Each episode consists of a series of topical comedic dialogues and sparring between the co-hosts, plus occasional interviews with notable guests. Their main focus is assessing current issues "affecting ladies and gays," dissecting each topic with sass and humor accompanied by earnest passion for defending civil liberties.
History
Gibson and Safi met while performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles, and continued to work together as writers and hosts on InfoMania, on the Current TV network. They released the first episode of Throwing Shade on November 9, 2011. On March 5, 2012 it was announced that Throwing Shade was joining the Maximum Fun podcast network. Throwing Shade has earned the People's Choice Podcast Award for Best GLBT Podcast two years in a row. On June 28, 2017, The Maximum Fun Network announced that Throwing Shade would be leaving the network. They subsequently joined the Earwolf Network.
Hosts
Bryan Safi
Safi is a writer, actor, director, and television personality primarily known for his role in the popular podcast and television show on TV Land. He is also the writer / co-creator of That's Gay, a television segment focused on gay issues that aired on Current TV, an Emmy Award winning staff writer for the Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was a staff writer on Fashion Police with Joan Rivers and FunnyOrDie.com. Safi has appeared on the Upright Citizens Brigade stage for many years and has had numerous appearances on television shows including The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Superstore, and Adam Ruins Everything, and has a recurring role on 9-1-1 as "Josh Russo." In November 2019, Safi and co-host "Ronna Glickman", as played by Jessica Chaffin, premiered a new podcast called Ask Ronna. Safi and Chaffin's show focuses on requests for advice and questions from listeners, and often feature a celebrity guest.
Erin Gibson
Gibson is a writer, director, comedian, and television personality and is a vocal advocate for the rights of women and an ardent supporter of the LGBT+ community. She uses her unique sense of comedy to spread the message of equality. Gibson has hosted segments on Current TV's Infomania which comically addressed the way women are treated in media around the world. As an actress, she has had appearances on Kroll Show, Key and Peele, and Parks and Recreation, and has various other acting credits stretching back to 2006. She was a regular contributor to Huff Post, from 2012–2017, and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Variety Series in 2016, 2018 and 2019 for her work on Funny or Die's "Gay of Thrones".
Spinoff Series
Throwing Shoscar
In early 2019, Earwolf released a spinoff miniseries podcast, called Throwing Shoscar, hosted by Bryan Safi and "Ronna Glickman" which focused on the 2019 Academy Awards season. In the miniseries, the hosts discussed the strong contenders for that year's awards ceremony, and subsequent episodes discussed the actual winners of the major awards. The show returned in 2020 to discuss that year's Academy Awards ceremony with guests Kate Aurthur, Editor-at-large, Variety and Adam B. Vary, Senior Entertainment Writer, Variety. Features of the episode included determining which celebrities were snubbed and special performances of the year's Best Song nominations.
Throwing Shade Presents: Groceries
On August 25, 2019, another spinoff series, hosted by Safi and Gibson premiered on the Earwolf Podcast Network, called. It is the expansion of an existing segment from the original podcast, in which the hosts discuss all things related to their experiences inside of grocery stores. Topics from the first episode include plain vs. smoked Maldon salt, Cotton Candy Grapes, and celebrity sightings in the checkout line.
Funding
The podcast was produced by Jesse Thorn's podcast and radio production network, Maximum Fun. Funding for Maximum Fun, Inc. is raised through underwriting and corporate sponsorship, as well as individual membership donations. The show is now produced by the Earwolf network.
