Ellen DeGeneres is the latest celebrity to produce a PSA advising Californians of the dangers that Proposition 8 poses to the civil rights of its gay and lesbian citizens. After the jump, two more PSAs — one featuring Margaret Cho; the other featuring California Constitutional versions of the MAC & PC guys.

Semi Precious Weapons

After a few weeks off (for good behavior), our pal Colin from NewNowNext is back to tip us off to what's hot in popular music.

Video of the Week: Semi Precious Weapons – “Semi Precious Weapons”
Get your licks with the ultra-glam, kinda-scary video from David Bowie’s evil little brother … kind of. Enjoy the self-titled single from the new queer rock band...

Jessica Sutta from The Pussycat Dolls Q&A
The PCD’s resident redhead chats about the group's mega-gay following and the time her own drag impersonator took her down in a game of Faggot Feud … She even offers a preview of her solo track on the upcoming album!

Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho Interview
For her new reality show, Ms. C discusses love/lust for "trannies", her husband, her gay co-stars on the show, and why Kim Kardashian's booty can whoop Paris Hilton's boney ass any day of the week.

Lots more after the break!

This is like a gift from the summer Friday gods! We've gotten a hold of the entire first episode of The Cho Show, the new Margaret Cho reality show premiering next week on VH1. (Having the same birth-parents has its benefits, even though Best Week Ever totally won't talk to us at family reunions.)

I've been leery of getting too excited about The Cho Show, because I adore Margaret (seen her five times) and was worried that a reality show wouldn't be able to capture her magic. But from the looks of the first episode, it's actually a great fit.

In the first ep, Margaret debates whether or not to accept a "Korean of the Year" award, and goes on a star-studded personal journey as she weighs her options. Of course, Margaret's parents, her gays, her hilarious (and little!) assistant, Selene, and her fellow Korean comics all weigh in, providing all the off-color humor and inappropriate fake accents that we've come to expect from Cho.

All I can say is, Kathy Griffin better watch her back. There's a new sheriff in town!

Check it all out (commercial-free, yo!) after the break!

David Sedaris

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.

• Hey David Sedaris fans! Logo's OutFirst Authors series is offering a free download of David reading the short story "Solution to Saturday's Puzzle" from his latest book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames.

• Nonpartisan Hollywood lobby Creative Coalition will be taking Neil Patrick Harris to the Republican convention (hopefully in-character as Barney?), while Rufus Wainwright and Cyndi Lauper will perform for the Democrats.

• And speaking of NPH, Comedy Central's Indecision '08 asks which Neil Patrick Harris character would make the best running-mate for Obama. (Hint: It's not the Emcee from Cabaret.)

Margaret Cho vamps it up at the premiere of The Cho Show

• Arjan Writes interviews rising gay pop star Sam Sparro.

• And don't ask me to explain why you want to watch this clip of Tori Spelling's husband Dean McDermott demonstrating their new high-tech toilet to their housewarming party guests. You just do.

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

Mad Men's Jon Hamm Photo credit: Getty Images/ Frederick M. March

Well, it's Day 2 of the Television Critics Association July 2008 Tour and even though it's 85 degrees outside, it's so cold in the panels that I'm freezing to death. Seriously! I just want you to know how much I suffer for everyone. (However, the frigid air is keeping the chocolate dipped strawberries just perfect!)

Anyway, I should've explained yesterday how the TCA Tour operates. Critics like myself gather from all around the country so the various networks can present their new shows thus giving journalists a chance to quiz the talent. This year it's two weeks long and all the cable networks are presenting this week, followed by ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, and Fox next week.

Up first was AMC's surprise hit Mad Men which is of gay interest thanks to the presence of Salvatore Romano (Bryan Batt). Alas, Bryan wasn't part of the panel, but hopefully he'll be there when we do our visit to the set next week. I'll do my best to get some Salvatore scoop then. To tide you over until then I've provided a pic above of Mad Men star Jon Hamm who is even more attractive in person than he is on television.

