[Televisionary]

Is it just me or was it positively inspirational to see 30 Rock rack up so many statuettes last night at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards? The NBC comedy, which many predicted would be canceled as soon as it launched, racked up three awards including Best TV Comedy, Best Actress in TV Comedy (Tina Fey), and Best Actor in a TV Comedy (Alec Baldwin), all three of the categories in which it was nominated. Likewise, HBO's miniseries John Adams cliched all seven awards in all of its nominated categories (go Laura Linney, Paul Giamatti, and Tom Wikinson!) and Mad Men took home the top spot for TV Drama... even though series leads Jon Hamm and January Jones were cruelly overlooked for their superlative performances this season. What did I think of the awards and what burning questions do I still have? Let's discuss. I'm not quite sure why Jeff Zucker looked quite so displeased when 30 Rock took home the award for Best TV Comedy but the man could barely muster a smile for th

Ah, 30 Rock , I've missed you. There really is nothing better than to head into the weekend with the zany antics of the TGS crew. This week's episode of 30 Rock ("Senor Macho Solo"), the first of 2009, was no exception, as the plot careened from character to character, with all of our leads getting equal weight. Let's see: Liz mistakenly went on a date with Stuart (guest star Peter Dinklage) after thinking he was a child and ruffling his hair; Tracy tried to get his wife Angie to sign a post-nup agreement but ended up getting it on everywhere from Jack's desk to the, well, hallway; Jenna tried to audition for the role of Janis Joplin in a new Sheinhardt-Universal produced biopic; and Jack discovered a lump on his testicle and fell in love with his mother's nurse Elisa (guest star Salma Hayek). All this, plus a fantastic allusion to the recent Sex and the City movie that had Liz and Stuart agree to meet up on the Brooklyn Bridge. What more could you want?

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. The first appearance of Mad Men 's Jon Hamm on NBC's 30 Rock is slated for February 5th. As previously reported, Hamm will join the cast of 30 Rock in a three-episode arc where he will play a new love interest for Liz Lemon (Tina Fey). Let's just hope their relationship goes a lot smoother than Don and Betty Drapers, huh? ( The Chicago Tribune 's The Watcher ) Holy British format import! HBO, Warner Bros TV, and writer/executive producer John Wells (ER) are developing a US version of Channel 4's Shameless , created by Paul Abbott ( State of Play ). Series follows the lives of the members of the rough-and-tumble Gallagher clan, headed up by lovable alcoholic/drug addict patriarch Frank, living on a public housing estate in Manchester. The sixth season of Shameless launches in the UK later this month; Season Seven is slated to air in 2010. ( Variety ) NBC has ordered a script for one-hour music drama pilot Soundtr

As it's nearly the end of the calendar year (only a few more days to go, in fact), I figured now was as good a time as any to look back at some of the shows that that have entertained and inspired me over the past year. It's been a crazy year, between the WGA strike affecting everything from truncated freshman seasons for Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money , and Chuck , delayed seasons for FX's Damages and HBO's Big Love (and a host of others), and a generally frantic development season that only saw two relative hits emerge this fall. So, what were the favorite series in the Televisionary household? Which left me wanting more... and which ones made me eager to change the channel? Find out after the jump. Best Reality Series: Top Chef The Amazing Race Flipping Out Top Chef remains my number one reality obsession. Bravo and Magical Elves have done themselves proud with this sleek, slick production that makes the art of cooking into a nail-biting competition in which eg

And that's how you do a Christmas episode. I'm speaking, of course, about last night's brilliant episode of 30 Rock ("Christmas Special"), written by Kay Cannon and Tina Fey, in which Liz attempts to do something good for mankind by participating in a charity program that pairs disadvantaged kids' letters to Santa with "lonely white ladies" who buy them presents, Jack runs over his mother Colleen (guest star Elaine Stritch) and is forced to spend Christmas with her in New York, and the TGS gang has to put on a last-minute Christmas special. In true 30 Rock style, the episode featured allusions to nude sunbathing in Rio, Liz putting her foot in her mouth and exhibiting symptoms of mild racism with some non-rapping "rapping Black Santas," and Jack and Colleen singing a duet of "The Christmas Song" after reconciling. I'll admit that I love it each and every time Elaine Stritch drops by the set of 30 Rock : her Colleen is so ac

