Alec Baldwin hosts Studio 360

This weekend 30 Rock's Alec Baldwin will try out a new gig, substituting for Kurt Andersen as the guest host of Studio 360, which happens to be one of my favorite radio programs.

Among Baldwin's guests will be actress Laura Linney, who ends her Broadway run Saturday as a scarred war photographer in the play Time Stands Still, by Donald Margulies.

Update: Here's Baldwin's interview with Laura Linney. I think he did a great job. They should have him on again!

Studio 360 is an hourlong arts and culture show out of New York City that's been on the air since 2000. Here's a list of stations that run the program, usually on Saturday or Sunday. You can also listen at the Web site or download it as a podcast.

Andersen, a novelist, often interviews people connected with the theatre. And I highly recommend his series on American icons, examining The Wizard of Oz, Superman and the Lincoln Memorial, among other cultural touchstones.

Here's an interview he did with Bill T. Jones, director and choreographer of the Broadway musical Fela!

30 Rock returns

One of my favorite tv shows, 30 Rock, returned this week. Yay! I definitely need some more humor in my life.

The season opener did not disappoint, even though it seemed like the writers were trying to cram an awful lot into a little over 20 minutes. Tina Fey, who certainly has helped make Saturday Night Live must-see tv again this fall, was at the top of her game.

There were some great lines and two hilarious plot strands: Fey's Liz Lemon desperately trying to impress adoption agency representative Megan Mullally, and Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy clawing his way back up from the mailroom to the executive suite.

As an extra special bonus, one of my blogging buddies, Kari from Persistent Cookie, has a new gig as the 30 Rock correspondent for Give Me My Remote. It'll be fun having someone to discuss the show with every week. And, we've got Oprah appearing on what I know will be a very special episode. Can it get any better?

In the New York Times, Alessandra Stanley calls 30 Rock a "clever update, not to say rip-off" of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. (And she means that as a compliment, I think!) I can see the parallels: single woman trying to make a career behind the scenes in television, surrounded by a demanding boss and quirky coworkers.

Of course, Tracy Morgan is the vain and self-absorbed Ted Baxter character played by Ted Knight, and Alec Baldwin would be the counterpart to Ed Asner's brusque but kindhearted Lou Grant. But who's Gavin MacLeod's understanding confidante Murray?