The Week in Gay TV: Stewie Sings, Barney Regrets and "Glee" gets "Physical"

Welcome to a new edition of The Week in Gay TV, your source for the shows that will be fighting for space on your DVR including Family Guy’s 150th episode, Barney regretting his breakup with Robin when How I Met Your Mother returns and Glee taking on Olivia Newton-John.

Television forever changes a little Friday with the final episode of Bill Moyers’ Journal. While Moyers hasn’t given gay issues a lot of coverage, he did cover Perry vs Schwarzenegger with one of the lengthiest interviews done with Ted Olsen and David Boies. More importantly, Moyers — like Rachel Maddow — didn’t work to demonstrate that he’s not biased by letting conservative voices have their own set of facts.

Moyers was a solid example of how to cover a story with depth and insight and, while I didn’t tune in to Bill Moyers’ Journal every week, his presence will be missed. 

Moyers interviews Olsen and Boies

In lighter Friday night fare, the latest Smallville finds Chloe and Tess trapped in the Watchtower together. Judging by the 80’s soap opera clichés, that means they’ll get to know each other better and a new romance will blossom. Does Smallville deliver lady-hoyay as well?

The show also has also found a new way to work Justin Hartley’s pecs into the plot — the bad news? It’s because Zod burns a scar into Oliver’s chest. Is that how Kryptonians claim their future boyfriends? Sounds like yet another reason why Clark’s lucky he was raised by the Kents.

In the first of a two-part Merlin, it turns out the delightful new visitor to Camelot isn’t what she seems. Meanwhile, the Private Chefs of Beverly Hills have to cook a Kosher meal while the Party Down crew work a fundraiser for an exclusive private school.

Saturday brings a new Doctor Who featuring Daleks serving under Winston Churchill. Unfortunately, according to the reviews I’ve seen, this one doesn’t manage to be as neat as it would sound on paper, much like the idea of revealing that the Daleks made a sinister addition to the Empire State Building.

Still, it does have a Dalek asking "How may I be of assistance?" which is comedy gold.

It's pat the bunny, not pat the Dalek.

As I mentioned last week, I figured I’d need at least two episodes to become a big fan of Matt Smith as the Doctor. The story of Starship UK gave Smith a chance to display some new sides of his Doctor, including his ability to read a new situation, his self-righteous lecturing style, as well as his short-sighted impulsive side.

New companion Amy Pond also got to define herself by noticing something The Doctor missed and saving the day, a satisfying nod to how Donna figured out the nature of the Ood. 

It’s all feeling like a wonderful new Doctor Who era, one that doesn’t erase the previous one but builds on what came before. Now that I’m not wondering about how I’ll feel about Steven Moffat’s run, I’m moving on to wondering when we’ll get to see some of the actors Moffat has worked with before like Jekyll’s Meera Syal or Coupling’s Richard Coyle.