Friday Nights Hunk is a Tie

Friday Night is a tie for Graham's Television Hunk of the Night (also live at Gay.com). Two smoking hot guys for the price of one, people. It doesn't get any cheaper than that. But before we get to them, let's give the two other guys their due.

I'm not a "Men in Trees" fan. I've lived in Alaska for like three years and I never saw men like that. And honestly, most Alaskans would chase Anne Heche out of town. Plus...If you want a really cool Alaska dramedy to watch, rent "Northern Exposure." That being said, lots of people do love the show and one of the reasons is hunky hunk hunk James Tupper. Even with the longish curly hair (which I hate), he still grabs my attention.

And "Friday Night Lights" has some action going on too. There are a number of studs to choose from, but folks, I'ld pick Jesse Plemons any day. I love me a red head, or a speckled trout, as my friends and I call them. Very nice. And believe me when I say Plemons looks like a great specimen.

Interestingly enough, "Lights" brings one of our ties for Friday's Hunk. Kyle Chandler pretty much rocks my world. The 42 year-old green-eyed dark haired stud has been one of my true loves for years--from "Homefront" and "Early Edition" to his "explosive" turn on "Grey's Anatomy." Kyle has it going on and he also just seems like the nicest guy ever.

Josh Duhamel on "Las Vegas" doesn't seem like the nicest guy ever--I bet he's just the biggest flirt ever. This other Hunk of Friday Night, a 35 year-old actor and fiance of Fergie from The Black Eyed Peas, has been on my radar ever since I saw him iron a shirt and make a bed on "The Martha Stewart Show." I even suffered through a rental of "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton" just to see him and to imagine running my hands through all that spikey brown hair. Josh is a perfect cross of pretty boy and masculine stud. "Las Vegas" isn't a great show--just fun. But Josh makes it funner. Er, more fun.

Thursday Night's Hunk Needs No Investigation

In my search for Thursday Night's Hunk (also on gay.com), I have to admit that one of the hottest hunks is on a television show I don't watch: "Ugly Betty." Eric Mabius has that It factor. The guy has dimples for days and blue eyes that kill me. One of these days I'll get the DVD and watch the whole first season.

A few other guys I do watch are Tom Welling on "Smallville" and BJ Novak on "The Office." Both these guys have that earnest look in spades. Welling is so frakking adorable he makes me want to fly, even though he's been doing the Superman schtick for 7 years now. And who would have thought Novak would look so good with his scruffy beard. I think he's been one of the most overlooked actors on "The Office," and I'm glad he's finally getting some real screen time.

"Grey's Anatomy" gives us another set of guys to hunker down and dream about: McDreamy, McSteamy, and McSomething--I don't know, maybe McRude. Patrick Dempsey, Eric Dane, and Justin Chambers keep me coming back to that show, even when the plot lines get embarrassingly contrived. I was never a fan of the whole "Mc"label thing, but these guys--love 'em or hate 'em--have a whole flapjack stack of charisma.

But when I talk about charisma and machismo, and just plain ol' maleness, I don't think Jon Hamm from AMC's "Mad Men" can be beat. His character Don Draper is all brille cream and scotch--a 60's advertising man whose broad shoulders and large pecs can barely fit into his suits. And "Mad Man" actor Bryan Batt as gay ad man Salvatore Romano is stunning and fun to watch. He plays gay in the 60's--a time when nobody talked about it.

But Thursday Night's winner will come as no surprise: George Eads from "CSI." I think he's a longtime favorite of mine (and most everybody I know). There's almost no way for him to look bad--even when they chop his hair up and paste it to his head like they did that one season. I just love him. How do you get past that jaw. The jaw of all jaws. And then right below, that thick rugged neck. He's a dream come true.

The Gossip On Wednesday's TV Hunk

When it comes to Wednesday's search for Graham's Hunk of the Night (on Gay.com) there isn't a huge crowd of guys that make my blood race like on Monday and Tuesday. That said, I will always take quality over quantity and the guys I've assembled for Wednesday certainly fit that bill.

I don't even watch "Criminal Minds," but I sure know who Shemar Moore is. This former soap star is intense and sexy wrapped into one. And the same goes for Steve Gonsalves on Sci-Fi's "Ghost Hunters." Don't laugh, I love the show. And if I were alone in the dark with ghosties, there is almost no one else who I'd want to hold my hand than the hunky, tattooed ghost hunter.

