a great interviewee. On the first episode of HitFix's new interview series But What I Really Want To Know Is..., we caught up with Cody (a.k.a. Brook Maurio) to discuss her least favorite screenwriting cliches, the filming of her next movie "Ricki and the Flash" with Meryl Streep, and the woman who warned her to put her Oscar away for good.

We also play a round of our favorite game called Who's In Your Coven? Pick five living women who represent, for lack of a better term, your "spirit animals." Mine are Jane Fonda, Jane Curtin, Lesley Ann Warren, Lee Grant, and Cynthia Nixon. Who did Diablo Cody pick? Your head will spin.