For a lot of people, the coming-out process can include awkward silences, uncomfortable questions, and sincere but cringe-inducing attempts at acceptance. In other words, perfect fodder for comedy!

On Brothers & Sisters, Uncle Saul (played by Ron Rifkin) spent a lifetime in the closet, and after coming out to his sister and gay nephew in two very dramatic scenes, went the Three's Company route last night in coming out to the rest of the family. In a classic "misunderstanding", Saul mistakenly believed his nieces and nephews were talking about his gayness behind his back, and outed himself ... to the shock of his family. Yes, it was a creaky old plot device, but it worked, primarily because it was a complete 180 from his heart-to-heart with Kevin. See for yourself:

The inherent drama in coming out can be mined for truly memorable comedy. In this light, we've hand-picked five other moments when coming out of the closet has been used for comedic effect. Enjoy!

Absolutely Fabulous - "Serge is gay?"

We finally meet the long lost Serge, and Edina is ecstatic ... until she opens her mouth, and Serge realizes why he left in the first place.

Four more coming-out classics after the break!

• Post-apocalyptic wishes and radioactive dreams:
  One of this year's most anticipated games is Fallout 3, the follow-up to what's seen as one of the best and most innovative role playing games. Those eager Fallout fans got some exciting news this week. Not only is the game done (with bugs to fix) the game promises to be huge -- with some 200 possible endings. Wow. Now if only someone could tell me if the game has any same-sex couples, as Fallout 2 did...
  
  
• Welcome to the Dollhouse, Helo:
  Before the Writers' Guild went on strike, we were pretty excited over the news of a new Joss Whedon series. Now that Hollywood has gone back to work, they've begun casting the roles not played by Eliza Dushku. Battlestar Galactica hottie Tahmoh Penikett will be playng Dushku's romantic foil. Nice...

  

  Maybe it's just the articles I read, but I haven't seen the usual talk of "We can work around his Battlestar Galactica commitments." Hurm, I wonder...
  
  
• I'd buy a record from a group called Doctor and the Three Companions:
  Oh, goody, the series four Doctor Who trailer hit the web this week. Check it out. I know this isn't a common opinion, but I'm looking forward to seeing the return of Donna. I like the idea of an everywoman companion who isn't immediately wowed by everything The Doctor does and the promise of a big companion meet-up is pretty exciting, as well. (Though why not throw Mickey into that mix, as well? And weren't we already promised that Captain Jack would be a part of the mix?) The fourth season arrives in the USA on the Sci-Fi Channel April 18, starting with the "Voyage of the Damned" special which co-stars dance diva Kylie Minogue.
  
  
• Look who's honoring him now:
  Four years ago, indie game developer Stardock introduced a strategy based around presidential politics, The Political Machine. The game was simple, but fun. It was like something you'd expect to play during a social studies class with the cool teacher. (So calling all you Oregon Trail fans...)
  
  This week, the publisher announced it would be coming out with a new 2008 edition. Here's what I find amusing: Four years ago the screenshot for the media screen showed a pundit looking a lot like Bill O'Reilly. This time, their media screen looks like:

  

  Notice the portrait in the corner? Heh.
  
  

If you were looking for gay men on UK TV this Christmas, there was quite a lot to keep you entertained. Here’s a rundown of the highlights:

• When Joseph Met Maria, Christmas Eve, BBC1 7.00-8.00pm 
  Presented by openly gay comedian Graham Norton, and featuring the openly gay John Barrowman as one of the panel, this Christmas special brought together the finalists of two previous reality talent competitions, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? and Any Dream Will Do, whose winners have gone on to star in The Sound of Music and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, respectively. We blogged back in May about Any Dream, where several of the contestants were pinging my gaydar, although none of them were openly gay. Rather frustratingly, this special stayed true to the heteronormative pattern the shows have followed so far: John Barrowman did a romantic duet with the female finalists, while female judge Denise Van Outen duetted with the male ones (who were all expected to act interested in her). While it’s great on the one hand to see out gay male performers cast in heterosexual roles, the fact that this was a concert and not a show where the performers were playing characters, made me wonder why why all the men were expected to present their default identities as straight. 

• Strictly Bolshoi on Christmas Day, Channel 4 2.45-4.20pm 
  This documentary followed the acclaimed, openly gay choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, as he became the first Englishman to create a new work for Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet. Tensions ran high as Wheeldon’s improvisational methods clashed with the more traditional expectations of lead dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze (who was also strongly pinging my gaydar, although his sexuality was not specified in the program). The final work, ‘Misericordes/Elsinore’, performed in the last half-hour of the show, has been considered a success though – you can read about Wheeldon discussing his Moscow experience here. 

• The Catherine Tate Christmas Show, Christmas Day, BBC1 10.30-11.10pm 
  This popular UK comedy show featured Catherine Tate as Irish nurse Bernie, cluelessly hitting on guest star George Michael with the words “Do you want my sex?” (to which he replied “Do you not read the papers, love?”) She gets to kiss him in the end though, not to mention duetting with him on The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale of New York’ (which controversially includes the word “faggot”). Check out the clip after the jump.  Another popular sketch in the show was reminiscent of Little Britain’s Daffyd, as a gay man, John, comes out nervously to his family, only to find that they are intrusively and obnoxiously supportive. 

• Attention David Sedaris fans: he has a new essay in this month's New Yorker ... about traveling Business First. Hey, why not? I mean, you can't write the funniest holiday-themed memoir in existence more than once, after all ... or can you?

• Not only was recently-AfterEltoned Ugly Betty newbie David Blue robbed of any screentime as Cliff in the latest episode, but he was also robbed of ... well, he was robbed! He's not been hurt, thank heaven, and you can read his firsthand account (secondhand) of the incident.

• In his new book, The Naked Man: A Study of the Male Body, forward-thinking academic Desmond Morris moves past his previous "lack of male influence" theory and postulates that gay men become gay because they never "break" from other boys in childhood, or had disappointing sexual encounters with women at a young age. Morris's next book apparently hinges on a groundbreaking medical use he has found for leeches.

• Completing a self-skewering television trifecta (following his previous turns on Little Britain and the upcoming Extras Christmas finale), George Michael plays himself on an upcoming Catherine Tate Christmas special.

• Paul Schrader talks to gay pub HX about his upcoming gay escort movie The Walker and why star Woody Harrelson won't do interviews about it.