The Week in Gay TV: A gay activist in the "Big Brother" house, President Roslyn versus "The Closer" and a return to "Eureka"

Welcome to another edition of Week in Gay TV, as we take a look at the best the week ahead has to offer, including the returns of Eureka, Big Brother and The Closer. 

With the Independence Day holiday behind us we’ve reached the midpoint of the summer TV season, so there’s a lot of TV to sort through as some shows get ready to wrap up their seasons and others kick off new episodes. 

*Sigh* Vincent can't even be found posing in front of his restaurant.

Friday brings us a new season of the SyFy Channel dramedy Eureka, which promises big changes as Battlestar Galatica’s James Callis (though I prefer to think of him as Bridget Jones’ gay pal) joins the cast as a former Eureka resident who left an unpleasant history behind him. 

I usually feel a bit mixed about Eureka. I always enjoy seeing what experimental device has gone wrong this week, and the series strikes a nice balance between how Sheriff Carter and the scientific community of Eureka solve problems.

I'm going to need to let go of a lot of residual Baltar-hate this summer.

However, there’s one thing that bothers me about Eureka, and that’s gay restaurant owner Vincent. He's a barely-there gay on a network that’s just starting to make some strong steps forward in terms of gay visibility. Considering that Eureka has avoided turning its conflicts into a simple matter of the "wise fool who always knows better than the book-smart scientists" or the "buffoon who needs to be shown that not every problem can be solved with blunt force," it should be able to figure out what to do with a gay character ... beyond having him serve the residents of Eureka. 

At least Eureka has Colin Ferguson, Niall Matter and the adorkable Neil Grayston.

Following Eureka, SyFy is debuting new drama Haven, about a small town filled with oddball residents and plenty of secrets. (I’m starting to call these shows “quirktown mysteries” since there’s been enough of them to need their own genre.) It’s based on Stephen King’s The Colorado Kid, but nothing I’ve seen in the promos matches what I’ve read about the King story. I'm going to guess Haven is described as "loosely-based."

Meanwhile the Sundance Channel has a new Shamelesss, with Paddy finally returning home. I don’t think there’s a lot for Mickey or Ian to do this week, but I probably need a week to recover from finding out what Mickey did with Shane’s sex tape, anyway. At least Monica is gone.

Finally, Logo is debuting a new season of Jeffery and Cole Casserole. 

Saturday brings a new Beautiful People as the Doonans decide to stay in for the holiday.  Kylie, meanwhile, has to handle the return of his abusive father. I love how despite all the fighting, Simon’s family seems to really enjoy spending time together, so this should be another fun episode.