Oscar roulette is usually played when it comes time to figure out the nominations. However, this year there seems to be a wheel of fortune spinning with the names of possible hosts for the show. Of course, the folks running the show have intimated that they might want to have a few stars sharing the duties. Historically, that hasn't worked out too well.
Hey, a lot happens in five shows. Let's get right into it!
COMEDY CORRESPONDENTS Arsenio Hall was featured twice this week. His first appearance was in a segment that had potential called "This Is What They Said/This Is What They Meant." I was expecting to see video clips of celebrities, politicians and the like spouting their same bullcrap, and then having Hall tell us what he thinks they really meant. Instead, it was Leno reading quotes, including historically famous ones like Julius Ceasar's "Et tu, Brute!" The gag didn't make sense anymore, and even worse the bits weren't funny.
Luckily, he came back later in the week with an on-site spot at Yankee Stadium, where he interviewed players from both teams and even set up a bet against a Yankees player and Phillies fan Kevin Eubanks involving Snuggies.
The two newcomers will reportedly be Jenny Slate, who has appeared in the "7th Floor West" series of sketches on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and the Iranian-born Nasim Pedrad, who had a one-woman show called Me, Myself, and Iran at The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. Both have worked with the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe. (Note: although several sources have said the new additions are official, NBC's publicity department is not confirming it, as of about 11 AM today).
Tina Fey's surprise return to Saturday Night Live as Sarah Palin was one of the ten greatest TV moments of 2008 (and quite possibly the decade, the century, the millennium and the eon).
So it's no surprise that Fey's name and show 30 Rockcame up so many times in the recent list of Emmy nods. I'm no longer convinced that she's a woman. I'm convinced she's an experimental humanoid prototype designed by studio executives solely to win awards like Tom Hanks (aka "Project Red Shoe").
Let's be honest. There are really only four or five real contenders for this category, and most of them were nominated last year. But it's not like the talented Tina Fey (30 Rock), Mary Louise-Parker (Weeds), Julia Louise-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine) and America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) don't deserve the recognition. They all fit the bill, and most of their shows were damn good this year.
I'd be happy to see any one of them go home with the gold on Emmy night. I'd also love to see some recognition for Christina Applegate's work in Samantha Who?, a great show that got the ax earlier this year.
Let's hear it for Tina Fey. Along with critical success for 30 Rock, the series is being syndicated by Comedy Central and WGN America for a whopping $800,000 per episode. Not quite the record since it's a fee paid between two networks but it's a fair chunk of change, particularly in a down economy.
I'm a fan of the show and am happy that this deal was struck. It guarantees the show will run for another few years. Of course, it would have run for a few years anyways. I don't see Tina Fey wanting a show she created to end and Alec Baldwin is chained to his contract until 2012, after which he's apparently going to run for Mayor of New York.
I'm a fan of Comedy Central as well and look forward to seeing Liz Lemon on the network. I can only hope they put it on the schedule between South Park and The Daily Show to guarantee that I'll be watching.
Alan Alda returns as Jack Donaghy's dad tonight on 30 Rock for the show's season finale, "Kidney Now." The plot finds Jack trying to put together a benefit concert for Alda, who is in need of a kidney. That, of course, means the ep will be loaded with appearances by famous musicians.
Guest stars include Elvis Costello, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Maroon 5's Adam Levine and Clay Aiken. The clip below reveals some shocking truths about some of these famous crooners, including Aiken's relation to NBC page Kenneth Parcell.
Suffice it to say, the number of women who became famous on Saturday Night Live before graduating to solo success is few and far between. Sure, Gilda Radner can be considered a pioneer in the art of sketch comedy. And Julia Louis-Dreyfus undoubtedly honed her comedic skills before becoming a sitcom icon on Seinfeld. And, yes, Tina Fey can easily be considered a heroine to comedy nerds everywhere who have witnessed her climb from Weekend Updateanchor to Mean Girls scribe to single-handedly decimating the vice presidential chances of one certain gun-wieldin', six-pack-totin' Alaskan governor.
But, sadly, the number of men who left Studio 8 for the superstardom of Planet Hollywood (not the theme restaurant) easily outnumbers the ladies. For every Amy Poehler, there's a Will Ferrell. And a Bill Murray. And a Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler (although, to be fair, there's also a David Gary Kroeger, A. Whitney Brown, and Charles Rocket for every Melanie Hutsell, too). (And for the record, no, you shouldn't recognize those names.)
(S03E21)"Liz Lemmon, I may hug people too hard and get lost at malls, but I'm not an idiot" - Tracy Jordan
Maybe Jack Donaghy is right. More family does mean more aggravation. The search for Jack's real dad yielded a plot based on Mama Mia (apparently, I've never seen it, and I'm pretty sure I'll die that way) and an appearance by TV's most recognizable liberal – Alan Alda.
