TVSquad

Another week, another guest star announced for NBC's 30 Rock. But this is one I'm actually looking forward to.

Actually, I'm looking forward to all of the guest stars that have been announced for 30 Rock this season (OK, maybe not so much the Gossip Girl cast), including Jennifer Aniston and Oprah Winfrey. But this one seems particularly impressive and funny. Steve Martin will appear on the Thursday night comedy.

If I didn't love this news so much, I'd be worried that 30 Rock was turning into The Love Boat or Will and Grace. After all, it seems as though there's news of a new guest star every few days. First Will Arnett signed on to reprise his role as the delightfully evil Devon Banks, then ex-Friend, Jennifer Aniston, decided to return to television in order to stalk Jack Donaghy. After that came news that Oprah was scheduled to play herself on an upcoming episode.

That's a lot of guest stars to pack into one season, but now we have news of two more. Everybody's favorite Gossip Girls, Blair and Serena, AKA Leighton Meester and Blake Lively, are coming to 30 Rock. What on earth could bring these Upper East Siders to Midtown? Are they trying to overthrow Liz Lemon as queen bee of TGS with Tracy Jordan? Are they starring in a movie with Tracy Jordan? There's more info on their storyline after the jump.

Okay, so Oprah is obviously the most powerful woman in the universe. She does control the stars and the winds and the planets, after all. She brings us rainbows when we're good and conjures up things like Dr. Phil when we're bad. So what do we call a person who can conjure up Oprah? Tina Fey.

Earlier this year, Fey publicly stated that she wanted Oprah to come on 30 Rock and play her best friend. Maybe she's been reading The Secret, because it looks like putting it out into the universe has made it happen. Oprah Winfrey is in final negotiations to guest star on 30 Rock.

This sounds like it's pretty close to a done deal, as she's already being written into the second episode of the season, airing on November 6th. But what about the big question? Will she be playing Liz Lemon's BFF? There's more info after the jump.

In a media crossover, People magazine is coming to TV screens. ABC has scheduled an hour-long special called Half Their Size: The People Magazine Weight Loss Challenge for Sept. 30 at 10 p.m.

The franchise began in People in 2002, and focuses on folks who need to shed more than a few pounds -- preferably, half their size. Obviously, the magazine stories have been a big hit, since anything about losing weight is always a big hit.

The show will focus on eight residents of Mississippi -- the nation's "heaviest" state -- for a nine-month period to see how their lives change through diet and exercise.

Recently, TV columnist Aaron Barnhart took note of the fact that Oprah Winfrey's show is sinking in the ratings. Her talk show, which is the centerpiece of her multimedia success -- a success that has made her the richest woman in show business -- has been losing ratings consistently for the last six months. At first blush, the politically minded of you might think it's because she endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, but I think it's more than that. After all, if anything, the vast amount of grassroots support that the Senator from Illinois has engendered might be a plus for Oprah rather than a minus.

Therefore, there have to be other factors to explain why Oprah's landmark TV talk show has lost its luster -- at least ratings-wise. I've come up with six possible reasons.

It was an historic occasion yesterday last Thursday on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, didn't you know? The lady who lives to be banned -- and re-banned in the case of The View -- Kathy Griffin appeared as Jay Leno's guest. What's the big deal?

Well, if you recall the first season of Kathy's show, Bravo's My Life on the D List, the comic was rather brutally insulted by Jay when he called her ugly, and in the subsequent episodes of the show, Kathy revealed that she was put on The Tonight Show's "do not invite list."

And yet, the other night, there was Kathy in the prime seat, chatting it up with Jay, dissing celebrities as is her wont, and generally looking like the D List is now just the title of her show, not her true show business status.

Now that the Democratic party has decided to present the final night of their convention from Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver before as many as 80,000 enthusiastic voters -- a venue that will underscore Senator Barack Obama's skill as a speaker -- the networks are deciding how they want to cover the event. Will the big three give the Democrats the entire night? One hour, two hours?

Will ABC and CBS be compelled to cover the night, when NBC and Fox have the option of using their cable outlets and keep entertainment on the broadcast side?

For the first time in a long time, something was different about the Daytime Emmys. No, it's not that they're on in primetime; that happened years ago. What was different was the 35th Daytime Emmys opted to forgo the theater setting and seat the stars at round tables. As co-host (with All My Children's Cameron Mathison) Sherri Shepherd told the AP days before the AP, "Usually everyone is sitting in a row. This year, it'll be like a wedding. We're also going to do something so that fans will be able to get a view of what's going on at the different tables." That would be web video created by the actors at every table - table cam. Perfect for hams. The vids are at SOAPnet. For details about the show from the winners backstage, check out AOL.

So did the seating arrangements make a difference? Well, it depends. Those who were there probably had a better time because there was an open bar, just like the Golden Globes. For viewers, it still looked like the Daytime Emmys, including many familiar faces winning. After a strained attempt at comedy for the opening -- blending All My Children fictional characters with The View's real hosts -- the show commenced.

