Sunday night marked the end of the first season of HBO's British import Little Britain USA starring David Walliams and the out (and recently divorced) Matt Lucas. If you missed our original review of the series, the U.S. version added new characters as well as transported a number of the original characters stateside including Daffyd "the Only Gay in the Village" Thomas, as well as Vicki Pollard and the now British Prime Minister Sebastian Love.

I've always considered myself a bit of an Anglophile (Coupling is probably my favorite sitcom of all time) so I was actually quite looking forward to Little Britain's jump to America. But now that the first season is over, I'm less than thrilled with the results. In fact, I'm giving the show a down arrow for the first season. Read why after the jump.

David Burtka and Neil Patrick Harris looking adorable as always.

Following this 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.

• Just because we can never get enough of them, the above pic is super-couple Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka at the one year anniversary party for the nightclub Blush in Las Vegas.

• Ellen Degeneres is once again using her celebrity to fight the good fight, as she blasted V.P. nominee Sarah Palin on her talk show today. The highlight is when Ellen dismisses the view that children will be "influenced" in some way by learning that gay people can also be parents: "I was surrounded by heterosexuals, just everywhere I looked — heterosexuals. And they did not influence ... I mean I dabbled in high school, who didn't? Everyone dabbled, ya know?"

• We've been talking about the new gay themed high school film Tru Loved for quite a while, and now, Roger Ebert has given the film the kind of publicity it wasn't expecting ... or wanting. The iconic critic gave the film one star (out of four), and admitted he only watched eight minutes before shutting it off, something he now regrets.

• Well, they may as well call the election now, as Barack Obama has received the most important of all his endorsements. According to the Weekly World News, Batboy has come out in full support of Barack, thanks to the encouragement of the nominee's recently discovered half-bat, half-human brother Obatma. Rumor has it that Stephen Baldwin has already challenged Obatma to a boxing match.

• Someone who's already made his decision is the out David Sedaris (aka the world's greatest living humorist), whose latest essay contains a hilarious and profane analogy about the presidential nominees (he compares them to airplane food).

• In sad news, out Little Britain star Matt Lucas is officially divorced from his husband of two years, Kevin McGee. They've been split up since June, allegedly due to McGee's "unreasonable behavior".

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On Friday The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson welcomed Little Britain's Matt Lucas and David Walliams for a chat, and Ferguson did a bangup job of interviewing the guys, including about Matt's being gay and David's being straight. The ease with which Ferguson handles the interview is quite refreshing to see, and he doesn't ask either gentleman to show off their "gayest look" or anything.

Mutual talk show respect has never been so camp or entertaining. Enjoy after the break!

David Walliams (as Little Britain's Emily) and Sting (as himself)

Following this 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.

• Apparently we can look forward to seeing Sting making out with one of David Walliam's many unhinged characters on Little Britain USA. (Be sure to check back here for our review of the series later this week!)

• This recent Newsweek article on the lives of gay seniors is a downright horrifying wake-up call to anyone planning on enjoying their Golden (Girls) Years without having to fight.

• MAD TV ran two new gay-themed sketches over the weekend: A parody video of Ellen DeGeneres doing "I Kissed a Girl" (which should be awful but MAN does she nail the impersonation!) and a rather scathing eHarmony ad with a "reformed gay" and his new wife. GoodAsYou has got 'em both.

• Rumors are swirling about regarding out Olympic champion Matthew Mitcham booking an as-yet-elusive national sponsorship.

• Logo (our parent company, of course) has launched a programming partnership with Levi's called Levi's Presents Logo Unbuttoned, in which the net will showcase unedited movies, television, and performances late every Saturday night. Uncut movies and Queer as Folk? Say it ain't so. For more info, check out the saucy I Am Unbuttoned website.

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Joshua Bernstein (Photo credit: Getty Images/Frederick M. March)

Hi everybody! Michael down here in LA on day three of the hostage crisis TCA. It's still hot outside and frickin' freezing inside, but I discovered this great new invention called a "jacket" that I'm now wearing. Oy.

The first part of the day was about as gay as the Republican National Convention. Well, except for all the closeted politicians. The highlight of the morning was watching Josh Bernstein, hottie host of Into the Known with Josh Bernstein. The rest was Discovery Channel/Animal Planet/ESPN and apparently out gay men just aren't interested in adventure, animals or sports. Yeah, right. 

