Tonight's Shirtlessness

'Angels & Demons'

It's about time! Angels & Demons, the follow-up to The DaVinci Code, will hit theaters in May. We've now got a trailer for you. When Dan Brown wrote the novels, Angels & Demons came first, but with the success of the written The DaVinci Code, Ron Howard made it into a major motion picture first. He's also making the film version of Angels & Demons as a sequel.

A Special Edition Shirtlessness Video

Take a deep breath and watch this.

Tonight's Shirtlessness

View Of A Gay Olympian

One of very few openly gay Olympians will be featured on next month's The Advocate. Matthew Mitcham of Australia, who won Gold at Beijing, discusses his record breaking dive and accepting a major award in his home country.

Towleroad has the quotes, but here's the cover.

True Beauty Sells It

Even if our pick for winning True Beauty doesn't actually win, he's going to be just fine. Earlier this week, we learned Joel Rush signed a big dollar modeling contract with Vision Model Management.

Have you been watching this ABC show? No? Maybe you should. It's the first mainstream reality program I've actually gotten hooked on. Really. Ever.

Tonight's Shirtlessness

BREAKING: Blago Out

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been kicked to the curb. State senators overwhelmingly - by a vote of 59 to ZERO - voted to evict Blago from the office. This means Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn automatically assumes the position.

It appears Blago should have made an attempt to defend himself to the Senate rather than go to New York for a media tour. His calling the trial a "kangaroo court" couldn't have helped either. During his 47-minute closing argument - the one appearance he did make at the trial - Blago asked the senators how they could throw a governor out with "insufficient and incomplete evidence." I guess they answered that.

So, for the second time in as many weeks, we say GOOD RIDDANCE to a failed politician! Good riddance, Mr. Blagojevich, good riddance!

Tonight's Shirtlessness

GLAAD Media Awards: The Nominees

This spring, GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) will hand out their media awards for the 20th year. The awards are supposed to recognize mainstream media for "fair, accurate and inclusive." However, recent years have not been kind to GLAAD and they've begun including gay outlets in their nominations. Here are our takes on this year's nominations.

We weren't surprised to see Milk in the list for Outstanding Film - Wide Release, but we were surprised to see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Milk will likely win. Noah's Arc: Jumping The Broom is our pick for limited release.

Brothers & Sisters (our pick) and BBC's Torchwood lead the Outstanding Drama Series category. Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives tie our pick for comedy series. In the reality genre, Logo's Shirts & Skins and Kathy Griffin's Bravo program are favorites, but the win will likely go to TransAmerican Love Story. The gay story line on As The World Turn makes it our pick for top daily drama.

Ellen DeGeneres' episode about her wedding to Portia de Rossi make it to the top of our list for Outstanding Talk Show Episode. Though we love Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann tops her for Outstanding TV Journalism Segmant for his Special Comment regarding Prop 8.

In the advertising categories, the Levi's ad "Logo Unbuttoned" is our electronic pick and Paris Las Vegas' "Rings" takes the cake for print.

And a special recognition award will be given to Sirius XM Radio for their special The Laramie Project, 10 Years Later - The Lasting Legacy of Matthew Shepard.

The awards will be handed out March 28th in New York, April 18th in Los Angeles and May 9th in San Francisco.

Super-Sized 'Today' In Super Bowl Line-Up

NBC is pulling out all the stops Sunday when they bring us Super Bowl XLIII - that's 43 for the rest of us. I was going to make a crack here about a recently-departed 43, but this isn't the post for politics. Unless... ah nevermind.

Today begins the day with a live two-hour broadcast from Tampa with the show's full-time staff in place. Almost all of them, anyway. Matt Lauer will be live, but he'll be in Washington for a later interview with Barack Obama. That interview will air live during the Super Bowl pre-game show, which, by my calculations, is going to be 74 hours long.

Tonight's Shirtlessness: Oops... Missed A Day

SAG Awards: The Winners

Lets start this post with a WIN. Let me rephrase that... a predicted win! Sean Penn picked up the SAG Award for lead actor in a motion picture. The 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were handed out Sunday evening. If you missed our predictions, see the Motion Picture picks here and the Primetime Television picks here.

If we may, we'll also toot our own horn that Meryl Streep won for lead actress. Does this give her hope at the Oscars? Hopefully so. It was obvious Heath Ledger would win for supporting actor. And Kate Winslet won for supporting actress. For the latter, our pick was Viola Davis, who - if you saw Doubt - had an Oscar-worthy role.

