You didn't think we'd go into Mother's Day weekend without paying tribute to those wacky ladies (real and otherwise) that gave birth to our fabulousness, did you?  If you can't surprise your Mom with Sunday brunch or a T-shirt with your face on it, be sure to call her/them and express your love and gratitude for raising such a fierce child. 

It is, after all, Mother's Day so just remember, kiddies ... without Mothers there'd be no frakkers; without Mamas there'd be no Mia's, and the most important lesson of all: those lovely ladies that brought you into this world can take you out just as easily (sorry, I had to), so celebrate them!

Sit back and relax as I honor some of my favorite real-life Moms, as well as those from television and movies that represent the good, the bad and the ugly of memorable mamas.

THE NEWBIE
Lily Van der Woodsen (Gossip Girl)

Gossip Girl's Lily Van der Woodsen is a complex character who wants to be a better woman, Mother and lover than her upper crust gal pals and family will allow and I currently heart her. Sure Lily will marry any Tom, Dick or Bart for their money and she'll go to great lengths to save face amongst the Upper East Side elite and yes, she had a mini-meltdown when evil Georgina outed her son Eric at the dinner table but she came around in the end! Kelly Rutherford has taken what could have been a one-note rich bitch and made her a woman to root for. PFLAG will never be the same.

THE SEMI-OLD PRO
Nora Walker (Brothers & Sisters)

Nora Walker meddles and occasionally messes with her children's lives but she's always best friend and supporter to her gay son Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys) on ABC's Brothers & Sisters.  Sally Field is a powerful presence on screen and she can dominate the drama like no one else but she always let's her character live and breathe the world of her children (often to a fault) and she's really embraced Kevin's relationship and soon to be marriage to Scotty (played by Luke MacFarlane).  Nora could teach Lily a thing or two about patience and acceptance.

THE TRUE OLD PRO
Debbie Novotny (Queer as Folk - US)

Debbie (or PFLAG The Clown as my friend Armando likes to call her) could school all other Mother's on how to support your gay child and every fey friend that makes up his/her gay gang.  She's been crazy involved in her son Michael's (played by the adorable Hal Sparks) social and sex life so if you have questions on which gay clubs to haunt or which lube works best she's your go-to-gal.  Debbie does the gays proud and I salute her efforts and enthusiasm in grounding the sometimes outrageous Queer as Folk.

THE LEGEND
Anne Bancroft (Torch Song Trilogy's Ma Beckoff | Home For The Holiday's Adele Larson )

Anne Bancroft played two of the most memorable Gay Movie Moms from two of my favorite films with gay characters. In the classic Torch Song Trilogy she was the conflicted, confused, and sometimes pain in the ass Ma to Harvey Fierstein's Arnold Beckoff. In the end she realized that no matter how you raise them, sometimes kids really do "come that way."  In Jodie Foster's Home For The Holidays, she was the Mom most in need of a Silkwood shower and a neurotic nag to her gay son Tommy (Robert Downey Jr.) but she was never anything but amazing.  Rest In Peace Anne Bancroft (1931-2005).

THE ASS KICKER
Sandra Gangel (Beautiful Thing)

Sandra's the kind of woman that's not afraid to stand up to an abusive Father, knock out a whacked out Mama Cass lovin' neighbor, and encourage her gay son to make his own kind of music. Linda Henry's multi-layered performance in Beautiful Thing has always forced me to stand up and cheer.  She's funny, intense, and ruthless but encouraging and nurturing to not only her gay son Jamie but his teenaged lover Ste.  The final scene of the film is one of endless hope and utopia made even more amazing by Sandra's fearless efforts to accept her son.

Michael got the good news (in our opinion, anyway) late last night that Firefly and Death at a Funeral star Alan Tudyk has been cast as the gay lead in the new pilot that Mutchnick/Kohan (the guys behind Will & Grace) are producing for ABC. We're excited because Tudyk is a great comic actor and isn't afraid of taking risks (as his extended comic nude scene in Funeral can attest).

Another plus to Tudyk's casting, purely from a visibility perspective, is that he's got an enormous built-in fanbase of folks who might not otherwise be inclined to tune into a gay/straight buddy comedy: sci-fi geeks. 

Now let's hope that the rest of the cast fills out as well and that the pilot is a slam-dunk, and that we see the series on our sets this fall, eh? For an idea of just how insanely popular this guy is with the sci-fi set, check out the video after the break of his and co-star Summer Glau's appearance at a sci-fi convention. It's pretty awesome.

