best queerbait show tournament

exactly what it says on the tin // please read the FAQ before sending an ask

[bestqueerbait]

You can find the final round as well as the 3rd place poll here.

[bestqueerbait]

You can find the final round as well as the 3rd place poll here.

[bestqueerbait]

BEST QUEERBAIT TV SHOW - FINAL ROUND

Supernatural* (Dean Winchester/Castiel) vs. BBC Merlin (Merlin/Arthur Pendragon)

Supernatural

BBC Merlin

Voting ended onSep 28, 2025

*Shows marked with an asterisk feature minor queer storylines

Submitted propaganda under the cut:

Supernatural:

"just trust me bro"

"I mean. This is the supernatural website. You guys know"

"It was the longest and greatest queerbait of all time. Twelve years of tension just for both of them to die wanting, one of them still in the closet."

"Destiel is so bizarre. I thought it was entirely made up during my first watch of SPN 1-7, figured I'd never get it during my second watch until Season 6. Then I couldn't stop seeing it. In everything. For the next NINE seasons. And then retrospectively for the preceeding two/three. The market research. The widower arc. The divorce arc. The specific episodes that make you ask yourself "Did I miss the episode where they got together??" Record-breaking fanfiction. Narrative parallels. The Market Research (for emphasis). It's nonsensical. Who tf else was doing it this purposefully for this long??"

"the ultimate queerbait. even when it went canon it was still queerbait."

"I mean like…c’mon."

"you know its true. we all know its true."

BBC Merlin:

Come on have you watched this show? You know. I don't need to spell it out for you

"He is your destiny" "Two sides of the same coin" - repeated inuendos, magic being a metaphor for queerness, etc

op's addendum:

Literally based on smallville who might as well have written the book on queerbaiting and supernatural powers as a metaphor for gayness. Also gay as fuck to be canonically destined to be at the side of another man until death does you apart and then some.

[bestqueerbait]

BEST QUEERBAIT TV SHOW - THIRD PLACE MATCH

House M.D.* (Gregory House/James WIlson) vs. Star Trek** (James T. Kirk/Spock)

House MD

Star Trek

Voting ended onSep 28, 2025

*Shows marked with an asterisk feature minor queer storylines

**While the original Star Trek aired at a time where there was no queer representation on TV, Kirk and Spock have been revisited many times, notably on the ongoing projects: Alternate Original movie saga and Strange New Worlds. The prolonged insistence in keeping them friends while knowing and squeezing the most iconic gay ship in TV history could be read as malicious intent. Eye of the beholder.

Submitted propaganda under the cut:

House M.D.:

"Other shows might have queerbaited in more distressing ways, but House queerbaited with a love for the game and a passion for the craft. Always intentional, always flawless."

"They are insane, they literally ride a motorcycle into the sunset together at the end of the series."

"House and Wilson love each other, most important people in each other's lives. Unconditional love. When they make gay jokes it physically pains me to know that they were never going to do anything romantic or crazy sexual style with them."

Star Trek:

"I mean, the OG ship. The looks, the touching, pon far"

"Invented slash, though they weren't intentional queerbait at the time I mean… Look at them. Responsible along with Spn for inventing omegaverse. Modern day iteration actors will NOT stop making jokes about the ship, and saying the ship name at comic cons. I'm losing my mind I'm losing my goddamn mind. I'm getting fucking queerbaited by the oldest slash ship,,,"

[bestqueerbait]

You can find the semifinals here.

[bestqueerbait]

BEST QUEERBAIT TV SHOW - SEMIFINALS

BBC Merlin (Merlin/Arthur Pendragon) vs. House M.D.* (Gregory House/James WIlson)

BBC Merlin

House M.D.

Voting ended onSep 20, 2025

*Shows marked with an asterisk feature minor queer storylines

Submitted propaganda under the cut:

BBC Merlin:

Come on have you watched this show? You know. I don't need to spell it out for you

"He is your destiny" "Two sides of the same coin" - repeated inuendos, magic being a metaphor for queerness, etc

op's addendum:

Literally based on smallville who might as well have written the book on queerbaiting and supernatural powers as a metaphor for gayness. Also gay as fuck to be canonically destined to be at the side of another man until death does you apart and then some.

op's addendum 2:

Please take into account that whoever wins this will probably run against destiel and we've already had too many hilson vs. destiel polls. but do whatever your heart desires ig.

House M.D.:

"Other shows might have queerbaited in more distressing ways, but House queerbaited with a love for the game and a passion for the craft. Always intentional, always flawless."

"They are insane, they literally ride a motorcycle into the sunset together at the end of the series."