Next was the MTV presentation with David Alan Grier promoting his new program David Alan Grier's Chocolate News. Just before him was comedian Dave Attell the host of the new Comedy Central show The Gong Show. I did some research on Dave as I hadn't heard of him and from what little I could gather, he somewhat frequently resorts to gay jokes that seem pretty dubious. If anyone is familiar with his comedy, feel free to share your thoughts about him in the comments.

Lots more after the jump!

No, that isn't a pic from the new Celebrity Family Feud, but if the new version comes anywhere close to as gay as this, it'll be my new favorite show. (For the record, the celebrities in the pic are Mary Ann Mobley, Heather Locklear, Shari Belafonte-Harper, Heather Thomas, and Richard Simmons.)

The new Celebrity Family Feud premieres on NBC on July 1st, and will, for some reason, be hosted by Al Roker. Looking over the list of the celebrity match-ups, it's clear that they either have some strange scientific system ... or they drew names out a hat. Here are some of the gayer, or just stranger, pairings:

Margaret Cho and her family (which includes her oft-discussed mother and ... her two assistants) VS. Corbin Bernsen and his family (which includes actress Amanda Pays, who I haven't seen much since she starred in The Flash.)

Joan Rivers and her family (which includes - surprise!- her daughter Melissa) will be competing against Ice-T and his family (which includes his wife, model and "actress" Coco).

And my personal favorite pairing...

Kathie Lee Gifford and her family VS. "Dog" The Bounty Hunter and his family. The mind boggles.

I think they're missing an opportunity, though, in not going full-out and having teams like The Arquettes VS. The Baldwins (can you imagine Alexis Arquette going head to head with Stephen Baldwin)?

Or how about Ellen VS. Rosie, or Neil Patrick Harris VS. T.R. Knight?

I'd love to have Luke MacFarlane "slamming the buzzer"... oh wait, that's something different I was thinking about.

Who would you want to see paired up?

Out (and sunburned?) director Adam Shankman (Hairspray) at the MTV Movie Awards (Photo: Getty)

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.

• Sour Milk: The LA Times charts the development of Gus Van Sant's project, which left a 16-year-gestating rival endeavor dead in the water.

• Margaret Cho has joined the cast of Shifting the Canvas (aka The Gayest Little Movie that Ever Was, Is, or Ever Will Be, As Soon as It's Actually Filmed) playing "Marianne". She joins Alan Cumming, Matthew Montgomery, Cheyenne Jackson, Gedde Watanabe, Scott Thompson, Will Wikle, and the earthbound ghost of Paul Lynde.

• An article in the recent New York Times Magazine discussed what straight people can do for gay marriage. Easy answer: Buy us cutlery!

Ross "The Intern" Mathews at the MTV Movie Awards

• Fashion legend Yves Saint Laurent died over the weekend in Paris, at age 71, of a brain tumor.

• Ugly Betty's Alec Mapa talks about his upcoming NYC Pride show, among other things, in this revealing interview.

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

Last week, our sister site gave offered a list of the actors they'd watch in (almost) anything, which ties nicely into something I've been thinking about: mediocre-to-bad shows I wouldn't have watched if not for one of my gay icons.

Mary Tyler Moore and Madeline Kahn
made me watch New York News

It sounded promising before it debuted: a fast-paced newspaper drama with Mary Tyler Moore as a tough editor-in-chief and Madeline Kahn as the gossip columnist. (And apparently 80s studmuffin Gregory Harrison was also a part of the cast, according to that picture.) That bit of casting was so genius the rest of the show had to be amazing, right? Eh, unfortunately not. New York News' stories were entirely forgettable and while Mary brought what she could, the show never made her character as tough as she could have been. Kahn, meanwhile, occasionally got a good storyline as a woman with a very misplaced set of priorities, but most episodes focused on the younger characters who weren't my reason for tuning in.

