Fans of Science Fiction TV often bemoan how the most major awards overlook their shows as a niche unworthy of comparisons to the likes of The West Wing or The Practice. Even the more forward-thinking Television Critics Association snubbed Battlestar Galactica for their awards this year, despite its earning mountains of praise from its members. Thankfully, we have the SyFy Genre Awards.

The nominees were announced last week and gay fave series Battlestar Galactica gained the most nominations, with eleven honors directed its way. But the Russell T. Davies-led Doctor Who and Torchwood managed to tie that number together with Who winning six nominations and Torchwood picking up five, including a Best Actor nomination for out actor John Barrowman.

Davies wasn't the only gay producer to do well in the nominations: Bryan Fuller's Pushing Daisies picked up a nomination in both the Best Actor (Lee Pace) and Best Actress (Anna Friel) categories. Out actor George Takei is also nominated for Best Special Guest for his role in Heroes.

I have to admit, it's nice to have a list of awards nominees that doesn't have my muttering to my computer monitor, "Okay fine, overlook Tricia Helfer's multiple roles but ignoring Mary McDonnell?" It's even nicer to see the likes of Freema Agyeman (Doctor Who's Martha Jones) and David Tennant (Doctor Who) getting some due credit Stateside. It's tempting to get into "Who was snubbed" talk but the idea of some of these performers getting some due credit make me happy enough.

You'll be able to vote on the winners at SyFyPortal.com starting June 25. Check out the full list of TV nominees after the break:

All good things must come to an end, as the cliche goes, and yesterday gay writer Russell T. Davies announced that he would soon be stepping down as Executive Producer of Doctor Who. Davies will step down after the series of specials that will air next year and another acclaimed writer, Steven Moffat, will take charge of the show for its fifth season.

Under Davies, the long-running series managed to reach new viewers, as well as reconnect with those who had been Who fans throughout the decades. Davies added some gay inclusiveness to the franchise, most notably by introducing the first bisexual companion for The Doctor (Captain Jack Harkness) and making the character (played by the openly gay John Barrowman) the lead in his own spin-off series. Davies' run has also seen gay characters pop up every so often and has given roles to openly gay actors like Andrew Hayden-Smith and Russell Tovey as well as actors best known for playing gay like Coronation Street's Bruno Langley and Ryan Carnes of Desperate Housewives and Eating Out.

Hayden-Smith, Tovey, Langley and Carnes in their Doctor Who roles

Davies also gave Who a gay sensibility. Under Davies, The Doctor's companions have included gay icons such as British pop diva Billie Piper, comedienne Catherine Tate and pop legend Kylie Minogue. Davies' Who run also saw parodies of British reality TV (including gay fave Big Brother), sonic weaponry disguised as lipstick and last Christmas' special, "Voyage of the Damned", which was heavily influenced by The Poseidon Adventure.

What's next for Davies isn't clear yet. He will be working on the second season of Doctor Who's kid-oriented spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, but fans of Davies' other Who spin-off, Torchwood, are still waiting to hear the details of the third season (though there will be one). Last October, Davies announced plans to develop a series about the experiences of fourtysomething gay men, but Davies warned that show was "years away," citing his busy schedule. Will quitting Who give Davies time to focus on this new project?

With the gay geeks finally getting representation on Beauty and the Geek thanks to Gregg, I've been thinking about openly gay men in pop culture as well as the visibility of gay themes in the realms of science fiction, comics and video games. Overall, these are realms where gay fans frequently feel left out, but things are getting better. Here are six openly gay men working in those areas who have also helped improve visibility for those of us who'd like to have a superhero, space captain, or time-traveling immortal of our own.

