Celebrity Family Feud (NBC) 8:00 PM EDT
As though the line-up initially announced weren't bizarre enough, tonight's episode features a battle between "The Hickeys" (AKA the stars of My Name is Earl) versus the "Camden County All-Stars" (AKA the supporting cast of My Name is Earl). Please let it be that this match will be played in character, because Joy Darville Hickey Turner (to use her soap opera name) just may liven up Al Roker's hosting. The second match has the cast of The Office (including Oscar Nunez) facing the American Gladiators.

Flipping Out (Bravo) 10:00 PM EDT
Last week, Jeff continued to pursue that "Boss of the Year" award by secretly installing "nanny cams" so that he could confirm his suspicion that everyone stops working when he's not around. This week he gets to take a look at the footage.

Tori & Dean (Oxygen) 10:00 PM EDT
As much as I'd like to see more Mehran, last week certainly had a cute little gay twist with Dean joining up a gay SCUBA group to calm Tori's jealousy over his pretty, young instructor. With her book promotion tour kicking things up in tonight's episode, I'll guess this will be when we'll see those scenes of Tori meeting up with some of her gay fans that I expected in last week's episode.

Michael Ausiello certainly knows how to start his first week at Entertainment Weekly with a bang: he's given quite the tantalizing blind item about a "sorta-hit series" with a "humdinger of a curveball for the upcoming season that is so twisty it will take the program in a completely new direction — and an inspired (not to mention timely) direction, at that!" Even better, "The twist in question is a little gay. No, make that a lot gay."

Now, that certainly gets the wheels turning, especially with those tantalizing clues: a modest hit and one that would get taken into a totally new direction with this gay twist. I'm ruling out popular ensemble shows like Lost or Heroes since it would take a lot for a gay revelation to take the show in a new direction. Also, any show we frequently discuss here at AfterElton.com is probably out of the running, unless there's a show about to turn a "barely-there gay" into the focus of the show (waves in the direction of The Office). Also, unless Ausiello and I have very different ideas of "completely new direction", most procedural shows can be ruled out unless one of them is going to turn into a same-sex Hart to Hart.

So, what "sorta-hit" shows could go in a new direction with a gay twist? The Big Bang Theory (which has already pinged some viewers' gaydar) would fit the bill. The show is currently about two heterosexual male nerds crushing on their female neighbor. If one of the guys turned out to be gay, it would change the show drastically while making it something unique. (How many gay nerds are there on scripted TV?) Then again, when last we saw 30 Rock's Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), he had set off a gay bomb in a small Pentagon office ... what if the results were permanent? Would that take the show in a new direction?

Ausiello posts a picture from My Name is Earl with his teaser but adds that "it would be a mistake to read too much into the photo above." So is that just a red herring?

Oh, and in case there are any "Wincest" fans out there, Ausiello has the following bit of disappointment:

And no, Sam and Dean hooking up on Supernatural does not qualify as an intelligent guess.

Hm, that would leave room for Dean to come out (it would give an explanation for his gay baiting humor). Then again, that wouldn't be much of a new direction.

Meanwhile, Zap2It's Korbi Ghosh has some gay spoilers for Desperate Housewives and Dirty Sexy Money. Check them out and get yourself spoiled after the break...

As the World Turns (CBS) Check lcal listings
Still missing his dad, Noah tries to sign up for the Army, only to have Luke come by to out him to the recruiters. Where's Barbara Ryan when we need her to slap Noah with a "There was no body!"? I guess a snarky liveblog will have to do, so be here starting at 2PM Eastern as we follow the action.

East Side Story (Logo) 8:00 PM EDT
I've been waiting for the chance to check out this Latino romantic comedy ever since it was running through the film festival circuit. Diego (René Alvarado) is close to finally living his dream of moving away from East LA, but his plans come to a halt when he realizes his boyfriend Pablo (David Berón) views their relationship differenlty. However, as openly gay white men start to move into the neighborhood, Diego meets Wesley (Steve Callahan) and sparks quickly fly between the two.

Thursday

As the World Turns (CBS) Check local listings
It's finally here: the much-discussed episode where Cyndi Lauper comes to Oakdale to perform at Pride and counsel Luke on getting Noah back. Of course, we'll be giving Oakdale's Pride celebration the liveblog treatment, so stop by starting at 2PM Eastern.

