Kath & Kim Is Floppy Seconds

'Saturday Night Live' guest host can't live up to debut but fits in well

(NEWSER) - Jon Hamm's Saturday Night Live debut was an instant classic, which meant hopes were high—perhaps unrealistically so—for last night's second effort. The Mad Men star has no trouble taking off his shirt and "obviously enjoys doing comedy, and so was game for a few silly bits," writes Claire Zulkey of the Onion A.V. Club . The episode didn't hang together well, but in a disappointing season, "it was much stronger than most of the stuff we've seen." More»

(NEWSER) - Wallowing in a muddy fourth place among major networks, NBC is betting on Amy Poehler to clean up its ratings with Parks and Recreation, Will Leitch writes in New York magazine. A mockumentary style sitcom “from the people who bring you The Office”—as NBC ads are trumpeting—the show also tanked in test screenings that found it "slow" and "predictable." But, producers say, the show captures the national zeitgeist. debuting this week, More»

Three new members join comedy show's cast

(NEWSER) - The election may be over, but SNL still has 14 episodes to fill. Lorne Michaels says the show will be in one of its periodic "rebuilding" periods, but he has much praise for three new faces. Here's the lowdown, from USA Today:

• Abby Elliott: The daughter of former cast member Chris Elliott is only 21, but Michaels says "her sense of humor was clearly there."

NBC's moves to promote show's popularity miss the mark

(NEWSER) - Tina Fey’s popularity is at an all-time high, but NBC hasn’t tried to capitalize by moving up the season debut of her critically acclaimed sitcom 30 Rock. NBC has struggled to boost the show’s ratings, the New York Times reports, and hopes three Saturday Night Live specials on Thursdays will keep audiences when 30 Rock returns in that slot Oct. 30. More»

NBC musical dazzles critics... mostly

(NEWSER) - If you watched the Super Bowl, you just might have heard of Smash, NBC's new drama about the making of a Broadway musical. It premiered last night, and critics are (mostly) giving it a standing ovation:

• The buzz has gotten so intense that the conversation isn't even about whether it'll be good. "Good? Darling, it's great!" gushes Mary McNamara of the LA Times . The creators have "managed to capture the grand and sweeping gesture that is musical theater and inject it with the immediate intimacy of television," an impressive, unprecedented feat.