Michael Ausiello certainly knows how to start his first week at Entertainment Weekly with a bang: he's given quite the tantalizing blind item about a "sorta-hit series" with a "humdinger of a curveball for the upcoming season that is so twisty it will take the program in a completely new direction — and an inspired (not to mention timely) direction, at that!" Even better, "The twist in question is a little gay. No, make that a lot gay."

Now, that certainly gets the wheels turning, especially with those tantalizing clues: a modest hit and one that would get taken into a totally new direction with this gay twist. I'm ruling out popular ensemble shows like Lost or Heroes since it would take a lot for a gay revelation to take the show in a new direction. Also, any show we frequently discuss here at AfterElton.com is probably out of the running, unless there's a show about to turn a "barely-there gay" into the focus of the show (waves in the direction of The Office). Also, unless Ausiello and I have very different ideas of "completely new direction", most procedural shows can be ruled out unless one of them is going to turn into a same-sex Hart to Hart.

So, what "sorta-hit" shows could go in a new direction with a gay twist? The Big Bang Theory (which has already pinged some viewers' gaydar) would fit the bill. The show is currently about two heterosexual male nerds crushing on their female neighbor. If one of the guys turned out to be gay, it would change the show drastically while making it something unique. (How many gay nerds are there on scripted TV?) Then again, when last we saw 30 Rock's Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), he had set off a gay bomb in a small Pentagon office ... what if the results were permanent? Would that take the show in a new direction?

Ausiello posts a picture from My Name is Earl with his teaser but adds that "it would be a mistake to read too much into the photo above." So is that just a red herring?

Oh, and in case there are any "Wincest" fans out there, Ausiello has the following bit of disappointment:

And no, Sam and Dean hooking up on Supernatural does not qualify as an intelligent guess.

Hm, that would leave room for Dean to come out (it would give an explanation for his gay baiting humor). Then again, that wouldn't be much of a new direction.

Meanwhile, Zap2It's Korbi Ghosh has some gay spoilers for Desperate Housewives and Dirty Sexy Money. Check them out and get yourself spoiled after the break...

With Sweeney Todd's taking home a Golden Globe and the commercial success of Hairspray, Dreamgirls and High School Musical we're certainly past the days when the movie musical is considered box office poison.

But as much as I enjoy popping Chicago in the DVD player, I really like it when episodic television takes a musical turn, and lately we've seen some great additions to the genre (along with a few disasters ... yes, we mean you, Viva Laughlin). A good musical number can make an episode especially memorable, as in the following examples ...

30 Rock: "Midnight Train to Georgia"

Last week's 30 Rock (the season finale, unless the writers' strike is resolved soon), ended with a performance of Gladys Knight and the Pips' "Midnight Train to Georgia" inspired by Kenneth Parcell's (Jack McBrayer) deciding to leave New York to return his home in Georgia. The Motown classic is used to express the friendship between Kenneth and Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), Jenna (Jane Krakowski)'s need to be in the spotlight and the divide splitting Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) and his liberal congresswoman girlfriend C.C. (Edie Falco) apart. The highlight of the number arrives when Tina Fey changes the meaning of "I've got to go" into a cry of "TMI!" Coming from the 30 Rock characters, the meaning of "Midnight Train to Georgia" changes hilariously.
(Thanks to scribegrrrl for finding the video.)

Pushing Daisies: "Hopelessly Devoted to You"

Pushing Daisies' Kristin Chenoweth is well known as a Broadway performer and when her character, Olive Snook, broke into a performance of "Hopelessly Devoted to You" it was an apt marriage of Daisies' fanciful tone and Chenoweth's talents. The original version, from Grease, comes when Sandy realizes how strong her feelings are for Danny, no matter how angry he may make her. On Daisies, however, Olive is fighting her love for Ned, a feeling she hasn't felt free to express honestly.

More recently, Daisies gave us Ellen Greene (who played Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors) singing "Morning Has Broken" as her character breaks out of depression. As with 30 Rock, these moments offer more than a catchy tune: they're a way of expressing where these characters are emotionally in a way that dialogue can't.

X-Play: The Musical

A program consisting of video game reviews shouldn't have much of a shelf life. I mean, who needs to know if The Movies is any good at this point? However, X-Play's snarky, irreverent tone and pop culture references make reruns watchable months and even years afterwards. One of X-Play's more unusual episodes treated viewers to a musical where the devil corrupts hosts Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb with the promise of an X-Play video game (you can watch it here). Spoofing everything from current games to X-Play's own game rating system ("One out of five, it's the only game I know that lowers your sex drive."), the musical has all the smarts and sass you'd expect to hear in an X-Play review.