The Twilight Zone (Sci-Fi) 1:30 PM EDT
As usual, the Sci-Fi Channel is doing their holiday marathon of Rod Serling's classic anthology and it's always worth pointing out when classic ep "The Invaders" airs (an episode featuring gay icon Agnes Morehead in a powerful dialogue-free role).

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Bravo) 10:00 PM EDT
Is there any way Kathy can match last week's fabulousness? Probably not, but with Rosie O'Donnell, Kathy marrying a couple and a meet-up with Tanisha and Hanna from The Bad Girls' Club, she's certainly going to try ... and if she hands Tanisha a pair of cake pans, we'll know she's aiming for inclusion on The Soup.

The Bad Girls' Club's Tanisha performs her greatest hits

Reno 911! (Comedy Central) 10:30 PM EDT
The Reno Sheriff's Department turns to an acting coach (Ryan Stiles) to help improve their performance in undercover missions.

Friday

Inside Deep Throat (Sundance) Midnight EDT
From fabulous out filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, this film takes a look at the "porno-chic" sensation and the controversy it inspired. I've had this one on my Netflix queue for ages and now I can have that Bailey/Barbato goodness delivered by my DVR.

Saturday

Real Momentum Marathon (Logo) starting at 11:30 AM EDT
Logo's airing several of its praised Real Momentum documentaries today, starting with a look at the troubles for gays Raising Teens at 11:30 AM, followed by a look at the Gay Rodeo on Gidyup! On the Rodeo Circuit at 12:30 PM. Dolly Parton's fans get the spotlight on For the Love of Dolly at 1:30 PM. Gay life in rural Mississippi is examined in Small Town Gay Bar at 3:00 PM. Gay republicans and queer hip-hop are the focus of Elephant in the Room at 5:00 PM and Pick Up the Mic at 6:00 PM. It all wraps up with a look at gay destination Fire Island at 8:00 PM's When Ocean Meets the Sky and another airing of Small Town Gay Bar.

Rep. Wexler and staff

The Hill Marathon (Sundance) starting at 4:00 PM EDT
A look at how the office of Florida congressman and "Fire-Breathing Liberal" Robert Wexler (who you've probably seen lately if you follow political shows) functioned in 2004 and a good time to see what we've learned from the last presidential year. Wexler's staff at the time included gay Chief of Staff, Eric Johnson, who has to balance the intense world of politics with his home life.

Sunday

Design Star (HGTV)
The remaining six designers are teamed up once again to redecorate celebrity suites in a Nashville resort. Previews show remaining gay designer Matt Locke facing an additional headache when his teammate Stephanie buys a sofa too big to fit through any of the doorways. (Now that brings up some hilarious-in-hindsight memories of my first Thanksgiving with my partner.)

Shear Genius (Bravo) 10:00 PM EDT
Bravo certainly loves a promotional cross-over between its reality shows and that certainly feels like the case tonight when The Real Housewives of Orange County show up as the clients for the eleven remaining designers. And if you're someone who's sampled and then avoided the Real Housewives franchise, you can instead get yourself hyped to see last season's fave Tabatha Coffey (who has her own Bravo show debuting in August) appear as a guest judge.

Lockup Holman: Locked Up Love (MSNBC) Midnight EDT
Alright, I spent years avoiding MSNBC's Lockup documentaries because they sounded sensationalistic. But lately they've become a bit of an addiction for their ability to avoid the cheap sensationalism and be rather enlightening. Tonight debuts a new Lockup that takes a look at the challenges of prison relationships (with more to follow in the coming weeks).

THE INTERNET IS FOR SPORE:
Last geek I told you about the Spore creature creator, which had just made its debut. Since then, that sample of the highly anticipated evolution sim made quite a splash on the Internet. Sure, first it was the phallic creations that got plenty of attention, but those got boring quickly (even when EA threatened to ban users who uploaded naughty creatures). There were over a million creatures uploaded to the Sporepedia and plenty were interesting for other reasons.

Some gamers uploaded creatures that looked like video game controllers. Isn't that rather like having your sims play The Sims?

Those weren't the only inanimate objects to be turned into Spore creatures:

I found these creatures that resemble produce super kawaii (not that it stopped me from having a snack of steamed artichoke and a berry salad).

