Desperate Housewives: Andrew grows up, Richard Chamberlain comes out!

Gee, no sign of Tuc Watkins or Kevin Rahm as the gay couple on "Desperate Housewives" and yet we still got to enjoy a pretty gay episode. The previews made it appear that this was the week of the tornado but that apparently is next week.

The whole Gaby-Victor-Carlos-Edie thing is one big BORE because it doesn't feel real at all. But Mike on drugs has all kinds of terrific potential. I was most pleased that the show finally gave the talented Shawn Pyfrom a couple of good scenes with Marcia Cross as Bree and Pyfrom as Andrew. He has been largely ignored after being one of the best characters of the show's first two seasons and went from being out and rebelious to way below the radar. Tonight, we learned a little more about why Andrew has been that way and it was sweet. He told his mom that he's grown up, that he's forgiven her, but that she's been too busy with her new marriage, pretending to be pregnant and now with a new baby to notice.

Bree takes it all very stoically and doesn't cry until Andrew asks her to put a coaster under her drink. That's her boy! Let's hope this writers strike ends this week so the show can finish the season and we can see Andrew get a boyfriend or have some dates now that he's grown up and on his own.

As for Richard Chamberlain, he made his first appearance as the former stepfather of Lynette (Felicity Huffman) and ex-husband of Polly Bergen's character. What I loved about his appearance was that he brought out the little girl in Lynette - you could see it - and we never get to see that. He explained that he had left the family not because her mother had cheated on him - as she had believed - but because he is gay.

Later, when he offers Bergen his "immaculate" guest room, she wonders "How'd I not know he was queer? He always talked that way."

Chamberlain, by the way, looked terrific. Still hot after all these years...