(S04E01) Kathy Griffin is back, or as I choose to call her now Emmy Girl. Yes, the Emmy is on full display. In your face, everyone, Kathy's got an Emmy! Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List won the Emmy last year and if this first episode is a sample of what season four has in store, that Emmy is going to get a companion. This show is riotous. And irreverent and a perfect blend of comedy and celebrity reality which is really unreality because how many of us interact with Anderson Cooper and Michael Moore?

Kathy Griffin has found the perfect genre for her particular brand of comedy. A sitcom wouldn't capture her true character, strict stand-up is not her best venue (although she's gotten very good at it), and a talk show would force her to chat with others and appear interested. The My Life on the D-List format works for her and she's found a way to incorporate stand up, situation comedy and guests into a reality hour that highlights her being funny. She has supporting players -- Team Griffin, Jessica, Tiffany, Tom and Kathy's adorable mom, Maggie -- as her comic foils and partners in crime.

Oprah is in reruns this summer, but she'll be keeping up with fans through her blog where she's writing about a "detox diet" that she's on.

Many of you probably noticed that Oprah seems to have gained some weight again. She addressed it on her show last fall... saying that she was having thyroid and metabolism issues. The woman knows how to lose weight, but wasn't able to get it off this time so she's trying something new to "cleanse" her system.

Have you ever wondered if Mary Tyler Moore can still turn the world on with her smile? You'll be able to find out this Monday on Oprah.

The daytime talk show host will host a reunion of the show. Not only will she get all of the surviving cast members together (Moore, Valerie Harper, Ed Asner, Betty White, Gavin MacLeod, Cloris Leachman, and Georgia Engel), they will also have duplicates of the WJM set and the set for Mary's apartment on the stage (the link above includes a preview of the show - no idea why Oprah is crying).

First, there was the whole "appearing with Britney Spears in the hospital" hoopla, and now Doctor Phil McGraw is pimping out his services again by bailing out a jailed teen who participated in a beat-down of another teenager. Presumably this service was in exchange for the teen to appear on his television show.

According to Doctor Phil spokesperson Terri Corigliano, "We have helped guests and potential guests in the past when they need financial assistance to come on the show - assisting with clothing allowance, lost wages, accommodations, travel and necessities. In this case, certain staff members went beyond our guidelines (re: the bail being paid)."

Mind you, Doctor Phil's got other problems. It seems that his Oprah sponsorship is in jeopardy as the talk show queen seems to be prepping a replacement for him. I just wonder if this means that Doctor Phil's show is going to become less like Oprah and more like Jerry Springer.

I'm not a regular Oprah watcher, but on Monday I happened to see actress Jamie Lee Curtis' appearance. I've been really curious about Jamie lately, especially since seeing her on those Activia yogurt commercials. Damn, she's just two years younger than I am and she looks great! What is in that yogurt anyway?

But Jamie Lee was on Oprah to vent. Turns out that the cover shot she did for AARP magazine, which the editors chose to proclaim as a nude shot, was a sham. The picture was not a naked photo shoot. She was wearing a strapless top and was photographed in a swimming pool. The illusion of nudity was created by the way they cropped the picture. Jamie Lee said she was shocked. She held up a copy of the magazine and said to Oprah and the world, "Isn't it fascinating that this constitutes being naked. What the f*ck are we talking about? In my world, this is called strapless. I didn't go around saying I was topless."

Today's New York Post has a gossip item that says King World execs are unhappy with the ratings for Rachael Ray's syndicated cooking/talk show and are not going to renew her contract when it's up in 2010.

Only one problem: the report isn't true and is full of inaccuracies (I know, Page Six inaccurate - shocking!).

The Huffington Post ran a story about it today as well and they were quickly contacted by a rep at King World that says not only is Rachael Ray's show safe, the ratings are actually up from last year, not down.

• At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then a new Big Brother.
• ABC has a new America's Funniest Home Videos at 7, followed by new episodes of Extreme Makeover, Oprah's Big Give, and Here Come The Newlyweds.
• NBC has 100 Most Outrageous Moments at 7.
• At 8, FOX has a new Simpsons, then a new King of the Hill.
• There's a new Everybody Hates Chris on The CW, followed by a new Aliens in America.
• Also at 8: TCM has The Absent-Minded Professor, then Son of Flubber.
• At 9, HBO has the series finale of The Wire at 9, then a new episode of Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam.
• Showtime has a new L Word at 9.
• Sundance has a new Shameless at 9.
• At 9:30, FOX has a new Unhitched.
• At 10, CBS has an episode of Dexter.
• Breaking Bad's season finale airs on AMC at 10.
• FX has a new Dirt at 10.
• At 11:45, Cartoon Network has a new Aqua Teen Hunger Force, followed by new eps of Squidbillies and Frisky Dingo.

Check your local TV listings for more.