I was really looking forward to attending HBO's panel with Ricky Gervais, but that happened to overlap with my interview with the stars of Little Britain and Little Britain USA, David Walliams and the out Matt Lucas. Oh, well. I can't have everything.

I'll have the whole interview with Matt and David a little later, but I did get some scoop about Paul Rudd I'll share. First, Matt and David swear Paul is the coolest guy ever and a joy to work with. Matt also thinks he's dreamy and who can disagree with that?

Anyway, in LBU Paul plays the president of France. For those who know the original LB, one of the show's gay characters is Sebastian, the Prime Minister's aide. Well, in LBU Sebastian has become the Prime Minister of England and has transferred his affections to an Obama-type president played by Harry Lennix. When Sebastian suspects that the US President is having an affair with the French Prime Minister, he becomes increasingly jealous despite the assurances nothing is going on between the two. Or is there?

David Walliams is a lay-dee!

I'll have the answer and other details when we post the whole interview; however, before the panel we were treated to several clips of the new show and jaw-droppingly outrageous is the term that comes to mind. Gay fans are especially likely to love gym bunnies Mark and Tom, two muscle-bound "straight" boys willing to do anything for each other -- including bikini line shaving while completely naked in a lockerroom. And did I mention the two end up in a rather gay compromising postion that will probably cause your eyes to bug out? Trust me, you won't ever see this on Saturday Night Live.

Lots more after the break!

George Michael

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.

• Above, George Michael kicks off his "25 Live" North American tour in California, bouyed by recent high-profile appearances on Eli Stone and American Idol. It's great to have the out international star back onstage (and not in the tabs!) where he belongs.

• Lou Ferrigno reveals that "Bruce Banner" was changed to "David" for the Hulk TV series because execs thought it sounded "too gayish", adding, "I thought it was the most absurd, ridiculous thing I've ever heard." The part about playing a big green guy with a yak's hair wig, on the other hand? Totally reasonable.

• TIME's ten questions with David Sedaris.

• Be sure to mark your calendars for May 15, 2009: Sacha Baron Cohen's gay Austrian fashionista character, Bruno, will invade American theaters with an oversized man-purse filled with gay panic jokes. 

• According to the London Times Online, Little Britian's Matt Lucas to "divorce" his "husband," whom he "married" 18 months ago. Does anyone find that a bit "condescending?"

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

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!

I was rather late to get on the Little Britian love train. It took a few tries for me to learn to laugh at the likes of Vicky Pollard and Andy Pipkin (eventually Carol Beers won me over) but once I did I became a full-on Little Britain fan... and one quite eager to see the HBO version, which looks like it'll feature many of the popilar Little Britian characters making people miserable in the United States.

And now, UK paper The Mail on Sunday has the first pictures from the new series. It looks like we'll be seeing the style-challenged cross-dresser Emily Howard (played hilariously by David Walliams) facing arrest for shoplifting:

And who's that officer manhandling Emily?

It's the gay half of the Little Britain duo, Matt Lucas! (Ouch, did The Mail make a fat joke there? They shouldn't try comedy.)

In addition to Emily Howard, we can expect to see Dafydd Thomas -- who'll go to great lengths to maintain his ability to whine about being "the only gay in the village", Sebastian Love -- the flamboyant assistant who blatantly chased after a Prime Minister played by Anthony Stewart Head and will probably be flirting madly with the President and, of course, Vicky Pollard causing trouble in the states. There's also news of a couple new American characters -- Lucas will be playing an American schoolgirl, Ellie Grace and Walliams will play a dog trainer:

After the break, check out a very NSFW clip of Dafydd that was highlighted in our look at great gay sketch comedy. I'm pretty eager to see what Dafydd's adventures in the states are like.

Tim Campbell gets his SHOUT! on

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.

• Above, recently-out Aussie actor/singer/cutiepatootie Tim Campbell stars in SHOUT! The Legend of the Wild One, currently playing in Melbourne. I have no idea what this play is about, but it sounds loud.

• There's a full trailer up for Bruce LaBruce's gay zombie romance Otto; or Up With Dead People. (Warning, NSFW for various reasons entirely unsurprising to anyone familiar with his work.)

• At a recent AIDS benefit, a walk-on part in Little Britain USA auctioned for £9000, nearly triple the take of a shopping trip with noted Charlotte Rae enthusiast Joan Collins.

• Out R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe doesn't speak often about his personal life or his coming out, but in this interview (an excerpt video is above) he clears up why he was reticent in the past.

• Um ... KittyWigs! Okay, it's a slow news day.

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