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For Jennifer Coolidge, the huge success of two seasons of “The White Lotus” represents both a major career revival and a hard act to follow, says ‘Variety’. “I have to move on,” Coolidge told fans in Sydney this weekend. “Offers have come in and I would love to do a film next, but ‘The White Lotus’ holds this very high bar, so it will be hard to choose.”

Coolidge and the show’s creator, writer and director Mike White were in Australia’s biggest city for Vivid Talks, part of the 23-day Vivid Sydney, the largest festival in Australia, notes ‘Variety’. Their 90-minute “Conversation” was attended by a sold-out crowd of 9,000 at Sydney’s Aware Super Theatre stadium.

White, whose only previous visit to Sydney was as a contestant with his father Mel White on “The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business” in 2011, was stunned, according to ‘Variety’, by the scale of their audience.

For actor Jennifer Coolidge the huge success of two seasons of “The White Lotus” represents both a huge career revival and a hard act to follow. “I have to move on,” Coolidge told fans in Sydney, Australia, this weekend. “Offers have come in and I would love to do a film next, but ‘The White Lotus’ holds this very high bar, so it will be hard to choose.”

Coolidge and the show’s creator, writer and director Mike White were in Australia’s biggest city for Vivid Talks, part of 23-day Vivid Sydney, the largest festival in Australia. Their 90 minute “Conversation” was attended by a sold-out crowd of 9,000 at Sydney’s Aware Super Theatre stadium.

White, whose only previous visit to Sydney was as a contestant with his father Mel White on “The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business” in 2011, was stunned by the scale of their audience. “Backstage I was thinking ‘what is going on?...

“The White Lotus” creator Mike White really was on “Survivor,” as he mentioned in his acceptance speech after collecting his second Emmy during Monday night’s ceremony.

White, who won a directing and a writing Emmy for the HBO limited series, quipped “On ‘Survivor,’ the way to stay in the game is you lower your threat level, and now I feel like I’ve raised my threat level. … Don’t come for me, don’t vote me off the island, please!”

The actor/writer, who’s also known for playing Ned Schneebly in “School of Rock,” competed during Season 37 of the CBS reality show in 2018.

Also Read:

Why ‘The White Lotus’ Creator Avoided Themes of Colonialism in Season 2: ‘I Was Going to Get Sniper Fire’ Mel White and Mike White on “The Amazing Race” (CBS)

White also appeared in two seasons of “The Amazing Race” — in 2009 and 2011 — with his father,...

The finale of a very gay run of Degrassi episodes begins tonight.

News

Teen Wolf showrunner Jeff Davis says that season two — with all its Sterek moments — was finished by the time he learned about the fanbase that wants to see Stiles and Derek as a couple. Oh and the time Stiles was lying on top of Derek? The original draft of that scene had.... er, more tongue.

Broadway veteran (and Dreamgirls star) Sheryl Lee Ralph will appear on Smash as Jennifer Hudson's mother.

The AVClub brilliantly breaks down the shortcuts reality TV producers take that undermine the genre, including my biggest frustration, the way participants get pigeonholed into a single stereotype. Even better, they use The Amazing Race's Luke and Lakisha — who were essentially closeted by CBS because there was already a gay team..

Gsn's new production of Pyramid will get visits from Jai Rodriguez, Danny Pudi,...

I was predisposed to like HBO's Enlightened for one simple reason: Laura Dern.

Then the premise sold me: A stressed-out executive has a very public nervous breakdown and retreats to an ashram, where she finds enlightenment. Then, when she comes home, she realizes that inner peace is not easy to sustain in the midst of chaos.

Amy (Dern) expects to return to her high-level job at Abaddonn, a huge consumer products company with questionable ethics and definite environmental negligence. Armed with a new commitment to make the world a better place, she believes she can use her influence to bring changes ("healing") to Abaddonn. Unfortunately, Amy's job has been filled and the company consigns her to the basement with other corporate misfits. She tries to maintain the positive frame of mind she learned in New Age rehab, but the real world seems to be conspiring against her.

What makes Enlightened...

The School Of Rock star Mike White feels guilty about dragging his 70-year-old father around the world in hit U.S. reality show The Amazing Race because he nearly died of hypothermia.

The actor/writer and his dad, Reverend Dr. Mel White, appeared on the show in 2009 and came in sixth place.

