NBC Cancels 'The New Normal' After One Season

NBC has canceled the gay parenting/surrogacy comedy The New Normal after one season, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Boosted by The Voice, the Justin Bartha-Andrew Rannells starrer about a gay couple starting a family earned a full-season order in October despite early protests from conservative watchdog groups. The series, like the rest of its Tuesday block, suffered without The Voice, notching a string of lows before the singing competition returned to revitalize the lineup. While its April season finale was penned to serve as a potential series finale, producers said that a second se  ason would have featured the newly married couple raising their newborn son.

The 20th Television entry marks Murphy's first show to not move beyond its freshman run.

Murphy's other shows have been re-upped. Glee for two more seasons, and American Horror Story for a third season.

HBO Picks Up Ryan Murphy Pilot 'Open'

HBO has picked up a new Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story, The New Normal) pilot, according to the Hollywood Reporter:

Open is described as a multi-character exploration of the complex, ever-evolving landscape of sexuality, monogamy and intimacy in relationships. Murphy and Gussis penned the pilot and will executive produce. Glee and American Horror Story's Dante Di Loreto will executive produce for Ryan Murphy Television and 20th Television's cable arm Fox 21. (Murphy is under an overall deal at 20th.)

Casting on Open, which landed at HBO following a multiple network bidding war, will begin immediately ahead of a fall production start date.

News: 'Functional Cure,' Odawa, Winston-Salem, Marc

At least 7 Cincinnati City Council members pulled out of city's St. Patrick's Day parade because of the parade's decision to ban the gay education group GLSEN.

South, a 1959 ITV teleplay about a Polish soldier sent to the American south during the Civil War and starring tv star Peter Wyngarde, may be the first television program to feature an open discussion of gay attraction. "[Does he love] the plantation owner's angry niece, Miss Regina, or the tall, blond, rugged officer who arrives suddenly – a handsome man called Eric MacClure."

Awesome: "A church in Winston-Salem has announced it will stop performing all marriages until United Methodist pastors are allowed to officiate at marriages for same-sex couples."

The Odawa Indian tribe in Michigan legalized same-sex marriage and celebrated by uniting two men, Tim LaCroix and Gene Barfield, in marital bliss. The federal government, of course, will not recognize this lovely union or its historic significance.

"At CPAC, gay marriage on back burner"

Kitty knows how to keep warm.

"Faux fur" jackets Marc Jacobs' label sells at Century 21 are actually made of dog fur.

Kathy Bates joins the cast of American Horror Story season 3, which concerns witches and will officially be called American Horror Story: Coven. Expect to see plenty of scenes featuring Bates and Jessica Lange "going at it," says creator Ryan Murphy.

Justin Bieber will do whatever it takes to be butch.

New Games of Thrones season 3 international trailer features some new footage for those of you who need a fresh fix.

A run down of some of the politicians and other notable public figures who have reversed course and come out in favor of marriage equality.

The Boston Phoenix, an alt-weekly paper that has published since 1966, announced that it will close its doors. Susan Orlean, the New Yorker writer who got her start at the Boston Phoenix, told the Boston Globe, "It's like finding out your college has gone bankrupt and is gone. I am a child of the alt-weekly world and I feel like it has played such an important role in journalism as we know it today."

Here's a Facebook page encouraging you to change your Facebook profile picture to show you support marriage equality.

Research into how revive extinct creatures continues. So what will happen to the phrase "go the way of the dodo?"

Is fact action the key to slowing HIV's devastation? "Treating people with HIV rapidly after they have become infected with the virus that causes Aids may be enough to achieve a 'functional cure' in a small proportion of patients diagnosed early, according to research."

News: Richard Hanna, Mandela, Omega, Uruguay

Glee and American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy and photographer husband David Miller received a very special Christmas gift: a baby boy.

88-year old President George HW Bush remains hospitalized with a high fever after being checked in with a "bronchitis-like cough" before Christmas.

94-year old former South African President Nelson Mandela has been released from the hospital following his own health scare.

  Uruguay's Senate has postponed their marriage equality vote until April.

Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi like long, kiss-filled strolls on the beach in St. Barts.

"White Christmas."

Jay Leno throws a snowball at Chick-fil-A.

Here is the first song ever recorded in space.

After previously balking at the suggestion, Democratic NJ Assemblyman Reed Gusciora now says he wants to put marriage equality to a popular vote.

US Rep. Richard Hanna, a Tea Party backed Republican from New York, today announced that he opposes DOMA. "The simple fact remains that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure all legally married couples are treated equally under federal law," he said. Hanna is only the second sitting GOP congressperson to say DOMA needs to be repealed. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was the first.

Biogen, a drug manufacturer that specializes in multiple sclerosis treatments, will "gross up" pay to make up the difference for gay and lesbian married couples who suffer financial punishment under DOMA, the government's refusal to recognize same-sex marriage.

British High Court judge Sir Paul Coleridge blasted Prime Minister David Cameron for pursuing marriage equality, something he calls a distraction that only impacts ".1%" of the population. "[Gay marriage] is a minority issue. We need a much more focused position by the Government on the importance of marriage," said Coleridge, who created his own non-profit to fight divorce.

Meanwhile, Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps defended the Tories' equality push. Though some critics want to see a ban on fox hunting pass first, Shapps says they simply don't have the votes in Parliament; marriage is a much easier win, he said: "It makes sense to bring something forward if you think there's a chance of there being a parliamentary majority and at the moment there doesn't appear to be one... There probably is a parliamentary majority for gay marriage."

Say so long to Dan Stevens on Downton Abbey.

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka spent hours putting together a lovely train set for their son but he ended up just wanting to play with the broom. At least he's putting himself to good use, right?

Les Misérables did big business on Christmas: about $18 million opening day and number one at the box office.

DC gay bar Omega Nightclub had its last call.

Darren Criss Offers Glimpse at 'Glee' Beefcake Calendar: VIDEO

Gllee creator Ryan Murphy tweeted the above photo of a waxed up Darren Criss brandishing a candy cane as the preview for a "Men of McKinley" calendar which he says will be "coming soon". Gleefcake?

See the full shot along with a clip from a recent charity Christmas concert Criss performed in New York's Meatpacking district, AFTER THE JUMP...

'American Horror Story' Enters the Asylum: VIDEO

Atheists beware.

A peek at the upcoming Season 2 premiere, AFTER THE JUMP...