Four Shows to get into during this Strike Time

So I was looking at my must-see television schedule, and next week marks the beginning of the WTF period. No more episodes of "Desperate Housewives", no more episodes of "Brothers and Sisters". No more episodes of "Heroes" after Monday, and "The Office" and "30 Rock" have already said goodbye. Sure, "Friday Night Lights" will still be brilliant on Friday nights, but what the hell was I going to do with my new television wasteland?

Project Runway: Undressing the men

(Getty Images) "Project Runway" got into men in a big way last night with a challenge to design a menswear look for jock/TV personality Tiki Barber.

The challenge required blue-eyed cutie-pie Jack (who, by the way, revealed in the beginning of the episode that he's HIV-positive) to remove his pants the first day -- and that was just the prelude.

The all-out beefcake bonanza came the next day, when the male models arrived and had to be (undressed and) fitted.

We'll let you guess which designer squealed, "These pants fit your ass PERFECTLY," and which one refused to touch the model because of a preexisting spiritual union. We will tell you it was a great one-liner night for Steven, who remarked that "Straight men tell me I'm sooo lucky to work with half-naked hot chicks all the time...Now, I get it."

Don't miss the recaps by ever-hilarious Dave White (this week's entitled "It's Raining Men. Drownings Occur") in The Advocate. He's accompanied by all-time-fave "America's Next Top Model" competitor Elyse Sewell, who's responsible for reality television's best confessional rant ever. Watch it here.

Classic Clip:Schmitt's Gay Beer

(Getty Images) Growing up as I did, that is, basically tethered to the TV, I really didn't think it was going to be all that big of a deal that I was gay. Just one rotation of the dial back in those days, and you'd find Billy Crystal on "Soap", Paul Lynde and Charles Nelson Reilly having the times of their lives on various game shows, Liberace...granted, no one called them out on it. It was just kind of, known, and seemingly tolerated, if just for the greater good of entertainment.

70's and 80's Flashback Television

I'm a child of the 70's. Born in 1971, I had a television for a babysitter. Sure, my friends and I played outside after school, but nights were all about tv. And this past weekend sure made me feel nostalgic. At first I thought it was a kind of tryptophan dream state built up from the Thanksgiving turkey overload. But over and over again on Saturday and Sunday nights, the 70's and 80's seemed to wind their way back into my tv and it made me happy.

The Bachelor: I Celebrate Myself

Perhaps Brad Womack is more than we gave him credit for. The down-home bar-owner who looks, and sadly talks, like the offspring of George Bush from some lost weekend back in Texas 35 years ago, did the heretofore unthinkable in teh season finale of cringe fest "The Bachelor" and gave his last rose to...himself.

For a show that I'm sure upsets feminists on a weekly basis (and let's face it, "The Bachelorette" doesn't exactly balance things out), I find it absurdly amusing that the the protagonist of the show, the man who could have had any one of these "eligible" ladies' hearts, rejects the fairytale and chooses to go it alone. How brave of him. How daring. How...feminist?

Project Runway: Of Spit and Knits

With all the introductions out of the way, and last week's token challenge a faded memory, things finally got underway on PR. And once again, they magically say goodbye to the designer who not only has a flawed outfit but has thus far shown the least personality...did anyone really think Christian was going home at this point? Puhleeaze.

We get our first model dismissal. Ricky, once again in that horrible mesh hat (lingerie for the head, perhaps?), is the only one to switch models from last week. As a result, his girl gets the finger.  Interestingly, Ricky did not cry over this.

A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila: Hope Among the Ruins

(Getty Images) You know how there are some shows you are so embarrassed by you don't even want it staring back at you from your Tivo library? "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila" is one of those shows for me. It's so bad I can't stand to acknowledge my own prurient interest in it, let alone risk someone else seeing it on my Season Pass Manager. So I have left it to fate whether I would see it or not (with MTV programming, it's pretty safe to assume you'll see every episode at least three times)...but as fate would have it, I've mostly just caught bits and pieces of the season thus far.

TV's Good Girls vs. Bad Girls

(Getty Images) Blind Item: what former sitcom sweetie was recently hospitalized for injuries sustained after her car broke down in the middle of the night and she exited the car...naked?

Tina Yothers, you say? Noooo. Tracey Gold? Good guess, but still no. Erin Moran? Closer, but still no.

Tell Me You Love Me: Thank God I'm Gay

In this season of thanks, I have much to be grateful for. There's all the usual stuff (health, happiness, blah blah blah). But this year, I'm adding one more blessing to the list: my homosexuality.

The motivation for this addition comes from...what else...TV. Specifically, "Tell Me You Love Me". This HBO series, which just wrapped up for the season, has become a cult hit among the breeders. I've caught a few minutes here and there, but didn't really commit until I saw Boone from "Lost" completely naked. That got my attention.

"Heroes" and "The Hills": A Match Made in Heaven

(Getty Images) Last night as I watched "Heroes" and then sat down for "The Hills," I realized that the two shows really have a lot in common. Much more, in fact, than you would think possible for a comic book type drama and a "reality" show. Let's start with two really important matters that have a lot to do with each other: time travel and hair.

On "Heroes" we have one of our main characters, Hiro, who can travel back and forth in time. Last night he went back in time to try to save his father's life. He even took his father further back to witness Hiro's mother's funeral. The trip back taught them both a lesson about growing up and being an adult. And also taught them that if you piss off an immortal guy, (like say, Adam), he will wait 400 years and then throw you off a building.