Father and son were invited back to participate in The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business earlier this year for a second chance at victory but they were eliminated before the final round and White still feels horrible about putting his dad through so many gruelling challenges.

He says, "We got to come back for the All Stars. That one was actually harder, I guess because everyone had already done it before, so they decided to kick it up, to make it more tough. Within, like, five hours of getting off the first plane, by dad had passed out in my arms... I was crying, and I'm like, 'Somebody help us.'

"And then we ended up in a mud pit in Tokyo (Japan) in our underwear while these teenagers in sumo wrestling suits threw mud at our heads. And my dad had to be taken away with hypothermia in an ambulance... I thought the producers would be upset too but they were laughing, like, 'Yes! This is great TV.'"...

Anastasia Drimousis has embarked on a new relationship. The 22-year-old Greek-Australian, who took part in reality television series The Amazing Race earlier this year, is believed to be in "love" with South Australian Afl player and student nurse Ash Duncan after fellow Amazing Race contestant Mel Munday introduced them about a month ago. A friend of Drimousis told The Daily Telegraph: "It was love at first sight." The couple were spotted at Bowie Wong's fashion show on Wednesday night last week. Drimousis took part in The Amazing Race with her ex-boyfriend Chris Pselletes. (more)...

It can be difficult at times to be a reality TV show fan. The shows usually have total jerks on them, the people that you are rooting for always get eliminated first and you have to listen to at least half the contestants explain that they aren’t there to make friends.

But sometimes, the gods of reality TV smile down and last night on the premiere episode of Expedition Impossible was one of those nights. The awful girls who seemed like terrible sports and horrible teammates were the first ones to get eliminated, which is always a relief. Team Fab 3, who I am guessing several people here are rooting for, did a great job, coming in second place after the first leg and showing their strength in both the physical and the mental challenges.

Plus, there were a bunch of compelling teams that look like they will be interesting...

The Amazing Race had a surprisingly rocky 18th season. The notion of bringing back 11 fan-favorite teams who failed to win their first time around seemed like a great idea in theory, but in practice, the decision to bring back eleven teams that resolutely were not All-Stars meant that longtime Race fans just had to watch some teams make the same old mistakes. (Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: The Cowboys got lost in the cities, the Goths got lost in the countryside, Jaime yelled at taxi drivers, and poor old Mel White just couldn’t keep up with the competition.

Last week, Mel and Mike were eliminated in Tokyo. This week, teams will travel to Jade Dragon Mountain (that's a real place!) in China. Ze and Justin leave first, followed by Gary and Mallory and Ron and Christina. Ron and Christina speak Chinese, and have already been to Lijiang, China.

Kent and Vyxsin want to have a Pma (Positive Mental Attitude) but have trouble finding, then unlocking their car. Their Pma is destroyed before they even reach the airport. Jaime and Cara do not remember China fondly, and Margie and Luke remember their troubles with Kisha and Jen. All the teams show up at Narita Airport, except for Kent and Vyxsin. Vyxsin has basically lost her mind. It's trouble in Italy all over again. But according to Kent, The Amazing Race is also about miracles.

On Sunday's The Amazing Race, the father-son team of Mel and Mike White were eliminated after being removed from the competition during the Detour challenge because they were suffering from hypothermia. Yet even after being treated, putting on fresh clothes, and being driven to the pit stop to be eliminated, they still beat Jaime and Cara to the pit stop. Mel told Reality TV World that "when we got out -- when we got treated,...

This week's episode of The Amazing Race began as the teams disembarked from a train to Sydney to take a flight to Tokyo. There were two choices: take a direct flight to Tokyo arriving at 6:15 or take a flight with a connection in Hong Kong arriving 15 minutes earlier. Although the connecting flight was riskier, five teams (including Mel and Mike) decided to take the flight through Hong Kong. Realizing that they comprised one of the least athletic teams in the race, Mel and Mike decided to take the risk of the connecting flight to shave 15 minutes off. After all: No risk, no reward.

But then sometimes you take a risk, and you still get bupkis. The connecting flight had engine problems and was delayed 90 minutes in Hong Kong. Said Mike, “It was a dog fight for last.”

The teams picked up miniature Japanese cars, which the Globetrotters could barely fit into,...

It's always sad to see a team eliminated on The Amazing Race, but it was particularly sad to see Mel and Mike go. They were very sweet to each other while running the race, and eventually had to give up because it was too cold wading through the mud in Japan. Here's what Mel, the 70-year old father of the father-son duo, had to say about his Amazing Race experience.

