Hi Honey, I’m Homo! by Matt Baume

Non-fiction | LGBT | Pop Culture | History | Audiobook

•Matt Baume breaks down the development LBGTQ+ representation upon American sitcoms. From the early days on Bewitched, to sitcoms with more flamboyant characters such as Morden Family, America growth in acceptance and inclusion is evident.
•This entertaining and informative book was a delight to listen to. I enjoyed the structure and the pace of this book. It was easy to understand the narrator (the author himself). I can tell Matt put in a lot of work researching, interviewing and developing this book so praise is well deserved.

Feels: informative and enlightening

★★★★ 4/5

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

I would like to express my gratitude for the Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book, generously provided by the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

"Hi Honey, I'm Homo!" by Matt Baume offers a captivating exploration of LGBTQ+ representation in American sitcoms throughout the decades. Baume delves into the intriguing behind-the-scenes stories, shedding light on the struggles and triumphs of queer characters in popular television shows. While the book provides a wealth of information and insightful analysis, it falls short in terms of engagement and storytelling.

Baume's knowledge and passion for the subject matter are evident, and his exploration of iconic sitcoms such as Bewitched, All in the Family, Soap, The Golden Girls, Ellen, and Modern Family is commendable. The book serves as a valuable resource for those interested in the history and evolution of LGBTQ+ visibility in mainstream media.

One of the book's strengths lies in Baume's extensive research, evident through the numerous anecdotes and details about the challenges faced by queer characters and the impact of their portrayal on audiences.
However, despite the fascinating subject matter, "Hi Honey, I'm Homo!" lacks the engaging narrative or personal touch that would have made it truly compelling. The book often feels like a collection of facts and anecdotes rather than a cohesive story. While it covers a wide range of sitcoms, there is a missed opportunity to delve deeper into certain shows or characters that could have brought more emotional depth to the narrative. Additionally, the book's pacing can be uneven, with some sections feeling rushed while others are overly detailed. This inconsistency might make it challenging for some listeners to maintain interest throughout the entire audiobook.

*ALC Review, thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley*

Just finished this book this morning and I am excited to share my thoughts! While in its nature this is a very American-centered discussion around queerness in media, I was able to learn a lot about the topic and came away feeling like I had a deep and real understanding of how queer people have been portrayed in American sitcoms especially. There was clearly so much research done in the making of this book and you could feel the passion and respect for the subject. I enjoyed how it explored the fight for marriage equality alongside and intertwined with the expanded views of queer people in popular media. Definitely go into this knowing it is going to be a very focused look at a very specific topic and I think you will get along with it just fine!

I am not a sitcom devotee but I am obsessed with how culture is shaped by media (and vice versa) so I picked this up on a whim. Needless to say, I absolutely loved it.

Baume gives such a humorous and accessible history of queer representation in sitcoms that I finished the audiobook in twenty four hours.

Now, for a literary inducing binge of Modern Family.

Well researched, informative and entertaining. It made me think and look at popular show characters in a new way.
I appreciated the narratore and learned a lot.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advance audiobook of this title in exchange for an honest review.

This was an excellent book to read (listen to) during Pride month. I learned a lot about how queer folk came to be depicted on television from the 1960s til the present—or even whether they had appeared at all. From Bewitched possibly using witches as a metaphor for all marginalized groups to Will and Grace with an openly gay lead, it’s been quite a roller coaster.

The All in the Family chapter was the most personal for me. My father co-wrote the theme song, and I remember being able to stay up and watch the first episode with my family. Obviously, at the time I had no idea how groundbreaking the show was, so it was really awesome to learn about how Archie had come to accept a drag queen as family, and his reaction when he found out that one of his friends was in fact gay. The way Edith responded when she found out that a deceased relative had left behind a lesbian partner reminded me of the reaction of local church members when our church became open and affirming—it was about recognizing that family is family.

The book was quite educational! The take away was that if people did not actually have gay people in their lives to learn from/learn to accept, then seeing gay characters on television was the next best thing—or possibly even better, since through television, people could see whole stories play out, i.e. characters to whom they related learning that gay people are just people like them.

