Actor Sam Harris

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.

• Happy birthday to Sam Harris! Chances are the gay Star Search champ, actor (The Class) and vlogger will be celebrating the big day with his new son. Everyone now: "Awwwww...."

• On last night's Work Out, gay massage therapist J.D. Jordan went on a blind date (with another beautiful person, natch) and the two even shared a smooch. Nice of them to give the fellas some play! I might have to start actually watching again.

• Here's a local Orlando news station's coverage of the city's Gay Days, which are underway. Approximately 140,000 gay folks of all types enjoy the city's attractions (and pour money into the local economy) over the course of the weeklong event.

• Above, John Barrowman dances with a giant robot and discusses the Christmas Panto he'll be performing this year, all while dressed as Robin Hood. The best part? All of this apparently makes sense.

• In case you hadn't heard, the California Supreme Court officially refused a stay on the recent overturn of the same-sex marriage bill, meaning that nothing can stop gay couples from wedding starting June 17th. In related news, NY Governor David Paterson (the coolest guy in the state, I swear) recently ordered NY agencies to acknowledge same-sex marriages conducted in states where these unions are legal. To tell him thank you for the bold move, head on over to this forum post. (I called and they were very, very sweet!)

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

The Tyra Banks Show (syndicated) Check local listings
Tyra chats with TV judges including the gay Judge David Young. Tyra and TV judges together on the same stage? What are the chances it'll be all over the weekend clip shows?

Beauty and the Geek (CW) 8:00 PM EDT
Think Greg's elimination last week was the last you need to see of this season? Hold on for one more week as The CW airs a "deleted footage" special tonight which will include audition videos and other unaired scenes. Hopefully, we'll get to see some of the great footage of Greg we missed out on the first time around.

Reaper (CW) 9:00 PM EDT
Michael Ian Black and Ken Marino return as two fallen angels (demons) who hope to use Sam (Bret Harrison) and his relationship with the Devil (Ray Wise) for their cause. As I mentioned earlier, with Torchwood's season over, Black and Marino are now the gay sci-fi couple, so why not turn to them in your Janto withdrawal?

Law & Order: SVU (NBC) 10:00 PM EDT
As Michael told you in the latest "Best Gay Week Ever", tonight's episode focuses on a closeted quarterback (played by Bailey Chase, above) whose boyfriend/business manager is found murdered.

Work Out (Bravo) 10:00 PM EDT
Gay masseur JD Jordan starts working at the gym in tonight's episode. You can check out a clip of JD after the break ... Jackie's matchmaking gets on my nerves a bit, considering she finally met Jesse's boyfriend in the last episode.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) 11:00 PM EDT
Camp indie film legend John Waters is scheduled to talk with Jon on tonight's show (coincidentally, his birthday). I cannot wait to see these two chat.

Last season we found ourselves sliding into a love affair with Bravo's gym-based reality soap, Work Out, against our own will. Tonight the show returns for season three with a slew of new trainers on board, as well as gay massage therapist JD Jordan (if you haven't read the new tandem interview we posted with JD and returning gay trainer Jesse Brune, definitely check it out).

Enjoy the trailer below ... anyone else excited about this one? Has it been too long since season two to get back into training?

JD Jordan 

I was as surprised as anyone at how good Bravo's tricep opera Work Out got last season. The tragic and unexpected death of beloved gay trainer Doug Blasdell rocked the team of trainers and brought the beautiful friendship between Doug and straight trainer Brian Peeler to light, and Jackie seemed to make some real headway in trying to rebuild bridges with her mother, who had in the past been less than tolerant of her sexuality.

This season the trainers are back with some new additions, including a new gay trainer, JD Jordan. According to the press release for the season:

JD Jordan is tall, dark and handsome. He's been a masseur to many of Hollywood's leading artists and now wants to take his newfound passion for personal training to the next level.  He's looking to Warner to take him under her wing and show him what it takes to be a top trainer in a very competitive world.  In Jordan's personal life, he's looking for an intelligent, masculine guy and says he's sick of choosing men that need to be saved. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and too often that's what gets him in trouble.

