Wow. It's a busy weekend for queer television, with the acclaimed Degrassi and Entourage giving their characters a prominent role this week.

Friday

The Early Show (CBS) 7:00 AM EDT
John Travolta makes one of the last talk show appearances to promote Hairspray this morning. This morning will also include an exit interview with the latest Big Brother evictee.

Hairspray (TBS) 10:00 AM EDT
In case you'd rather see the original version or would like an appetizer for the musical version opening in theatres this weekend, TBS is rerunning the classic edition.

Degrassi: The Next Generation (The N) 8:00 PM EDT
Marco is the focus of this episode where he develops a bad habit while struggling with a physical separation from his boyfriend, Dylan.

Doctor Who (Sci-Fi) 9:00 PM EDT
Tonight's episode doesn't feature our favorite time-traveling omnisexual rogue, but from what I hear, it lays the foundation for one of the more surprising revelations about Captain Jack that will come later in the series.

The nominees for the 59th annual Primetime Emmys were announced, like a second ago, and here's the rundown on the gay stuff:

Out actors...

Neil Patrick Harris
Outstanding Supporting Actor in Comedy (How I Met Your Mother)

T.R. Knight
Outstanding Supporting Actor in Drama (Grey's Anatomy)

Sir Ian McKellen
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (Extras)

Ellen Degeneres
Outstanding Variety Performance (The Oscars)

Gay-interest series:

Entertainment Weekly takes a fun look at TV's great assistants including the gay assistants played by Rex Lee (Entourage's Lloyd) and Michael Urie (Ugly Betty's Marc) as well as Jack McBrayer (30 Rock's gay-seeming Kenneth.) That got me thinking about past examples of gay TV assistants...

Stuart Glazer (Action!)

As bad as Ari Gold may get, things could never be as bad for Lloyd as what poor Stuart (played by out gay actor Jack Plotnick) faced working as a Hollywood assistant. As Peter Dragon's assistant, Stuart had to deal with a temperamental and callous boss who took his frustrations out on Stuart.

Brian (The Larry Sanders Show)

When Hank's assistant, Darlene, suddenly quit on him, Brian (played by out actor Scott Thompson) was able to seize the job opening. When Hank realized he was gay, Hank tried to find an excuse to fire Brian, but quickly realized that Brian was too valuable an assistant to give up.

• Well this is ... weird? A gospel singer and preacher named Tonex has a song out that contains lyrics that some people think indicate that he's coming out as gay. What, "This Little Light of Mine" isn't good enough anymore? BTW, NSFW.
  
• The voting is getting scary close on As the World Turns' Luke/Noah relationship poll. Don't let the homophobes win. Vote now!
• The ever-scooptacular Michael Ausiello talked up Jeremy Piven at the Entourage premiere, and Piven said of his toxic character Ari: "He will prove himself to be the biggest homophobe and the biggest friend to the gay man in the history of humanity." Um ... wow!
• Mariah Carey to perform at Disney's One Mighty Party gay event ... at Paris's Euro Disney park. Chances are, everyone will look either gay or European.
• Isaiah Washington compares himself to Malcolm X and Paul Robeson. Yeah -- remember when Malcolm X called Fidel Castro a "faggot" in 1960? No? Well, that's because it never happened. Moving on...
• Queerty.com asks "Is Gay Pride Even Relevant Anymore?" We're so ashamed.
  
• NewNowNext wants your vote for the Ultimate Queer Videos. And I don't think they mean Reverend Ted Haggard's.
• Meet retired Broadway dancer Michael Vita who is doing all kinds of good works.

Friday

The Henry Rollins Show (Independent Film Channel) 11:00 PM EDT
Influential (and out) rocker Bob Mould (who pioneered the hardcore scene with Husker Du and followed up with the popular rock band Sugar, aside from his excellent solo work) performs this week. Hey did you know that Mould was a scriptwriter for a professional wrestling group? Thanks, Wikipedia!

The Daytime Emmy Awards (CBS) 9:00 PM EDT
Neil Patrick Harris is one of the presenters. Among the nominees, Ellen Degeneres, Tyra Banks and The View battle over the Outstanding Talk Show and Outstanding Talk Show Host trophies. As the World Turns' Van Hansis is also nominated for Outstanding Younger Actor. Go Van! (BJ: Anyone else find it ironic that the Daytime Emmys are aired at night?)

Touch of Pink (Logo) 9:00 PM EDT
If your mood leans more towards watching a movie than an awards show, Touch of Pink is a fun romantic comedy for a Friday night. Jimi Mistry plays a gay Muslim man who has imaginary conversations with Cary Grant (Kyle MacLachlan)... it's like a Play It Again, Sam for the new century.

Saturday

50 Funniest Women (Oxygen) 10:00 PM EDT
Kelly Ripa hosts this countdown of funny women with clips of their best work including Ellen Degeneres, Kathy Griffin, Mo'Nique, Lisa Kudrow, Whoopi Goldberg and Megan Mullally.

The Graham Norton Show (BBC America) 10:00 PM EDT
I'm not sure what's different, but I'm enjoying this new show much, much more than any of Norton's previous shows. Joan Rivers and Julian McMahon are guests. As Norton notes in the previews, one of them is in a show about plastic surgery and the other has had plastic surgery.

Sunday

Black Men: The Truth (BET) 12:00 PM EDT
This Fathers' Day special examines stereotypes about Black Men including discussions of the issues facing Black Men today, issues that include homosexuality. Chris Rock and Barack Obama are among those commenting.

Psycho Beach Party (Logo) 4:00 PM EDT
Hey, I was just talking about this movie! This parody of 50's beach films is based on the Charles Busch play. Silliness abounds in this movie which features a serial killer, a big dance number, half-naked surfers and electroshock therapy.

Entourage (HBO) 10:00 PM EDT
The popular comedy returns with Rex Lee as gay, long-suffering assistant Lloyd.

***SPOILERS***

Those watching Sunday night's episode of HBO's Entourage "Dog Day Afternoon" saw that Lloyd (Rex Lee) was truly willing to put the "personal" in personal assistant for his boss Ari (Jeremy Piven). Reeling from the loss of super client Vincent Chase (Adrien Grenier), Ari is desperate to sign a high-flying television writer played by Will Sasso (channeling a parody version of Desperate Housewives' creator Marc Cherry).

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Ari is so desperate to land the client that he persuades Lloyd to show Sasso a very good time. And by good, I mean Heidi Fleiss good. But Ari isn't the utterly soulless, heartless bastard we've been led to believe and before Lloyd can "consummate" the deal, Ari comes to his rescue in a West Hollywood gay bar. Indeed, the episode made it very clear that while there isn't something romantic going on between Lloyd and Ari, there is something more than just an employer/employee relationship.

AfterElton.com recently had the chance to talk with Lee about the unusual relationship between "gaysian" Lloyd and the uber-straight Ari.

Thus endeth another week and the AfterElton crack team of Flying Monkeys is almost as relieved as Don Imus must be. I hope you've got nice weather headed your way, but Brian tells me so much rain is expected in New York that the animals are pairing off and looking for anyone named Noah. Might be a good weekend to stay in and watch Entourage which I explain in this week's BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER! column is centered around Ari's (Jeremy Piven) out personal assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee). Check back on Monday for our short interview with Rex about what went down--or nearly so--on Sunday night's episode.

Sunday night you also get to meet Kevin's (Matthew Rhys) next love interest on Brothers & Sisters. He's played by Eric Winter and is Senator McCallister's younger brother. No same-sex kisses this episode, but there are fireworks. Oh, and Kevin continues to botch things up romantically. Sigh.