We're excited to unveil a brand-spanking-new video blog, courtesy of our friends at Logo (which is also our parent company, of course). As you may have heard, Sordid Lives: The Series premieres next week on the gay net, and we've somehow talked series creator Del Shores and star Jason Dottley into doing a weekly vlog to give us the inside scoop on the episodes, showcase special guests and discuss all things home-fried, big-haired, and ... well, Southern.

In this intro, we meet Del and Jason (who are also husbands - yes, they can do that now in California!), who give us some background on the origins of the series and what folks can expect to see.

Check it out after the break, and be sure to come back every week for new videos!

Rue McClanahan, Del Shores, Caroline Rhea, Olivia Newton-John, Leslie Jordan

The red carpet was laid out Tuesday night at the New World Stages in Manhattan for the world premiere of Sordid Lives: The Series, Logo's (AfterElton's parent company) latest offering. A prequel to the 2000 film and stage play of the same name, Sordid Lives premieres on Logo on July 23rd at 10pm EDT. The series takes a comedic look at the outrageous lives of a small town Texas family and, based on the two episodes shown, promises to be as outrageous as the film and play it’s based on.

Along with creator Del Shores (who wrote and directed the film and series), cast members Olivia Newton-John, Leslie Jordan, Rue McClanahan, Caroline Rhea, Bonnie Bedalia, Ann Walker, Jason Dottley and Beth Grant all took time before the event began to talk on the red carpet about being a part of Shore’s wacky Southern world. Newton-John, Jordan, Grant, Walker and Bedalia are among those who reprise their roles from the film. Rhea takes over for Delta Burke with the role of Noleta and David Steen takes over the role of GW Nethercott, which was played by Beau Bridges in the film.

Rue McClanahan, Caroline Rhea, Olivia Newton-John

Also on hand were actresses Bebe Neuwirth and Allison Janney, who both showed up to lend their support to the series as well as the event, which was benefiting The Trevor Project. Logo Executive Vice President Lisa Sherman and Vice President of Original Programming Dave Mace were also in attendance.

Rhea, who warmed up the audience with her comedy before introducing a showcase of talent that preceded the episode screenings, hosted the evening. Rhea first introduced Georgette Jones, the daughter of country music legends Tammy Wynette and George Jones, who sang two songs that are featured in the series. Miss Jones also makes a guest appearance in Sordid Lives: The Series as the ghost of her famous mother.

Newton-John

Wynette is an important part of the series, as she was the film, since Leslie Jordan’s character, Brother Boy, is obsessed with the singer and lives in a mental institution where he performs in drag as Wynette. Minus the Wynette makeup and wig, Jordan took to the stage and performed a rollicking skit from his one-man show, “My Trip Down the Pink Carpet.”

Rue McClanahan also dished about her sex scene in the series and a silent auction was held for items such as autographed Sordid Lives costumes, posters, script and signed DVD or the motion picture.

McClanahan

The series premieres next Wednesday on Logo.

Whoopi will trade her Christian Siriano gown for a toga when she joins the cast of Xanadu

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.

• Goodbye, Yellow Brickle Road: How upset am I that when Ben & Jerry create an ice cream flavor based on my favorite Elton John song that I would actually totally like to taste (chocolate and peanut brittle?!), it's only available in Vermont? Damn hippies!!

• We dug the pilot for Alan Ball's upcoming HBO vampire drama True Blood, and we're digging the viral marketing campaigns even more. Check out this fake vampire-inclusive dating site, Lovebitten. I particularly love the spoof of the "Rejected by eHarmony" ads and the "have you come out of the coffin" question on the registration page. (t/y Kaiser for the tip!)

• ABC News has a story about how gay and transgender youth are coming out at an earlier age, despite the fact that their schools are doing little to support and protect them from bullying.

• Here's a sweet interview (check out the accompanying video above) of out actor Leslie Jordan from The Today Show, in which he discussed his new book about being gay in Hollywood and his new series, Sordid Lives (on Logo).

• Whoopi Goldberg is joining the cast of Xanadu for a few months, taking the role of one of the evil muse sisters (Jackie Hoffman is taking a few months off). She's been a vocal supporter of the Gayest Little Musical That Could for months, and it would be awesome to see her in the production. Miss Celie on skates!!