"Private Practice" brings on the hottie triple play of Taye Diggs, Tim Daly, and Paul Adelstein. But no bones about it, Paul is hands-down my favorite. And even cooler is that the former "Prison Break" star is married to another person I love--Liza Weil who played Paris on "Gilmore Girls." ABC Wednesday also sports hottie Lee Pace on "Pushing Daisies." I've already gushed over him far too much, so all I will say is that the crown of Wednesday Night Hunk was a furious two-way race between Lee and Paul--until I watched "Gossip Girl."

Penn Badgley. (Sigh). The show has its ups and downs, but certainly Penn is one of the main reasons to watch. This winner of the Wednesday Hunk of the Night has one of the strongest jaws you've ever seen and the darkest, thickest mop of hair. Now, he's not 21 until November, but that doesn't mean we all can't enjoy the killer smile he slides into on the CW's hit show "Gossip Girl." Give Penn a looksee--you'll be glad you did.

Tuesday's Hunk Will Knock You Dead (my Gay.com post)

Kind of. Sort of kill you. If you're evil. His job is to collect souls for the devil, but we'll get to that soon.

Tuesday has some hot hot guys in primetime starting with two relative newcomers to tv, the funny Kal Penn on "House" and the smoking hot Michael Trevino on "Cane." You'll know Kal best as Kumar in "Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle." You love him. You hate him. You want to smack him. Then love him again. But sultry, not funny, is the word that comes to mind when you talk about heartthrob Michael Trevino.

Then you have two uber men on crime procedurals, both oozing with testosterone: Chris Meloni from "Law & Order SVU" and Michael Weatherly from "NCIS." Meloni is just as hot as his "Oz" days, though sadly the networks don't show the nudity that is so common on HBO. And be sure to check out the charming Weatherly who is easy on the eyes in a rather clever procedural.

I don't want you to think I overlooked Jerry O'Connell on "Carpoolers." He's hot I guess, but has never really done it for me. And I also didn't forget forget Noel, er, I mean Scott Foley from "The Unit." But let's be honest, Max Martini is so much hotter on that show in a scruffy kind of dirty way.

But the winner of Graham's Tuesday Hunk of the Night goes to Bret Harrison on the CW show "Reaper." Not only is Bret just crazy-go-nuts adorable, he's also freakishly funny and stars on one of the best new shows of the season. The 25 year-old hunk with messy dirty blond hair plays the lead character Sam whose parents sold his soul to the devil and now he has to catch villians who've escaped from hell. And those people at the CW are no dummies, each "Reaper" episode seems to find a way to show us our shirtless Bret. Thank God for TiVO. And then I begin to think about Bret playing guitar in a band with his actor friend Adam Brody from "The O.C." and I just can't find any more words.

Fall's TV Hunks of the Week

Each day this week, I'll be offering up Graham's Television Hunk of the Night on my Gay.com tv blog. But let's be clear about something: there was no random sampling. I'm also not providing a fully-detailed scientific process for picking each Hunk. No, I simply looked at a majority of the guys on tv each night and the winner just seemed to call out to me.

There are a few caveats I must offer up before we get to the hunks. First off, what happened to men of color? There seem to be fewer hot men of color on tv than ever before. I guess I always knew that, but to actually start looking and analyzing hotness and not see them, well, it was a surprise. Second, if you disagree with any of my choices you disagree. That's what makes the world go round. Make your own list. Third, do yourself a favor and Google all these guys--they're hot.

Monday offered up a bevy of hunks and might have been the hardest night to decide. "Heroes" alone featured up a guy for everyone's taste, from bearish Greg Grunberg to pretty boy Milo Ventimiglia. And don't forget about Adrian Pasdar. Grrr.

Another show chock full of hotness, and don't make fun of me for bringing it up, is "Dancing with the Stars." You have hot hot hot Brazilian racing sensation Helio Castroneves. Check out his dimples sometime folks. And soap opera hottie Cameron Mathison has been a favorite of mine for a long time. Oh, and that brings us to smoking hot dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy. When he shows his chest I want to swoon.

And last but certainly not least, you have dreamboat Dominic Purcell from "Prison Break" who could walk into the Eagle anytime and fit in and tv newbie Zachary Levi as the main character Chuck on the show of the same title. Either of these guys could also have taken the title.