Russell T. Davies

Davies became a well-known name when he created the original Queer As Folk, a series that was groundbreaking at the time for prominently featuring gay characters including Doctor Who fanboy Vince Tyler. Davies was a longtime Doctor Who fan himself and was eventually tasked with reviving the franchise. Davies' Who run brought queer characters to the franchise. While most gay characters were a part of the world's background, Davies' first season of Who gave us Captain Jack Harkness, a charming and roguish, time-traveling con artist. Captain Jack was a popular character who got his own spin-off series (we've discussed it occasionally) giving us the first bisexual male heroic lead on a mainstream sci-fi program.

One of the interesting tendencies of Davies is to reuse names, something that Davies says helps him flesh out a character. His Queer as Folk everyman Vince shared a name with the first companion in Davies' Doctor Who run, Rose. (And the Tyler name continued in a show that Davies didn't work on when the creators of Life on Mars named their time-traveling protagonist, Sam Tyler, after Rose.) He's introduced two smart and capable women named Jones (Prime Minister Harriet Jones and medical student Martha Jones) as well as Torchwood's super capable office assistant Ianto Jones. However, the character that has the geekiest lineage is Captain Jack who is named after Agatha Harkness, a popular character among gay Marvel readers. Naming your influential character after the tutor of a d-list comic book diva, that's geek cred.

Phil Jimenez

Jimenez's artwork first hit the comic shops in 1991, his amazingly detailed and realistic style quickly made an impression. Over time, his consistently strong work has built him a following that has made him one of comics' marquee names who publishers court for an exclusive contract (he's currently exclusive to Marvel and is working on the flagship Amazing Spider-Man, with his first issue hitting the shelves earlier this month).

Jimenez became a role model for gay comic fans in 1996 with an editorial that appeared the last issue of the Tempest mini-series that he wrote and pencilled. In the editorial, Jimenez publicly came out and touchingly remembered Neal Pozner the man who first hired him to work for DC Comics who became a mentor to Jimenez, as well as Jimenez' partner. Pozner died in 1994 and the eulogy was powerful not only for increasing gay visibility among comic creators but for bringing a gay relationship into the dialogue.

Clive Barker

Barker quickly made an impression as a horror writer, particularly after Stephen King praised him as "the future of horror". Barker has had a long and varied career that has included film (which includes the horror series Hellraiser as well as producing the film Gods and Monsters), comic books (Barker has an original series comic soon from IDW, who've previously published adaptations of his The Thief of Always and The Great and Secret Show) and video games.

• Does Sonic Lipstick go with my skin tone?:
  The LA Times chatted with Russel T. Davies about his role in bringing the Doctor Who to its current level of success. There's a little bit in the article for every fan of a Doctor Who franchise but I'm most excited about the news that The Sarah Jane Adventures will show up on The Sci-Fi Channel in April. I really liked what we saw of Sarah Jane Smith in "School Reunion" (the Doctor Who episode that also gave us a baddie played by Anthony Steward Head), so I've been hoping that SJC wouldn't be the only Who spin-off not to make it stateside. The article also confirms earlier reports that the fourth Doctor Who season will arrive on The Sci-Fi Channel in April.
  

• Then again, I could see Hollywood deciding to cover him up in a wetsuit:
  I remember back when I played the Hollywood Stock Exchange, that proposed Submariner movie seemed like an odd idea that wouldn't get past the concept stage. However, the film seems to be moving forward after all: late last week, comic blogs were buzzing over news taht Jason Statham discussed playing the Altantean Prince. I was never a big fan of the grumpy gus that Namor usually was, so the best part about this news? An excuse to post pictures of Statham!

  

  If Statham swims as gracefully as he delivers a flying kick, he'll make a great Namor ... and, if I remember right, this is a production of Lionsgate, who struck a deal with the Writers' Guild. If I'm right on that account, this production won't be affected by the writers' strike.
  

• Too bad you can't fly a rainbow flag over your ship:
  For those of you are playing the recently-launched Pirates of the Burning Sea, the crew at GayGamer have formed a gay pirate society. Go out there and plunder yourselves some booty together.
  

