Morning Meme: Matthew Mitcham Gets Physical, "Skins UK" Actor Cast In "Battlestar," and "Vampire Diaries" Asks "Got Wood?"

MTV says that sponsors or no sponsors, ratings or no ratings, they intend to air all ten episodes of Skins USA. PETA, in their normal odd message, has asked to step up as a sponsor, but say they’re prefer to have the airtime free. Which wouldn’t solve the sponsor issues, but gets PETA free publicity for their skinned alligator and rabbit commercial voiced by Pink and Ricky Gervais.

Taco Bell insists that their taco meat is actually beef, and that they’ll be pursuing legal action against the law firm that says otherwise. And then they’ll sick their little dog on you.

Daniel Hernandez, Jr. is teaming with New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg for a gun control measure. It’s a logical fit, though I’m still missing our gay hero’s connection to NYC.

One minute, I kind of love Rep. Dennis Kucinich. The next, I’m staring blankly at a story about him suing the company that runs the House dining room for sending him a sandwich with an olive pit in it. His dental bills and pain and suffering are worth $150,000, even with that Cadillac Congressional health plan.

Luke Pasqualino, of Skins UK will be playing the young William Adama in Battlestar: Blood and Chrome. Based on the nearly naked centerfold for Cosmo, I’m shocked to learn a young Adama was so twinky. His commander will be played by Ben Cotton.

Now that Comcast owns NBC, the network has picked up Chelsea Handler’s sitcom about a boozy 20-something Handler. I would love to see what her files hold.

Thanks to a GPS collar, scientists tracked a polar bear as she swam for nine days looking for ice. She lost a third of her body weight, and her cub didn’t survive the hunt for ice to rest on.

CBS has renewed daytime’s The Talk for another season. Not that I thought Les was going to cancel his wife’s show after half a season.

Nikita is going to do a major fight scene in a Turkish bath, with lots and lots of men standing around in towels. And the show will somehow manage to make that bleak and dull, like they manage to make all their action scenes bleak and dull.

There are pictures of Katy Perry playing Honey on How I Met Your Mother. She has Barney in tears, curling into the fetal position, which is what happens to me anytime she sings.

I can’t find anything specifically gay in this press release about the new BBC America show Gigi: Almost American from Josh Gad, and yet I can’t help but think we’ll end up covering it. There’s something there, I can feel it.

It is confirmed, Jay-Z and Will Smith have formed a new film company, and one of the first projects will be a remake of Annie starring Willow Smith, produced by Universal.

The Pentagon is set to make an announcement about the training plan for Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repeal, and the schedule is impressively quick. We should know details on Friday.

Officer Cuddleybear hit season highs Tuesday night.

Kele Okereke is reportedly writing a gay erotic memoir, and is moving to New York City to finish the book.

The footage from the Kickstarter campaign for Shakedown, a documentary about the rise of lesbian strip clubs, by lesbians, for lesbians, with an accent on lesbians of color is fascinating, if mildly NSFW. I’m curious where they take this.

At the premiere for next year’s Best Picture winner, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, Tiffany spoke a bit about her comments on NKOTB’s Jonathan Knight “I didn’t know it was going to be such a big deal. 2011 for me is all about ‘I don’t want to know anything. He’s darling. Of course he’s a darling. I never meant to hurt him, and I think he’s an awesome person. I really do. He has so much class."