It seems like a lot of the teams are helping each other out and working together this season, why is that?

I don't know. You have more empathy with others team when you all understand how difficult the race is. The first time you are really competitive and the second time you are still competitive but you understand the pressure that you are under. I don't know what it would have been like at the end but in the beginning...

My dad will never give up and that’s why sometimes you have to give up for him.

Boooo, Mike, boooo!

Ok, I get it. Mel is 70 years old and probably should not be wallowing around in the mud in 30 degree weather for hours on end wearing a diaper. Mike quitting for his father this week was a totally different scenario. One I can not approve of.

Had Mel been the one to give up because of his age, everyone would have understood. It certainly was crazy for a 70 year old man to be rummaging around in mud at night. But, he didn’t! Mike gave up first and then pressured his father in to quitting when he didn’t want to. Mel even had a great quote about it:

Better to die here with you than home in bed.

Amen, Mel, we love that spirit. Sadly, your son, 30 years your junior,...

If you got a little choked up at the end of Sunday night’s episode of The Amazing Race, it’s okay. Phil Keoghan’s tear ducts got activated, too — even if he could easily have blamed the cold, rainy Japanese weather for the misty glow in his eyes after father-son team Mel and Mike White chose life (actual) over life in The Race and limped to the pit stop without having completed their final task. Join me below to recount the action in a dozen dazzling screengrabs.

Just in case you had any doubts about Taylor Swift's global reach.

Father and son Mel and Mike were eliminated from "The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business" on Sunday, March 6 episode. Mel, although recovered from the extension of double legs, could not keep up with the rest of the team when the temperature in Japan dropped very low during the Detour challenge.

Mike and Mel actually were not the last one in the race, but the last task to find a frog in the mud proved to be too much for them that they sought warmth in a van. The cheerleaders Jaime and Cara were eventually able to take over and reached the pit stop before the father and son. "He knew he was going to lose the race by telling me to get out," Mel said and Mike added, "My dad will never give up. That's why sometimes you have to give up for him."

Bestfriends Zev and Justin were able to...

Here is Sean Furfaro 's recap of The Amazing Race, Episode 3.

In last week’s Amazing Race recap, I commented on the ridiculous kangaroo outfits the teams had to wear, and said “I'm sure that Kisha & Jen, Luke & Margie, and Jaime & Cara all had no problem with them, because at least they weren't running around St. Petersburg in their underwear in the winter like last time.”

Remember when Tar went through that phase, where seemingly every other challenge had teams stripping down to their skivvies for Detours and Roadblocks? From winter jogging, to playing giant golf in the wind, to the incredibly awkward “SaunaBuss” (remember That one?), to the Estonian mud volleyball…it seemed like Bertram van Munster just wanted the teams stripping down all season long?

On a side note, that mud volleyball challenge in Estonia will forever remain one of my favourites of all time. Remember how Sam...

Mel White & Mike White eliminated from "Amazing Race 18" in episode 3. Tonight's show kicked off with scenes from last week's episode when Amanda & Kris got eliminated. Then the teams had to fly to Tokyo,Japan,and make their way to a certain parking garage to get their next clue. Zev & Justin took off first since they arrived in first place in the last episode. Once they got their clue, the teams had to drive to a different town,and eventually make their way to the Yabusame Dojo were they faced a Road Block. In the Road Block, the teams had to dress as a Samurai ,learn to perform a special ritual. Then get on a spinning fake horse and shoot a bow and arrow correctly to get their next clue.

Mel & Mike Eliminated From ‘Amazing Race 18′ In Episode 3 is a post from: ontheflix.com...

The episode started off with the Cowboys still struggling with the word puzzle. While everyone had sailed off after reciting the pass phrase, "I am between the devil and the deep blue sea," Jet and Cord were still between furrowed brows and frustrated drawls of "Son of a buck!"

All of the other teams had sailed through the bay and had already received the next clue, which instructed them to head back to Sydney and look for "To Sail To Stop," a sculpture of an anchor next to Sydney's Town Hall. The first six teams to find it would be placed on an earlier charter flight to a small mining town a few hundred miles from Sydney. The remaining teams would be placed on a later flight.

Some of the teams climbed into cabs back to Sydney to look for "To Sail to Stop." Kisha and Jen's cabbie drove...

