Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (August 17, 2007)

BIG WEEK IN GAY SOAPS ... AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT MOLTON BROWN

Anyway, back to the week's news. First we had the Desperate Housewives casting announcement of our first Wisteria Lane gaybors, Lee and Bob Hunt, who will be played by Kevin Rahm and Tuc Watkins, respectively (and, one would hope, respectfully).

Lots of people had lots to say about these two fellas, most of it positive. Watkins has earned some gay fans by playing gay multiple times (most notably on Showtime's Beggars & Choosers), and for ending up in a towel on One Life To Live more often than the entire cast of Steam: The Turkish Bath ever did.

Rahm has also played gay, which is always nice, although I have yet to find a picture of him in a towel. And needless to say, both fellas are pretty adorable and have solid resumes up to this point.

Now it just remains to be seen whether the folks behind the show will deliver the goods in terms of a great storyline and some stereotype-busting meat for these actors to chew on (or, at the very least, stereotype-busting scenery to chew on). Will Housewives regain its former glory with this new blood? We shall see...

The other big news is of course today's historic gay teen kiss on As the World Turns, which has also had its share of towel-magic as the love story between Juke and Noah has slowly developed. The kiss got covered on Entertainment Tonight and we interviewed Jake Silbermann, the actor who plays Noah, so this must be important stuff!

And, all joking aside, it really is. Aside from being daytime's first gay male teen kiss, it's also the first time a gay teen on a soap has come from a show's main family (the Snyders, in this case) and been explored as simply another member of the family growing into his own unique self. Viewers have grown up with Luke, and to see an established character going through the awkward steps of first gay love must be opening some eyes and giving gay teens everywhere something to connect with. (It's also great that this is airing in the summer, when kids are home from school.)

The story has also been handled very well and acted with exceeding sensitivity, and both actors have been incredibly open to speaking about playing gay roles, as well as refreshingly casual about the gay elements. As Silbermann noted on ET, "It's a real story and it's a common story. Millions of people are going through this right now."

But enough about that, let's get back to the towels!