• And some Wicked good news for you theatre-lovers: The Wizard of Oz-based musical may be coming to the big screen, via Universal.

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

If the words "Shoot her Wardell! Shoot her in the head!" mean something to you, I've got some very good news. First, the brand new (double-wide) trailer for Sordid Lives: The Series is up and running, and from the looks of things, the inspired insanity of the movie has transferred intact to the TV show. And second, LOGO (who owns this site, by the by) has announced that the soap will premiere on July 23rd.

Most of the original cast has returned, including Olivia Newton-John, Leslie Jordan, and Bonnie Bedelia. There are a couple of notable changes, though. Delta Burke was unable to reprise her role, so the character of Noleta is now being played by Caroline Rhea. Jason Dottley is now playing the character of Ty, the struggling gay actor, and in a genius casting decision, the character of the family matriach, Peggy (who was a corpse in the movie), is somehow alive and being played by Rue McClanahan. Guest stars in the first season include Margaret Cho, Carson Kressley, and Candis Cayne, which means this has the potential to rock a 10.0 on the gaymeter.

If you want to know more, visit LOGOonline for further details about the show.

Give me liberty or give me Nuke (photo: George de Sota/JPI Studios)

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.

• Feast your eyes on that gorgeous, exclusive pic of Luke (Van Hansis) and Noah (Jake Silbermann) from As the World Turns, which is from the shoot that will appear on next week's show. (Luke did pop up on today's show to give Lady Drumstick a pep talk, but no Noah. If ever there were a person to cheer up with ice cream, it would have been her!)

• Reader nightfish91 tipped us off to this great video of highlights from the Broadway Backwards show (which we covered in a delightfully humpy photo essay earlier this week). Okay, I'm officially hot for Malcolm Gets. Curse you, rhythm!

• Today would have been James Dean's birthday, and he would have turned 76.

• These folks posted what they say is a pic of High School Musical's Lucas Grabeel on the set of Milk, where he plays an employee at Harvey Milk's camera shop. Yes, he's wearing a dress. And yes, this is looking even gayer than his character from HSM.

• Greg Hernandez ran into gay actor Leslie Jordan who assured him that his Sordid Lives co-star Delta Burke is doing very well with her depression treatment.

• Don't forget to catch up on all the queer stuff that matters in Michael's oven-fresh Best.Week.Ever. column, and have a great weekend!

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

A Japanese company has announced that they will be selling a Game of Life customized to your specifications. Along with the option to add pictures of yourself and your loved ones to the box and gameboard, this version will also allow you to dictate what 56 of the 99 spaces on the game board will say. The price tag on a personalized game is a bit high ($350), so it's for dedicated fans only.

That got me thinking, though, about the kind of spaces you might come up with if you wanted to create a gay version of Life. Here are some thoughts of what might fill a gay Game of Life:

• Win a reality show where you fool a woman into thinking you're straight. Collect $10,000 in winnings, but give each player $1,000 to buy your dignity back.

• Adopt a cynical, gay, teen runaway. Collect $1,000 in gifts from each player, but lose a turn spent trying to convince your adopted son you won't abandon him like his birth parents and many foster parents did.

• You and your partner get in a fight while playing The Game of Life when he grabs a pink peg instead of a blue one upon landing on the "get married" space. Lose a turn.

• An anonymous delivery of pear and Gruyere pie precede a sudden burst of energy. Take another turn after breaking out into a chorus of "Morning Has Broken".

• You take your partner to meet your Gay Men-zuh group. His lack of brainpower is mistaken as a dry sense of humor an invited to join the group. Pay $100 to the bank to cover his membership dues.

• Get left behind on a deadly television satellite by your time traveling companions and overshoot your return trip. Start over.

• The neighborhood revolts over the ugly fountain on your front yard. Pay $500 to the bank for Neighborhood Association fees.

• Bust out your Tammy Wynette-obsessed cousin from the mental hospital. Collect $250 when you rent out the spare bedroom to him.

• Settle a potential harassment lawsuit after your boss outs you so that he can demonstrate his gay-friendliness. Collect $25,000.

How would you make a gay-customized Life game board? Let us know in the comments!

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.)