But let's not beat around the bush any more. The Television Hunk of Monday night this fall is Zachary Quinto who plays the evil Sylar on NBC's "Heroes." Thirty year-old Zachary is a dark-haired, dark-eyed 6'2" hunk of television goodness. It may seem like an unlikely choice for tv's hunk when you consider that he's going to be the new Mr. Spock in J.J. Abrams upcoming "Star Trek" movie. But just watch Quinto sometime on "Heroes" with his crackling evil smile. He's so charismatic you want to root for evil Sylar. Or maybe you just begin to think Sylar's misunderstood as you get lost in his dark dark eyes...

Mourning a Meerkat

I got back from a work trip last Saturday night and was anxious to just sit on the sofa and catch up with some tv. I watched Grey's Anatomy and other stuff, then decided I'd close the night with Meerkat Manor. It turned out to be a mistake--I'd barely sleep that night. You see, the main character of the show--matriach meerkat Flower--was killed by a cobra.

The last few episodes of the Animal Planet show had been pretty sad, including the horribly lonely yelping of a nearly-lame baby meerkat being left behind in the desert to die. But this episode began so hopeful. The 40-strong Whisker family the show follows adopted a lost meerkat from another group, then they had a huge group playday, and ended by finding lots of great food for the group.

But suddenly out of nowhere, Flower was killed by a cobra. You watched her crawl into a hole to defend her pups. We heard a hiss and then the camera went to black. The next thing you know, the once nimble Flower is stumbling anxiously outside the den...her head unbelievably swollen from the cobra's bite. It's clear she's confused and in excruciating pain. The voiceover narrator, Sean Astin says something like, "Flower died protecting her pups. Her four-year reign has come to an end and the flower of the Kalahari will be missed." And I was bawling.

Bawling. Like a baby. Sure it's a tv show, and yes, they're just animals. But the show so anthropomorphizes the Whiskers you come to think of them as characters. No, they are characters. And I don't know meerkats, but I can tell you Flower was beautiful and wiley. She was brave and full of spunk and had bravely led the family through hardships for three seasons of the show.

Evidently people everywhere are grieving for Flower. There has been an outpouring of grief and little kids and grown ups alike have had a horrible time accepting the death of "someone" they've known for three seasons on a reality tv show. Even though the episode ended with Flower's new pup Liz emerging from the den for the first time, I couldn't by the circle of life crap. All I could think is how much I'd miss Flower and how could I ever get the image of he--swollen and in pain--out of my mind.

Kid Nation

I'm not sure.

I wish I could be more revelatory when it comes to my opinion of CBS' new show about 40 children ages 8 to 15 living alone together in an "old, abandoned" ghost town. There were certainly enjoyable moments. You forget how precocious and nuts some children can be. That part is fucking hysterical. And some of the kids you just want to hug because they couldn't be any more adorable or self-realized for their age.

Eight-year old James was having fun running around and hunting rabbits and such, but in the midst of all this he would just start crying because he missed his parents. "I'm just not old enough for this yet," he said at the end of the show as he left the game.

Maybe that's the problem--is that it's a game. Another competition reality show like any other, except the participants are kids. And while that's interesting, I'm not so sure I want eight-year olds worrying and scheming and battling over money.

My mind's not made up on this show. I'm going to TiVO it again next week--and then we'll see.

Addie is 6 Months Old!

Incredibly hard to believe my new niece Addison is already 6 months old! Time flies! And she is the cutest niece ever...indisputable!

Emmy Catch Up

What a strange and weird Emmy show last weekend. From the lack of crazy ass fashion to the really bizarre wins, I'll admit I was fairly surprised.

Things I'm still thinking about:

1) Ellen Pompeo's hair

2) How did James Spader beat James Gandolfini?

3) Kate Walsh's hair

4) I should see both The Starter Wife and Broken Trail

5) Heide Klum's hair

Things I'm happy about:

1) Wins by Jeremy Piven, Terry O'Quinn, and Katherine Heigl

2) Sally Field winning and giving a good (but crazy) anti-war speech

Not that much made me unhappy except for having to watch Giuliana Rancicthe on the red carpet for E!. I'm honestly not sure there is a more vapid person on the face of the earth. Why do they even let her near a microphone? Oh, and one more thing I hated about the Emmy's--sitting through Kimora Lee Simmons on E!'s Fashion Police. But at least they traded a horrible gay (Jay Manuel) for a mildly tiresome gay (Carson Kressley).

Dan Rather Suing CBS

Just read about this story on Huffingtonpost.com. All I have to say is, "Wow...Good luck, Dan."

