Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (September 19, 2008)

IMHO — THIS WEEK IN GAY TV
How was this week in terms of gay entertainment?

Well, I tried to catch as much as I could and here's what I thought of what I saw ...

AS THE WORLD TURNS: Considering that last week Luke was onscreen for literally 90 seconds, it really wouldn't have taken much for this week's episode to be an improvement ... and it still wasn't. Not even Luke's sexy new look could save the soap from taking the plunge this week.

How are they going to keep things going until Noah gets back?

TRUE BLOOD: The second episode of the fascinating vampire mystery soap hit the ground running (and bleeding), and offered even more nekkid Ryan Kwanten. I was intrigued by the premiere ep, but now you can color me blood red hooked. This week's ep had more blood, more mystery and more clues as to what the heck's going on with Sookie and her wacky townsfolk.

Also, the show has already been picked up for a Season 2 after posting great ratings for this week's episode. 

GREEK: This is a tough one. On the one hand the gayest ep of the season (which isn't saying much) brought up the radical idea that not all gay men feel the same way about everything, and echoed discussions that go on at this very site.

But on the other it was a reminder of just how backseat Calvin is to the rest of the show ... they poke fun of the idea that gay guys are just around to make straight girls feel better about themselves ... but isn't that pretty much all Calvin ever gets to do anymore?

WEEDS: The fourth season went out with a bang, with gay character Agent Till establishing himself as a major force in the show. Considering that the existing barely-there character actually vanished last week, it was a pretty slick move to replace him with an even more formidable gay character with a more emotional storyline.

A strong gay good guy who lives to see another season? You'd think we were smoking something.

PROJECT RUNWAY: Team Gay took another win (yay Jerell!) and neither of the guys got kicked to the curb, and some of the outfits were pretty darn cute. Plus, it's nice to have the resident drama queen not be on Team Gay for a change. (Yes, Kenley, we're looking at you.)

I don't know if Suede will make it to the Final 3 but Jerell has emerged as this season's hope for the gays ... so is it bad that I still want Leanne to win?

TOP DESIGN: This week's episode was pretty good, which made it even harder to see Big Daddy get sent packing. It was fun to see the Project Runway vets (including gay Andres and Santino Rice) calling the shots and Preston pulled himself up by his tank-top straps, finally.

And did you notice that one of the designers made a casual reference to Jonathan Adler's "husband" (Simon Doonan)? Very sweet.

Now if they can just get rid of Wisit...

SHIRTS & SKINS:  Logo's new docusoap about gay basketball team the San Francisco Rock Dogs injects some much-needed diversity into the gay net, in more ways than one. For one, they're a racially diverse group of guys, and for another ... well, they're basketball players!

The show has a brisk pace and an interesting (and not too hard on the eyes) cast of young guys, and gives an interesting look into a slice of gay life that's new to most people. I'm curious to see more.

FORBIDDEN LOVE: Light the torches! Yes, I'm giving the beloved German soap a side-arrow this week because the guys are seriously lacking a storyline right now, plus Christian was away for one of the eps so I'm giving him the silent treatment.

What the show does they do great, so let's give the boys something to chew on! And I don't mean that new Swedish boy-toy...

AND SPEAKING OF HUMBLE OPINIONS...

Since we're on the topic of rating gay entertainment, it was nice to see that AfterElton Blog was ranked by the online blog rating site Blogged, and rated a 9.3 (Excellent). We were included under the general "Entertainment" category and ranked well against mainstream competitors, and what a relief that we don't have to suffer the embarrassment of being outclassed by such esteemed peers as Hollywood Crap and Beauty Secrets of the Stars.

Next page: A big week for gay TV!