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...

That's right, folks: last night the WGA East and West voted to call off the restraining order initiated on Novemeber 5th, and the strike is over. Now all that remains to be seen is what will happen to the capsized television season ... will the survivors make it through the inverted liner to rescue? Will there be a shlocky sequel starring Sally Field and a wretched remake? And most importantly, who will sing the theme song!?

Very little is known at this point, but the biggest news is that the Oscars are still indeed on for Sunday, February 24th, so go ahead and start planning your party menu accordingly (Into the Wild Rice Pilaf! Charlie Wilson's Three-Bean Dip!). ABC had announced previously that their nine most successful shows have already been renewed for next season, which includes Ugly Betty, Brothers & Sisters, Pushing Daisies, Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money, and basically anything else with a gay, transgender, or vaguely queer actor or character. So all set on that front.

Otherwise the various networks are left to pick up their own pieces. Saturday Night Live will return on February 23rd, but no guest has been announced yet (UPDATE: Tina Fey will host the first episode and Ellen Page will host the following week). And 24 won't be back until 2009, if that matters to anyone anymore.

Long and short of it is that we now have a slew of emergency reality programming to suffer through, and the nets are left scrambling to push some actual quality programming into the pipeline. We'll let you know as we learn more about our faves!

Out former baseballer Billy Bean

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.

• Michael Ausiello is reporting that the Grey's Anatomy cast is being called back to the set following positive strike negotiations, and that other ABC gay-faves like Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters will likely follow suit. First-seasoners like Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money will likely not resume filming until summer.

• I know that when I watch this PSA from gay former pro baseball player Billy Bean I'm supposed to be paying attention to the message that "ex-gay" ministries are a load of crap, but I can't help being distracted by how adorable he is. Does that make me a bad person?

• People picked out actor Cheyenne Jackson to be their highlighted hottie of the week (much in the way they picked out author Perry Moore as their hot guy of the week a few months back). There's no mention of Jackson's sexuality in the blurb, but let's face it: the guy's hot six ways to Sunday, regardless of his sexuality.

• Project Runway's most recent lovable gift from a galaxy far, far away - Elisa Jimenez - recently showed at New York Fashion week. Unsurprisingly, she brought the crazy with her.

• A man is alleging that gay UK radio presenter Nigel Wrench drugged and raped him at a New Year's Eve party last year, and told the courts as much. Wrench denies the accusations.

• The critics aren't digging Stephen Fry's Cinderella pantomime, which they found to be too gay and too vulgar. Um ... aren't we talking about pantomime here?

• Anderson Cooper told a funny story on Regis and Kelly today, and also proved that his obsessive watching of My Super Sweet 16 has left him with superior drunk-chick imitation skillz.

• A brightside spoiler for you Dirty Sexy Money fans: Michael Ausiello sez Carmelita (Candis Cayne) isn't dead following her disappearance in the last episode, but she has been abducted. Now it just remains to be seen who had her 'napped...

• This new The Moment of Truth gameshow sounds like just about the worst idea ever.

• The Greenwich Village Society of Historic Preservation (wasn't that a Kinks song?) has surveyed the East Village and may make the legendary Pyramid Club the city's first "drag landmark". The polysexual bar was a staple of the downtown scene in the 80s and has boasted performers ranging from RuPaul to Blondie to Nirvana. (For more great pics like the one above, check out this site.)

• Ever wanted to ask David Hyde Pierce a question? Here's your chance.

• ABCnews.com asks "If There Was a Gay-Straight Switch, Would You Switch?" That depends on whether I'd have to give back the toaster I got when I joined.

• John Barrowman has a Dalek in his front hall that says things like "Nice *ss." Why am I not surprised?

• Be sure to read all about Mario Lopez's shirtless, gay-friendly holiday movie in Michael's Best.Gay.Week.Ever. column, and have a great weekend!

• An anthology of Canada's gay male poets has been released (does that remind anyone else of the line in Airplane! about "this leaflet on Jewish baseball heroes"?). The title? Seminal. Poetry, indeed!

• The Chicago Sun-Times thinks Desperate Housewives has found its heart, coincidentally just when the Desperate Househusbands appeared on the scene. Lucky for us there's a tornado on the way to smash that heart to kingdom come.

• Simon Cowell is "absolutely baffled" that anyone might think that he was gay, and I'm absolutely baffled that anyone would care. But I love the first comment on this post best: "I don't care if he is gay or not. He is just a rude bastard."

• Strike, shmike! Greg Berlanti and Craig Wright's Dirty Sexy Money has been officially picked up for a full season and has added Lolita Davidovich to the cast. I loved her in Raising Cain!

The nominees for the 34th Annual People's Choice Awards were announced last night, and among them is out actor Neil Patrick Harris, in the "Favorite Scene Stealing Star" category. He's up against Chandra Wilson of Grey's Anatomy and Richard Belzer of Law & Order: SVU. Needless to say, it would be awesome to have an out, proud actor win a popular vote like this one, so be sure to click the link at the bottom and cast your ballot! Here's a rundown of the other gay-significant noms...