• A new Calibur of video game stud:
  Namco just released new screencaps from the fourth Soul Calibur game and ... well, I'll admit I haven't played Soul Cailbur since encountering the first installment was in arcades, but when did the game start having guys as hot as these new characters?

  

  Between this and guys found in the Virtua Fighter and Mortal Kombat (ah, original edition Johnny Cage) series, I'd say Capcom is falling behind ... Will Ryu and Guile ever look this good?
  

• The Middleman cometh:
  A while back, I mentioned that ABC Family was looking at adapting indie comic The Middleman as a series with gay-fave Matt Keeslar in the lead role. This week, ABC Family announced that they're going ahead with the series. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait for the writers (and for SAG, probably) to get a fair deal before any news on when the show will make its debut.
  

2007 was quite a year for gay geeks, with gay representation in comics books, on science fiction television and in video games being a frequent discussion topic. While these topics aren't entirely new, this year the discussion was at its most active.

On TV, we saw ourselves more often, especially on BBC America's Torchwood ... even though we had frustrating setbacks on shows like Heroes. Things looked incredibly bright for gamers, who found themselves expecting a good number of games with expected gay-inclusiveness and found it easier to find each other.

Additionally, gay geeks became more visible. Logo debuted its collection of animation, Alien Boot Camp,which included bumpers showing gay fans at comics and sci-fi conventions, as well as gay comic creators like Alison Bechtel. For a long time, this subset of queers weren't seen often, with gay geeks being happily surprised when they found each other, but that's changing as our visibility within the gay community increases.

Let's take a look back at the past year, shall we?

Here they come, the sound of drums

If we were to declare a king of the gay geeks, Russel T. Davies would be the candidate to beat. The Doctor Who producer did plenty to increase gay visibility on sci-fi television. The past season of Who regularly showed gay people as simply a part of the human tapestry. More importantly, 2007 was the year Torchwood made its USA debut. The series quickly became BBC America's biggest hit and, seeking to maintain the momentum from season one's success, the network announced that the second season will air only two weeks after it airs on BBC Three.

The success of Torchwood, as well as Doctor Who, is a significant development for gay sci-fi fans. On Torchwood, Captain Jack Harkness is a very different way of portraying queer men on television: as a dashing, heroic lead. Meanwhile, Captain Jack's return to Doctor Who this season continued to show his relationship with The Doctor as one having the kind of strained affection previously seen only with female companions like Sarah Jane Smith and Rose Tyler.

While Doctor Who is an obscure series for American fans, it's a major franchise in the UK and the series is the target of constant rumors and speculation regarding arrivals and departures both in front and behind the cameras. Those rumors included talk that Davies' may be cutting back on his Who duties with Steven Moffat taking over the series. Moffat wrote some of Who's most popular episodes and created the gay-inclusive Coupling and Jeckyll. If the speculation has any merit, Moffat sounds like a promising replacement.

We're still holding on for our hero on Heroes, Monday nights

For some media pundits, Heroes is a solid example of what diversity should look like on television,; but for people who actively advocate for increased diversity, the show is a mix of potential and problems. Last December, we noted that early promotion for the series had Zach as gay but that the show had suddenly turned away from the idea. Discussion into the character continued into the new year. Out producer Bryan Fuller confirmed that the character was written as gay, only to have those plans derailed by the management of Thomas Dekker, who played Zach. In its second season, Heroes was supposed to add a lesbian character but she, too, disappeared before becoming a major presence.

Torchwood, the BBC’s award-winning drama and current cult sci-fi favourite, will be bursting back on to UK TV screens in mid-January, bigger and bolder than ever.

And in response to audience demand, younger fans of the show will now be given the opportunity to watch a specially edited pre-watershed repeat when the Doctor Who spinoff switches from BBC Three to a primetime slot on BBC Two.

