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...

You might remember how in our 2008 Pop Culture Wish List we hoped that we might see an openly gay man as host of a late night talk show. It actually sounds like we might get our wish.

In his latest video blog, out performer Sam Harris announced that he'll be working on a talk show pilot for Lifetime. The show will be based on Harris' video blogs, where he chats with friends and answers fans' questions. Harris will be developing the show with The Class co-creator Jeffrey Kalrik and there's no word yet on how the show will make the transition from online video to cable TV.

I don't always catch Harris's blogs, but the interviews I've seen are wonderfully intimate and natural. I hope they can maintain that quality on his Lifetime show, especially if Harris' guests include performers looking to avoid rehashing the same old anecdotes about the filming of their new movie.

If Harris' pilot becomes a Lifetime series it would be a step forward for gay men. As we noted in our wish list, the only other openly gay man to host am American talk show was Jm J. Bullock's short-lived syndicated show with Tammy Faye, so Harris could end up blazing a new trail for gay men in the USA. (They're well ahead of us in the UK.) We'll keep our fingers crossed things work out for Harris and keep an eye out for news.