It can’t be easy being the first evictee from a reality show, but to have to do it while wearing giant kangaroo costumes seems like a double indignity. Alas, last night’s installment of The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business gave us this exact scenario, when a pair of exhausted marsupials hopped up to the finish line only to get the ultimate bad news from a somber Phil Keoghan.

Things started off right where we left off last week: With 10 teams hitting the first pit stop and discovering that there’d be no rest, the race continued onward with a four-word clue,...

Here is Sean Furfaro's recap of The Amazing Race, Episode 2.

Last week’ s season premiere of The Amazing Race ended with the teams still racing, and no one being eliminated at the Pit Stop mat with Outback Phil. This week, all 11 teams continued on their trek through Australia. Would the Cow-bros be able to overcome the huge gap that was created last week? Who is on the verge of passing out? And why are the teams dressed like Kangaroos?

My Random Thoughts:

- First of all, I need to point out that I have an issue with this season being called "Unfinished Business." Yes, I understand that all of the teams are back for a second shot at the million dollars, but only one of these 11 teams are going to "finish" their "business" by winning the race. Know what I mean?

- I fully expected that at some point in the race,...

Here is Sean Furfaro's recap of The Amazing Race, Episode 1.

A new season of the Amazing Race is off and running, and as many of you know by now (and as was first reported here back in December), this season is sub-titled Unfinished Business, with 11 teams returning for another shot at the million dollars. I’ll reiterate my initial response to the Cast List: why are we seeing only teams from Season 12 onward? Nobody from the first 11 seasons warranted an invite?

To the returning readers, Welcome back! It’s nice to see you again. And for those of you new to my Amazing Race Recaps, a hearty welcome as well, and a couple of things you should know: a) the recaps should be up within 30 minutes (often less) of when the show ends on the East Coast, b) the pictures will all have hidden captions underneath, so make sure to...

What do you get when you win The Amazing Race? A million dollars and a chance at airing your relationship woes with your pouty Lol-cat of a boyfriend in a B-list reality show. What do you get when you lose The Amazing Race? For 11 losing teams from previous seasons, a second chance at a million dollars and dubious reality show fame.

This season reunited a few gay cast members of Season 14, which was possibly the gayest Amazing Race season ever. Season 14 featured sisters Jennifer and out lesbian Lakisha "Kisha" Hoffman, who were eliminated after stopping for a pee pee break in Beijing; mother/son pair Margie and gay-identified Luke, who failed on Season 14's last task (see our recent interview with Luke here); and father/son Mel and Mike, both gay, who got lost in Thailand.

Margie and Luke

Kisha and Jen

Mel and Mike

As the teams stood in the desert in Palm Springs,...

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oye, Oye, Oye!

The Amazing Race is (finally) back and this season is a special edition, The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business. We have eleven of our favorite team to ever Not win The Amazing Race coming back to compete for another chance to win the one million dollar first place prize.

What a better way to start the season than by flying to one of my favorite places in the world, Sydney, Australia. I love to watch The Amazing Race for the dynamics between the teams and the competition, but also for the incredible travel that the teams get to experience. When teams arrive somewhere that I’ve been before, I get even more excited.

All of this builds up for a tremendous start to the new season. There are plenty of things to discuss from this opening episode, but we’d be remiss if we didn...

Last night’s premiere of The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business set up a show-within-a-show premise that could bring new, unexpected, and horrifically compelling meaning to its title. Picture this: Over the course of the next few months, we’ll watch 10 returning teams from previous seasons travel the globe and encounter the types of entertaining misadventures we’ve come to expect from CBS’ venerable reality franchise. Meanwhile, back in Manly, Australia, we’ll focus on two affable cowboys and their Sisyphean journey to translate a coded message of nautical flags. By season’s end, the duo, dressed in tattered rags...

The new season of The Amazing Race - themed Unfinished Business - kicked off on Sunday night as eleven former fan favourites who didn't win returned for a second chance at the $$1million prize. California to Australia The teams are: Cowboys Jet & Cord, mother-and-son Margie & Luke, recently-engaged Amanda & Kris, Harlem Globetrotters Flight-Time and Big Easy, father and son Mel & Mike, goth couple Kent & Vyxsin, father-and-daughter Gary & Mallory, sisters Kisha & Jen, best friends Zev & Justin, father-and-daughter Ron & Christina, and former NFL cheerleaders Jaime & Cara. The teams meet Phil at a wind farm in Palm Springs where he tells them the race will be "very different" to their previous experience on the show. To kick things off, they have to find their own first clue among an enormous field of flags bearing the (more)...

