Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (August 29, 2008)

IMHO — THIS WEEK IN GAY TV
This past week marked the unofficial changeover from the summer to fall TV season. We've got two summer show finales to talk about (Shear Genius and Swingtown), two season premieres (JDMA, Greek) to talk about, plus a few other choice goodies.

Greek Calvin and his pal Rusty have some great moments reaffirming their friendhsip and hey, this ep serves up boys with pom poms and skimpy cheerleader skirts for something called the "Powderpuff Cheer-Off"! What more could you ask from a season opener? So far, ABC Family has only ordered 10 episodes for season 2, but ratings forTuesday's premiere were great, so with luck a second batch of eps forspring will be in the works.

Mad Men is so damn good that it's hard to complain that Salvatore (the only gay character) has virtually nothing to do. Honestly, the show is worth watching just for the costuming and set designs alone. Still, we'd like to see a bit more of Sal (Bryan Batt) and his struggle with his attraction to men. Although given the period (the early sixties) and the character's background (Italian Catholic) something tells me that that storyline is going to be very depressing.

Okay, so As the World Turns is as silly as ever. (This past week Lucinda agrees to go mushroom hunting? Puhleez!) However, we've been resetting our patented Nuke liplock clock about once a week these days, which I find amazing. Even though the show hasn't allowed Luke & Noah to go "all the way", as it were, it really does seem like they have desensitized their middle American housewife audience to the sight of two men kissing. They've actually made it no big deal, and that in itself is a very big deal. Now if they could just start working on desensitizing their more conservative audience to the sight of two boys in bed post-coitus, Nuke might finally achieve some parity with the heterosexual couples on the show.

This week on Project Runway the designers had a truly stupid assignment: Design a dress from parts of a car. It was shaping up to be as disappointing as that grocery store task earlier in the season — virtually all the designers went for the screamingly obvious and started grabbing the tan seatbelt ribbon. And yet somehow most of the designs that eventually went down the runway were fabulous. One of the few that weren't? Keith's Actually, his dress wasn't all that bad, but his truculent behavior towards the judges probably didn't help his case. You can check out our exit interview with him here..

Swingtown has its season finale tonight (August 29th) but last week's penultimate episode featured a night out at a private swinger's club, giving the male lead characters a chance to react to the sight of two men dancing together and two women kissing. It was a little cheesy, but it was meant to demonstrate that these characters have really taken the "anything goes" mantra of the sexual revolution to heart.

Swingtown's Tom (Grant Show) is down with the gay men dancing

If I had to quibble, I'd say the show often seems inauthentic and a bit self-aware. It never achieves the period verité that Mad Men manages for the sixties. You never shake the sense that these are modern actors sporting seventies costumes, props and hairstyles. Still, I've enjoyed the show and hope it comes back for a second season so it can grow into itself. And even if tonight's season finale is its swan song, the show achieved one thing: It brought Grant Show back from relative obscurity. He has been spot on as Tom, the playboy airline pilot with a heart of gold. Which makes you wonder, why hasn't this guy worked more since Melrose Place? He's really good.

The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. It's the same old story: casting call after casting call, old models pitted against new models. But having Janice actually move in with her models? Brilliant! Why didn't they think of that before? Oh wait, they did. It's called The Surreal Life.

And I don't mind a bit that J.P. Calderon is moving on. That new deaf guy is far more interesting.

Housemother Janice and her model/housemates/prisoners

Shear Genius. This may be heretical because I know a lot of other folks around here love this show, but I find it excruciating to watch. It's like a half hour of flipping through one of those awful oversize salon hairstyle magazines — people with too much make-up, bad perms, and asymmetrical bobs. And those are just the contestants! One rare memorable moment in Wednesday's finale? When asked what he'd do with the $100,000 prize money, Charlie (the last gay contestant standing) says he'd get his boyfriend that nose job he always wanted. Alas, the boyfriend's big schnoz will have to wait. Charlie lost to Dee. Be sure to check back on Tuesday for our interview with Charlie.

Next page! Vin Diesel's bad buzz. Plus, Gosselaar is strung out!