Day: November 15, 2010

NBC just released its midseason schedule for January through May 2011, and it's going back to comedy at 10 p.m., but just on Thursdays, and no, it doesn't involve Jay Leno. Instead, NBC will hope to re-establish its "Must-See TV" moniker by going back-to-back sitcoms for all three hours on Thursdays in January. The new Thursday lineup: 8 p.m., Community; 8:30 p.m., Perfect Couples; 9 p.m. The Office; 9:30 p.m. Parks and Recreation; 10 p.m., 30 Rock; 10:30 p.m., Outsourced Note what this does. 1) It puts The Office and Parks and Rec together in an hour for the first time, which was supposed to happen all along. 2) It puts 30 Rock into 10 p.m. where it'll compete not with other broader comedies, but with The Mentalist on CBS, Private Practice on ABC, and local news on FOX. Also of note in comedy, NBC isn't putting Jerry Seinfeld and Tom Papa's The Marriage Ref in that 10 p.m. Thursday slot for its second season, instead shipping it to a better fit with family audiences at 8 p.m. Sundays, starting in March...

In case you missed it last night, PBS has thankfully put the entire telecast online from The Kennedy Center's honoring of Tina Fey with the Mark Twain Prize. Among the highlights: Alec Baldwin pretending to be a resurrected Mark Twain; Lorne Michaels' heartfelt speech about Fey; and Fey's acceptance speech, in which she hoped that "women are achieving at a rate these days to a point where we can stop counting what number they are things." Watch the whole thing here:   Others who appeared onstage to testify to Fey's work as a humorist included Fred Armisen, Steve Carell, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Hudson, Jane Krakowski, Steve Martin, Seth Meyers, Tracy Morgan, Amy Poehler and Betty White. At 40, Fey is by far the youngest to win the Mark Twain Prize. Which means it's certainly not the lifetime achievement award that it has been since the Kennedy Center began bestowing annually in 1998. No, Fey is at the peak of her comedic powers. Which is also a nice thing to honor. A humorist at his or her peak. Of course, it's also a bit awkward to have a 90-minute telecast that has much in the way of clips to show from the previous century, which was all of 10 years ago. Don't worry, Betty White. As you joked onstage, perhaps they'll get around to you just yet. Recipients of...