"The Amazing Race" is doing its second all-star edition with "Unfinished Business," which features all pairs who might have done better had there not been a mistake or some careless on their part.

The 11 teams kick things off at Palm Springs. Phil tells the teams that whichever team wins the first leg of the race will get the Express Pass, which will let them out of any task at any point along the race. The first task is to search a field of paper airplanes and bring Phil "Queensland and Northern Territories Aerial Services," or "Qantas." The first eight teams are on the first flight, the last three are on a later flight, plus the last team gets an automatic U-turn for the first Detour.

The teams have some trouble with acronyms, which kind of amazes us. Eventually Mel/Mike, Zev/Justin, Cord/Jet get their clue for Sydney, Australia.

Happy 31st Birthday to maximum hottie Luke Macfarlane!

Today marks a bittersweet anniversary for gay visibility on daytime TV. On January 19, 2010, Eric Sheffer Stevens made his first appearance as Dr. Reid Oliver on As The World Turns. You can see scenes from the episode below, and it's a strange experience watching it after all this time, with Reid firing insults from the get-go, Noah cursing the darkness, Luke having an awesomely bad hair day (at one point two hair tendrils cover his eyes, ala Medusa), and he, Lily and Damien as one big happy family. Those were the days.

I mentioned Gavin Creel in yesterday's briefs, and in case you didn't know, his fantastic Ep Quiet is available on iTunes. Okay, in the header i mentioned the new Catwoman, but the facts are still a bit sketchy. Anne Hathaway has joined the cast of The Dark Knight Rises as Selina Kyle,...

As long-rumored, another all-star edition is on the way for The Amazing Race. Eleven former teams who fell short their first go-round will return for The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business, which premieres Feb. 20 on CBS. The pairs only go back to Season 12 — the previous All-Stars edition was season 11. The teams are:

• Father/daughter duo Gary Ervin and Mallory Ervin: Season 17, 6th place

• Sisters Lakisha Hoffman and Jennifer Hoffman: Season 14, 4th place

• Cowboy brothers Jet McCoy and Cord McCoy: Season 16, 2nd place

• Fiancees Amanda Blackledge and Kris Klicka: Season 14, 8th place

• Former NFL cheerleaders Jaime Edmondson and...

Fans of The Amazing Race know that sometimes picking the wrong taxi driver, losing a passport or choosing the tougher task is all that stands between a team and the finish line. For the pairs audiences loved who came short, this season of The Race is for them. Eleven fan-favorite teams return for The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business, which premieres Feb. 20 (8 p.m. Et/Pt) on CBS. Here's who's coming back: • The Harlem Globetrotters: Herb "Flight Time" Lang, 34, and Nate "Big Easy" Lofton, 29, fell just shy of third place during season 15 when a four-hour penalty set them back. "This time,...

"The Amazing Race" is kicking off an all-star season, of sorts, by bringing back 11 teams that fell short of winning the $1 million prize. The show will be broadcast in HD for the first time as the racers travel to such places as Sydney, Australia, Liechtenstein, and Tokyo, Japan.

Following are the 11 teams, listed in no particular order:

Gary Ervin

Age: 53

Occupation: Owner of Ervin Cable Construction

Mallory Ervin

Age: 25

Hometown: Morganfield, Ky.

Occupation: Entertainer

Relationship: Father/Daughter

Previous Season/Result: Season 17/6th Place

Why they're returning for "Unfinished Business": Gary and Mallory were unable to avoid elimination after getting lost in Oman for over nine hours.

Lakisha Hoffman

Age: 30

Hometown: Chicago, Ill., currently residing in Bronx, N.Y.

Occupation: Basketball Coach 

Jennifer Hoffman                                                                                             

Age: 26  

Hometown: Chicago, Ill., currently residing in Louisville, Ky.

Occupation: Assistant Volleyball Coach at the University of Louisville

Relationship: Sisters

Previous Season/Result: Season 14/4th Place...

Following the finale of Season 17 (spoiler alert), "The Amazing Race" officially announced that the 18th season would feature the return of fan-favorite teams.

The teaser trailer says, "They are some of the most memorable, dynamic, and interesting teams ever to run the race. They didn't come in first. Some didn't cross the finish line. But you love them anyway. For these teams, the 'Amazing Race' competition has always been unfinished business."

