AfterElton Briefs: Hasty gay TV renewals, Jack Mack is back, Xanadu closes, and more!

Following this assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• If you're a fan of vampires as gay metaphor then you can rejoice! After airing only two episodes HBO has renewed Alan Ball's Louisiana fang-fest True Blood for a second season! The debut episode got 4 million viewers, and the second episode grew that audience an unprecedented 24%!  Most TV shows (even successful ones) drop off after their premieres.

• Speaking of hasty renewals, after just three eps TNT's Raising the Bar (which features in its central cast a closeted gay character) has been renewed for another 15-episode season. Didn't see that one coming!

The cast of Raising the Bar

• Project Runway fave Jack Mackenroth has launched Living Postive By Design, a national HIV and AIDS education campaign aimed at raising awareness and wiping out stigma surrounding people living with the disease.

Jack Mackenroth

• Xanadu, the Gayest Little Broadway Show That Could, is closing October 12th. Seriously, see it while you can. 

• On Top Magazine has published their list of the best gay cities to live in. No surprise, San Francisco tops the list, but the order foir the rest of the top 10 is interesting..

1. San Francisco; 2. Sydney; 3. New York, 4. Mykonos; 5. Paris;
6. Barcelona; 7. Amsterdam, 8. London, 9. Copenhagen, 10. Berlin

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

This guy!