Quite what that means for fans of the Captain Jack (John Barrowman) and Ianto Jones (Gareth Lloyd-Davies) relationship, only time will tell. However, speaking at the recent Torchwood season two press launch, when it came to the subject of the show's gay relationships, executive producer Russell T Davies was quick to point out that “the kissing won’t be removed” from the pre-watershed repeats.

Apparently, the move to introduce an edited version of the show for pre-watershed broadcast (before 9pm which is the cut-off point for programs intended for family viewing and those programs intended for an adult audience) was in response to "popular demand from families and younger viewers".

Davies also added: "This series pushes the Torchwood team further than ever before. They are joined by some incredible guest stars who are really going to cause waves. It's adventurous, thrilling and packed full of surprises."

The new thirteen-part series sees Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s James Marsters making a special appearance in the first episode, as Captain John. Other well-known faces set to make an appearance in season two include Richard Briers, Nerys Hughes and Ugly Betty’s Alan Dale, as well as Doctor Who’s companion, Martha Jones, played by Freema Agyeman.

Also speaking at the press launch, BBC Two controller Roly Keating added: "We're delighted that Torchwood is joining BBC Two. We know from the success and popularity of Heroes (also shown on BBC2) that there's a growing appetite for smart, high-quality, sci-fi drama on the channel so Torchwood is a perfect fit.”

The first series of Torchwood premiered on BBC Three last year, and achieved the channel's highest ratings for 2006, with an audience of 2.5 million turning in for the first episode.

Friday

Doctor Who (Sci-Fi Channel) 8:00 PM EDT
The third season of out writer/producer Russel T Davies' revival of the long-lasting TV series makes its American debut. I'm pretty new to the Who universe but Davies' version had me from the very beginning with for having a sense of fun while also giving us some very thought-provoking stories. It didn't hurt, either, that I knew John Barrowman would join the cast.

Tonight's 150-minute debut includes an appearance by Catherine Tate, as well as the introduction of Freema Agyeman's Martha Jones. If you haven't realized what how cool Ms Tate can be check out the comedy sketch after the cut teaming Tate with David Tennant.

The Henry Rollins Show (IFC) 11:00 PM EDT
Placebo is scheduled to perform on tonights show. You might remember them for the time their gay bassist and gay singer shared an on-stage kiss in Lithuania.

Saturday

The Graham Norton Show
This week's guests include Joss Stone and Dennis Hopper. I don't know why I'm enjoying Norton so much more than I've enjoyed his earlier talk shows, but this one has been a weekly must-see program for me.

Sunday

Wisecrack Marathon (Logo) starting at 1:00 PM EDT
Logo's airing three hours of its stand-up comedy series Wisecrack today, starting with Alec Mapa, with specials featuring Miss Coco Peru and Dough Holsclaw airing afterwards. A good comedy special never gets old for me, and I find Mapa's just hilarious.

It's been a little while since I blogged about Doctor Who, Torchwood, and John Barrowman. Not because there hasn't been any news about them. It's just lack of time, but I'm fixing that today. First the bad news for Torchwood fans--season two has been delayed until January 2008. The show's publicist says the time was needed to write the episodes and to find actors for Barrowman to make out with do special effects.

UK fans are already four episodes in to the David Tennant era and gay fans think enough of Tennant to have voted him Most Fanciable Male. Tennant is delighted because us 'mos have such good taste. Um, cough Kylie Minogue cough, okay. Here is a picture of Tennant about to snack on a kitty. (I'm joking.) Have you ever thought life would be perfect if only you knew about every single GLBT moment in Doctor Who? If so, then this obsessive nut thorough person is perfect for you. I've read some grumbling that the show is too gay as evidenced by an episode two weeks ago that included a lesbian couple in a very minor role. Good grief!

Captain Jack (John Barrowman) doesn't show up on Who for a number of episodes yet, but no word on whether or not he snogs this Doctor Who. Former love interest for Desperate Housewives'Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom) Ryan Carnes also lands on Doctor Who, but judging from this photo, I doubt you'll recognize him.