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During my 2005 visit to Minneapolis, being a gay man, I was forced by law to pose with the famed Mary Tyler Moore statue. Sadly, I could find nobody nearby willing to be my Hazel Frederick.

UNRELATED: Last night I went to an open bar / karaoke party hosted by SEIU, where the mayor of Minneapolis led the entire crowd in the Mary Tyler Moore theme song. True story.

The Associated Press reports:

Matt Dillon, the mythical marshal of Dodge City, stood tall — all 6 feet, 6 inches of him — on "Gunsmoke" from 1955 to 1975. He outlasted dozens of other Western heroes while making history on TV's longest-running dramatic series, a record that held until NBC's "Law & Order" tied the CBS Western's record in 2010. Through all those gunslinging years, James Arness, who died Friday, kept Marshal Dillon righteous, peace-seeking and, most of all, believable.

I was never a fan of Gunsmoke, but I do fondly recall Arness for playing the monster in The Thing From Another World.

The New York Times reports:

Jeff Conaway, the personable actor who won television fame on the sitcom “Taxi” and movie success in the musical “Grease” three decades ago and who later publicly struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, died on Friday in Los Angeles. He was 60. He died of complications of pneumonia at Encino Tarzana Medical Center after being taken off life support on Thursday, a talent representative, Phil Brock, said.

Conaway had been in a coma since May 11th.

I'm unreasonably pleased by this.

After a 10-year hiatus, VH1 is resurrecting Pop Up Video with co-creator Woody Thompson on board as executive producer. The network has ordered 60 half-hour episodes set to bow as a strip in the fall. The reboot will remain faithful to the original concept of bubbles of true “info nuggets” strategically deployed over music videos for maximum irony. But this time Thompson and his team will also pop-up rap and hip-hop, a genre that was off limits for the original because it was the domain of sister network MTV.

Stay out of the comments if you haven't seen tonight's season finale. Otherwise, dive in and dish.

All I've seen of this new HBO series is the below clip sent by JMG reader Bruce. Totally adding it to the DVR.

Stay out of the comments if you haven't yet seen tonight's episode. Otherwise, dive in and dish!

"As many of you know, I played a gay man on a popular television show..."

CNN anchor Don Lemon has come out. Lemon made the revelation in his coming book, Transparent.

Mr. Lemon has not made a secret of his sexual orientation in his work life; many of his CNN co-workers and managers have long been aware that he is gay. But he still acknowledged that going public in his book carries certain risks. “I’m scared,” he said in a telephone interview. “I’m talking about something that people might shun me for, ostracize me for.” Even beyond whatever effect his revelation might have on his television career, Mr. Lemon said he recognized this step carried special risk for him as a black man. “It’s quite different for an African-American male,” he said. “It’s about the worst thing you can be in black culture. You’re taught you have to be a man; you have to be masculine. In the black community they think you can pray the gay away.” He said he believed the negative reaction to male homosexuality had to do with the history of discrimination that still affects many black Americans, as well as the attitudes of some black women.

When the Bishop Eddie Long scandal first broke last fall, Lemon startled viewers by acknowledging that he had been molested as a child.

"Thank you for cleaning up the Viagra commercials Fox, but PLEASE what’s with the new tolerance for homosexuals campaign disguised as anti-bullying? Bullying is wrong. It is wrong for any reason. Apparently, American Idol with the help of Woody from Disney’s Toy Story, thinks that my 4th grader needs to be fully aware of the plight of teens who view themselves as 'gay.' I am sorry, but he doesn’t even know about heterosexual sex yet. Can you give me some room here? I am ticked because I feel tricked. Fox blew it last night. The point is parents felt secure in allowing our entire families watch this show. They lured us into a false sense of security and broke trust with us last night." - Concerned Women president Penny Nance, angry about this week's airing of Google's It Gets Better ad during American Idol.

Stay out of the comments if you haven't seen tonight's episode. Otherwise dive in and dish.

(Via JMG reader Brett)

And they've launched a campaign calling on advertisers to pull out.

There is more than one homosexual character in this program. One of the high school students is openly gay and in a relationship with another male at another school. There is a question of another male being gay, but the character is unsure while a female student is a lesbian and knows it but doesn't want everyone else to know yet. Several scenes seem to glorify this lifestyle decision and the topic of a new club being started for parents, family and friends of gays is in one crucial scene. Tolerance is one thing, but acceptance or affirmation is another. Please send Burger King, Boost Mobile, Subway and Taco Bell an email letter asking them to pull their support from GLEE and no longer sponsor this program through advertising.

"I think the gay community seems to like old ladies, they always have. And when we were on live with Golden Girls on Saturday night they'd shut down the music, stop the dancing, watch the show, then turn the music and the dancing back on. We were very grateful and they've been dear friends." - Betty White, speaking to WNYC.

GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios: "Following outrage from community members and allies, Blake Shelton took the right step in speaking out against anti-gay violence and sending an important message to his fans and viewers of The Voice." RELATED: Shelton's original tweet and GLAAD's demand for an apology are here.