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OUR THIRTIES (Comedy) ABC
Our Thirties revolves around a group of characters who, according to the ABC press release, “are swimming a little bit against the tide of the generation that came before us.” Sounds like PR speak for “We're not really sure what makes this sure different from every other show about folks in their thirties!”

Like in The Class, the gay character here is also named Kyle, but this one is played by newcomer Tom Hughes. When the series begins, Kyle is engaged to Liz (Rashida Jones), described in the press release as "a divorcee who is engaged to a closeted major league baseball player and is simply enjoying all the fame and attention". Upon discovering Kyle is gay, their friends try to figure out how to break the news to her, without breaking her heart.

David Walpert from Crumbs is one of the writers behind the series, which gives us some hope that despite the fact that Kyle is another gay man married to a woman, he may still turn out to be a half-way decent character anyway. But then, look how that turned out for Crumbs...

PINK COLLAR (Comedy) ABC
The oddly named sitcom Pink Collar doesn't have any obvious gay interest, but a look below the surface reveals reason to be intrigued. A female-centered sitcom built around Alicia Silverstone (Miss Match), Pink Collar unfolds in an insurance office and revolves around a group of women struggling to make friendship and business work together. The show's director is the openly gay Alan Poul, who both wrote for and worked as the executive producer for Six Feet Under. Additionally, Patricia Breen, another writer on staff, wrote for Frasier.

But of most interest to gay viewers is the casting of openly gay Ash Christian, the up and coming twenty one-year old actor and director whose film Fat Girls is currently premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival. Ash says his character, one of Alicia's co-workers, isn't necessarily gay, but that the show definitely features a gay sensibility that should appeal to gay men.

There you have it. Astute readers will have noticed that almost all of these shows has been ordered by ABC. This week's Entertainment Weekly reports that ABC ordered three times as many pilots as normal, and that may account for why they have so many of the shows with obvious gay interest.

But this makes the odds against any of these shows getting picked up even longer. And even those that do make it onto the fall schedule could suffer the same dire fate as Emily's Reasons Why Not, The Book of Daniel, Crumbs, and Love Monkey.

But it is spring and hope springs eternal—especially in Hollywood. We'll update you in May when the new fall schedule is announced.

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