Originally I had something completely different planned for Part 2 of How'd I Miss My Coming Out?, but then I watched the Tony Awards on DVR and it sparked something.  It doesn't help that AfterElton's love for Cheyenne Jackson has slowly created my own mini-obsession with that tall drink of water so this week we're getting a little light in our skates as we reminisce about Xanadu.

There were a couple things I worshiped as a kid that were pretty damn gay; I'm talking things I would have traded a whole set of Garbage Pail Kids cards for or possibly even sold my little sister on the black market if it meant keeping these things in my life. Yes, I was that dramatic in grade school.

One of these treasures from my youth was Olivia Newton-John and the other was roller skating. So imagine my glee when in 1980 I realized that these two great tastes go great together!

Xanadu was one of my first obsessions and one of the first signs that my parents should have picked up on. It's not every day that you'll see a little blonde kid dancing in his living room with huge headphones on and Electric Light Orchestra contributing to early onset deafness. 

Not only did I think I could sing just like Olivia, I thought I was a roller skating king! I was like lighting on skates (just ask Gina P., whose tail I whooped in the Chestnut Hill Elementary School gymnasium with the entire school watching ... that's what I thought) and practicing moves was as common as piano lessons in my house.  Linda Blair had nothing on my Roller Boogie!

I had the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on vinyl and knew every word by heart.  I can't tell you how many nights were spent singing those famous love songs into my pillow and thinking in my head that I sounded exactly like my girl Olivia. "Suddenly" never sounded so good as through the vocal chords of a pre-pubescent girly-voiced boy who thought he could match Olivia's wispy soprano. 

In my bedroom I was a singer and in my driveway a disco dancin' derby boy who could skate in circles while clapping and chanting "X-A-N-A-D-U" until the sun went down.  My head was full of singing, dancing, skating through walls and lots of neon, it was fab-u-lous!

Here's some great news: At long last, the in-development series based on Del Shores' fan-fave play and movie Sordid Lives is making its way to Logo in the summer fall of 2008. 

Official word is out that the series (currently filming in Louisiana) is screenbound and will star Bonnie Bedelia, Rue McClanahan, Olivia Newton-John, Caroline Rhea, and Beth Grant (OMG don't tell me that's the Sparkle Motion lady from Donnie Darko...). Out, Emmy-winning actor Leslie Jordan (pictured above) will reprise his film role as the institutionalized, Tammy-Wynette-channeling "Brother Boy", and Margaret Cho, Carson Kressley, Candis Cayne and Georgette Jones are also set to cameo amidst the 12-episode run.

The press release sums up the series thusly:

Sordid Lives’ twelve half-hour episodes are a humorous look at a dysfunctional family and the denizens of Winters, Texas, as well as an institutionalized brother (Jordan) who channels Tammy Wynette (Jones).  The series also chronicles the handsome young son of one of sisters (Bedelia) who is struggling with coming out to his Texas Republican Baptist family while pursuing an acting career in Los Angeles. 

Finally, some good news on the television front ... and even more, easily the most bizarre cast I've ever seen assembled for a television project (most of whom appeared in the 2000 film). This could either be brilliance or an absolute mess, but either way, we'll be watching ... and not just because Logo will make us. (Logo is the parent company of AfterElton.com.)

• Director Frank Oz says there is nothing wrong with the way Peter Dinklage's gay little person is treated in his film Death at a Funeral.
  

• Lance Bass talks to the New York Times about "fan-boys" and what comes next for him.
  

• The out Darren Star and Sex and the City columnist Candace Bushnell are no longer BFF.
  

• Speaking of BFFs, Ugly Betty's Michael Urie & Becki Newton in joint interview to LA Times discuss how they met and all their on set improvising.

• Olivia Newton-John's closeted gay employee kills self. Prompts singer to speak out publicly about seeking help for depression.