When all the hoopla began over the CBS story concerning President Bush's "service" (ahem) here in the US in the National Guard during Vietnam, our country was still in that terrible place where the media was cow-towing to Bush. Hence, Rather was pretty much pushed out the door by CBS.

I'm glad to see he's suing the network and I hope he wins. True...Dan's team may have jumped the gun on the story, and they should have been more vigilant about research. But the story itself was important. And the fact that CBS was so easily swayed by the Bushies in the White House speaks to the influence his administration has claimed over the media.

Britney, The Hills, and OJ

Work and life have been so nuts, my friends, I've been negligent in getting to all of the worldly news that has been happening over the last month. And no, I don't mean General Petraeus or the housing financing bust. I'm talking about television, hollywood, and celebrities.

We had crazy Britney having a "dance" meltdown on national tv. And if you paid even a bit of attention, you'd realize her performance was a lot like Terrence Stamp in Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Only...not as good.

Then there was the juicy juicy return of the The Hills on MTV with Heidi and Spencer who have become even more disgustingly interesting. Same old, same old, but baby, did it rock my world.

And lastly, we OJ Simpson making his television comeback. Not in a series, but more like real-life Cops. We all knew it would happen, but this soon?

None of this is surprising actually. If you think about it...the other-wordly actions and thought processes that celebrity creates are inevitable. But who could imagine that watching things unfold would be so much fun?

Let's Talk Harry Potter Details

First, I should say that I'm not a Harry Potter fanatic. Not at all. I think they're great books, but I don't own any of the movies or have a Harry Potter ringtone on my cell phone or anything. I just really appreciate the books and the world Rowling has invented.

That being said, I should say that I did love Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. For me, it was one of the best--if not THE best--of the seven books. While there were some problems, I think Rowling did a magnificent job balancing the expectations of her millions of readers with an ending to the series that felt organic and tied things together nicely.

Things I didn't particularly like:
1) Some of the pacing was off. Soooo much time was spent in the woods with Hermione and Ron. And stopping the major battle scene twice for extended "back story" issues made no sense to me.
2) Though Snape died protecting Harry to the end, I wish his death had been more "noble." You know, laughing at Voldemort and jumping in front of Harry to save him. And I hated that we only got to see Snape's memories, not here him talk to Harry.
3) And speaking of Snape, I wish there had been more of him in the book. He was in a total of three sections.
4) I was sure Sirius Black would come back from the "dead." I expected him to. I hoped for it. Sad it didn't happen. Though Harry has Ginny now, it'd be great if he had one defacto parent.
5) The actual Deathly Hallows didn't make much sense to me. It felt really tacked on.

Things I loved:
1) Neville killing the snake.
2) That Snape was good, and when Harry told his son that Snape was the bravest wizard he ever knew. (I'm even getting choked up writing this!)
3) The book tied up things nicely, from Harry's awful cousin Dudley caring about Harry, to Bellatrix getting her comeuppance from Mrs. Weasley.
4) I'm happy that no major good guys I cared about (other than Snape) bit the dust.
5) The battle at the end of the book will be great to see as a movie. I love that all the characters contributed in their own way. I was grinning ear to ear while reading those scenes. (How about McGonagall screaming "Charge!" as she led a group of Hogwart's desks into battle?)
6) The epilogue rocked my world. And while I would have liked to know more about Harry's present-day life, I realized the epilogue did was it was meant to do: bring the story full circle with Harry and Ginny's and Ron and Hermione's kids heading off to school.

On the Fear of Harry Potter Spoilers...

The Monday after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out, my friend Lars and I had lunch at a Greek restaurant to discuss the book. I had torn through the book and finished it that past Saturday afternoon, but Lars had only read the last few pages that morning. We decided we should compare notes.

As we began to discuss the book, a woman suddenly looked over and glared at us. I saw her clutching the tell-tale yellow hardcover book in her hands as tightly as if it were the ring in The Lord of the Rings, or even a horcrux you might say. Now, a small part of me understands her frustration, but what I can't comprehend is how she could expect to move through the world and not be spoiled by the fastest, best-selling book ever. It's like people who say to me, "don't go talking about Lost tomorrow, I'm not going to be able to watch it until this weekend." They say this knowing the season finale is all anyone will be talking about the next day. WTF?

Granted, I've got a big mouth. But I feel like the onus about not being spoiled is on the person terrified of being spoiled. And there's a really simple solution to not being spoiled: read the damn book.

