TVSquad

It occurred to me recently that there are more gay and lesbian characters on TV right now than ever before. That's pretty cool.

And they run the gamut from The L Word 's edgy Shane (pictured) to Desperate Housewives' funny Bob to Entourage's loyal Lloyd, who takes more verbal abuse from Ari Gold than anyone should ever be allowed to take.

See if you agree with my list of top gay characters on TV right now, and feel free to add your own in the comments. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

10. Shane McCutcheon (Katherine Moennig), The L Word

9. Lee McDermott (Kevin Rahm), Desperate Housewives

8. Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys), Brothers & Sisters

7. Dr. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw), Grey's Anatomy

6. Guy Branum, Chelsea Lately

5. Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez), The Office

4. RuPaul, RuPaul's Drag Race

3. Most of the people on the Bravo network

2. Lloyd (Rex Lee), Entourage

1. Much of the cast of The Real World: Brooklyn

Want to see the pictures or leave a comment? Click here.

Before the The L Word's final season, Showtime announced that they were developing a spin-off series around Alice Pieszecki, played by Leisha Hailey (aka that chick from those extra-annoying yogurt commercials). Because of the wacky muuurder plot that drove the sixth season, this spin-off would have featured Alice in prison. At some point this must have seemed like a good idea, because a pilot was made, but recently it was revealed that this will not be moving on.

This is probably for the best, really. Towards the end, The L Word was getting kind of exhausting and nothing about Alice made me want to watch a spin-off about her. Plus, seeing her being all quirky and bubbly in prison would have gotten old super-fast, assuming that's the main schtick.

The sixth and final season of Showtime's The L Word is about to kick off (January 18th at 9:00 p.m. EST), so that means the new promos are on their way. Check out this piece of work right here and please excuse me as I reveal my art snobbery.

When I first saw this poster, I thought it was some fan art from a Photoshop beginner. What happened to the days of solid design, when stuff like this totally wouldn't fly outside of Graphic Design I? If basic cable shows like Mad Men can make their ads sleek and sexy, what excuse does Showtime have? I was so distracted by the weird masking and forced shadows and weak composition and awkward font choice and various other super-sad arty elements, that I completely missed the eight chicks getting it on in the background.

Now, if that's not ineffective design, I don't know what is. See a larger version of the poster after the jump and analyze for yourself.

Jesse Spano is coming back to TV. After guest appearances on CSI: Miami and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Elizabeth Berkley is ditching the procedurals and heading over to Showtime. The former Saved by the Bell star will be joining Jennifer Beals, her costar in the 2002 film Roger Dodger, on Showtime's The L-Word for a multi-episode arc.

Word is, Berkley's L-Word character has a history with Jennifer Beals' Bette. The two went to college together and Berkley was the straight girl who got away. Perhaps Bette will have better luck the second time around.

My only hope for this pairing is that they can somehow manage to fit a Flashdance: What a Feeling / I'm So Excited dance-off into the plot of the show, thus bringing together the high points of both of these women's careers and officially making this the best casting decision ever.

Some quickie news from Showtime, presented by entertainment president Bob Greenblatt:

• Ilene Chaiken is developing a spin-off for The L Word, which will feature a yet unspecified character from the original show, whose upcoming season will be its last. There will be an open-ended plot in the season finale that Chaiken will continue online, then pick up if the spin-off comes to pass.
• Two more 13-episode seasons of Weeds have been ordered.
• A seventh season of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! has been ordered, making it Showtime's longest-running show.
• A reality/documentary show called Lock 'N Load has been ordered; it's filmed in a gun shop, and it shows the various people who purchase guns and "exploit their right to bear arms," according to the press release.
• Two new pilots have been ordered and filmed. The United States of Tara, produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Diablo Cody, stars Toni Collette as a suburban mother with multiple-personality disorder. John Corbett stars as her husband (yes... it's a comedy). The other pilot is tentatively-titled Nurse Jackie. It stars Edie Falco as a New York City nurse with a painkiller addiction who sometimes crosses moral lines to help her patients (no... it's not a comedy). Tara will begin airing in winter 2009, and Jackie will begin airing in late spring or early summer.
  

