Those who have been watching Greg Berlanti's whimsical brain-damaged lawyer soap Eli Stone already know that gay pop icon George Michael plays a major role in the show's overall mythology. He appears to the central character in visions and the episodes are named after the titles of his songs.

But in Thursday's chapter of the quirky morality tale, Michael appears in the flesh to play himself after a high school student named Molly is expelled for playing "I Want Your Sex" in the middle of a school abstinence program. After learning about the girl's expulsion, Michael secures Stone's help to defend the girl in court.

I'll admit, I was a bit nervous about seeing Michael appear as himself on the show. In recent years, the singer's run-ins with the law have eclipsed his reputation as a musician, and his brief self-skewering appearances on Extras, Little Britain, and Catherine Tate have been a bit one-note. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that here Michael gets ample screen time, is at ease on camera, and has the opportunity to talk about something other than toilet sex. In fact, he acts as something of a moral compass for the episode.

When Michael first appears to Stone, the hallucination-happy attorney (played beautifully by Jonny Lee Miller, for those who haven't tuned in) initially thinks that he's just another apparition, as he has been visited by visions of the pop star since the first episode, leading him to do good. After overcoming the confusion (with the help of a rather gay-seeming temp -- played by Jim Rash who played sort-of-gay on Help Me Help You) and agreeing to help the pop star with his case, he asks Michael why he picked him. The answer is surprising and fits in nicely with the show's mythology. It also sets up some interesting questions to be answered down the road.

Michael's participation in the case is a cause of unexpected excitement for Stone's cranky boss (played by Broadway and Alias vet Victor Garber), who has the chance to sing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" in one of the episode's fantasy sequences. (Seriously, are they spiking the water at ABC? Are there any dramas on the net that don't feature hallucinations or spontaneous musical numbers these days?)

George Michael fans will be happy to know that his career is experiencing a new life. He recently announced the dates of his upcoming American tour.

June 17 - San Diego/San Diego Sports Arena
June 19 - San Jose, CA/HP Pavilion
June 21 - Las Vegas/MGM Grand
June 22 - Phoenix/US Airways Center
June 25 - Los Angeles/Great Western Forum
July 2 - Seattle/Key Arena
July 4 - Vancouver/General Motors Place
July 7 - St. Paul/Xcel Energy Center
July 9 - Chicago/United Center
July 13 - Dallas/American Airlines Center
July 14 - Houston/Toyota Center
July 17 - Toronto/Air Canada Centre
July 18 - Montreal/Bell Centre
July 21 & 23 - New York/Madison Square Garden
July 26 - Philadelphia/Wachovia Center
July 27 - Boston/TD Banknorth Garden
July 29 - Washington, D.C./Verizon Center
July 31 - Atlanta/Philips Arena
Aug. 2 - Tampa/St. Pete Times Forum
Aug. 3 - Sunrise (Ft. Lauderdale), FL/Bank Atlantic Center

George Michael, the talented and amazing artist, was never in doubt. He created a string of hits first as lead singer of Wham! and later in his solo career. This is a guy who took Elton John’s Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me and made it his own. That’s no small feat.

The real issue was whether his talent would be overshadowed by scandal and drug abuse. Some part of that scandal grew out his sexual orientation, including the infamous park bathroom incident. But, in recent years, most of it grew out of drug abuse.

His resurgence has Michael showing up in unexpected places like ABC’s drama Eli Stone. It was nice to see him there. It’s even nicer to see him get back to his roots as a performer. After the break, another bonus clip of the artist in concert.

George Michael croons to Jonny Lee Miller in an old version of Eli Stone's dream sequence

Way back in 2007 (like we can remember back past lunch!) we were a bit disappointed that Greg Berlanti's intriguing-sounding yuppie-in-ideological-peril dramedy Eli Stone wasn't picked up for the fall schedule. It was encouraging that it might make an appearance mid-season, but given the intriguing premise, gay pedigree and bizarro mentions of George Michael's presence as a guardian angel, we were hoping for more.

And perhaps due to the creative drought left in the dusty wake of the writers' strike, more is what we've ended up getting, with ABC putting a good amount of firepower behind the show's premiere after Lost on January 31st. 

While the visions that Eli (Jonny Lee Miller of Hackers, Trainspotting, and Angelina Jolie's lipstick case) had of "Faith"-crooning George Michael seemed initially like a minor flight of fancy in what would otherwise be a pedestrian drama, the ads for the show are putting the gay pop singer and the show's more fantastical (hallucinatory? divine?) elements front-and-center, be they North By Northwest crop-dustings or full dance numbers.

In fact, I've found two clips of the same dream sequence, the first (and likely more current, as it has the official ABC voice intro) of which is much more elaborate and well-filmed than the other, which I'm guessing might have been from the original pilot. Maybe the powers that be have decided to let the show wander further into surreal territory following the success of Pushing Daisies? Whatever the case, the more elaborate scene is definitely better, as it shakes off the low-rent Ally McBeal vibe of the cubicle-heavy clip.

Check out both clips featuring Michael doing what he does best (having "Faith") here and here! 

Out pop star George Michael was recently interviewed for the Brit series Desert Island Discs, and he took the opportunity to speak candidly about his decision to remain closeted until his mother had died and his long-lost love of insects.

George believes that his scandalous arrest (for exposing himself to a policeman in Beverly Hills) was his way of coming out after his mother passed away: "There wasn't any reason to be quiet now that my mother was no longer in this world, and I was proud of my sexuality."

Because we all know how hard it is to find a Hallmark card that says it with the same oomph of a bathroom sex scandal.

He also discusses a childhood head injury which he credits as being the point where he became interested in music, and which dashed his previous obsession: bugs.

"I had been obsessed with insects and creepy crawlies, I used to get up at five o'clock in the morning and go out into this field behind our garden and collect insects before everyone else got up and, suddenly, all I wanted to know about was music, it just seemed a very, very strange thing."

Michael has been reportedly signed for two more episodes of the mid-season drama Eli Stone (in which he appeared in the pilot as himself, in the form of the title character's guardian angel) and will also appear on the last ever episode of Extras. Bump on the head or no, looks like Michael is headed for a comeback.

Out producer Greg Berlanti is one busy fella. Since we chatted with him last year upon the occasion of his bringing primetime one of its highest-profile gay characters to date (Kevin Walker on Brothers & Sisters), he's been working like a madman, and now has three big projects hitting airwaves in the fall season with his name attached to them.

Aside from B&S, there's Eli Stone (for which he wrote the pilot and doubtless had something to do with getting George Michael to appear as a recurring ... um ... himself?) and Dirty Sexy Money, which boasts a recurring transgender character played by a transgender actress. Needless to say, we're interested in what Berlanti's got going on.

If you are as well, check out this interview in USA Today, in which he discusses his full plate.