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As we go into the weekend, here's a handy shortlist of the biggest stories of the week on AfterElton.com. And to get you into a playful mood, each week's final post will feature a pic up top that desperately needs captioning. Each week we'll pick our fave suggestion from the comments and run it in the following week's post. Have fun! Drop your caption ideas in the comments, and check out last week's winner after the jump!

Editor's note: As the Fourth of July falls on a Saturday this year, we'll be taking Friday off to lounge around by the pool celebrate the birth of our country! We'll have the BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER! tomorrow, but otherwise the site won't be updated until Monday. That is all...

• You took a big bite out of our maiden Monday Morning Everything Bagel.
• We celebrated Pride around the world.
• True Blood's Scratches kept us itching for more.
• We liveblogged As The World Turns, The Young & The Restless, and One Life To Live. Now that's gaytime drama!

One Life To Live stars Scott Evans and Brett Claywell

• Comic book X-Factor brings the gay.
• Another soap has an actor with a problem with a gay storyline.
• This week's Merlin episodes cast a spell over us.
• The Rachel Maddow Show and Keith Olbermann asked some tough questions about the current administration.
• We went Under The Covers for a second time.
• We liked the latest episodes of Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and The Closer. The latest episode of Weeds? Not so much.
• Speaking of Weeds, we interviewed actor Jack Stehlin, who had some interesting things to say about his gay character.
• This week's Gay in the UK looked at British Father's Day and showering bartenders.
• Ugly Betty's Michael Urie is a member of the GLBT community but would really like his work to speak for itself.
• This is one proposal we'll politely decline.

Oscar Nunez and Sandra Bullock in The Proposal

• We think the toxic face paint has seeped into Gene Simmons' brain.
• Pedro and The Lucille Ball Specials came out on DVD.
• It's another tough fight for the Battle of he Network Gays.
• The stars came out for the Trevor Project Gala.
• This week's Gays of our Lives brought us the scoop about a gay actor returning to daytime.
• The Flying Monkey revealed gay M&M's and gay Christian musicians.
• Continuing his world domination, Neil Patrick Harris may be hosting the Emmy Awards.
• We watched as Simon Rex poked fun at himself.
• We say bon voyage to Beautiful Moments.
• Sounds Like A Hit! took on the Tony Awards and Nurse Jackie.
• We met the new gay housemate on the upcoming Big Brother.
• We don't care for the original ending of Bruno.
• We're hung up on HBO's Hung.
• We love Canada!.

Drop your caption ideas in the comments, and check out last week's winner after the jump! … continue reading

Yesterday was Canada Day, and we feel terrible that we didn't acknowledge our neighbors to the north. After all, Canada is far ahead of the U.S. when it comes to things like marriage-equality, realistic teen shows, and actors willing to do the full monty on camera (it's true, look it up!)

A list of Canadian things we love would be endless, so we put together this partial sampling. Journey below and take off, to the Great White North. Take off ... it's a beauty way to go! … continue reading

Time for another one of those time-wasting yet hopelessly addictive online jigsaw puzzles! This week it's a couple of ... friendly ... guys with colorful attire from last week's NYC Pride parade. Move the pieces around with your mouse — they will snap together when in the right place. How fast can you complete this puzzle?

Whether or not Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno is an offensive gay minstrel show or tongue-in-cheek satire of homophobia will undoubtedly be a hot topic of discussion over the next few weeks, but some new information has definitely tipped the scales towards the former.

According to Movieline, the film’s original finale was to take place during a press conference announcing a wedding between Bruno and his partner, who is now drooling and brain-damaged in a wheelchair as a result of a gay-bashing. Insert hysterical laughter here.

I’m personally torn over the Bruno hysteria. On the one hand, Cohen is exposing darker aspects of human nature in a satirical way not unlike the method used in Borat (which honestly was hysterical, if not a little disturbing at points), but on the other hand it’s almost like he’s trying to have it both ways.

Cohen seems to be marketing his movie as “satire” to the brainier portion of the movie going public while emphasizing the baser stereotypical nature of the character for the type who thinks Transformers 2 is a thought-provoking character study about man’s relationship with technology.

In short, some will be laughing at how uncomfortable Cohen’s gay caricature makes his victims, and some will be laughing at how "much like those queers" he is.

Bruno and child

Whether the hand wringing and fears of the gay community over this film prove to be founded or not, there’s something disturbing about a gay bashing being played for laughs even if it was eventually edited out, especially when there are still very real bashing and murders of gays still happening off-screen.

