Ben Barnes

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.

• FOXNews and FOX late night took dirty swipes at Ellen, calling her wedding announcement a "danger" to her show's sponsorship and the equivalent to talking about ones "bowel movements" on television. (Remind me to wear dark colors the next time I attend the wedding of someone from FOX.)

• Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) is set to play Dorian Gray in a new film adaptation of gay author Oscar Wilde's classic (and quite queer) morality tale of obsession and vanity. The film comes from the men behind An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest, and the recent and upcoming St. Trinian's films, all of which featured or starred out actor Rupert Everett.

• In this recent audio interview, John Barrowman confirms a Torchwood third season (with an apparently very different team), hopes for season four, and mentions a variety show he has in the works.

• We'd actually heard this from the horse's mouth at last week's GLAAD Awards, but Alan Cumming has officially joined the cast of NY indie flick Shifting the Canvas as an evil real estate developer. This movie is one Paul Lynde reference away from being the gayest thing in history.

• The bill to have Harvey Milk's birthday recognized as a day of special significance in the state of California passed the Assembly, and will now go to the Senate. Meanwhile, the bronze statue to be unveiled this Thursday (Milk's birthday) will be, according to the group that secured funding for the project, the "first likeness of an openly gay person to be permanently ensconced in a civic building."

• David Hyde Pierce will host the Forget-Me-Not Gala to raise money for Alzheimer's research. Broadway hottie Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening) and Kate Burton (Grey's Anatomy) will also participate.

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

Alright alright, so technically he isn't alive enough to hear our birthday wishes ... but that's not enough to keep us from taking a moment to honor one of the godfathers of wit, wordsmithery and worldliness, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde.

Wilde was born on this day in Dublin in 1854, and in his brief 46-year lifespan produced lasting classics in theatre (The Importance of Being Earnest), literature (The Picture of Dorian Gray) and poetry, although Wilde's very public trial for gross indecency and subsequent imprisonment for his homosexual leanings may be what many know him for more than anything. Wilde's ill-fated affair with Lord Alfred Douglas ("Bosie"), was portrayed in gay actor/writer/filmmaker/Wilde historian Stephen Fry's film Wilde, which was partly responsible for launching Jude Law to international stardom.

Wilde was also a master of clever quotations, and many commonly used today are attributed to him. His prominent role in the decadent movement has cemented him as something of a pre-rock rockstar, a point which gay director Todd Haynes made in his glam-rock epic Velvet Goldmine by suggesting that Wilde was delivered to earth by a spaceship to become the world's first pop icon.

Here's a selection of Wilde's best lines, in case you want to celebrate his birthday by dropping a few in the break room...

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination."

"I am not young enough to know everything."

"Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious."

"America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between."

One Thomas Cannon has just been discovered as the 18th century's Oscar Wilde, writing such inflammatory things about same-sex love he had to flee the country lest he lose his head

One of my least favorite shows from this past season--FX's Dirt--is coming back for a second season. Oh, joy. If you remember, Courtney Cox's character had a creepy gay or bi brother who got involved with a closeted action star, then tried to blackmail him or something. I've tried to block the whole thing out as the show is just that icky. I just pray the show doesn't bring back the gay brother or any other gay character. I do not want to to follow it!

FX also announced that Eddie Izzard's The Riches is coming back as well. That show features a cross-dressing adolescent apparently based on Izzard himself.

Here is a very funny bit lampooning "journalist" Perez Hilton. It may not be entirely safe for work.

In our interview with Sir Ian McKellen last year, he told us he hoped there would be a Magneto movie. Looks like it might be happening after all, but unfortunately without McKellen (or Patrick Stewart). Instead it will focus on Magneto and Dr. Xavier as youths. Out director Bryan Singer isn't involved so it's hard to know if new director David Goyer and writer Sheldon Turner will keep up the X-Men's gay subtext.

This is a rather interesting clip of Reichen Lehmkuhl being interviewed by another male model about why folks don't take them seriously as advocates. Frankly, I expected a lot of whining, but Reichen actually says he brought this on himself by being so willing to use body to get attention. Interesting stuff. Oh, and he sings a little, too. Not that he's going to win American Idol or anything.