Upfronts Roundup: What's gay on TV this fall?

The Beautiful Life, Glee, Modern Family, Melrose Place

The broadcast networks have finally announced their fall schedules, and we have a primer for what to expect come September. Join us we take a look at the good, the gay, and ... Ashlee Simpson?

Which night of television will be working our gay DVRs overtime? Let's find out...

Monday:

CBS kicks off the night with the return of Neil Patrick Harris in How I Met Your Mother, followed by Jenna Elfman in the new sitcom Dharma Knocked Up Accidentally on Purpose, which also stars Ugly Betty's Ashley Jensen and Mysteries of Pittsburgh star Jon Foster. I think I'll pass ... but you can watch a preview below and decide for yourself.

CBS also has the adorkable stars of the Big Bang Theory Monday night, and it's business as usual with the other networks, with ABC and Dancing With The Stars, The CW and Gossip Girl, and NBC with Heroes (if anyone's still interested).

Gay grade: Monday does have Neil Patrick, so that alone warrants a solid "B".

Tuesday:

ABC will run the Dancing With The Stars results show until its season ends, at which time it'll be replaced by the combo of Scrubs and Better Off Ted. FOX has So You Think You Can Dance?, but the big news is on The CW, which will start with the new season of 90210 leading into the remake of Melrose Place.

Stephanie Jacobsen, Colin Egglesfield, Ashlee Simpson!, Shaun Sipos, Katie Cassidy, Michael Rady, Jessica Lucas

It's still unknown whether the "re-imagining" of Melrose will be just a pale imitation, but it might be fun to watch Ashlee Simpson(Wentz) trying to act.

Gay grade: Meh. "C"

Wednesday:

Where do I begin? Let's start with ABC, which has an entire night of new programming, including new sitcoms from multi-Emmy winners Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton followed by the much-anticipated Modern Family.

Ed O'Neill, Rico Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Nolan Gould, Julie Bowen, Arile Winter, Ty Burrell, Saray Hyland, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet

The show follows three American families through the eyes of a Dutch filmmaker and one of the families includes a gay couple (Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet) who have just adopted a baby from Vietnam.

Modern Family is followed by the new Courteney Cox stinker Cougar Town (it really looks horrible), followed by Eastwick. This Witches of Eastwick TV version looks like it may be one of the guilty pleasures of the upcoming season. First of all ... it's a TV version of The Witches of Eastwick!, plus it stars Rebecca Romijn, the gorgeous Paul Gross and supporting work from the fabulous Sara Rue and Veronica Cartwright. Take a look ...

The CW has America's Next Top Model followed by the new "fashion drama" Beautiful Life. It follows a group of new models as they "face their own insecurities and a world of cutthroat competition". Hmm ... sounds like Paper Dolls: The Next Generation.

Corbin Bleu, Mischa Barton , Nico Tortorella, Sara Paxton, Ben Hollingsworth, Ashley Madekwe, Jordan Woolley

Fox has So You Think You Can Dance followed by a little show you may heard of called Glee. NBC has the new show Parenthood, which will be replaced in the spring by nurse drama Mercy (featuring out actor Guillermo Diaz).

Gay grade: So Beautiful Life (which could be a great trashy show), Glee, and Modern Family are all on ... at the same time. Thanks a lot, networks! The night still gets an "A", obviously.

Thursday:

The CW has Supernatural along with new teen show The Vampire Diaries (which could be good for a few unintentional giggles). ABC has replaced Ugly Betty on Thursday night with Flash Forward, which looks kinda interesting ...

Other than that, Thursday night looks pretty much the same, except for the new Joel McHale comedy Community on NBC.

Gay grade: Hmm ... Supernatural minus Ugly Betty minus a possibly T.R. Knight-less Grey's Anatomy equals a "C".

Friday:

The big news on Friday is that ABC's Ugly Betty will be directly up against NBC's Southland.

What the hell is wrong with these networks? Why can't they schedule these shows the way I want? Would it really be that difficult?

Gay grade: Even though they're up against each other, Ugly Betty and Southland together earn an "A".

Saturday:

A barren wasteland. Seriously, rent a DVD or order some pay-per-view. ABC has football, CBS has "repeats", The CW has "local programming", Fox has Cops/America's Most Wanted, and NBC has Dateline.

Gay grade: "F"

Sunday:

ABC, of course, has Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters (if they find their way out of Mexico). CBS has Amazing Race (hopefully with another gay team), and Fox has their animation block.

Gay grade: "B"

Want to see the entire network fall schedule? What are you looking forward to seeing this fall? Any new shows pique your interest? Concerned about time-slots for returning favorites?