The 4th of July weekend is a time for families and friends of all ages, races, and sexes to celebrate the freedoms that come with being an American. On July 5th, MSNBC's prison documentary series Lockup launched a new batch of episodes sure to guilt us Americans into reconsidering what it means to be free. Why are we posting this, you may ask?

If you're like me, you're enthralled with prison life and the relationships between men that are incarcerated.  Just look at the intrigue generated for the upcoming Jim Carrey/Ewan McGregor prison romance I Love You Phillip Morris, and don't forget HBO's groundbreaking serial Oz which gave us some of the most compelling and complicated relationships, same-sex or otherwise, to ever be broadcast on television.

On July 12th at 10pm EST, Lockup: Raw will focus on same-sex relationships behind bars with a new episode entitled "Locked-up Love." 

After the break, watch a sneak peek at one happy inmate couple on the eve of possible co-habitation as they talk about being out and the complications that arise courtesy of the penal (sorry, I had to) system.

Can FOX do what ABC and NBC pulled off with Ugly Betty and The Office, respectively? It's time we find out, because the network is taking a risk in adapting the Argentinian telenovela Lalola into a new series.

According to Variety, Fox has picked up the gender-bending pilot about a womanizer who gets a taste of his own medicine when with two shakes of a stick he's turned from a rooster into a hen by a scorned ex. That's right, it's a new body swapping "comedy" from the network that brought us such high class shows Cops and World's Worst Car Crashes.

Created by Journeyman's Kevin Falls, the show will be set in the world of sports, entertainment and fashion. Think Just One of the Guys meets All of Me and Arli$$ by way of Sex and the City.

To get an idea of what the fuss is all about, here's the trailer for the original Lalola (with english subtitles)

Lalola was hailed as the next Ugly Betty when it premiered in Argentina so I'm sitting here thinking how fun it would be if we could get Betty's Michael Urie and Becky Newton to play the two leads. Sure they have their own show and a little thing called a contract but how fun would that be?

For those of you keeping track at home, this show is not to be confused with FX's new show from Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy called Pretty/Handsome (original title, 4 oz), which is about a husband that comes to terms with being transgender and undergoes gender reassignment surgery starring Joseph Fiennes, Carrie-Ann Moss and Blythe Danner.

Hello, my name is Dan and I'm addicted to a little known gay show called Ugly Betty, maybe you've heard of it? By some bizarro chance a network show with openly gay characters, faghags, gay celebrity cameos, friends of Dorothy, and a "hot tranny mess" (their words, not ours!) is being embraced by mainstream America ... who knew? 

Thankfully, millions of you (including the warped minds behind this very site) were in on what I'm just now discovering - that Ugly Betty is a beautifully unapologetic, out and proud celebration of queerness and diversity!

When I received the pilot for Betty in the summer of 2006, I watched it and tossed it back into the pile of screeners from which it came because I thought, "eh."  I feared that the show couldn't walk the fine line between camp and drama without losing its way and I was positive there was no way in frakkin' hell that Sue from Boise was going to embrace the quirk.  Well look who's got egg on his face now?

Not only has Ugly Betty been able to balance laugh out loud camp with sincere and heartbreaking drama (Santos, RIP), it's been able to increase gay visibility in prime-time without any backlash.  Celebs are beating down the Mode door to guest star (Victoria Beckham, Rita Moreno, Patti Lupone, Rebecca Gayheart, Gene Simmons, Project Runway's Tim Gunn and Christian Siriano, Idol's Kat McPhee) and they just landed a huge liability guest star in Lindsay Lohan. Lohan will guest in the May 22nd finale as a mean girl from Betty's past.  At this time, it's reported that LiLo will also return for at least 5 episodes next Fall.  That's crazy talk!

Also crazy ... amazing (cramazing if you will) is the news that Betty will move production to New York City for Season 3.  If you were fooled by the numerous green-screened NYC skyline shots, you're obviously blind because the show has been shot entirely in Hollywood and it was painfully obvious.  *That rustling you hear is all of the AfterElton staffers honing their stalking skills (Christopher Gorham watch out) and ABC prepping a slew of restraining orders to prepare for the move East.

Why do I love Ugly Betty?  Three words: Marc and Amanda.

Michael Urie and Becky Newton are the new Jack and Karen (Will & Grace) with less squealing and a smidge less booze.  As I mentioned in my blog, "Marc and Amanda are so funny that I want to marry both of them and have a cult somewhere in Texas where we breed thousands of little Justin Suarez’s." 

Watching Marc develop from a one-note caricature of a queer to a relationship-ready fully realized character has been my biggest treat while plowing through two seasons of Ugly Betty in less than 3 weeks.  His friendship with Amanda has delivered some of the best comedic lines of any show I've seen all year and their love/hate relationship is aces.  They're co-dependent and I'm looking to join their needy circle because seriously, we'd all be BFF's.  I'm sure you feel the same way.

Don't forget to tune in tomorrow night at 8:00pm EST (ABC) to see Hilda bring the smackdown on Justin's gym teacher (Eddie Cibrian, no less!) and Betty avoid another smackdown with Charlie.  Again, my name is Dan and I'm happy to be down with the Ugly. 

After the break, we're posting some of the best pics from the upcoming finale, which involves three words that could strike fear into the hearts of many gay men: company softball game. 

Eddie Cibrian got game