This sounds like good casting to me. Cybill Shepherd is joining Psych for a mini-arc as Shawn's mom. The actress, best known on TV from her hit series Moonlighting (remember, her and Bruce Willis?), has recently been on Showtime's The L Word. Cybill's not a great dramatic actress, but she is pretty funny and should fit in perfectly with the goofy, good-natured fun on Psych.

When Psych comes back to USA Network on July 18 with new shows, her episodes (at least two) will be broadcast. She's playing Madeleine, Henry's ex-wife and Shawn's mama. So far in the series, Maddie (like Maddie Hayes in Moonlighting perhaps?), has not been shown in the scenes depicting Shawn -- and Gus's -- childhood. Corbin Bernsen, who plays Henry, has worn a hairpiece for the retro scenes and goes bald for the present day scenes. We'll see whether Cybill's in both scenes or not...

According to the show, when Madeleine appears in Santa Barbara, she's coming from Europe and wants to visit her sonny boy. The visit, so we're told, dredges up some old memories. And since this is a crime/caper/mystery show, perhaps Maddie's bound to get involved in one of Shawn's cases.

If you haven't entered our latest giveaways yet, here's a reminder that they are ending today. You've got until 5PM Eastern today to enter the L Word DVD giveaway and the Sam & Max DVD giveaway.

Just head on over to the post links above, read through the rules and make the applicable comment there (not here!) We'll notify the winners next week.

Good luck!

This time we've got three copies of The L Word - Season Four on DVD for three lucky, random commenters. The DVD is available in stores now.

To enter, simply leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, March 28 simply telling us why you'd like to own this DVD set. As always, we'll randomly choose three winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
Click here for complete Official Rules.

According to Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider blog, deaf actress and Oscar winner Marlee Matlin may be appearing on the next edition of ABC's Dancing With the Stars.

As EW mentions, having Matlin guest star on the dancing competition would not be surprising since the series has been trying to "defy casting expectations and prejudices." DWTS fans will recall that Heather Mills, who wears a prosthetic leg, appeared in the fourth season of the show.

Showtime's upcoming fifth season of The L Word will premiere first on OurChart.com, a lesbian-focused social community, according to BusinessWire.com. The OurChart.com premiere is slated for December 30, 2007 followed by the Showtime premiere on January 6, 2008. The choice is no coincidence, as co-founder and CEO of OurChart.com, Ilene Chaiken, is also the creator/producer of The L Word.

This is, regardless of anything else, another example of how technology and the new online media is becoming more and more intertwined with traditional television viewing.

This is Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at TV Squad where we'll supply you with the dirt on some of the more popular shows on the air. We'll never put spoilers up here on the main page in order to help the reformed stay unspoiled. If you have anything to add to the group, feel free to step up and let yourself be heard, either with our tips form or by emailing us at tvsquad at gmail dot com or call and leave a message at 917-421-9477 (NY) - your anonymity is guaranteed, if you wish to remain as such.

This week we have: Burn Notice, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, House, How I Met Your Mother, Kyle XY, Lost, Nip/Tuck, One Tree Hill, Supernatural, The 4400, The L Word and Ugly Betty. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)

Writers of The L Word are including the show's fans in a very unique way. They've started a 'fanisode' contest where fans team up with writers to script an episode one scene at a time. Each week, the writers will announce a scene mission on their website and fans create it. Then fans vote on which submissions they like the best. It's a process that repeats itself each week until an entire episode is created out of fan-chosen and fan-created scenes. However, writers are not guaranteeing that the particular episode will air.

The fans whose scenes are elected will receive prizes, mostly in the form of gift certificates or a piece of schwag from The L Word set. At the end of the competition, which is March 31, one of the previous winners will be randomly chosen for e-mail mentoring from one of The L Word's writers and a $1,000 gift certificate to Saks.