What do you all think? Is the world ready for Bruno? Will you be seeing it? … continue reading

Braden(L) and Kevin are two of the roommates to keep an eye on this season

The new season of CBS's Big Brother premieres on Thursday, July 9th at 8PM EDT, and we have a first look at the new housemates.

This season the show is harkening back to high school, as the housemates have been chosen to fill various cliques, i.e. the "popular kids", the "jocks", the "brainiacs" and the "offbeat". Oh jeez ...

One of the "offbeat" is the show's openly gay housemate Kevin, who hopes to use the show to reconcile with his family:

Kevin's proudest accomplishment comes from one of the most trying times in his life, growing up a Jehovah's Witness. He was eventually excommunicated at age 21. Cut off from his family and friends, he didn’t let it destroy him. Instead, he found happiness and thrived. He currently works as a graphic designer.

Of course, it wouldn't be Big Brother without the revelation that a housemate has done gay soft core, and this season the baton is passed to straight actor/model/surfer Braden.

He has two acting credits, the David Decoteau opus Brotherhood 2, and a small part on Dante's Cove. I say "small part" sarcastically, of course, because ... well, follow Reality Blurred's links and you can see for yourself. Yikes!

Well, I'm intrigued, but I think I may skip this season and just catch the highlights (the thought of reliving high school really doesn't appeal to me.) What do you think? Will you be watching this season, or just wait for the best naked clips like me?

Kyle and Brian have had a chance to fully ruminate on this year's Tony awards and in this week's episode of Sounds Like a Hit they share their thoughts on Neil Patrick Harris' turn as host, that train wreck opening medley, Alice Ripley's bi-polar acceptance speech, the lame sound engineering, NPH's sheeny tuxedo, and of course Brett Michaels' notorious face plant.

The Tonys out of the way, Kyle and Brian turn their razor-sharp wit to Edie Falco's new dramedy, Nurse Jackie.  To discover their bi-coastal take on the Showtime series, check out this week's episode after the break! … continue reading

It's the final episode of John Polly's Beautiful Moments vlog with style guru Simon Doonan. Since the two men are about to say "bon voyage," it's appropriate that this week's subject is "How to Travel Beautifully."

Logo's Beautiful People has Doonan's fictional younger self growing up in dreary suburban England and dreaming of the day he can run off to someplace glamorous.

The real Doonan has done his share of traveling, and in this last episode of Beautiful Moments, Doonan suggests some of his favorite vacation spots, including the Grand Canyon, and très gay Brighton, England.

Oh yes, he also tells you how to pack for stylish travel. Less is more, kittens!

Check it out after the break...
… continue reading

While the 4th of July weekend is normally not a time for gathering in front of the TV (unless there's a real need to get away from the heat) it does offer Thom Bierdz's big return to Genoa City on The Young and the Restless as well as the debut of Margaret Cho's new concert film Beautiful.

And for you Next Food Network Star fans, this weekend offers a double dip thanks to The Rachael Ray Show. … continue reading

How did you first hear about Simon Rex? Did you know about him as an MTV host or did you first hear about him when his "adult movie" past was discovered?

He's revisiting that first moment of notoriety with Rex, a comedy pilot that sees his adult video as a publicity stunt to make him famous, the work of a "controversy consultant" who helps engineer tabloid scandals.

With his career sluggish once more, Simon returns to his controversy consultant, Jeffrey. The plan to get his career back on track leads to Simon to have dinner with Lance Bass and clumsily trying to hit on him, saying "I just became gay yesterday."

You can find instructions on how to watch the pilot online by visiting the Rex Facebook page (warning the video contains plenty of NSFW language). Read further to discuss the pilot including my thoughts. … continue reading

In what should not come as a surprise to anyone, Neil Patrick Harris is in final negotiations to host this year's Emmys telecast, which is scheduled for Sunday, September 20, 2009.

Variety is reporting that the deal hasn't been finalized as yet, but it makes a lot of sense for CBS (which is hosting the ceremony this year). CBS is also home to NPH's sitcom How I Met Your Mother, which will be moving to the 8:00pm slot on Mondays to anchor the network's comedy programming block. Having Harris installed as Emmys host would amount to an extended promo for the sitcom.

Producers of the Emmys are apparently under pressure to increase viewership for the telecast after last year's poorly reviewed ratings disaster, which had hosting duties rotating among five reality show personalities. (I mean, Jeff Probst? Seriously?)

It certainly doesn't hurt that NPH got rave reviews for his turn as this year's Tonys host. How much do you want to bet he'll be in the running to host the Oscars next year? None too shabby for a gay boy from Albuquerque!

Photo credit: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Image

After the break, some suggestions for other events Neil Patrick Harris might host... … continue reading