Does this mean I'll be able to create a world populated by vicious, carnivorous tomatoes in Spore? Can. Not. Wait.

GAYMERS ASSEMBLE!:
Hopefully this will be the amazing resource it promises to be: GayGamer.net net is looking to compile a list of all LGBT guilds and clans to be found. It's no fun signing on to a game where you don't know anyone and find yourself debating how honest you should be with any teams you may find, so hopefully this'll make it easier to find other LGBT gamers to connect with.

After the break: Pride comes to Paragon City, Metal Gear Solid goes gay and more!

America's Got Talent (NBC) 9:00 PM EDT
Last week, it was a gay country a dance troupe that auditioned to plenty of praise. This week, it's "America's Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet", The Kinsey Sicks, who appear before the judges. This is such an improvement over Leonid the Magnificent.

Flipping Out (Bravo) 10:00 PM EDT
Aw, I was disappointed last week when the Jeff versus Courtney story ended so quickly; I hoped the schadenfreude of seeing Jeff having to work with himself would last all season. Maybe that'll happen, after all, since Courtney appears in the previews for this week's episode, which also featurs Jeff worrying that his employees don't work hard enough when he's not around to watch them. (As if there was a danger of us forgetting why a client like Courtney looks like an agent of karma.)

Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood (Oxygen) 10:00 PM EDT
With her new book hitting store shelves, Tori goes to her first book signing which (if I'm matching things up with the season's previews correctly) should mean this episode will show Tori meeting up with some of her gay fans.

As you might recall, one of the major difference between Marvel's Ultimate X-Men and the regular X-Men titles is that Colossus is gay and currently dating the Ultimate version of the iconic Northstar. Colossus and Northstar play a large role in the current storyline on the title, the first by Heroes writer Aron E. Coleite ... though the latest cliffhanger is certainly raising a few eyebrows. Do gay comics fans have reason to be up in arms over the next development?

A spoiler-filled look at the story so far, after the break...

American Gladiators (NBC) 8:00 PM EDT
Tonight sees the first openly gay Gladiators contestant, Sean Hetherington (above), take on the gladiators. Hetherington is a comedian and personal trainer who changed his life and lost 100 pounds ... hm, has he contacted Jackie Warner's people yet? For more on this out athlete, be sure to read our brand-new interview.

Jam! (Sundance) 9:00 PM EDT
For a little while, it was one of the most viewed sports on television but roller derby quickly faded away to be the subject of a documentary about people trying to revive the sport. I guess you wouldn't be surprised if I told you the sport had plenty of openly gay players. One player, HIV-positive Tim Patten, credits the sport for keeping him alive.

Chelsea Lately (E!) 11:30 PM EDT
After seeing one funny guy who's lost a lot of weight on American Gladiators it makes some sense that Ross "The Intern" Mathews would be a part of Chelsea's panel tonight.

June 27, 1969 marked a definitive moment for the gay community: When a police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, it sparked an uprising from the bar's patrons, who had had enough of the harassment the raid symbolized (and, according to many accounts, were already upset over the recent death of gay icon Judy Garland earlier in the week).

The revolt grew, as people from nearby bars stepped in to support the Stonewall patrons, eventually turning into a protest that lasted for five days. While the idea of gay pride and that gay people had the right to exist without constant harassment had been building for some time thanks to groups like the Mattachine Society, the uprising energized the gay rights movement. A year later, the event was marked with the first Pride Parade and several major cities celebrate Pride on the last Sunday in June because of Stonewall.

One website is celebrating Pride with a webgame inspired by the Stonewall Rebellion. Stonewall Brawl takes designs from gay cartoonist Eric Orner (creator of The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green) and turns them into a Streets of Rage-style side-scrolling fighting game, where you play a character that fights police officers, collects martini power-ups and unleashes a superpower based on disco fabulousness.

When news of Stonewall Brawl first came out reaction was pretty mixed. Critics wondered if the game would reflect the diversity of the Stonewall Revolution's participants (the Stonewall Inn's patrons were mostly Black and Hispanic, and the uprising probably wouldn't have happened if not for the drag queens and transgenders who were a key part), asked if the game could be taken out of context to make the gay community look bad (after all, it is a game about violence against the police) and worried that turning the Rebellion into a game would trivialize a key event for gay rights.