Last night while many of us were in the backyard grilling hamburgers or passing out from one too many brown-bagged wine coolers in the park, one of our few primetime gay characters was enjoying his first on-screen kiss.

Though he has had frustratingly little to do this season, Greek's gay pledge, Calvin (Paul James), enjoyed a public kiss on last night's "Tale of Two Parties" episode. Honestly, though I've been a fan of the show and of Calvin's storyline since the beginning, his lack of screen time this season had me a bit worried that the much-anticipated gay kiss (on an ABC Family show, lest we forget) might be mishandled. But though Calvin was back-burnered overall in the episode, the kiss itself was handled perfectly.

The episode picks up with the newly-liberated Greeks (the Dean has just lifted the restrictions on the houses, remember) planning big parties to reclaim their frathouse glory and what-not. It's mostly a Cappie/Evan one-upsmanship plot, with Cappie looking to undermine Evan's big bash, for which he has secured the attendance of the ZBZ ladies. But Evan isn't giving up easy, and when Casey shows up at his party, he enlists Calvin (his "little brother" pledge) to help him keep the guys away from her.

Calvin is less-than thrilled about this job, because he has invited new love interest Michael (Max Greenfield) to the party and would like to, you know, actually get to speak to him instead of playing gay human shield for his big brother. And when Michael arrives it looks as though Calvin was right to be nervous, because he's like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, for some reason...

Read the rest after the jump, plus you can see the whole clip!

Sorry this is a day late (and probably about 30 cents short), but it's been a busy week here on the Good Ship AfterElton.com. But not so busy that we can't take a few minutes to discuss this week's episode of one of my favorite shows, ABC Family's "frat opera", Greek.

After sitting on the sidelines for a few episodes focusing on the Casey/Cappie/Evan triangle, gay pledge Calvin (played by Paul James) was back this week ... with a new love interest. When we find our strapping pal, he's walking with his best gal Ashleigh, who spots her French T.A., Michael, across campus. She gets all OMGOMG, as she thinks that Michael is gay and that Calvin should therefore fall in love with him. Calvin points out that they don't have to meet simply because they're the only two gay people she knows, but this is Ashleigh we're talking about, so reasoning isn't going to get him far. And besides, she's not totally sure he's gay.

She drags Calvin over to meet the adorable teaching assistant, who is played by Max Greenfield (recently seen as evil assistant Nick Pepper on Ugly Betty and Deputy Leo on Veronica Mars). Ashleigh awkwardly introduces the two, saying that they've got a lot in common because they've both been to France. They try to discuss the fact, but since Calvin was nine when he went, there's not much to cover beyond puking on the Eiffel Tower.

Michael finally says, rather bluntly, "well, we're both gay, so we should meet for coffee," and Calvin's like, "sure." Wow, is it really that easy?! Most of my first dates have been sealed with either blackmail or an elaborately-planned ruse to make the poor guy think he ran over my dog.

Calvin (Paul James) and Michael (Max Greenfield) are set to lock lips

We've been championing ABC Family's groundbreaking college dramedy Greek since it premiered last summer with an unconventional and unapologetically gay man, Calvin (played by Paul James), in its central cast. We loved the inclusive message, the complicated characters, and the show's refusal to judge its characters for their differences.

Now we're thrilled to share (in exclusive news just given to us moments ago) that Calvin and his new love interest, Michael (who is introduced this coming Monday), will share a kiss on-screen in the May 26th episode, "A Tale of Two Parties". Here's the episode description:

With all of the party restrictions lifted, Kappa Tau and Omega Chi throw competing parties to celebrate. Calvin (Paul James) is nervous about inviting Michael (Max Greenfield) to the party with all of his fraternity brothers around, while Michael feels uncomfortable partying with the students he is the TA at school for. Both are feeling a bit uneasy and a conversation between the two leads to a first kiss.

Max Greenfield, Paul James

We're working on getting more details, but here is one pic from the episode. Looked to me like this might be just before the kiss. We'll update you when we can. For now, this is good news to fans who have been disappointed with Calvin's low profile so far this season, and good reason for those who have been missing out to tune in. (Am I right in thinking that this might be ABC Family's first gay smooch?) If you haven't yet hopped aboard the Greek bandwagon, check out our past coverage.

I've taken my share of hits for having fallen unabashedly in love with the ABC Family college dramedy Greek despite being in my 30s. But I just got some great news that may give the haters a reason to rush...

I recently interviewed Greek creator Patrick Sean Smith about the upcoming season, and he told me that gay character Calvin (Paul James) is getting a new love interest in the form of a teaching assistant played by Max Greenfield. 

Greenfield is already a familiar face when it comes to painfully good television (he played Deputy Leo on Veronica Mars and, more recently, evil admin Nick Pepper on Ugly Betty), and the news that he will be playing gay on one of my favorite shows is bringing out my inner sorority girl.

Here are a few reasons why...

Smith said that the character that Greenfield plays is "older and more experienced" than Calvin, which of course sets the mind working in all sorts of terrible ways. And as for Greenfield himself, Smith told me that he is "wonderful and the coolest guy and very chill". Alright, enough. You had me at "more experienced".

If you're a new pledge to the Greek phenomenon, check out our "Greecaps" of the show's first season, our interview with actor Paul James, and our article on why ABC Family is a net to watch when it comes to breaking new ground for gay visibility. And for more on this development and others, check back here for the full interview with Sean Smith, which will run closer to the return of the show on March 24th. 

I first spotted Max Greenfield over on Veronica Mars where he played the adorable Deputy Leo D'Amato. So when I spotted him on the most recent episode of Ugly Betty (the one where Marc came out), I was most intrigued. Well, my intrigue ratcheted several notches higher when I came across this photo over on Televisionista.com. Max plays Alexis' new assistant Nick and as you can see from this promotional still from the upcoming episode called Secretaries' Day, I'm not the only whose eye Nick has caught.