Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (December 15, 2006)

YOUR SWEETHEART'S SMILE? PRICELESS! CALLING ANOTHER PLAYER A FAG? TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!
The National Football League finally stepped to the plate this week and slapped Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker Joey Porter with a $10,000 fine for calling Kellen Winslow of the Cleveland Browns a fag during a post game interview. Actually, Porter did it twice as he attempted so eloquently to convey that Winslow was weak and soft. Sigh. Actually, that's only a small sigh as I think we are making progress on this topic. Every time we get ticked when a baseball manager (Ozzie Guillen), an actor (

Of course, Porter still doesn't get it. His apology was as lame as the Steelers' on-the-field play this year. Porter defended himself by saying he only meant to offend Winslow and he is sorry if he offended anyone else. And Steeler coach Bill Cowher really stepped up to the plate when he said Porter's comment was “inappropriate.” Whew! Tough words there, coach. Check out the video of Porter here via Towleroad.com to see it for yourself. Notice how the reporters so quickly challenge Porter on his use of the word. And oh, look! A pig just flew by overhead. Too bad Greg Couch wasn't in the locker room. He would've said something.

FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE
Dreamgirls premieres in New York and Los Angeles. For all of you gay boys with nieces, nephews, and children of your own, you could also check out Charlotte's Web.

DVD wise, we've only got Little Miss Sunshine with Steve Carrell. Too bad Carrell's wonderful performance was snubbed in The Golden Globe nominations announced yesterday. You can read about all of the gay nominations of interest over at the BESTGAYDAYEVER blog.

Of the new television shows with gay content, only Ugly Betty scored any Golden Globe nominations. Trust me, I'm not complaining that The Class, Help Me Help You, and Big Day got overlooked, but I wouldn't have complained if Sally Field had received an acting nod for Brothers and Sisters.

BTW, I completely failed to mention the new episodes of Big Day, The Class, and Help Me Help You over on the blog this week. And by failed, I mean ignored.

A gay-friendly episode of The O.C. slipped by me this week. Apparently, Ryan (one of the leads) inadvertently walked in on two guys in bed together. Both actors immediately called their agents and demanded they issue statements that their characters are absolutely straight and that their being found having sex together was simply a miscommunication by the publicity department. Or am I confusing that with another show? Actually, Ryan was very cool about the whole thing and viewers presumably didn't keel over dead from the scene.

The holidays are upon us so there won't be new episodes of most shows. No new eps of Brothers & Sisters, Help Me Help You, The Class, Ugly Betty, or Desperate Housewives. There will, however, be a new episode of Big Day. You aren't really expecting me to watch it, are you? You people are cold. The Real World is new on Wednesday night. As always, we've got our recaps of the shenanigans those crazy kids get up to. The theme of this week's recap is "Trash." And if you missed Sunday's episode of Brothers & Sisters the recap is up here.

I only started watching Survivor because of Brad, but wouldn't you know it, I went and got hooked. I mention this only because the finale is on Sunday followed by the Reunion episode where it's possible Brad might have an interesting reveal. If he does, we'll be on it.

MyNetworkTV's new show Watch Over Me revealed Casper Van Dien's character was gay. Apparently, he even got some same-sex macking. And Sleeper Cell also revealed that Salim (Omid Abtahi) was gay as well. I think that makes him the third gay Middle Eastern character to ever have graced American TV. But he's a whole lot less likeable than Kenny on The War at Home or Vince on Commander in Chief, unless they were also known for chopping off people's hands and I just never heard about it.

And Here! announced they bought the rights to the three completed episodes of the DL Chronicles, a half-hour drama about African American guys on the down low, with nine more to be shot. All the eps will air sometime early next year.

I'M GONNA BE ON THE RADIO!
My AfterEllen colleague Malinda Lo and I are going to be on QC (KQKE 960 AM) America's national radio talk show discussing the year in queer entertainment. No doubt Isaiah Washington is quaking in his boots. Hopefully, I won't pull a Danny Devito and show up drunk! The show airs this Sunday, 7 PM PST.

I'm sure it's no surprise that our Heroes story was the hot topic over on the BESTGAYDAYEVER, but folks also chimed into talk about the most groundbreaking gay relationships in television history, Battlestar Galactica and the fact that Brent has the hots for Tony Goldwyn.

Now I'll shut up so you can have the BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER!

That's it for this week! Check back next Friday for a new installment of Best. Gay. Week. Ever., or read previous installments here.