We missed on our call for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to win best picture; it went to Slumdog Millionaire.

In Primetime Television, we were disappointed Kiefer Sutherland lost, but called it for Paul Giamatti. We were way off base calling lead actress in a TV movie or miniseries for Susan Sarandon. Laura Linney (John Adams) won this category.

We were also off for lead actor in a drama, but hit the note calling for a Sally Field win for lead actress. We also called Alec Baldwin for lead actor in a comedy, but missed by a hair calling for America Ferrera to win lead actress.

Shame on SAG for voting Mad Men best drama ensemble, but we've noted previously Boston Legal just didn't have many viewers. Best comedy ensemble went to 30 Rock, which isn't all that great of a show - compared to Weeds.

Next up... We'll comment on the GLAAD Media Awards very soon.

Wheel Goes Gay

First, I was going to post this clip of Wheel Of Fortune that shows a gay contestant introducing his fiance. That's not the amazing part... Watch how fast he gets the puzzle. He even shocks himself that he got it right!

Tonight's Shirtlessness

'Instinct' Unveils Swimsuit Edition

Now, this is what we're talking about! A swimsuit edition we can get behind! Instinct has unveiled the cover of their February issue with Carlos Figueroa on the cover. The cover shoot took place at Paris Las Vegas Hotel. In the middle of December. Sound like a good idea?

Obama Orders A Cheeseburger

This is a look at President Obama's first flight on Air Force One.

SAG Awards: Primetime Television

The 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards are scheduled for tonight on TBS and TNT. Today, we're looking at the nominations for Primetime Television categories and our picks.

Movie or miniseries actor should go to Kiefer Sutherland for 24:Redemtion, who has previously won two acting awards for 24. However, the trophy will like be given to Paul Giamatti for his portrayal of John Adams in the miniseries of the same name. Some favorite females are up for the actress nod including Susan Sarandon (Bernard And Doris), Phylicia Rashad (A Raisin In The Sun) and Shirley MacLaine (Coco Chanel). Our bets are on Sarandon.

Acting nods in drama series go to Michael C. Hall (Dexter), William Shatner (Boston Legal) and James Spader (Boston Legal). It's likely Hall will win - again, but we'd like to see Shatner pick up a nod. Actresses in the drama category include two of this blog's favorite actresses: Sally Field (Brothers & Sisters) and Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit). Neither have ever won at SAG, but have a total of eleven nominations between the two.

Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) takes will take the male actor trophy for a comedy series. It's going to be a tougher call for the female actor in a comedy series. We'd give it to America Ferrera (Ugly Betty), but Tina Fey (30 Rock) and Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds) are tied for a very close second. Ferrera and Fey have previous wins in this category in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

Ensemble cast in a drama series will hopefully go to ABC's Boston Legal or Showtime's Dexter. Favored comedy series is ABC's Desperate Housewives, with Showtime's Weeds following right behind.

Also, tonight, look for James Earl Jones to be honored with the 45th Annual Life Achievement Award.

New Music Now: Chrissy Coughlin, "Freeway"

Tonight's Shirtlessness

Obama's Gay Agenda

During the presidential campaign last year, Barack Obama wasn't quite so willing to discuss his stance on LGBT issues. We knew he was gay-friendly, but we didn't have as much detail as we are now seeing on the new White House website.

President Obama's official web-site features a section on Civil Rights (here), which reveals he is in favor of ENDA.

President Obama and Vice President Biden will work to overturn the Supreme Court's recent ruling that curtails racial minorities' and women's ability to challenge pay discrimination. They will also pass ... the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. ... will strengthen federal hate crimes legislation, expand hate crimes protection by passing the Matthew Shepard Act.

The page goes on to say he supports same-sex civil unions.

[Obama] supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.

Reading on, Obama opposes a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, will repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell (as announced last week), will expand adoption rights and promote AIDS prevention.

This all looks good in writing, but how many of these promises will come to fruition? The only way to keep these promises at the forefront is to keep reminding President Obama of them. Write to him (you can do this from the web-site) and remind him.

Couric Goes Primetime, Hosts Grammy Special, Pulls A Coup

Katie Couric is going primetime twice in the next couple weeks. Her first appearance will be next Wednesday during a special prime time edition of CBS Evening News. Network brass say this is a way to find new viewers for the third-placed evening newscast, but it won't be a rebroadcast of what is aired in the show's normal slot (6:30 PM). The 30-minute prime time special will be an updated version (and will compete with American Idol).