Margaret Cho
made me watch All American Girl

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Back in my college days, Margaret Cho was the one comedian who we could never get enough of seeing and the idea of her having her own sitcom was too exciting. Unfortunately, the show failed to live up to her talent ... even then I caught every episode I could, I figured with a talent like Cho chances were good that once All American Girl was canceled, we wouldn't see her on TV again for a long time.

Lynda Carter
made me watch Law & Order: SVU

I know the long lasting franchise has its fanbase but its tendency to stick to formula can really drive me crazy. But I made an exception when the mothership and Special Victims' Unit held a cross-over that included a guest-appearance by Lynda Carter (whom we don't get to see on television often enough). Unfortunately, the first part turned out to be one of the ickiest hours of television I've seen in ages. In one of those way-too-complicated-to-take-seriously schemes, Carter played a con artist pretending to be estranged from her daughter (Estella Warren), herself a con artist who would date high profile men, slip them a date rape drug and... uhm, harvest material to sell in a high-end sperm bank. Bobby Flay had a cameo role as one of Warren's victims, but we never see the SVU detectives telling him he might have been victimized, as if that didn't matter. Carter was fabulous, with the kind of strong presence that made her perfect as Wonder Woman, but the rest of the story left me wanting to stay away from SVU.

Madeline Kahn
made me watch Mister President

Madeline Kahn with someone other than George C. Scott

Yes, Madeline Kahn gets two entries on this list; she was one woman I was willing to watch read the phone book and the then-fledging Fox network certainly got my attention when they added her to the cast of Mister President as George C. Scott's ----. While Kahn delivered on the laughs, Mister President was a quietly serious dramedy before her arrival and the addition of her broad comedy made the show a confused mess. Fox would have been better off canceling Mister President and giving Kahn her own vehicle. It's not like Oh, Madeline! was that bad.

If the words "Shoot her Wardell! Shoot her in the head!" mean something to you, I've got some very good news. First, the brand new (double-wide) trailer for Sordid Lives: The Series is up and running, and from the looks of things, the inspired insanity of the movie has transferred intact to the TV show. And second, LOGO (who owns this site, by the by) has announced that the soap will premiere on July 23rd.

Most of the original cast has returned, including Olivia Newton-John, Leslie Jordan, and Bonnie Bedelia. There are a couple of notable changes, though. Delta Burke was unable to reprise her role, so the character of Noleta is now being played by Caroline Rhea. Jason Dottley is now playing the character of Ty, the struggling gay actor, and in a genius casting decision, the character of the family matriach, Peggy (who was a corpse in the movie), is somehow alive and being played by Rue McClanahan. Guest stars in the first season include Margaret Cho, Carson Kressley, and Candis Cayne, which means this has the potential to rock a 10.0 on the gaymeter.

If you want to know more, visit LOGOonline for further details about the show.

I still remember the evening Margaret Cho's All American Girl debuted. My phone rang again and again to ask if I saw it and to discuss the show. Even my rooommate's conservative Republican friends were calling. We all, it turns out, had a friend like Margaret somewhere in our high school memories and we were so excited to see that experience mined for comedy on TV that we kinda missed that the show wasn't anywhere as funny as Cho's comedy.

It's been nearly fourteen years since that night and while Cho has been in a few pilots (most memorably, "Mommy", a Fox sitcom inspired by her life that cast Cho as a character based on her mother) nothing's become a series ... until now.

Today, VH-1 announced several new upcoming shows including The Cho Show, the latest Celebreality show. This one will follow Margaret around as she interacts with the people in her life, including her "colorful cast of friends and colleagues" as well as - and this is where we hit the jackpot - Margaret's parents.

Taking a simplified look at The Cho Show - which will follow an outspoken, independent-minded comedian who refuses to conform to Hollywood's demands of who she can be - has me thinking that this could be VH-1's My Life on the D-List. I hope they don't shy away from Margaret's political side, since her drive to advocate for minority groups - including LGBT people - drives some of Cho's most passionate comedy.

There's no debut date yet for The Cho Show but you can bet we'll be watching for it and we'll pass that information along.