Teams shown in the promo include mother/son Margie and Luke, the Harlem Globetrotters Flight Time and Big Easy, dating Goths Kynt and Vyxin, father/son Mel and Mike, brothers/bull riders Cord and Jet, sisters/athletes Lakisha and Jennfer, poker players Maria and Tiffany, a capella singers Connor and Jonathan, father/daughter Gary and Mallory, father/son Michael and Kevin and home shopping hosts Brook and Claire, both from the most recent season.

What do you think,...

In February, CBS won't just air its 18th edition of The Amazing Race. It will air an All-Star season of this beloved, Emmy-winning reality show.

Which pairings will be involved? Find out now...

Kynt and Vyxsin (Season 12) Ron and Christina (Season 12) Amanda and Kris (Season 14) Mel and Mike (Season 14) Jaime and Cara (Season 14) Margie and Luke (Season 14) Kisha and Jen (Season 14) Flight Time and Big Easy (pictured, Season 15) Zev and Justin (Season 15) Jet and Cord (Season 16) Gary and Mallory (Season 17)...

***Warning*** This post discusses some possible minor spoilers for the next season of The Amazing Race.

RealityBlurred.com is reporting that the next season of CBS' The Amazing Race — which will be an All-Star edition — will feature three gay and bi men from past seasons. Luke Adams (who is gay) and his mother Margie ran in the 14th season of the race where the made it to the final three.

Also reportedly competing in the All-Star race are Mike and Mel White, the father and son duo who were featured in the same season as Luke and his mother. Mel is one of the countries most outspoken gay Christian activists while his son Mike is a well-respected filmmaker who also happens to be bisexual.

In our interview with Mel, he discussed how he wished the show hadn't only been more forthcoming about the fact he was gay, and how Luke...

The A-List: New York's Reichen Lehmkuhl

In our parent company Logo's new reality show The A-List: New York, a “docu-soap” about the lives and loves of six social-climbing gay men, there’s a scene where Reichen Lehmkuhl is about to have sex with his boyfriend in a hot tub.

“Oops,” says the boyfriend, Brazilian model Rodiney Santiago, as he slips his swimsuit off.

But just as things are really steaming up, Reichen’s cellphone rings. When he climbs out of the tub to answer it, it turns out it’s Austin Armacost, one of the other A-List-ers – the guy that the show has clearly telegraphed is going to try to come between Reichen and Rodiney over the course of the season.

Austin tells Reichen he wants them to go out to dinner, even as Rodiney sits stewing in the hot tub.

The A-List: New York's Rodiney Santiago

Is there any...

Who are "bad gays"? What's Bradley Cooper's gay appeal? Is there anything to be done to save a dying TV show? Is Nambla a "gay" group? Is Madonna bisexual? Plus, is the Glee Finn/Kurt fan fic "art"?

Have a question about gay male entertainment or life? Contact me here (and be sure and include your city and state and/or country!)

Q: Who do you consider to be bad examples of gay men? I understand your rational for disliking Perez Hilton, so much so that I agree with your reasoning, but who else do you think has harmed the community, or perhaps does disservice to the community, and why? Are there truly any bad gay men? – Maharajah, West Palm Beach (not yet oil drenched), Florida

A: Well, that's a big fat can-o-worms, 'innit?

But intellectually, I reject the whole “bad gay” argument. If some idiot is going to...

This week! Should gay people "care" about anti-gay politicians who turn out to be gay? Why are none of them lesbians? Are U.S. soldiers anti-gay — and much more!

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Contact me here (and be sure and include your city and state and/or country!)

Q: I was thinking about those anti-gay politicians who have been revealed to be gay. Do you think the gay community should help them out or should we leave them alone? I also realized there are no female anti-gay politicians who were revealed to be lesbians. Are there any? – Eli, Melbourne, Australia

A: What do they say are two topics you should never discuss in polite company? Religion and politics. So what are two topics I return to again and again in my column?

Yup, religion and politics! Hey, I yam what I yam.

The scene of Senator Larry...

Forget adoption. Now all the gay couples on television are looking for surrogates.

Okay, not really. But with the one-two punch of Bob and Lee exploring surrogacy on Desperate Housewives and Kevin and Scotty doing the same thing on Brothers & Sisters, it can start to feel that way, at least on Sunday nights on ABC.

We’ve written before about the recent “gay-by” boom – the trend of fictional gay characters becoming parents.

