Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (May 9, 2008)

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
ABC just snagged an award at The Banff World Television Festival for Outstanding Achievement. The network was specifically cited for shows such as Ugly Betty, Brothers & Sisters, and Grey's Anatomy. It's hard to argue with that.

Speaking of great gay television, last week's My Name is Earl again featured Gay Kenny who was a hoot and may even have sort of found a boyfriend. Best of all, AfterElton.com reader DaveE. compiled all of Kenny's scenes into one tasty, bite-sized nugget for your viewing pleasure. Thanks, Dave!

Mike O'Malley, Gregg Binkley

If I can get personal for a moment, we've been seeing each for three years now and I think it might be time to take our relationship to the next level. That's right, I want to "twitter" you. For those not in the know, twitter is a service that lets you get alerts about gay TV shows, breaking gay entertainment news, and other AfterElton.com news sent as text messages to your phone. (Twitter is a free and popular service that allows individuals or organizations to send short messages to anyone who signs up to "follow" them.) We promise not to twitter every day, only when there's something newsworthy we suspect you might want to hear about right away. And we promise to be gentle. And safe, of course.

Go to twitter.com/afterelton to make sure you're the first to know the next time an actor comes out.

Fans of out actor Russell Tovey (which definitely include me) will be glad to know that the BBC 3 has ordered up a six-part series of the drama Being Human about a werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost living together while trying to blend in to society. Being Human first aired as a pilot episode last year with Tovey playing the part of George, the werewolf. No word yet on the casting for the series, but my fingers are crossed that Tovey will be in it when it airs next year.

Russell Tovey in Being Human

Out author Kai Wright has a new book out titled Drifting Toward Love, an account of the lives of three young men of color coming of age on the streets of Brooklyn, New York. Kai is a journalist who covers the politics of sex, race, and health and Kirkus says his new book is an "unflinching, at times wrenchingly intimate detail, alongside touching reminiscences of first love and the initial realization of a 'different' sexuality . . . An important book about an often-marginalized group."

AfterElton.com reader Trent tells me that Soapnet's General Hospital spin-off Night Shift just might be adding a gay character. A recent casting call for the show describes the new character as:

DR. CRAIG JULIAN 26-28, Caucasian. A new resident at General Hospital. Handsome, charming, fun-loving and passionate. An appealing young man struggling with the fact that his family has never fully accepted him for who he is...SERIES REGULAR.

Hmm, I wonder what they aren't accepting of? His being charming? Passionate? Acting on a soap?

Moving on, I'd never heard of Brazil's "glow boys" before, but I'm glad I've heard of them now.

Glow Boys

Photo by Pedro Marra

I've been as ga-ga as everyone else over The Blue Ones' Nicolas Gob so I went hunting around online looking for some info about him and came across this interview which twice states emphatically that Gob himself is not gay. Once it is Gob himself saying "Let us be clear: no, I'm not gay!" and then in a sidebar, the website itself says "No, Nicolas is not gay!"

The thing to keep in mind is that this is the Google translation of the article, so I'm betting there is something lost in the translation and/or context. Otherwise, it would be a little disappointing that even in Europe in 2008, an actor still feels it necessary to declare he is not gay.

Nicolas Gob in The Blue Ones, Jérémie Renier, Gob in A Love to Hide

Nor is this Gob's first time playing gay. He also starred in the World War II drama A Love to Hide, about two gay men persecuted by the Nazis (Editor's update: Actually, Gob played gay in Sa Raison d'Etre.) Surely an actor like Gob wouldn't really feel the need to so stridently declare his sexuality. Perhaps one of our French readers can read the orginal text and give us a better sense of the piece.