And now I need to go binge Will and Grace.

This was a great in depth look at a plethora of different shows and the queer representation or coding across many years. I hadn’t watched all of the shows but thought the way things were described and discussed about was thorough and extremely interesting.

I really enjoyed the author doing the narration and definitely wanna check out his YouTube for more.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an alc.

Enjoyable and informative. I learned so much about the history of LGBTQ+ representation in media as well as all the actual stuff happening within the legal system. This was such a cohesive way to present it all and make it so impactful.

This in-depth, tell-all book is an eye-opening and thought-provoking traverse on the history of LGBTQ+ representation in American television. Not only does Matt Baume talk about how queers back then were written and fleshed out on-screen, but he also touches on what it was like for them off-screen. This book piqued my interest because I am one of those people who enjoy and love today's acceptance and portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters across multiple media, and while I am aware of how the times have changed and how society has loosened up some of its shackles on mankind, I didn't question much the story of how queer liberation got to this point. Matt Baume has taken me on a trip from then to now, and it has been entertainingly educational.

I would love to watch this as a documentary. I will probably listen to this audiobook a few times more, and I'm gonna be checking out Matt Baume's YouTube channel.

This was very well researched and written. I definitely learned a lot and now I have some new shows I want to watch! Thanks NetGallery

I am not a huge nonfiction reader. I have enjoyed nonfiction in the past but it is not my go to. I am so glad I listened to Hi Honey, I’m Homo. It was a well researched and planned book about the the profession of gay characters on televisions.

We start out in the 1960’s talking about shows like Bewitched being one of the first to test the waters with a gay character without confirming their sexuality.

By the time we have been brought throughout history we are in 2022 and while gays may be a little more accepted than in the 60’s there is still a long way to go with equality of relationships in both the world and in the media space.

Something I found interesting is when they were casting the roll of Chandler they left his sexuality open to the actor. Whoever got the part was going to determine if Chandler was actually gay or straight. When Matthew Perry got the roll it was set he was to be straight but would play the line. “Write is gay and play it straight.” There are serval jokes and comments about Chandler being gay throughout the show.

From here we go into commentary about shows such as Will & Grace, Ellen, Glee and finish with Modern Family. This was a show I absolutely loved because of all the different family dynamics that we were introduced to. This made it different from anything televised. We got to see a gay couple happily married and adopt a child. We got to see them get married and live a happy and chaotic life together that heterosexual couples could also relate to.

Overall it was a very interesting read and I’m glad I took the opportunity to do so.

I loved every thing about this book. As someone who loves history and documentaries, but cannot focus on actually watching something, this audiobook is PERFECT. I learned so much fascinating information that I didn't know about beforehand.

Matt Baume dives into the history of being queer on TV. He talks about gay characters appearing in TV shows from the 1970-present and what that looked like on set and how it was perceived by the public. The struggles from the writers to the actor on screen. From popular shows like Golden Girls and Friends to more obscure shows, there are few are far between open gay characters in television from broadcast companies banning shows with topics of being queer.

Releasing this book during Pride Month is the perfect time because there is so much important information included that honestly sounds exactly like what we are now dealing with in 2023 as we were in the 70s. I encourage everyone to give this a listen or read regardless of your sexual orientation. There is something to take away from this book in every chapter.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I was initially drawn to this book due to the title. It definitely caught my attention! I felt this would be a great read this month since it is Pride Month. I’m so glad that I did. It was interesting to learn about LGBTQ+ media. I had no idea that there was a family viewing hour. This book was very entertaining and enlightening. I also enjoyed that the author was also the narrator. I also learned about his YouTube channel that I’ll also be checking out.

5⭐️Very interesting & well-written🏳️‍🌈#hihoneyimhomo by @mattbaume #readbytheauthor #myfavetvshows #neverknewbutnowdo #weregoingbackwards #bewitched #soap #modernfamily #ellen #myeyespreferaudiobooks🎧 thanks #NetGalley & #dreamscapemedia

I know that judging a book by its cover is typically frowned upon, but I have to admit the cover and title are what initially caught my attention when scrolling for a book to read. Since I like seeing LGBTQ+ rep in the movies and TV shows I watch, I felt this was a perfect book to read for Pride Month.