What’s interesting lately are the increasingly varied ways these characters are becoming dads – and the ways in which they’re actually reflecting real life.

"When my husband and I started talking about having kids, even seven years ago, people said we were crazy," says Thomas Marino, who writes about his experience having children via surrogacy with his husband, sister, and donated eggs in his book Tomorrow May Be Too Late.

Being gay used to be "all about culture,...

Ever wonder how TV shows are born? Well, when a Mommy TV show and a Daddy TV show love each other very much, they start to kiss and rub their bodies together, and then they...

Wait, scratch that. Wrong explanation.

The truth is, all year long, broadcast and cable networks hear pitches from writers and producers, which they then commission into actual scripts. Every winter and spring, they order some of these scripts to "pilot," which means the show is cast and a "pilot" episode is shot.

This does not mean that the show is necessarily ever going to make it on air. Pilots are ordered precisely so the networks can decide whether they want to invest in them. From the pilot, they can see how the show looks, whether or not it "works," and whether casting changes are necessary. Case in point, last year Fox passed on Ron Moore...

What?! It’s not enough that we spent the whole year providing you with insightful news and analysis on gay and bisexual entertainment – now we have to pick which 2009 projects we think best represented gay and bisexual men?!

Sorry, we’re getting a little Grinch-y around here come year-end.

But the fact is, gay and bisexual entertainment-related news is inexorably linked with the issue of visibility. If you know anything at all about the history of such entertainment, you know that it’s almost always been “controversial.” As passionate as the creators of these projects have always been, there’s been a similarly strong counter-pressure to keep these themes hidden or under wraps.

As a result, for a website like ours, covering the “news” of these projects inevitably becomes a question of championing the ones of quality (and giving the hook to those who don’t measure up, or that...

I don't know what it is about CBS' The Amazing Race, but other than Project Runway, I can't think of another reality show that gives us as many interesting gay contestants as does Tar. Last season it was Mike and Mel White, as well as Luke Adams who was deaf and gay and competed with his mother Margie.

The network just announced the new line-up for the season debuting September 27th and it includes Sam and Dan McMillen, two brothers who only recently came out to each other. As you can see from the above pic, the duo are not only cute, but young and fit, something that bodes well for them to go far in the show. 

So add The Amazing Race to your list of Must Watch Gay TV! And kudos to the show for continuing to present all sorts of gay relationships and pairings on the show.

Have a question about gay male entertainment? Ask the Monkey! (Please include your city and state and/or country.)

Q: Oh wise and airborne simian, I've noted the massive number of posts on Torchwood over the last couple of weeks, and I wonder if it hasn’t generated more posts than any other topic on After Elton.com. If it hasn't, what subject has? -- Hayden, London, UK

Captain Jack says goodbye to Ianto in Torchwood: Children of Earth

A: First, your salutation made me laugh. Second, the answer is unequivocally yes, nothing else has ever come close to the interest we’ve seen in Torchwood’s “Children of Earth”mini-series – specifically creator Russell T Davies’ decision to kill off the gay character of Ianto. By now, we’ve all made our opinions known ad nauseum, so I won’t get into that again.

But I’ve also talked...

Luke and Margie Adams

It was the gayest season ever of The Amazing Race, and also one of the best ever. Coincidence? I don't think so. There was father and son Mel and Mike White, who are both gay; sisters Kisha and Jen, (Kisha is a lesbian); one person who apparently isn't out of the closet; and, finally, Luke Adams and his mom Margie.

Luke and Margie were the only team with a gay member to make it to the final three, and while they didn't quite make it over the finish line first, they ran an impressive race — especially considering Luke is deaf, a potential drawback in a race where quick communication can be vital.

While the show never identified Luke as gay, this 24-year-old Coloradan is out and proud — and especially proud of the fact that he's the youngest gay man to ever make it to the final three.

Best.Gay.Week.Ever? I don't think so. First, there was that Amazon.com kerfuffle where the online merchant began treating almost all books dealing with gay subject matter (even purely academic ones) as adult content — excluding many very worthy titles from their sales rankings system and standard searches.

One sad result? When you type in "homosexuality" as a search on Amazon, the results are skewed dramatically toward crap like this:

(Here's my bit of unsolicited advice to Amazon shoppers who might be interested in A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality: "Do everyone a favor and don't have kids!")

So what's going on here? On the surface, it sure looked like Amazon had adopted some sort of conservative policy to effectively bury positive gay representation on their site.

