Television Critics Association Day Two: Jon Hamm is hot, John Rich is not and more!

Mad Men's Jon Hamm Photo credit: Getty Images/ Frederick M. March

Well, it's Day 2 of the Television Critics Association July 2008 Tour and even though it's 85 degrees outside, it's so cold in the panels that I'm freezing to death. Seriously! I just want you to know how much I suffer for everyone. (However, the frigid air is keeping the chocolate dipped strawberries just perfect!)

Anyway, I should've explained yesterday how the TCA Tour operates. Critics like myself gather from all around the country so the various networks can present their new shows thus giving journalists a chance to quiz the talent. This year it's two weeks long and all the cable networks are presenting this week, followed by ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, and Fox next week.

Up first was AMC's surprise hit Mad Men which is of gay interest thanks to the presence of Salvatore Romano (Bryan Batt). Alas, Bryan wasn't part of the panel, but hopefully he'll be there when we do our visit to the set next week. I'll do my best to get some Salvatore scoop then. To tide you over until then I've provided a pic above of Mad Men star Jon Hamm who is even more attractive in person than he is on television.

Next was the MTV presentation with David Alan Grier promoting his new program David Alan Grier's Chocolate News. Just before him was comedian Dave Attell the host of the new Comedy Central show The Gong Show. I did some research on Dave as I hadn't heard of him and from what little I could gather, he somewhat frequently resorts to gay jokes that seem pretty dubious. If anyone is familiar with his comedy, feel free to share your thoughts about him in the comments.

Lots more after the jump!

Next was Country Western singer John Rich of the duo "Big and Rich". You might remember Rich for some of his homophobic comments regarding how legalizing gay marriage will lead to legalizing incest. Classy. Just the kind of guy I want to see on television. He's here promoting the second installment of his CMT show Gone Country, a reality program that takes a variety of celebrities and pits them against each other to see who might be able to become a country singer. Included on the panel were Sean Young, Lorenzo Lamas and former N'Syncer Chris Kirkpatrick.

Chatting with Chris afterward, he said that he was certain that N'Sync would eventually get back together for a reunion tour. He'd seen Lance Bass just the night before and said he was doing great. I asked if he thought Lance would be a good candidate for Season 3 of Gone Country, but Chris didn't think that would be such a good idea since Lance wasn't really a country singer. Given what a hard time Rich gives Chris in the show for coming from a boy band, I'd say Lance should definitely avoid this one (not to mention the whole gay thing).

Chris Kirkpatrick (left) and Lance Bass

Photo credit: Astrid Stawiarz /Getty Images

Up next was Inn Country, a spin-off, believe it or not from Gone Country. This show features Maureen McCormick, Carnie Wilson, and Bobby Brown who all competed against each other on the first go round of Gone Country. In clips of the show (which is a hybrid reality/comedy show, meaning they set up humorous situations and let the participants react), Ross the Intern drops by surprising Maureen, an old friend from Celebrity Fit Club. After the panel, Maureen told me Ross is there to host a talent show a la American Idol in Cocke County, Tennessee that Maureen promises is quite hilarious because of how the locals react to Ross. Let's just say I'm not entirely wild about that concept.

Next was Vivica Fox shilling her new show Glam God, another competitive reality show designed to find the next great celebrity stylist. Gee, you think this show is going to be gay? Judging from the clips, half the contestants are gay and Vivica's co-host is Philip Bloch. I'm not sure I'll be looking at this show again as it looks utterly redundant.

Vivica A. Fox

Photo credit: Michael Buckner/Getty Images

Vivica was followed by gay-icon Margaret Cho whose new foray The Cho Show is also being called a reality/comedy hybrid. Since the show also stars Margaret's parents, I was immediately put in mind of Kathy Griffin's My Life on the D-List, but Margaret says what she's really done is to reinvent the sitcom by creating humorous situations but having real people (herself, her parents, her assistant) react to them. Yeah, doesn't sound so different! But it's Margaret so who cares, right? We'll all watch anyway.

I chatted with both Margaret and her wonderful parents after their panel and will have those interviews a little later.

The first part of the afternoon was devoted to the National Geographic Channel. Not much gay here, but just like The Discovery Channel, National Geographic likes its hosts hunky including Kelly Hearn of Explorer: Lost City of the Amazon, Sean Riley of World's Toughest Fixes and John Garcia of Dogtown: Saving the Michael Vick Dogs.

John Garcia, Kelly Hearn

Photo credit: Getty Images/Frederick M. March

The very last panel was for A&E's first scripted series The Cleaner starring Benjamin Bratt. I checked with the show's co-creator Jonathan Price (Cane) and, alas, no regular gay characters. However, later in the season there is a plot with a gay character that Price clearly has put a lot of thought into.

That's it for today. Check back tomorrow for info on HBO's new series True Blood by out director/writer/creator Alan Ball, plus I'll tell you how my interview with Little Britain stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams goes!