I can already hear it from some of you: "easier said than done." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, I read blazingly fast. And yes, it's a 759 page book. (Oh, does that count as a spoiler?) But if you know that this book is coming out, plan ahead people. Go ahead and get the other books out of the way. Cancel that weekend trip you were gonna take.

Anyway...I wanted to get this off my chest. I have some very lovely friends--many many in fact--who have not finished the book. Most have asked politely, "Oh, please don't talk to me about Harry Potter until I'm done." And with that kind of request, I'm more than happy to oblige. It's just that every time I opened my mouth last week, about ANYTHING...some friends and colleagues would offer a loud SHHHHH! So I'm tired of it.

I'm free of my Harry Potter bonds and I'm coming out of the closet. Yes, I've read the last Harry Fucking Potter. Every page. Every word. And at any moment I can tell you whether he lives or dies. In fact, fair warning...tomorrow I'm discussing it in detail.

To Rub or to Lather?

A few weeks ago I was in Denver for a conference and one my colleagues gave me a cute little tube of hand cream. I'm glad she did because it was completely dry there in the shadow of the mountains with no humidity, and I had just come from Swampland, USA (Washington DC).

Most of the wording on the tube is in french, but the cream smells really really good. I've been using it for about a week--since she gave it to me. It's kind of silky and nice, and maybe a touch girly. But not too bad.

So today I'm on the phone talking to a friend, and I start putting the hand cream on. The one thing I've noticed is that it never really seems to be soaked up by my skin completely--it's just a bit greasier than I'd like. So I'm putting it on and as I screw back on the cap I catch a glimpse of the top of the tube where it says in bold green capital letters: SHAMPOO.

Harry Potter Death Count #3

Finsihed the book Saturday afternoon. Three more of the good guys died--bringing my unofficial count of the death of those I care about to 7. Very surprising who died and who didn't.

More on the book later this week. But it was a great read and a fitting conclusion!

Harry Potter Death Count #2

I'm not at page 637 in the new Harry Potter book. Two more heroes have died. Alas...all does not look good.

Harry Potter Death Count

I am just beginning chapter 13 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (page 243), and I can tell you that already two doers of good have bitten the dust. The first was very very unexpected. The second, not so much.

But so far the book is great.

Harry Potter vs. Buffy Summers

The headline is a little misleading, I'll admit. But tonight does mark the convergence of two pop culture icons in my life. The wizard hero and the vampire slayer are both playing prominent roles in my Friday night, and I've realized I may be the nerdiest 36 year-0ld in Washington D.C.

I'm going with a group of friends to the restored Avalon Theater at 11:30 p.m. tonight to watch a sing-along screening of "Once More with Feeling," the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer from season 6. And just after Buffy ends, I'm rocketing to my friend Lars' place where he'll have my brand new copy of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Initially I was going to stand in line with Lars at the bookstore at midnight to get the book and feel the frenzy of all the little kids who are excited about Harry. But, knowing Lars would pick up my book for me, Buffy won. I decided to forego standing in line and to sing instead, but I still know tonight is going to be a busy night for me when it comes to magic and mayhem.

AFI Top 100 Films

What do the following movies have in common: Wuthering Heights, Rebel Without a Cause, The Manchurian Candidate, The Birth of a Nation, My Fair Lady, From Here to Eternity, and Frankenstein? They are seven of the 23 movies that were dropped from the American Film Institute's newly updated list of Top 100 American Films.

Other jaw-dropping boots from the list include: Doctor Zhivago, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Third Man, Stagecoach, The Jazz Singer, A Place in the Sun, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

I know it's all a matter of taste. And sure, I'm happy that Robert Altman's epic Nashville made the cut this time, along with Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show. And who doesn't love Bladerunner or Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf getting a deserved nod? But come on, there are some glaring headscratchers in the updated list, especially when you remember we're talking about the Top 100 American films E-V-E-R!

• Toy Story coming on board as Fantasia disappears?
• Adding Do the Right Thing and Saving Private Ryan while booting Mutiny on the Bounty and Giant?

Too weird my friends, too weird. But at least most of the ranking made as much sense as possible. Citizen Kane is still #1, followed by The Godfather and then Casablanca. You should check out the list yourself and see a) how many of the movies you've seen; and b) if you disagree with the order or any that are on the list. AFI has the new list with ranking changes and new additions marked. Strangely, they have not listed any of the movies that were dropped. Maybe they're trying to skirt criticism.

Being the Ultimate Washington Insider

My friend Scott Shrake is not nearly as cute as my neice Addie, but he does have a new blog entry on Huffingtonpost.