On last night's Simpsons Homer Simpson started another business, "Sweet Conclusions", where he offered to handle relationship breakups for other people. It gave the show an opportunity to bring back Homer's gay ex-roommates, Grady (played by Scott Thompson) and Julio, and to out a popular character. It also gave the show a chance to clear up another character's sexual orientation (or just raise more confusion).

Find out which Springfield resident was outed after the break!

As we told you back in February, a new edition of the classic 70's game show Match Game is in the works, and now the panelists have been set.

Comprising the new cast for the upcoming pilot are comedian Norm McDonald, Super Dave Osbourne, Rashida Jones (from The Office), Niecy Nash (from Reno 911) and best of all, out comedian Scott Thompson and gay-adjacent comic Sarah Silverman.

Earlier this month, we blogged about the new versions of classic game shows about to hit the air, and I suggested that if they remade Match Game, they should consider Carson Kressley and Kathy Griffin to replace the 70's Will & Grace style dynamic duo of Bret Sommers and Charles Nelson Reilly. Well, I was close. Just think of Sarah and Scott as the Earth-Two version of Kathy and Carson.

It'll be interesting to see if Sarah's humour (which is an acquired taste) will translate to a game show format, and if she and Scott will be given a chance to form their own Bret & Charles-style rapport.

Gay-fave Julie Brown brings the "camp" to the premiere of Camp Rock

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• You know, it's been faaaaar too long since we checked in with Cute with Chris, the utterly gonzo kittens-and-masochism pie hosted by Chris Leavins (star of the fantastic The Hanging Garden). In recent months Chris hasbeen posting viewer-submitted pics of shirtless men (some with pets, some without), which lends another wonderfully troubling dimension to what is still the most addictive show on the Interwebs.

• Oh, brother: Madonna's gay sibling Christopher Ciccone to write a scathing tell-all about his famous sister. I don't know what's more confusing, the idea that one bitter sibling would do that to another, or the suggestion that there's anything left to tell about the most overexposed person in the history of the universe.

John and Colin from NewNowNext

• Our brother site NewNowNext has been nominated for an HX Award (HX is an NYC gay nightlife mag) and you should totally vote for them. Yay John, Colin, and crew!

• Time has an interesting article about the positive economic impact the gay marriage window (pre-November, when things might change) will have on California, and does everything but urge gay couples from other states to go to Palm Springs, get married, and after their honeymoons, sue for recognition in their home state. Book it!

Ryan Reynolds and Scott Thompson at the Genie Awards a few years back

• Happy birthday to Scott Thompson! The Kids in the Hall star turns 49 today. I wonder if fellow Canadian Ryan Reynolds will give him another kiss on the occasion?

• Reality show laughingstock and pig vagina gourmet Tila Tequila credits herself for the overturn of the same-sex marriage ban in California. I credit her for the overturn of my breakfast.

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

Matthew Montgomery joins the Canvas

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• The Kids in the Hall (of course featuring the irrepressible Scott Thompson) are going back on tour, and from the looks of this promo video, they haven't lost their edge.

• Speaking of Scott Thompson, a film that we mentioned a while back that he's starring in has a new castmember: out actor Matthew Montgomery (Long-Term Relationship) has signed on as Thompson's partner in the upcoming gay movie Shifting the Canvas. Trick's JP Pitoc stars as a gay artist navigating the bohemia that is NYC's Williamsburg neighborhood.

• Gay author Augusten Burroughs has released a chapter of his new memoir, A Wolf at the Table, on his website, complete with four songs (Tegan & Sara! Ingrid Michaelson!) to help set the mood as you read. (the book streets April 29)

• Above is the first glimpse we've had of John Barrowman's hosting gig on the new UK game show The Kids Are Alright, which is kind of like Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, only with a much better title. Oh, and an openly gay host.

• The folks at Media Matters are going all-out in their campaign against Bill O'Reilly, and you can join them. Couldn't happen to a better guy.

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

• Queer as Folk's Peter Paige will be treading the Los Angeles boards in The History Boys.
  

• TMZ manages to work not one, but TWO oral sex jokes into a blurb about gay comic Scott Thompson reportedly bombing at the Softball Gay World Series. Get it? Gay men? Oral sex? Related: TMZ is the devil.

• This NY Times piece on the challenges faced by gay seniors (the elderly, not teens finishing high school) is incredibly upsetting and at the same time inspiring for making the top spot in the US section.

• A profile of gay tennis star Bill Tilden, who became the first American to win Wimbledon in 1920 (and again in 1921).
  

• A new TV spot for marriage equality put the shoe on the other foot, asking what it would be like if straights were stopped from marrying. (I'd bet Cuisinart would go out of business, for starters.)

• One of my favorite people in the universe, Scott Thompson from Kids in the Hall, to co-star with Trick himbo J.P. Pitoc in Shifting the Canvas, which looks to be about the gay bohemian gentrification of Brooklyn. Well, I live in Brooklyn and I'm quite sure I have no idea what they're talking about.
• Chuck & Larry, meet ten gay couples who have had an incredibly hard time getting benefits or rights for their partners. I would crack wise about the ACLU's ruining everyone's fun with this dose of reality, but the movie wasn't much fun to begin with.
• Speaking of Chuck & Larry, WorldNutDaily's wingnut movie reviewer Ted Baehr hates --gasp! -- the gay firemen movie which he says is one of most anti-Christian of the year. In completely unrelated news, The Guiness Book of World Records gives Baehr title of having the biggest stick up his bum.
• Not gay, but very funny: 15 Unfortunately Placed Ads (t/y WoWReport)
• How well do you know your actors who have donned ladies apparel in the movies?
• Our buddy John Polly at NewNowNext posted a great piece on the 21 Queerest Rock Movies. I did the blurbs for The Apple and The Phantom of the Paradise, so totally read those first.
• It's the BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER with everything gay from the TCA, news about this week's Entourage and much more!
• And after the jump you'll find the very courageous Tammy Faye Messner's thoughts on being a pro-gay Christian.

Brian (Scott Thompson)
Show: The Larry Sanders Show
Year Introduced: 1995

Scott Thompson as "Brian"
 

Bio: Brian was Hank's personal assistant on the fictional show within a show.

Significance: Well organized and maternal, the character was conceived by Garry Shandling to be a different sort of gay character than had been previously seen on television.

Thompson with Jeffrey Tambor ("Hank")

And by Buddy Cole I of course mean Scott Thompson, the actor and comedian perhaps best known as "the gay one" from the groundbreaking comedy series The Kids in the Hall.

Raised in Ontario, Thompson was asked to leave his University for being "disruptive", joined a sketch comedy troupe called The Love Cats, and met Mark McKinney, who brought him into the Kids.

The Kids made quite a splash on American television due to their cross-dressing habits and their frequent gay storylines and characters -- and as someone who grew up literally counting the minutes until their shows would air, I think I can safely say that they made quite an impact on gay visibility.

Aside from the kids, Thompson turned in memorable performances on television (The Larry Sanders Show, Providence, the Tales of the City series), in movies (Another Gay Movie, Millennium, Mickey Blue Eyes) and on stage both as a part of the Kids and in his own tours as Kids character Buddy Cole, the cocktail-swilling, acid-tongued sissy.

To honor Thompson's work and continued presence as an out-loud, out-proud comic genius, here are a few choice clips: Buddy Cole's prison monologue, and the Kids skit, "Scott Thompson presents Scott Thompson". Happy birthday, Scott!