Celebrities:
Gay-faves Sally Field and Katherine Heigl nabbed noms for "Favorite Female TV Star", Jodie Foster is nominated for "Favorite Female Action Star" and Queen Latifah and Drew Barrymore are nominated for "Favorite Leading Lady". Ellen, Whoopi, and Wanda Sykes make "Favorite Funny Female Star" the best category of the bunch, by far.

Television:
Dirty Sexy Money and Pushing Daisies, which both have gay creators, are up for "Favorite New Drama Series", and out producer Russell T Davies' Doctor Who is up for "Favorite Sci-Fi Series".

Movies:
Recently outed wizard Albus Dumbledore appears in "Favorite Movie Drama" nominee Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and homophobic pigfest Wild Hogs somehow made it into the "Favorite Movie Comedy" category. Likewise, homophobic yet sure-to-win 300 pops up in the "Favorite Action Movie" noms.

Afterthought: I find it interesting that 2 out of 3 "Favorite On-Screen Duo" noms are bromances (Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker and George Clooney/Brad Pitt) and the third, Tobey Maguire/Kirsten Dunst, acted more like they were going through a messy divorce than like lovers in Spiderman 3. Where's the romance?

For all the nominees - and more importantly, to vote yourself (go, NPH!) - head on over to the official website. The winners will be announced on January 8th in a broadcast hosted by Queen Latifah.

• New ads supporting same-sex marriage that began running in New Jersey last night take the "We're here, we're queer, we're just as boring as everyone else" approach, to good effect.

• Torchwood star John Barrowman is one of the voices behind a similarly level-headed campaign targeting schools in the UK: "Some People Are Gay. Get Over It!"

• Dirty Sexy Money ups the ante with a one-off gay role in an upcoming episode.

• Days after their reunion was announced, Boyzone has reportedly been denied use of a song penned by He Who Must Not Be Named for being "too cheesy". Maybe if they dropped the openly gay band member and added a lot more Hello Kitty they'd be more his style.

• The last day of voting for the Weblog Awards is tomorrow. We're not eligible because our servers run on the blood of kittens, but if you're looking to vote for an LGBT blog, we'd like to give a shout-out to The Bilerico Project.

Last Friday we posted on the writer's strike and its potential impact on some gay fave TV shows.

The walkout officially began on Monday. It's the first industrywide strike by writers since 1988. That strike lasted five months, and a lot of folks believe the current walkout could last as long or longer. The battle between the writers and the studios boils down to compensation for digital delivery of content. (Just before the strike, the union dropped its other demand for increased compensation for DVD sales - but got no counteroffer/concession from the studios on the digital issue.)

Both sides are digging in their heels and settling in for a long fight. We have some more specific information as to how that will affect some of your favorite shows:

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. These two gems are already in repeats. If the strike drags on into 2008, Comedy Central has hinted that The Daily Show show might come back in a predominantly interview driven format. (There's an important election coming up and the nation will need its fake news!).

Note: on Monday there was a story circulating that, even though his show has been shut down, Jon Stewart would personally be paying his writers their salaries for the next two weeks. Turns out that is not in fact the case. Stewart's reps have denied the rumor.

Today's mainpage article discusses how transgender characters have stormed the television landscape in recent months (think Ugly Betty, Dirty Sexy Money and Big Shots, to name a few), and how this represents an opportunity for stereotypes about transgender individuals to be dispelled. In researching the article, our editor Michael Jensen had the opportunity to speak with transgender actress (and NYC nightlife legend) Candis Cayne, who plays the character of Carmelita on new nighttime soap Dirty Sexy Money.

Cayne's comments were far too thoughtful to be pared down to what the article allowed, so we've picked some of the interview's best bits that didn't make it into the piece and posted below. Enjoy!

AfterElton.com: How did you come to be cast on DSM?
Candis Cayne: I worked for Patricia Fields for years. Patricia Field and her assistant Molly Rogers read the script – they were doing the pilot. They read the script and there was the part of Carmelita and they thought, well, Candis would be great to play this, so they talked to Craig Wright and said, “Can we recommend somebody to audition for you?” And so, they said yes and I went in and auditioned and I got a call back and I auditioned then for Craig Wright, so it was Pat Field.
AE: Do you know how many actresses they auditioned?
CC: I have no idea. I am really curious to find out what the casting was like. I don’t even know who they were auditioning. When I came in, there was no one in the waiting room and it was just me, like, running and doing the audition for the casting people.
AE: How many episodes have you been in so far and do you know how many you’ll be in the first season?
CC: Well, I know that I’ve been in five so far, and I’ve been in four so far, and I know that I’m in two more for sure. And then after that, I’m not sure. The writers seem to be enjoying writing for me. So, and I’m obviously enjoying being on it. I guess it really has a lot to do with how the American public deals with me.