In his Broadway Matinee column, Post writer Michael Riedel mentions that Burt Bacharach's musical romp Promises, Promises is heading to workshop for a possible return to Broadway. He then mentions that Will & Grace star Sean Hayes will be playing the romantic lead opposite Anne Hathaway, and questions whether Hayes is "virile" enough to pull off a role originated by Jerry Orbach, who could crush buildings with his bare thighs.

First off, are people excited about seeing a possible revival of this show? And notwithstanding the fact that Sean Hayes is apparently far too limp-wristed to even pick up a songbook, do we think he could stand up to the role? Or could Anne Hathaway, for that matter?

Honestly, if professionally gay straight actor Rogert Bart can turn in a horrifyingly hetero role in Hostel 2 after playing an assortment of swishy queens both on stage and on screen, I think perhaps Broadway audiences might be able to forget about Jack McFarlane long enough for Hayes to do his job, don't you? Or do you agree that Hayes is miscast?

And yes, I'm totally linking to the "Turkey Lurkey Time" scene from Camp.

Vincent Cassel as the sexually confused Kirill in Eastern Promises

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.

• More proof that Canada is cooler than we are: Eastern Promises earned seven Genie Awards (the Canadian Oscar), including one for Best Original Screenplay.

• Big Brother 9 has managed to become even more vile, this time thanks to gay houseguest Joshuah.

• If these rumors about Torchwood and Doctor Who are true ... well, we'll always have Ianto.

• Is out Sex and the City creator Darren Star's new show Cashmere Mafia already on its way out?

• EW ran a readers' choice gallery of the 30 most datable TV characters. Sorry, but for some reason I just can't seem to click past "The Men of Friday Night Lights", for whatever reason... (oh, and Will Truman made the cut. Really?! High-maintenance city!)

• Just for fun, here's a remix of the moment from the Grammy's where Beyonce apparently stepped on Tina Turner's foot. (t/y Gary!)

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

It was announced today that a comedy pilot from Will & Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick has been greenlit by ABC. The as-yet-untitled show tells the story of two friends and writing partners - one straight, one gay - who navigate love and work with one another's help and support. We reported on a similar (but apparently unrelated) pilot that the duo had developed last year, but there aren't many details out yet about this one. (90210 vet Brian Austin Green played the gay character in the previous project, which was ordered by CBS.)

In a stroke of serendipity, AfterElton.com contributor James Hillis recently interviewed Max Mutchnick for a piece he's doing on gay television characters, and asked him a few questions about the project.

The two chatted before the strike was resolved and the pilot was ordered, but here's what Mutchnick had to say at the time:

Max Mutchnick: I'm happy to say that I have another pilot in the pipeline at Warner Bros right now that hopefully we will take out and sell to one of the networks when the strike is over, and it is another gay story. And I'm very excited about it. 

AfterElton: What would you do differently with the gay characters now almost ten years later, then you did starting out on Will & Grace?

MM: I want to be past the story.

AE: You don't want it to be about that? You don't want it to be about the gay jokes?

MM: I'll make as many gay jokes as I make in a given night. That's the barometer that I'll use. I don't want to make it the drive. ... In this show with the gay characters that are on ... I want to believe that we are past it. That the gay angle is not the hook.  The relationship is the hook. And it happens to be a gay man and a straight man who are best friends. And I want the relationship to be more interesting to people than I want the fact that one of them is gay. But by the way, I think that the thing that people were interested in with Will & Grace was that relationship also. ...

AE: Will the gay guy have as fully-developed a romantic life as the straight guy?

MM: Yes. (The gay character) is in the thick of a very serious relationship in the pilot.

We'll be all over this one, needless to say.

Brent and Michael (aka Two Gay Guys) are classic multi-taskers. In this week's episode, they manage to discuss the conversation-starting top placers in the AfterElton.com Top 25 Gay TV Characters Poll while managing to do some housework at the same time. Now I know how these two manage to get so much done even after their Flying Monkeys have flown south for the winter.

If you had strong feelings about Brian Kinney or Jack MacFarland snagging the top spots in the poll, you'll definitely want to check this out. Me, I enjoyed it most for the chance to see my boss clean a toilet. "Celebrities ... They're Just Like Us!"