In their continued quest to out-gay Bravo as the gayest non-gay network on the dial, Lifetime (Television for Women and the Men Who Drink Cosmos With Them) is moving forward on a daytime talk show hosted by none other than Alpha Reality Gay, Carson Kressley.

I caught Carson's recent stint as the emcee of the True Colors Tour, and I thought he was absolutely hilarious. Some of his patter was a bit blue for a daytime show on a network best known for propping up the career of Meredith Baxter-nee-Birney for the last 20 years, but I think he'll adapt just fine.

In flipside-of-the-coin news, Fox Reality has announced the final list of contestants for their upcoming Gimme My Reality Show! (where reality also-rans compete for their own gig), and Bobby Trendy is among the names. All I can hope is that previously-announced castmember Santino Rice eats him on a cracker.

Anyway, back to Carson: We actually dug the How To Look Good Naked show he did for Lifetime and I think he'd be a great talk show host ... at the very least, we hope he lasts longer in the driver's seat than the last out talk show host, Jm J. Bullock (who co-hosted with Tammy Faye). In the meantime, if you haven't read our candid interview with him, definitely check it out.

You might remember how in our 2008 Pop Culture Wish List we hoped that we might see an openly gay man as host of a late night talk show. It actually sounds like we might get our wish.

In his latest video blog, out performer Sam Harris announced that he'll be working on a talk show pilot for Lifetime. The show will be based on Harris' video blogs, where he chats with friends and answers fans' questions. Harris will be developing the show with The Class co-creator Jeffrey Kalrik and there's no word yet on how the show will make the transition from online video to cable TV.

I don't always catch Harris's blogs, but the interviews I've seen are wonderfully intimate and natural. I hope they can maintain that quality on his Lifetime show, especially if Harris' guests include performers looking to avoid rehashing the same old anecdotes about the filming of their new movie.

If Harris' pilot becomes a Lifetime series it would be a step forward for gay men. As we noted in our wish list, the only other openly gay man to host am American talk show was Jm J. Bullock's short-lived syndicated show with Tammy Faye, so Harris could end up blazing a new trail for gay men in the USA. (They're well ahead of us in the UK.) We'll keep our fingers crossed things work out for Harris and keep an eye out for news.

If you heard a collective gasp Monday afternoon, that was the sound of TV reporters learning that Lifetime had picked up the rights to air five seasons of Project Runway, snatching the popular show away from Bravo. Bravo, meanwhile, is suing, saying that they weren't given the chance to beat Lifetime's offer, even though that's stated in Bravo's contract with the show.

In the past few years, Lifetime has found its claim as the "network for women and their gay men" challenged by networks like Oxygen, with its younger and more outrageous voice, and Bravo, which transformed itself into a style and culture network. Lifetime, however, has been fighting back, finding success with new, original series like Army Wives and with reality shows like How to Look Good Naked, which is hosted by Carson Kressley, another name we first got to know at Bravo.

The most interesting bit, here, is the timing. According to the Chicago Tribuine's Maureen Ryan, Bravo has the rights to five seasons of Project Runway but has only aired four so far (casting for the fifth season is in progress). Meanwhile, Lifetime is eager to air Runway themselves and hopes to be airing new episodes by the fall. That means both networks could plausibly end up airing new episodes of different seasons at the same time, or that Bravo's fifth season could air after the show makes its debut on Lifetime. Is your head spinning yet? It's going to be really interesting to see how this story develops.

What do you think? Will the show feel the same airing on Lifetime? Does it give Lifetime a hipper image? What goes better with "Auf Wiedersehen": Golden Girls reruns or Work Out marathons?

Dante Puleio's mama may not dance, but let's hope his step-mama does

What's gayer than a dance competition? A dance competition where the men are made to compete with their mothers as partners.

Yes, this is the concept of Your Mama Don't Dance, a new Lifetime show premiering this Friday. Five guys (and their mothers) and five girls (and their fathers) are enlisted to compete, with the twist being that the young hoofers are initially unaware that they will be paired with their parental units as dance companions. So it's basically like every wedding I ever attended where my mom dragged me onto the dance floor because I didn't have a date ... only these guys can do more than the Chicken Dance. 

The show's website has intro interviews with all twenty contestants, and we've confirmed with the network that three of the fancy-footed fellas are out: Dante Puleio (who is dancing with his stepmother and refers to his dad as "Tony Soprano"), Jonathan Silva (a 19-year-old who will be dancing with his hairdresser mom) and Silvano Merendi (who, as one of the parents, is dancing with his daughter, Celia).

All jokes aside, is this any gayer than any other dance competition reality show? No. But the difference is that the network isn't pussyfooting around or trying to bury the sexuality of the contestants. Go Lifetime!

Lifetime President Susanne Daniels told Variety that although it's all step-ball-change on the surface, Dance is "really about the adult parent/child relationship, and how complex that is. It’s going to be an emotional show. I want people to cry." Susanne Daniels, you are a cruel, wonderful woman.

Oh, and the host is none other than 90210 vet Ian Ziering. Thoughts? Because I am so watching this.

Jonathan Silva and his mom

Silvano Merendi and daughter Celia

Now this could be interesting -- Lifetime is looking at adapting British soap Mile High. The original series was known for the luxurious location shoots where we watched the steamy adventures of flight attendants who worked for a budget airline. Among them was Will O'Brien, a witty gay man who didn't sit on the sidelines, but was just as sexually active and scandalous as his co-workers.

It'll be interesting to see how this version goes, since Mile High felt like three different series during its two-season run, with only a handful of actors staying consistent throughout the series (and the dark turn in final few episodes almost felt like a fourth series). Mile High doesn't match my idea of Lifetime programming at all, with all the bad behavior and reckless drug use and its many unlikable female characters. (Now Oxygen, on the other hand...) It'll be interesting if this gets toned down in translation.

I once called Mile High "The worst show I wouldn't miss an episode of." It wasn't a quality series in the slightest, with plot holes and inconsistent characterization, but it was incredibly addictive -- and even not in a "so bad it's good way," it was just fun despite the many problems. Maybe it was the show's stylish visual sense, maybe it was the catchy opening which made effective use of Hooverphonic's "The World is Mine" or maybe it was a constantly likable cast that smoothed-over the show's faults.

Anyway, the challenge of playing casting director is a little too hard to resist in this case. Let's try to cast the major players, shall we?