• Were you, like we were, "Gay for Jamie" from last week's 30 Rock? Here's more on Val Emmich, who played the adorable coffee-boy that set Frank's heart aflutter. (Thanks to Popcandy for the find!)

• Russell T Davies' upcoming 40-something gay life drama series won't be up or coming for at least a few years.

• Happy birthday, Margaret Cho!

• Dennis over at Bravo's OutZone blog confirms that Project Runway's Jack and Top Chef's Dale are officially an item. I totally called this when I met the two lovebirds at the Out 100 party, but now it's network-approved! (Registry at Sur La Table and BlueFly.com to follow.)

• BestWeekEver wonders why Vanessa Hudgens wonders why her boyfriend, Zac Efron, wonders if that shirt makes him look gay. 

Last night's 30 Rock had another gay subplot building on the antics of Will Arnett's gay executive Devon Banks. In the episode, actually titled "Cougars", a cute young coffee delivery guy (there are coffee delivery guys? Can I have one, please?) named Jamie shows up at the Girly Show offices and catches the attention of both Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) ...

and Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander).

After Jamie leaves once he's finished delivering the coffee, Franks says:

"That guy is adorable. Maybe I am gay — for that little peach. I wanna kiss him on the mouth. I wanna hold him. I want Jamie."

• We've heard of "post-gay". How about "post-gay-porn"?
  

• Yes, Clay Aiken is heading to Broadway to costar in Spamalot as Sir Robin. What does this have to do with us? No idea.

• We think it's safe to say that this is not the "Puppy Episode" that Ellen will ultimately be remembered for...

• Anderson Cooper takes his campaign to convince the world that he is utterly adorable to Sesame Street.
  

• Ausiello's gay scoop runneth over, including this one about Jenna from 30 Rock:"A casting call has been issued for Sacha and Patrice — both male, despite the names — who will make up The Girlie Show star's own velvet mafia." Also, a regular character death on Betty and TWO on Housewives? Let's hope they're all straight casualties, because we can't afford to lose any!

• In case you missed Neil Patrick Harris' chat on Ellen, the full appearance is now online over here.
  

• Here's a ridiculously thorough listing of what kind of swag various stars gravitated towards, with mention at the bottom that Rex Lee and Neil Patrick Harris were fans of Christie's fedoras. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

• Who's ready for Nikki Finke/Andy Cohen showdown?
  

• "I guess I'm just a turtleneck kind of gal!" (Jack McBrayer, best known as Kenneth the Gay-Seeming Page from 30 Rock, doing his best Diane Keaton)

• Mario Cantone may not have approved, but Joan Rivers' Barcalounger Emmy coverage had a few fans and a good barb or two, including this one: "Note to Kate Walsh: That’s what you get for hiring a straight hairdresser."

• Ugly Betty has found a boyfriend for Marc (Michael Urie), and his name is David Blue (above). Well, actually, his name is Cliff, but he's played by David Blue. Cliff is a photographer. David is an actor.
• Here's a game in which you have to pick out which word doesn't fit in the list: American Idol ... homophobic ... "Christian songs with Christian principles" ... eggplant.
• I'm pleasantly surprised to be linking to California Catholic Daily for their refreshingly neutral (and near-positive) story on gay-themed play The Other Side of the Closet, which tours schools in the state to teach a lesson of tolerance for (and celebration of) different lifestyles.
• Since religion seems to be a hot topic today, here's an interesting piece on the rift over gay unions in black religious communities in and around Washington, DC.
• Will Arnett will return to 30 Rock next season as the gay executive out for Jack's job, this time with a beard bride-to-be. I didn't find the first visit particularly funny (despite the quality Kenneth the Page time that came with it), but you never know.

Entertainment Weekly takes a fun look at TV's great assistants including the gay assistants played by Rex Lee (Entourage's Lloyd) and Michael Urie (Ugly Betty's Marc) as well as Jack McBrayer (30 Rock's gay-seeming Kenneth.) That got me thinking about past examples of gay TV assistants...

Stuart Glazer (Action!)

As bad as Ari Gold may get, things could never be as bad for Lloyd as what poor Stuart (played by out gay actor Jack Plotnick) faced working as a Hollywood assistant. As Peter Dragon's assistant, Stuart had to deal with a temperamental and callous boss who took his frustrations out on Stuart.

Brian (The Larry Sanders Show)

When Hank's assistant, Darlene, suddenly quit on him, Brian (played by out actor Scott Thompson) was able to seize the job opening. When Hank realized he was gay, Hank tried to find an excuse to fire Brian, but quickly realized that Brian was too valuable an assistant to give up.