Now before we get up in impossibly well-toned arms about the whole "masculine" thing, it's worth noting that last season arguments between Doug and Jesse Brune about gay role models and traditional masculinity brought some very interesting points to the table. Jesse's back this season as well, and no doubt having two gay trainers will again lead to more catfights stimulating conversation.

Jesse Brune

Also joining the team is (presumably straight) trainer Greg Plitt, whom you might recognize from one of those home gym commercials currently running:

Greg Plitt

I don't know what it is, but something about Greg kind of scares me a little. And it's not just that the pic makes it look like he can palm a bowling ball. And female trainers Agostina Laneri and Renessa Williams (not kidding) join the team as well.

Jackie and the gang will be back to pump (clap!) you up on April 15th. 

Live with Regis and Kelly (Syndicated) Check local listings
Rebecca Romijn has proven herself a real class act in her recent talk show appearances -- and if the subject of playing Ugly Betty's male-to-female transsexual Alexis comes up on today's show (and how can it not, really), she'll doubtless discuss the topic with grace and charm.

The Oprah Winfrey Show (Syndicated) Check local listings
The cast of the movie adaptation of the Broadway adaptation of the movie Hairspray (now with 200% more John Travolta!) drops by Oprah to chat about the film. Our own Christie Keith caught a sneak of the film last month and could hardly find a bad thing to say about it (except for the "200% more John Travolta" part, of course). Might be worth checking out.

Rachel Ray (Syndicated) Check local listings
I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of this woman's schtick -- no amount of cream of mushroom soup can convince me that her prefab brand of cooking should actually be promoted to our already preservative-stuffed population. But today Ray has Project Runway's Tim Gunn on the show, and he apparently puts a few 12-year-old designers through the paces. As long as he doesn't force them to watch Brokeback Mountain, things should be fine.

Shear Genius (Bravo) 10:00PM EDT
Anthony the gay Brit is still in the running (with Tabs and Daisy the lesbian ladies as well), and gay judges Michael and Sally and gay stylist-wrangler (and Boogie-avoider) Rene Fris round out the regulars. Hey -- is Jaclyn Smith the only heterosexual involved in this show? Tonight the stylists have to ambush potential clients in a mall, by the looks of it.

As luck would have it, the two best picks for gay TV tonight are on at exactly the same time. "Picture-in-Picture" has never been so queer.

Work Out: Watch What Happens Reunion (Bravo) 10:00PM EDT
Bravo programming exec Andy Cohen (who's also an out gay man and Diana Ross enthusiast) hosts the reunion episode of the network's hit Tricep Opera. As our preview from last week demonstrated, the memory of the untimely death of trainer Doug Blasdell is still very close to the surface, so have your tissues ready.

The Big Gay Sketch Show (Logo) 10:00PM EDT
Tonight's episode has my second-favorite skit so far on the series, which features Stephen Guarino as a sociopathic flight attendant. There's also a great Rachel Ray bit and two of the better Logo Life Tips segments (my least favorite segments, overall -- although these are a vast improvement). Gay Werewolf (played by recent interview victim Jonny McGovern) also rears his fabulously-coiffed head.

The fine folks at Bravo sent us a note that they've posted a preview clip of next week's Work Out reunion special, hosted by openly gay Bravo honcho Andy Cohen.

The conversation of course turns in part to the passing of gay trainer Doug Blasdell. As the episode last week and our recent interview made clear, Doug's best pal Brian Peeler was deeply affected by the loss. It's hard to watch a man -- any man -- go through this kind of grief, but it is a testament to Doug's character and to the show's consistency in presenting this man as a fully-rounded and valued human being (not just "the gay guy") that the emotional impact of his passing wasn't whitewashed or ignored.

Check out the clip after the jump.