But then company spokespersons variously blamed it on a computer "glitch," and a "ham-fisted cataloging error" and made assurances they were working on a fix.

How do I know Mel White is a busy guy? Five minutes into our interview to talk about his recent participation on the reality show The Amazing Race with his son, actor/screenwriter Mike White, he’s interrupted by Anderson Cooper’s producer who wants to confirm an appearance on CNN later that day. The day before, White had been on Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

How do I know Mel White is a nice guy? He couldn’t be more apologetic about CNN’s interruption. And he couldn’t be more gracious and unhurried in our conversation, which touched on everything from how he wished The Amazing Race’s had been more “gay,” to how their battery of psychological tests found him to be their most a “paranoid” participant ever – but for good reason!

Interestingly, despite being perhaps the country’s most well-known gay Christian activist, White was almost...

Openly gay racer Lakisha, left, and her sister/teammate Jennifer

AfterEllen.com recently learned that the 28-year-old contestant Lakisha "Kisha" Hoffman on Season 14 of CBS's The Amazing Race is openly gay.

This information was revealed by Rev. Mel White, an openly gay minister who was racing with his son until he was eliminated last week, in an interview with our brother site AfterElton.com that will be posted there on Friday. Since we don't "out" people, and there have been no public statements from Kisha about her sexuality, we contacted CBS before publishing this story. They confirmed that Kisha is indeed openly gay.

Although there have been close to a dozen gay or bisexual men — three in this season alone (Mel, his son Mike, and Luke) — participating in the popular CBS reality series, there have only been a few openly gay or bisexual women: lesbian ministers Kate and Pat, racing...

The latest leg of The Amazing Race made for another solid episode in what is turning out to be a great season as the race went to Phuket, Thailand for tiger portraits, elephant tricks and calling out random numbers.

Unfortunately, I can't give this episode the usual up-arrow, instead giving it a mildly-disappointed sideways arrow. The reasons for my disappointment are Spoiler-related, so be prepared to be spoiled if you read any further.

Let's get the night's big disappointment out of the way: After weeks of being the kind of realty TV contestants I live for, Team Supergay were the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop and, thus, were eliminated from the race. Amid a good episode overall, that's disappointment enough to bring my rating down to a sideways arrow.

It was a fatal combination of bad luck and bad choices that lost them the Race: Not only...

The fourteenth season of "The Amazing Race" continued its race to Thailand with 6 remaining teams. From Jaipur, India, the teams took flight to Phuket and the first to depart were Tammy and Victor. Behind them in respective orders were Mel and Mike; Kisha and Jen; Margie and Luke; Jamie and Cara; and Mark and Michael.

Buying the tickets from a travel agency, all the 6 teams were booked for the same flight. As soon as it landed, they have to find the gorilla statue that they had been given a photo of earlier. In a taxi race, all of them headed out to Phuket Zoo except for Mel and Mike who were directed to Putong Beach. Jamie and Cara were the first to find the Gorilla and the Road Block clue told them to take a picture with a tiger in the zoo.

A gut challenge, the picture taking with the...

Jake Gyllenhaal isn't very handy when it comes to gestures. The recently buff Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time actor and Reese Witherspoon's possible fiancé did lunch with Mike White—the screenwriter of School of Rock and competitor in The Amazing Race with his father Mel—at Le Pain Restaurant in Los Angeles on Monday. As they prepared to part ways, the two associates extended their mitts to say goodbye. And experienced a very awkward man-date moment. Gyllenhaal went in for the fist-bump. White opted for the traditional handshake. And suddenly it was as if they engaged in a Rock-Paper-Scissors match. Masonic Temple members.

The journey in "The Amazing Race" 14 continues with a visit to India. Departing first at midnight from Novosibirsk, Siberia are Margie and Luke who are told to fly to Jaipur, India via Moscow. Behind them are, in respective order, Tammy and Victor; Jamie and Cara; Mel and Mike; Mark and Michael; Kisha and Jen; and Jodi and Christie who were saved by non-elimination round last week.

The flight schedule enable all of them to depart at the same time. Arriving in Moscow, they travel to New Delhi before then start the race in Jaipur. The teams must find a tree that has the name of a village on it. Mel and Mike have a jolt of shock when the cab that has their belongings in the trunk, drive out of their sight. The taxi eventually returns and the driver promises to drive really fast. The teams are troubled with the...