In GRAMMY news, Katie will attempt to recreate the buzz Barbara Walters has with her awards shows. CBS will air Katie Couric's 'All Access' Grammy Special on Wednesday, February 4th. She'll interview Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Lil' Wayne and Taylor Swift. The Grammy Awards air on CBS February 8th.

Also on February 8th, CBS will air a coup pulled off by the network. On Monday (1/19), NBC's Matt Lauer announced on Today they had secured the first interview with Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, the hero pilot of US Airways flight 1549. During the announcement, Lauer said the interview should have aired that morning, but was delayed due to a request by the pilot's representing union. However, CBS announced yesterday they would be airing the first interview with Capt. Sullenberger. Couric will conduct the interview and it will air on 60 Minutes just before the Grammy Awards.

SAG Awards: Motion Pictures

The Screen Actors Guild will dole out their annual awards tomorrow. Some say these awards are a precursor to the Oscars, but they don't always match up. Here are our picks and favorites.

Sean Penn is favored by this blog for leading actor for his portrayal of Harvey Milk. However, it's likely Brad Pitt's Benjamin Button will win. Honorable mention in this category goes to Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), who played the deceased father in Six Feet Under (Jenkins was nominated in 2002 in the Ensemble in a Drama Series category). Meryl Streep should take the leading actress award for playing Sister Aloysius Beauvier in Doubt (Streep won a SAG acting award in 2004 for Angels in America). Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road) seems to be in the cards to win, though.

Our pick is Josh Brolin's Milk appearance for supporting actor, but Heath Ledger is likely to take the win for The Dark Knight. As mentioned previously, Ledger wouldn't be the lead contendor in this category had it not been for his death. And an honorable mention for Robert Downey Jr's role in Tropic Thunder. He was spectacular, but comedies rarely win at major awards shows.

We've previously picked Viola Davis (Doubt) as our favored contendor in the supporting actress role. We're sticking with Davis, but Kate Winslet's role in The Reader has a good chance of netting her the trophy.

Finally, in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, it's a toss-up. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, Doubt, Frost/Nixon and Slumdog Millionaire are all in the running. We plan to root for Benjamin Button.

The 15th Annual SAG Awards air Sunday on TNT and TBS.

Tonight's Shirtlessness: It's Friday, Already?

Clooney Back On 'ER'?

It could happen. Rumor has it George Clooney will drop in on the set of ER this week for a cameo appearance. Showrunners have admitted to inviting casts of thousands for the few remaining episodes (which was just extended by about three), but they haven't confirmed many names.

Do you think it will actually happen? Better yet... do you think the show will ever come to an end? They've only been promising it for how long?

Oh, and did you see Clooney on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Monday? Here's the clip. Who knew he was such a fan of Dolly Parton!?

CBS To Bring On 'NCIS' Spin-Off

A quick note about a now-confirmed spin-off...

CBS execs this week confirmed they're working on a spin-off to the highly successful NCIS. Similar to the network's success with the CSI franchises, they plan to use a familiar NCIS style, but set in a different location with a different cast.

Wanda Says 'Knock It Off'!

'Button' Gets Big Noms, But No Record

Nominations for the 81st Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button takes 13 nominations, which is just shy of tying for the most on record. The record is 14 nominations for Titanic and 1950's All About Eve.

Blog favorite Meryl Streep picks up a nomination for Doubt and continues her streak as the Academy's most-nominated actress. However, she's only picked up two wins. Her competition in the category includes the favored Kate Winslet (The Reader). Supporting actress will be a tough call for the Academy with Amy Adams (Doubt), Penelope Cruz (Vicky Christina Barcelona), Viola Davis (Doubt), Taraji P. Henson (Button) and Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler) nominated. Davis is thought to be the frontrunner.

Milk, Gus Van Sant's telling of the Harvey Milk story, picked up 12 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor - to Sean Penn. Josh Brolin also takes a supporting actor nomination.

As expected, Heath Ledger was nominated posthumously for his role in The Dark Knight, though some critics say he wouldn't have received the nomination had he not passed away.

The nomination announcement is below and a full list of nominees can be found here.

Tonight's Shirtlessness

New Music Now: Lily Allen, "The Fear"

Tonight's Shirtlessness

White Knot Campaign

Beginning this week, look for a new badge on the right promoting WhiteKnot.org. This is a campaign to draw attention to the need for marriage equality. You can read more about it by clicking here.