Queerview television guide for the Weekend of January 30

As a total ad geek, I should be excited about the Ad Bowl Super Bowl this weekend, but it turns out that Shameless is making a return this weekend and that overshadows everything. Aside from Shameless, there's also Gaeta's mutiny on Battlestar Galatica as well as Logo's new documentary about gay rugby players, Walk Like a Man.

Plus lots more!

Friday

The Game (CW) 8:00 PM EST
In this follow-up to last week's cliffhanger, The Sabers deal with Clay's (Marcello Thedford) coming out and becoming the first football player to be openly gay while actively playing the game. That includes preparing to welcome Clay's boyfriend (Brian Wade) into the Saber family. Hold on, Clay has a boyfriend? Why was he throwing himself at Malik, then? Also, you Muppets fans might be looking forward to seeing an appearance by Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo. He'll play the voice behind a children's TV puppet, Mookie.

Clay sings and dances with Mookie

Battlestar Galatica (Sci-Fi) 10:00 PM EST
After mostly being in the background for the past several seasons, the recently-outed Felix Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani) is really stepping into a major role, as the put-upon Gaeta finally hit his breaking point and started organizing a revolt with rabble-rousing Vice-President Zarek. This week, Gaeta's mutiny finally happens, as the previews show him attempting to put Bill Adama under citizen's arrest. I know it's a bad sign when a character suddenly steps out of the background and gets a lot of screen time, but I'm going to enjoy Gaeta's prominence as it goes.

Chelsea Lately (E!) 11:30 PM EST
Tonight Chelsea Handler chats with deservedly controversial fauxmosexual Katy Perry. I'm curious to see if (and how) Handler tackles Perry's uncomfortable relationship with real gays.

Saturday

Walk Like a Man (Logo) 8:00 PM EST
Ian Roberts narrates this documentary about two of the top gay rugby teams (the San Francisco Fogs and the Sydney Convicts) as they prepare for the top prize in gay rugby, the Bingham Cup (named after gay 9/11 hero Mark Bingham). While I'm sure this doc will have plenty of other rugby hotties, it sounds like we won't be seeing Robers ... so here are a few pix to make up for that.

Out rugby player Ian Roberts

Sunday

Shameless (Sundance) 9:00 PM EST
The acclaimed British dramedy returns for its fourth season this week, picking up with Lip's 18th birthday, an occasion that has the Maguires looking for a favor from the birthday boy and brings Monica Gallagher back to the Garden of Eden known as the Chatsworth Estate. I expect we'll get a good amount of Ian time with those stories.

United States of Tara (Showtime) 10:00 PM EST
Tara and Max plan a special "sex date" to address Tara's concerns that Max might be finding her other personalities more interesting but the pressure eventually brings out Buck. That allows Max does some male bonding with his wife, how will that affect their son, who has had to take Buck's homophobic teasing?

The Office (NBC) 10:30 PM EST
There's no strong sign that gay accountant Oscar will have a major presence in tonight's hour-long, post-Super Bowl episode, but with the way the series has done a much better job this season of remembering its ensemble cast I'm feeling hopeful. That said, I'm wondering if Oscar is the most prominent gay character to appear in a show airing after the Super Bowl. As far as I can tell, his only competition is Waylon Smithers and Roger the alien.