Mitch Hewer as Maxxie on Skins

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.

• Fans of randy British teen dramas rejoice! Skins, a beloved (and racy!) nighttime soap featuring Mitch Hewer as gay teen Maxxie, will premiere on BBC America in August.

• John Barrowman took second place as Britain's cheesiest celebrity, barely nosing out Graham Norton but losing to former EastEnders star Shane Richie. The contest was run by a cheese company who should probably put themselves on the list next year for devising such a pungent promotion.

• And speaking of Barrowman, could he be on the list of Doctor Who companions who might be killed off (if you listen to rumors) in this weekend's big finale?

• Good news: Both Neil Patrick Harris and T.R. Knight have made the Emmy nomination "short lists". No, I'm not making fun of their stature.

• Gay video retailer (and porn distributor) TLA is coming under fire for making Heath Ledger's full-frontal in I'm Not There the selling point for the DVD in their catalog. On the one hand, the pickle-shot in question is certainly news to me. On the other, a dead guy's junk is a pretty trashy way to sell a DVD.

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

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. 

Television award ceremonies can be two a penny. And, quite frankly, rather boring! But that’s rarely the case when it comes to ITV1’s National TV Awards. Hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald, this star-studded ceremony, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, pays tribute to the best of the best of British television.

Throughout the summer months, over 1.5 million votes were cast from a long list, which was eventually whittled down to a short list of just four contenders in eleven different categories.

Whilst Hollyoaks and Eastenders face off against Emmerdale and Coronation Street for the title of Most Popular Serial Drama, it gets much more personal in the Most Popular Actor category, which sees the likes of James Sutton (John Paul McQueen in Hollyoaks) and Antony Cotton (Sean Tully in Coronation Street) vying for the crown. And both Graham Norton and Paul O’Grady have been shortlisted in the Most Popular Entertainment Presenter category.

Other TV shows hoping to scoop an award include Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands and Big Brother for Most Popular Reality Programme; Ugly Betty for Most Popular Comedy and Doctor Who for Most Popular Drama.

Speaking of Ugly Betty, the adorable Mark Indelicato (aka Justin) has just been confirmed as a special guest. He will be flying in to present the award for the Most Popular Actress. Now, if that doesn’t make the NTA must-see viewing, we don’t know what else will!

To find out who the lucky winners are, tune in to ITV1 tomorrow night, Wednesday 31st October, between 8:30pm and 10:30pm.

In the meantime, there’s still a little bit of time left to vote for your favorite – although all votes must be in by midday tomorrow. Just visit the link below to register your votes.

So, come on all you James Sutton and Hollyoaks fans. What are you waiting for? Get voting!

Friday

The View (ABC) Check local listings
Proud AfterElton.com Hot 100 honoree Anderson Cooper stops by for a "special edition" fall preview episode that'll look ahead at "politics, television, film and fashion." Project Runway's Nina Garcia, Caroline Rhea and Melissa Claire Egan also participate.

Degrassi: The Next Generation (The N) 9:00 PM EDT
Tonight's the sixth season finale and I hear gay teen Marco gets a story once again, even as the show finishes a juicy storyline for lesbian character Lexi. Marco and Lexi have gotten a lot of focus, which makes sense since they're two of the more interesting (and adorable) characters on the show.

Saturday

The Graham Norton Show (BBC America) 10:00 PM
Joan Collins and Jason Donovan appear in tonight's episode. Here's to hoping Graham and Joan reenact Charlotte Rae's infamous "Joan Collins is a &#^*!" smackdown.

Sunday

Big Brother (CBS) 8:00 PM EDT
Now that Dustin is no longer HoH, will he have to face the possibility of being nominated for eviction this week? More importantly: without a certain somebody around, what the heck are we going to look at for an entire hour?

The Kill Point (Spike TV) 9:00 PM EDT
We know: we're continuing to recommend something on basic cable frathouse Spike TV?! Well, the gay character in this hugely appealing hostage crisis story is still around and, for the most part, this mini-series has offered solid drama. Am I the only one who finds the grammar obsession of Donnie Wahlberg to be something you'd expect of a Saturday Night Live sketch?

Friday

Late Night with Conan O'Brien (NBC) 12:35 AM EDT
Emmy-nominated actor Neil Patrick Harris is a guest on tonight's show. I wonder if they'll talk about NPH's sweetie's rumored move-in.

Saturday

Camp Out (Logo) 9:00 PM EDT
Ten teenagers spend their summer at the first LGBT Christian youth camp in this documentary premiering tonight.

Graham Norton (BBC America) 10:00 PM EDT
This weeks guests include Little Britain's Matt Lucas, Andrew Lloyd Weber and a performance by Sinead O'Connor. I'm very curious what the meeting between Norton and Lucas will be like.

Kyle XY (ABC Family) Midnight EDT
This is your chance to catch "Free to be you an me" a gay-friendly episode where controversy erupts over gay students who want to attend a school dance.

Sunday

Big Brother (CBS) 8:00 PM EDT
With Dustin set as Head of Household who will he nominate? More importantly, will he be able to keep that power from going to his head? (Seems unlikely since it happened to every other HoH.)

The Kill Point (Spike TV) 9:00 PM EDT
The second part of the hostage crisis miniseries we told you about on Wednesday debuts tonight in its regular time.