Ah, 30 Rock . You're always good for several dozen belly laughs after being let down each week after yet another tepid episode of The Office . Last night was no exception to the rule with the latest episode of 30 Rock ("Reunion"), in which Liz debated the merits of attending her high school reunion and gets dragged there by Jack, reeling from Don Geiss' decision to remain CEO possibly forever, who tags along for some booze when he's stranded in Liz's dry-docked hometown of White Haven. And, oh, we learn that nerdy girl Liz was actually the school bully. (Nice twist, that.) Meanwhile, back at TGS, Tracy is irate when Kenneth gets more laughs than he does in the NBC elevators and enlists Jenna to enact a bitter revenge. While still a great episode, I do have to say that I enjoyed the first half of "Reunion" more than the latter part, which dragged more than a little with the White Haven stuff after we learned that Liz was a mean girl in high school. S

With some of my favorite series being canceled left and right (and others seemingly getting worse and worse), it's at least heartening to know that 30 Rock is still dependably great and consistently funny week to week. This week's installment of 30 Rock ("Gavin Volure") was no exception and offered up a winning guest turn by Steve Martin--Tina Fey's co-star in this year's Baby Mama--as reclusive (or so it seemed) and eccentric millionaire Gavin Volure. Adding to the humor, of course, is the fact that "voleur" is French for "thief" so Liz and Jack really should have been on their toes a bit more going into their embezzlement/MTV Canada-fueled encounters with Gavin. The opening scene at Volure's dinner party was priceless, especially as Jack and Liz were for once the most normal people in the room, given the outright creepiness of the other guests, including the scary old society dame and John McEnroe. Loved that Jack is actually the au

Another Thursday night, another fantastic episode of 30 Rock . There are some things in life that are just meant to be and 30 Rock proves that it hasn't lost its kooky charm, absurd humor, or bizarre characters in its third season. This week's episode ("The One With the Cast of Night Court") proved no exception to the above rule, offering up a deliciously outlandish plot that involved new page uniforms, Liz's former roommate Claire (guest star Jennifer Aniston) stalking Jack, and a reunion of the cast of NBC's Night Court . That the latter storyline is a direct outgrowth of the first is just one reason why I can't help but fall for 30 Rock 's oddball nature. I was initially concerned that Aniston's Claire would steal the focus away from the other characters, but Tina Fey (who wrote this week's installment) and director Gail Mancuso did a fantastic job at juggling the Claire-Jack-Liz storyline and that of Kenneth and Tracy. In fact, I thought t

I can't tell you how happy it makes me that 30 Rock is back on television after a far-too-long hiatus. I reviewed the second episode of 30 Rock 's third season a few weeks back (you can read my original review here ) but I once again tuned in last night to catch "Believe in the Stars" for a (gulp!) third time because I just can't get enough of its wickedly absurd humor. Last night's episode, written by Robert Carlock, brought us something that series creator/star/writer/producer/multiple-hat wearer Tina Fey has been trying to do for the better part of a year: get Oprah Winfrey on 30 Rock . A Herculean task, given Winfrey's busy schedule, but not only did Fey manage to pull it off but Winfrey was so winsome, so funny, and so kooky that it meshed beautifully with the rest of the episode's bizarro charms. And I have to say that I'm happy that it wasn't actually Oprah whom Liz was sitting next to on that flight, but rather "spunky little twee

I am really hoping that all of you watched last night's hysterical third season opener to 30 Rock ("Do Over"), which was available to screen online a week before the linear broadcast. (My original advance review of "Do Over" and the Oprah-centric second episode "Believe in the Stars" can be found here .) Naturally, being the obsessive 30 Rock devotee that I am, I rewatched the season premiere again last night (I think for the third or fourth time now) and once again fell under its warped spell. Considering the state of the economy, anxieties over the presidential election, and life in general right now, a dose of 30 Rock 's absurdist humor is exactly the panacea we all need right now. Among the moments I absolutely loved: Tracy shouting "Noblesse oblige" and then giving Frank gold nunchuks and Pete a chinchilla coat (promising a lot of "nice nice" while wearing it) for their work on Tracy's porn video game... and Jenna a c

