Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (January 23, 2009)

IT'S THE BEST GAY TCA EVER!
Hey, everybody, Michael Jensen here! You know, the editor of AfterElton.com? You remember me, right? Used to write the BGWE all the time? Anyone? No one, huh? Sigh...

Sheesh, a guy takes a couple of weeks off for the holidays, then spends two weeks in Los Angeles for the Television Critics Association (TCA) January Tour and he's totally forgotten. I might as well be Topher Grace.

So how was this year's TCA? Flying down to LA, I wasn't wildly optimistic especially as some of the new shows I already knew about, such as Comedy Central's Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, didn't exactly inspire me with confidence for good gay viewing.

Jake Nodar, Chris Colfer, Marques Ray, Matt Ross, Ian McKellen, Haaz Sleiman, Keir Gilchrist, Desmond Dube, Andrew Legustambos, Ted Haggard

So imagine my surprise when I turned up news about some new gay character or gay storyline almost every day. Okay, not all of them are good storylines/characters, but quite a few are and one or two might even be groundbreaking. Read on for the highlights, the lowlights, and a special IMHO: TCA Edition.

THE PEACOCK GETS PINKER. IT'S ABOUT TIME, TOO
As longtime readers of AfterElton.com are well aware, the go-to network for gay content the past couple of years has been ABC with Brothers & Sisters, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives and more all having gay characters. And I had no reason to think things would change significantly this year, but between NBC’s intriguing remake of Kings and the new police drama Southland, the Peacock Network not only added some pink to its color scheme, but did so with potentially groundbreaking characters.

I don’t want to give anything away, but Kings, set in an "alternative" (possibly "confusing") world, will include a major gay character who not only looks to be at the center of the action, but might very well be unlike anything ever seen before on network TV.

As for the gay cop on Southland, much depends on the writers' execution of the character. A tortured closet-case hiding his sexuality would so not be interesting. Much better would be an out gay man dealing with the same trials and tribulations all cops face. (To see pics of and speculate about the potential gay cops go here.)

One of these guys and gals in blue is a little pink at heart

Either way, kudos to NBC for finally moving past fleeting shots of Oscar on The Office and Will Arnett as Devon Banks ogling Kenneth on 30 Rock.

Alas, neither ABC or CBS presented any new shows with compelling gay content while Fox finally has a strong candidate in Ryan Murphy's Glee. Alas, that is offset by a potentially offensive bisexual character in the animated Sit Down, Shut Up. As usual, the cable networks were much stronger with a number of new shows with great gay content.

Next page! Seafood as a metaphor for sexuality!