Hi Honey, I'm Homo reflects on a variety of tv shows from Bewitched in the 60s through to Modern Family in the 2000s and how they affected media representation of LGBTQ+ storylines. The first TV shows I recall seeing with queer rep were Dawson's Creek and later Degrassi: The Next Generation, so I was excited to learn about the history of inclusion in sitcoms. I watched a few of the shows Baume references but did not pick up on a lot of the Queer content.

This is the perfect time for a book like this to come out. Across the country, LGBTQ+ books are being banned, and Baume makes the argument that exposure to lgbtq+ characters, even fictional characters, helps with empathy and understanding, which is very much needed right now when the community is under attack.

I've just finished the last page of Matt Baume's very enjoyable book "Hi Honey, I'm Homo!". Perfectly timed to read during Pride, not just for the LGBTQ+ community, this is for everyone.
It offers such an informative glimpse into not only queer representations and history, but history of our country as well and through the lense of pop culture, a glimpse into where this country was at on Gay Rights in the past, the present and where it seems to be heading.
Ranging from tv classics such as Barney Miller, All in the Family, and Soap, to more modern hits such as Friends, Will & Grace, Modern Family, The Dinosaurs (you read that correctly), and my personal favorite, The Golden Girls.
Each chapter offers us a time capsule of American life along with some fun information about the backgrounds and behind the scenes of these classics. Now that you've read this, go out and read this, (what I believe to be) important book!

Hi Honey, I’m Homo tracks how queer comedy in sitcoms influenced the rights and perceptions of the LGBTQ+ community over six decades. Covering shows like Bewitched, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, Golden Girls, Friends, Dinosaurs, Roseanne, Ellen, Will&Grace, and Modern Family, it looks at which shows really pushed forward conversations (All in the Family), which were outright gay rights allegory (Bewitched), which started by playing it safe (Will&Grace), and which should have pushed even more (Friends). This was an entertaining read, especially during Pride month.

Thank you, NetGalley, for a copy of this book.

This was such a fun read on the history of LGBTQ representation in television. I was too young to recognize this significance of these events while they were occurring, so it very information to have another perspective. I would definitely recommend this title to my friends!

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced audiobook download in exchange for my honest review!

After watching some of Matt Baume's YouTube videos, I was eager to read his book. I usually prefer audio, so I was thrilled to see the audiobook available here on NetGalley.

While I am not crazy about the title (it sounds derogatory, but maybe that's the point), I absolutely loved the book. Baume reads it himself, and every word is crisp, clean, and animated. He has fleshed out the stories from his YouTube videos and added a concise summary in the conclusion, which reflects hope even as the LGBTQIA+ community is currently facing a huge conservative backlash.

Part of the fun of this book for me was that it highlighted many television shows I remember growing up watching. As a young child (and even as an adult, watching shows like "Will & Grace"), I did not always appreciate (or sometimes even understand) the LGBT+ references, messages, and storylines, even as I enjoyed the shows themselves. Through detailed and thoroughly researched content, Baume explains what occurred behind the scenes to put those shows in the social, cultural, and political context of the times during which they aired. Anyone wanting to better understand LGBT+ history and the impact LGBT+ individuals have had in American cultural in the past century needs to read this book.

This was exactly the content I was hoping for! Matt Baume, who also narrates the book, does an excellent job of walking you through the on-screen appearances of queer characters, the behind the scenes work to make that happen, and the significant points in history surrounding these moments. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and would recommend the book or audiobook to anyone. I came of age on Ellen reruns and Will & Grace episodes and it was invaluable to see someone like me represented in media. I think my only complaint is that I want more! Do sci-fi and fantasy TV, or dramas - I will read all of it because I want to know all the behind the scenes info on the deliberate choices made (both for and against) queer character representation. Happy Pride Month, this is a great way to kick it off! Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.