The Ambiguously Gay Duo is an American animated comedy sketch that debuted on The Dana Carvey Show before moving to its permanent home on Saturday Night Live. It is created and produced by Robert Smigel and J. J. Sedelmaier as part of the Saturday TV Funhouse series of sketches. It follows the adventures of Ace and Gary, voiced by Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell, respectively, two superheroes whose sexual orientation is a matter of dispute, and a cavalcade of characters preoccupied with the question.
Background
The Ambiguously Gay Duo is a parody of the stereotypical comic book superhero duo done in the style of Saturday morning cartoons like Super Friends. The characters are clad in matching pastel turquoise tights, dark blue domino masks, and bright yellow coordinated gauntlets, boots and shorts. The shorts were intended to satirize suggestions that early Batman comics implied a homosexual relationship between the eponymous title character and his field partner and protégéRobin, a charge most infamously leveled by Fredric Wertham in his 1954 book, Seduction of the Innocent, the research methodology for which was later discredited. The typical episode usually begins with the duo's arch-nemesis Bighead, a criminal mastermind with an abnormally large cranium. Bighead is usually briefing his henchmen on a plot for some grandiose plan for world domination, interrupted by a debate as to whether or not Ace and Gary are gay. Once the crime is in process, the police commissioner calls on the superheroes to save the day, often engaging in similar debates with the chief of police. Ace and Gary set out to foil the evil plan, but not before calling attention to themselves with outrageous antics and innuendo, and behaving in ways perceived by other characters to be stereotypically homosexual, as in this conversation from the first episode:
Similar gags appear in almost every episode. Episodes not following this general formula have featured Ace and Gary answering fan mail or offering child safety tips. One such episode entails Ace and Gary giving children a ride home in their Duocar and offering home decorating tips, all while blithely making various suggestive gestures and comments.
Characters
The Ambiguously Gay Duo
Ace – Ace is the leader of the duo. He is mentor to Gary, whom he refers to as "friend of friends." He has a wide array of superhuman powers, including most of Gary's powers.
Gary – Gary is Ace's "sidekick" and protégé, and the younger of the duo. Gary is less experienced, and has fewer superhuman powers than Ace. His powers include superhuman strength, breath, stamina, flexibility, flight, and "laser vision."
Supporting characters
Announcer – The Announcer is a disembodied voice who announces the title of each episode.
The Police Commissioner – The Police Commissioner is the duo's primary contact, and when trouble arises, he makes the call to their hangout. His calls tend to interrupt a workout of some kind, with one or the other of the duo shirtless.
The Chief of Police – The Chief of Police is seen with the commissioner, apparently waiting to find evidence in support of his belief that Ace and Gary are gay.
Kijoro – Kijoro is the duo's mentor whose spirit resides in the "Fortress of Privacy" and offers advice from time to time when Ace and Gary seek counsel.
Bighead – Bighead is a mad scientist with a very large, bald head, and is usually the brains behind most of the evil schemes. Second only to his primary vocation of mad scientist is his obsession with outing the superheroes as gay, which tends to annoy his co-conspirators because they do not care about the duo's sexuality and only want to defeat them in order to rule the world. He is constantly criticized for the amount of energy he invests in this pursuit.
Dr. Brainio – Dr. Brainio is another mad scientist with a brain suspended above his head and attached by a trio of cables and tubing. He occasionally partners with Bighead, but is quite a bit more undecided about Ace and Gary.
Orbitrox – Orbitrox is a small, green, free-floating droid who sides with Bighead on the question of Ace's and Gary's sexual orientation. Orbitrox has proffered evidence of their having visited gay bars, but he emphatically denies visiting them himself, snapping, in subtitled form, "Back off, dickweed, it's research!"
Flame Eye – A henchman of Bighead and Dr. Brainio with a fiery right eye.
Lizardo – A lizard man henchman of Bighead and Dr. Brainio.
Half-Scary – A Two-Face-like henchman of Bighead and Dr. Brainio.
Flatside – A henchman of Bighead and Dr. Brainio whose head is flat on one side.
Episodes
Other appearances
January 12, 2002:, The Ambiguously Gay Duo makes a surprise appearance in The X-Presidents episode "The Hunt for Osama." The Ambiguously Gay Duo show up in their Duocar where they help the X-Presidents capture Osama bin Laden.
April 29, 2006: The Ambiguously Gay Duo co-hosted Saturday Night Live: The Best of TV Funhouse. The hosting duties included the opening monologue performed by Ace and Gary, plus new animated/live-action material during the pre-commercial and post-commercial bumpers. It was revealed during these bumper segments that they seem to have an undying obsession with former cast memberJimmy Fallon. The show ended with the duo taking cast members Jason Sudeikis and Andy Samberg to their secret headquarters — both naked — in the Duocar, with announcer Don Pardo begging to be taken with them and a spurned Jimmy Fallon looking on from his apartment window with tears in his eyes.
In 2015, Bif Bang Pow Toys produced and released a new 8" retro action-figure line of Ace and Gary titled the Ambiguously Gay Duo 8" retro action figure series. They were both individually packaged on a card but sold together in a set at the Entertainment Earth Catalog and website and at other toy and comic book stores as well. That same year, Bif Bang Pow Toys produced the Ambiguously Gay Duo Tin Tote action figure set of four 5" action-figures of Ace, Gary, and Bighead.