"House and Wilson love each other, most important people in each other's lives. Unconditional love. When they make gay jokes it physically pains me to know that they were never going to do anything romantic or crazy sexual style with them."

[bestqueerbait]

BEST QUEERBAIT TV SHOW - SEMIFINALS

Supernatural* (Dean Winchester/Castiel) vs. Star Trek** (James T. Kirk/Spock)

Supernatural

Star Trek

Voting ended onSep 20, 2025

*Shows marked with an asterisk feature minor queer storylines

**While the original Star Trek aired at a time where there was no queer representation on TV, Kirk and Spock have been revisited many times, notably on the ongoing projects: Alternate Original movie saga and Strange New Worlds. The prolonged insistence in keeping them friends while knowing and squeezing the most iconic gay ship in TV history could be read as malicious intent. Eye of the beholder.

Submitted propaganda under the cut:

Supernatural:

"just trust me bro"

"I mean. This is the supernatural website. You guys know"

"It was the longest and greatest queerbait of all time. Twelve years of tension just for both of them to die wanting, one of them still in the closet."

"Destiel is so bizarre. I thought it was entirely made up during my first watch of SPN 1-7, figured I'd never get it during my second watch until Season 6. Then I couldn't stop seeing it. In everything. For the next NINE seasons. And then retrospectively for the preceeding two/three. The market research. The widower arc. The divorce arc. The specific episodes that make you ask yourself "Did I miss the episode where they got together??" Record-breaking fanfiction. Narrative parallels. The Market Research (for emphasis). It's nonsensical. Who tf else was doing it this purposefully for this long??"

"the ultimate queerbait. even when it went canon it was still queerbait."

"I mean like…c’mon."

"you know its true. we all know its true."

Star Trek:

"I mean, the OG ship. The looks, the touching, pon far"

"Invented slash, though they weren't intentional queerbait at the time I mean… Look at them. Responsible along with Spn for inventing omegaverse. Modern day iteration actors will NOT stop making jokes about the ship, and saying the ship name at comic cons. I'm losing my mind I'm losing my goddamn mind. I'm getting fucking queerbaited by the oldest slash ship,,,"

[bestqueerbait]

Sorry for the delay posting round 3! I had no electricity the whole week but I do now!! So I'll try to get it posted as soon as possible

[bestqueerbait]

sorry if youve answered this, looked thru your faq and didnt see an answer - are we voting for which is the better show, which queerbaited more, or which was better at queerbaiting (the latter two being similar but imo still distinct)?

A mix honestly we are voting for whatever your heart wishes. Personally I think of it as the better queerbait: quality ratio out of the two.

[bestqueerbait]

"this show doesn't deserve to be here" then vote it off. It's literally that simple.

[bestqueerbait]

Too many people not reading the FAQ or even the asterisks in posts before saying stupid shit huh. I mean too many people here in general since last round which is annoying off itself but. I'm tired of having the same discussions. I'm just a messenger

[bestqueerbait]

Okay! the tournament officially begins! You can find round one here.

[bestqueerbait]

Round 2 is finally up!

[bestqueerbait]

BEST QUEERBAIT TV SHOW - ROUND 2

House M.D.* (Gregory House/James WIlson) vs. Once Upon A Time* (Emma Swan/Regina Mills)

House M.D.

Once Upon A Time

Voting ended onSep 9, 2025

*Shows marked with an asterisk feature minor queer storylines

Submitted propaganda under the cut:

House M.D.:

"Other shows might have queerbaited in more distressing ways, but House queerbaited with a love for the game and a passion for the craft. Always intentional, always flawless."

"They are insane, they literally ride a motorcycle into the sunset together at the end of the series."

"House and Wilson love each other, most important people in each other's lives. Unconditional love. When they make gay jokes it physically pains me to know that they were never going to do anything romantic or crazy sexual style with them."

Once Upon A Time:

"i mean those two women had a kid together it doesn't get mores lesbian than that."

"didn't even go there, but the older i get the more obvious it gets. they shared a child!! they were supposed to be enemies but would constantly make exceptions for each other. and the added layer of "i have this super close relationship with my parents nemesis" just multiplies the freakinnes… wait i forgot that Regina was literally Emma's mother's step mom. what the hell even was this show. P. S. this show literally had a second minor yuribait couple with Mulan and Sleeping Beauty. they were addicted to writing these."

"They raised a kid together (who calls them both Mom) and had an epic enemies to friends to high chemistry almost lovers story."