Happy Halloween and welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. I'm still catching up on television from this week, thanks to a busy social calendar and some LA-based preemptions of CW's Wednesday night series, so look for me to spend much time this weekend catching up. I got many a worried email from readers last night about Kristin Dos Santos' report about the possibility that ABC had not extended Pushing Daisies beyond its initial 13-episode order. While ABC has yet to make a decision about the fate of the series, producers were told to change their original plan for the second season's thirteenth episode (intended as the first of a two-parter) and make said episode a stand-alone installment to "cover all bases," whether the episode be just the thirteenth episode... or Pushing Daisies ' series finale. (And be sure to read this item about what you can do to help the Daisies cause.) ( E! Online's Watch with Kristin ) Don Draper has found so

I watched the first two episodes of 30 Rock 's third season last week and am just itching with excitement to talk about it more. (You can read my advance review of the first two episodes, "Do Over" and "Believe in the Stars," here .) While 30 Rock 's third season doesn't kick off on NBC until next week, you can, thanks to the magic of the interwebs, catch the entire episode of "Do Over" either at Hulu , NBC.com , MySpace , or, well, right after the jump. And now that you've watched, head over here to talk about the premiere episode . It might not be Friday at lunchtime, people, but we've got cake. 30 Rock 's third season launches--on-air, anyway--on Thursday, October 20th at 9:30 pm ET/PT on NBC.

Out of every series returning to the airwaves this autumn, there was one series that I was jonesing for with every iota of my very being. That series, of course, is NBC's wickedly uproarious comedy 30 Rock . And as soon as I received the first two episodes of 30 Rock 's third season from the good folks at the Rainbow Chicken itself, I tore into them with a wild abandon, eager to find out just what the denizens of TGS were up to. After a shortened second season, I was desperate for a 30 Rock fix and the first two episodes of the upcoming season (launching October 30th on NBC) sated me in every possible way. There's deft racial comedy (Tracy and Jenna dress up as a white woman and a black man respectively as part of a "social experiment"), guest stars galore (Oprah Winfrey and Megan Mullally!), and tongue-in-cheek soap operatics (how far will Jack go to get Kathy Geiss to reinstate him at NBC?). I haven't laughed this much in a long time. Since, well, 30 Rock

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Last night was quite the busy telly viewing night, with new episodes of Skins, Mad Men , and The Amazing Race on tap, not to mention the latest installment of Masterpiece Contemporary 's five-part The Last Enemy on PBS. Whew. The New York Times ' Bill Carter wonders just where 30 Rock is, amid all of the Tina Fey/Sarah Palin fascination that has gripped America. NBC, of course, had plans to launch the third season of 30 Rock on October 30th, allowing plenty of time to promote the series' return behind new episodes of The Office . However, Ben Silverman admits, "If we knew then what we know today about how hot Tina was going to be, would we do it differently? Maybe." (I'll take that as a resounding yes.) Look for Fey to likely pop up in the two remaining editions of the election-focused Thursday editions of Saturday Night Live as the network heavily promotes 30 Rock but I can't help but agree with C

Yet another guest star for 30 Rock . Salma Hayek ( Ugly Betty ) has signed on to guest on the upcoming season of NBC's 30 Rock , where she will recur in several episodes as Elisa, a new love interest for Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin). "Salma is truly a gifted talent and an incredible force in our industry," said Teri Weinberg, Executive Vice President, NBC Entertainment in a statement. "I've had the privilege of working with her and I can't wait to see what comedic sparks fly with our brilliant 30 Rock cast." "I have been a fan of Tina's talent, both as an actress and a writer, since working with her years ago on SNL ," said Hayek in a statement. "I am so excited to be part of such an intelligent, funny show, as well as working with the brilliant Alec Baldwin and the rest of the cast of 30 Rock ," said Hayek. 30 Rock kicks off its third season on October 30th at 9:30 pm on NBC. In other NBC-related news, the Peacock has ordered f

There are few things guaranteed in this world: death, taxes, and the fact that NBC's 30 Rock will consistently make me laugh more than any other series on television right now, with its winning combination of absurdist humor, off-kilter characters, and brainy throwaway lines. (What other series would have jokes about H. R. Halderman, Bernie Goetz, and Mystic Pizza , I ask you?) Universal Home Video releases 30 Rock 's Emmy Award-winning second season on DVD today and it's easy to see just why 30 Rock works when watching these 15 episodes (save for the shaky "Ludachristmas" and "Episode 210" episodes, filmed during the writers strike without rewrites; hell, the latter doesn't even have a name!), which comprise some of the very best comedy writing to be found on television. While at its center, 30 Rock appears to be about the deeply dysfunctional cast and crew of a fictional NBC sketch comedy series, it's actually also a delivery system for in