For a lot of people, the coming-out process can include awkward silences, uncomfortable questions, and sincere but cringe-inducing attempts at acceptance. In other words, perfect fodder for comedy!

On Brothers & Sisters, Uncle Saul (played by Ron Rifkin) spent a lifetime in the closet, and after coming out to his sister and gay nephew in two very dramatic scenes, went the Three's Company route last night in coming out to the rest of the family. In a classic "misunderstanding", Saul mistakenly believed his nieces and nephews were talking about his gayness behind his back, and outed himself ... to the shock of his family. Yes, it was a creaky old plot device, but it worked, primarily because it was a complete 180 from his heart-to-heart with Kevin. See for yourself:

The inherent drama in coming out can be mined for truly memorable comedy. In this light, we've hand-picked five other moments when coming out of the closet has been used for comedic effect. Enjoy!

Absolutely Fabulous - "Serge is gay?"

We finally meet the long lost Serge, and Edina is ecstatic ... until she opens her mouth, and Serge realizes why he left in the first place.

Four more coming-out classics after the break!

Simon Doonan, the creative director of Barneys (not to mention longtime boyfriend of American designer Jonathan Adler and talking head from countless VH-1 shows), is about to get a sitcom based on his early life, to debut this fall on the BBC.

Beautiful People is based on Nasty: My Family and Other Glamorous Varmints, his memoir of growing up in working class England. The producer is Jon Plowman, the man who helped bring Little Britain and Absolutely Fabulous to tv, so grab your "Tickets, Money, Passport!" as it's sure to be wonderfully over-the-top. Sparkle!

As to who should play the young Simon, the man himself has a creative pick:

"I keep thinking Linda Hunt - or somebody fabulous like that. Linda would be great - and she's about my size. I'm just 5-foot-41/2 on my passport, and, believe me, that half inch is very important.

I've seen Simon on all those I Love The --- shows on VH-1, and appreciated his insight and humour, and a young version of Simon should be fascinating television. To see him in his natural habitat, here's the trailer for Five Windows, the documentary about Simon and the window displays of Barneys in New York City.

With the news that Gossip Girl's gay dad will be appearing on the show soon, I've been thinking of other gay dads from TV and films. While there have been quite a few, here are nine that stick in memory:

Carson Ward
From: The OC

Talking about Gossip Girl's gay dad character can't help but bring to mind the gay father from another Josh Schwartz series, The O.C. Twelve episodes into the first season Carson Ward (Brian McNamara) is spotted by his son, Newport Beach bad boy Luke, kissing his business partner. The scandal that arises when he comes out hurts Luke's popularity in Newport Beach circles, setting up for him to move to Portland with his dad at the end of the first season.

Justin
From: Absolutely Fabulous

Justin was the second husband of Absolutely Fabulous's Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) and the father of Saffron, the responsible, long-suffering daughter who had to deal with Edie's foolhardiness. Whenever they'd come around, Edie would trade some pointed barbs with Oliver, Justin's partner who refused to take Edie's self-centered nature gently.

Anthony Belrose
From: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

In the landmark 1994 film, we met Anthony and two other drag performers he traveled across Australia to perform at a casino in Alice Springs. As they reach their destination, we were surprised to learn that Anthony was married and had a young son