Don't get me wrong. I love Alan Alda. I was looking forward to seeing him on the show. He was great. But imagine ultra-conservative Jack's heartache when he found out that Hawkeye Pierce was his dad. The look on Jack's face when Alda stormed out of his office and cursed in Yiddish said it all. And I'm pretty sure Jack never imagined himself living out the plot of an Abba musical. Liz Lemon seemed pretty excited about it, though.
It looks like NBC is going to expandSaturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" segment with more half-hour specials, most likely on Thursday nights. Judging by the success of SNL and its Thursday night election specials during the campaign season, this move isn't too surprising. Plus, this is a progressive step in reaching the network's ultimate goal, which seems to be filling the airwaves with as many former SNL employees as possible. Actually, the next season of Celebrity Apprentice is probably just going to be all the early-90s players that aren't doing movies right now. And Rob Schneider. That guy isn't doing anything.
Last night we found out that Elisa, Salma Hayek's character on 30 Rock, was hiding a dark secret.
That secret (which I won't reveal) was weird and unexpected. But seeing Salma wearing a "What the Frak?!" T-shirt – complete with the Battlestar Galactica logo on the back, I might add – on the show was even weirder and more unexpected.
It was also way cool, and probably the most random moment in an episode full of random moments (like that Brian Williams cameo). I loved it. It made me kooko for Choco Puffs. But can someone explain it to me?
(S34E19) It's a great, big homecoming party for Tracy Morgan and he brought enough jaunty delivery for us all. I'll admit, if anyone else were to try and pull off this type of delivery, I'd be pretty annoyed. However, it's Tracy Morgan and he's got this choppy, unrealistic speech down to an art. It has become him, I guess. This episode had a few strong moments here and there, but overall, it was an "all right" episode. At least we got to revisit some old favorites from Tracy Morgan's featured player days.
Now, check out some video highlights from the evening. Also, note to self: I will stop typing "Tracy Jordan", I will stop typing "Tracy Jordan"...
Who knew this was George W. Bush in reflection week? I must have missed the memo. But when I tuned in to watch the HBO debut of Will Ferrell: You're Welcome, America, his take on President Bush since the end of this presidency, I couldn't help but recall that just a couple of days ago on Hard Ball, MSNBC's Chris Matthews was going at Bush's former press secretary Ari Fleischer hammer and tongs as Fleischer defended his old boss.
Don't these post-mortems usually take a few years to take place? But this post isn't about politics. It's about Will Ferrell, and my thoughts are mainly about Ferrell's show, which has a certain raunchy charm, which apparently offended quite a few people when it played on Broadway. All the raunch is still in place in the HBO version, so if you're curious about Bush's little George (allegedly), check it out.
There's a reason why when you watch The Mentalist, there are always subtle close ups of Simon Baker's eyes or of his mouth when he's talking. The producers know he's hot and they know women are watching. Between him, the cast of Friday Night Lights, and a whole other list of DILF's, there's a lot of male eye-candy on TV right now. But what about the women? Of course television is filled with hot chicks, but who do other women like to watch?
There are certain female characters who, when you watch them, you just want to hang out with. Either you think she'd be a good friend, or exciting to have around, or maybe you just kind of want to be her. This, my friends, is a Girl Crush. Here is my list of Top Ten TV Girl Crushes.
The Roots are taking their new gig as the official house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon very seriously, even if their initial chances of scoring such a gig seemed like nothing more than a joke by a couple of the show's overworked staffers.
"We were the musical supervisors for [Chappelle's Show] season two and three ... and Dave's partner Neal Brennan was brought over as a consultant, and he sort of jokingly recommended The Roots as a house band," said Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson in a conference call last Tuesday with Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter. "I guess the joke was sort of like, you know, I dare you to ask them, even though they're too busy to take it."
Oscar roulette is usually played when it comes time to figure out the nominations. However, this year there seems to be a wheel of fortune spinning with the names of possible hosts for the show. Of course, the folks running the show have intimated that they might want to have a few stars sharing the duties. Historically, that hasn't worked out too well.
Hey, a lot happens in five shows. Let's get right into it!
Several sources have been following up on a report on Sean McCarthy's 
Tina Fey's surprise return to 
Let's be honest. There are really only four or five real contenders for this category, and most of them were nominated last year. But it's not like the talented Tina Fey (
Let's hear it for Tina Fey. Along with critical success for 
Suffice it to say, the number of women who became famous on 
Who knew this was George W. Bush in reflection week? I must have missed the memo. But when I tuned in to watch the HBO debut of Will Ferrell: You're Welcome, America, his take on President Bush since the end of this presidency, I couldn't help but recall that just a couple of days ago on Hard Ball, MSNBC's 
There's a reason why when you watch 
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