TVSquad

I'm going to hazard the guess that if you are a regular visitor to TV Squad that you, like me, probably watch more television than the average bear. Partly out of good old fashioned curiosity, and partly because I'm paying for all of those channels so I might as well use them, I make it a point to cover as much of my cable TV package as I can when time allows. Doing so, you end up finding some odd and interesting things. After the jump, five things I've learned from my cable TV over the last week or so.

What must it be like to be RuPaul? Hmmm ... I can't really even fathom it, so let's just continue on with this news item as if it's important.

RuPaul's Drag Race, a new reality competition series helmed by the drag queen him/herself, has been greenlighted by MTV Networks' Logo, which targets lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender viewers, notes The Hollywood Reporter.

Rick and Steve are a gay couple, and they're animated. I don't mean they're lively, I mean they're the stars of a new animated series for Logo called Rick and Steve. The series, which begins July 10 at 10:00 p.m., features voice work by Alan Cumming, Margaret Cho, Wilson Cruz and Peter Paige. The music for the series is composed by the same folks who wrote the music for Avenue Q.

The characters in Rick and Steve resemble tiny posable toys, which makes the show look like something created for the Nick Jr. set. Of course, the themes are just a tad more adult than that, or so I gathered by watching the trailer.

Logo --the gay, lesbian bi-sexual and transgender network-- is taking the first steps toward continuing its short-lived series Noah's Arc as a feature film. The series, which focuses on Noah and Wade, two black gay screenwriters and their friends in Los Angeles, ended last year after its second season. The feature film, which will continue where the series left off, is still in the very early stages of development, but should hit theaters in 2008 according to Logo. This would be the first feature film developed by the new channel.

You can watch a full episode of the series here.

The GLAAD Media Award nominations were announced over the weekend. The Awards honor films, movies, music, news outlets, advertisements, plays and even comic books that offer "fair, accurate and inclusive" representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. There are no real surprises among the nominees, which include The L Word, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty ("jazz hands") and The Office. The individual episode nominations are reserved for those shows without regular gay characters and include Grey's Anatomy, a show making headlines right now not for its storylines but for actor Isaiah Washington's reported homophobic remarks. Amazingly, South Park was not nominated for its brave portrayal of a post-op Mrs. Garrison.

The Awards will be broadcast on Logo on April 21st. A list of the television nominees follows the jump. A full list of nominees in all categories can be seen on the GLAAD website.

No, you haven't tuned into the alternate universe version of TV Squad. What you are seeing here is true blue. According to Extra, Rosie O'Donnell has been named as the replacement for Meredith Riviera on ABC's The View. Meredith is replacing Katie Couric on NBC's Today show when Katie moves to anchor the CBS Evening News this summer. Rosie was on the short list of candidates that included Connie Chung, Patricia Heaton from Everybody Loves Raymond and current CNN American Morning anchor Soledad O'Brien.

ABC will make the official announcement on Friday, April 28th. From 1996-2001 O'Donnell hosted her own syndicated daytime talk show that was a critical and popular success. She is currently executive producer of The Big Gay Show, a comedy sketch show that will appear on the Logo network.

[via Zap2It -- thanks Anthony!]

It's official. Rosie O'Donnell is returning to television, but this time she's behind-the-scenes. She is executive producer of a comedy sketch show called The Big Gay Show. Logo, MTV's gay-themed cable channel, is picking up six half-hour episodes of the program. It will premiere some time next year.

And, according to this website, O'Donnell is also working on a comedy pilot with novelist Alice Hoffman about a gay Erma Bombeck-type advice columnist. O'Donnell said the comedy will be about the main character's life in her blended family when her ex-husband and his 10-year-old son move in with her.

MTV's gay and lesbian Logo network is teaming up with comedian "Ant" (most of you will remember him from Last Comic Standing) to seek out gay life in small town America. For US of ANT the comedian will travel across the United States and visit random towns to see how the gay community is getting along. The comedian claims he'll be throwing a dart at a map to decide where to go, though I imagine a more scientific approach will probably be used. Or not.

 

Those of us who grew up in small towns know they don't always embrace alternative lifestyles. The idea has possibilities, and it will be interesting to see what the show does with its subject matter.

Rosie O'Donnell is returning to television, but this time she'll be behind the camera. She partnered up with MTV to launch a sketch comedy show on MTV's new network, Logo. The channel targets gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender viewers. O'Donnell's sketch show is going to be a lot like Saturday Night Live, featuring up-and-coming comedians, political and pop culture satire, and even some musical numbers. The show will also include celebrity guests who are "friends of the LGBT community." Rosie is serving as the show's executive producer, and she will pair with writers from The Rosie O'Donnell Show, which aired from 1996-2002. When Logo launches launched on June 30, it was in an estimated 19 million homes.