[bestqueerbait]

BEST QUEERBAIT TV SHOW - ROUND 2

BBC Merlin (Merlin/Arthur Pendragon) vs. BBC Sherlock (Sherlock Holmes/John Watson)

BBC Merlin

BBC Sherlock

Voting ended onSep 9, 2025

Submitted propaganda under the cut:

BBC Merlin:

Come on have you watched this show? You know. I don't need to spell it out for you

"He is your destiny" "Two sides of the same coin" - repeated inuendos, magic being a metaphor for queerness, etc

op's addendum:

Literally based on smallville who might as well have written the book on queerbaiting and supernatural powers as a metaphor for gayness. Also gay as fuck to be canonically destined to be at the side of another man until death does you apart and then some.

BBC Sherlock:

"do I even have to say it? come on. you know the deal already."

"sorry."

[bestqueerbait]

BEST QUEERBAIT TV SHOW - ROUND 2

Smallville (Clark Kent/Lex Luthor) vs. Star Trek* (James T. Kirk/Spock)

Smallville

Star Trek

Voting ended onSep 9, 2025

*While the original Star Trek aired at a time where there was no queer representation on TV, Kirk and Spock have been revisited many times, notably in the ongoing projects: Alternate Original movie saga and Strange New Worlds. The prolonged insistence in keeping them friends while knowing and squeezing the most iconic gay ship in TV history could be read as malicious intent. Eye of the beholder.

Submitted propaganda under the cut:

Smallville:

-their lips meet in the pilot -it’s literal destiny -no one is obsessed like that without love involved -Lex protects and helps Clark all the time -Clark saves Lex’s life so many times -Lex just wants to be part of a family and Clark could have easily given that to him -rich kid and farm boy - need I say more? -Lex is constantly trying to be a wingman for Clark and Lana, yet Clark can’t seem to make that relationship work -red kryptonite Clark was ready to run away with Lex -the looks they give each other -they could have had it all had they been honest with each other

Why are you as a man obsessed with finding out your best friends secret 🤨

The first time they interacted on screen, Clark gave Lex mouth-to-mouth. The actors are constantly joking about their being something between them. In the DVD commentary, they comment on the homoeroticism of the framing. There was a reunion scene that the showrunners compared to lovers meeting after one of them came home from a war. Chloe constantly making jokes about Clark being “in the closet” re: his superpowers and at one point says that Clark is only attracted to people with the initials L.L.

Star Trek:

I mean, the OG ship. The looks, the touching, pon far

Invented slash, though they weren't intentional queerbait at the time I mean… Look at them. Responsible along with Spn for inventing omegaverse. Modern day iteration actors will NOT stop making jokes about the ship, and saying the ship name at comic cons. I'm losing my mind I'm losing my goddamn mind. I'm getting fucking queerbaited by the oldest slash ship,,,

[bestqueerbait]

BEST QUEERBAIT TV SHOW - ROUND 2

Supernatural* (Dean Winchester/Castiel) vs. Supergirl* (Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor)

Supernatural

Supergirl

Voting ended onSep 9, 2025

*Shows marked with an asterisk feature minor queer storylines

Submitted propaganda under the cut

Supernatural:

"just trust me bro"

"I mean. This is the supernatural website. You guys know"

"It was the longest and greatest queerbait of all time. Twelve years of tension just for both of them to die wanting, one of them still in the closet."

"Destiel is so bizarre. I thought it was entirely made up during my first watch of SPN 1-7, figured I'd never get it during my second watch until Season 6. Then I couldn't stop seeing it. In everything. For the next NINE seasons. And then retrospectively for the preceeding two/three. The market research. The widower arc. The divorce arc. The specific episodes that make you ask yourself "Did I miss the episode where they got together??" Record-breaking fanfiction. Narrative parallels. The Market Research (for emphasis). It's nonsensical. Who tf else was doing it this purposefully for this long??"

"the ultimate queerbait. even when it went canon it was still queerbait."

"I mean like…c’mon."

"you know its true. we all know its true."

Supergirl:

They literally did lesbian clex with katie mcgrath.also everytime supergirl bridal-carried lena.

propaganda? it ruined my goddamn life

op's addendum:

Where to start. Do I start with Katie McGrath?? Or the fact that everyone was in on it?? That they were queerbaiting very openly and purposefully? There's a whole parallel universe in the 100th episode in which Kara and Lena never had a fallout. In this parallel universe Lena refuses to testify against Supergirl and this kind of opens up a speculation as to whether they're married. In a parallel universe. Which could mean nothing.

[bestqueerbait]

I honestly forgot to post round two the whole weekend. I'll get to it sometime today I promise