30 Rock Takes a Not So Subtle Jab at Tiger Woods
Kismet or luck: 30 Rock's tale of Tracy Jordan's shattered reputation fell on the same day that Tiger Woods' saucy text messages surfaced. Only difference being his scandal is the exact opposite of Tiger's.

Cliffhanger Questions on Archer's Season Finale
Questions were posed, few were answered. Who is Archer's father? Is Lana really going to bang that fat woman nobody will sleep with? Will Cyril go postal? Thank God Archer got renewed!

There Will Be No Mention of the Movie "Ghost" in Tony Hale's Pottery Class
Welcome to Buster Bluth's bizarre pottery class. He has only one rule the students must abide by: No Ghosting. Unfortunately, Jeff's competition with the other "good-looking cool guy" in class causes him to break this anti-Patrick Swayze rule.

Is Craig "Darryl" Robinson Finally Being Utilized by The Office?
Actor Craig Robinson, star of the upcoming Hot Tub Time Machine, has been in Pineapple Express, Knocked Up, and Arrested Development. As a side-character on The Office since season 1, he's hardly been used. Could this finally be changing?

Did Being Johnny Weir Cost Him an Olympic Medal?
On Lopez Tonight, Johnny Weir discussed the politics of the figure skating medal platform, saying that his often-controversial personality may have been assessed by Olympic judges before he even took the ice—and could have cost him a medal.

This is not the first time 30 Rock has been the subject of teeth-gnashing amongst the blogocitizenry over a product placement incident. There was the famous "McFlurry" episode last year, which NBC insisted was not a paid placement, but rather an organic element of the script.

Well if that was true, they're not making that mistake again. Ad Age reports that NBC is dissolving the advertising-entertainment boundaries even more—last week they ran a Dr Pepper ad featuring Chris Parnell's "Dr. Spacemen" character directly before rolling the credits on 30 Rock. And in a brave leap towards corporate control of your teevee shows, the ad said nothing explicit about 30 Rock at all—it just popped right up in there, nearly indistinguishable from the show itself.

This is all part of advertising's ongoing quest to make the Tivo obsolete, so just sit back and passively accept it. Soon everything will be complete.

His career hasn't been this hot since he came off The Hunt for Red October and was chasing Kim Basinger in the tabloids. He costarred in It's Complicated which made a bunch of money, he keeps winning awards for Emmy bait 30 Rock which has a solid audience and is a hit with the smart set, and he is about to co-host the Oscars next month. Busy guy!

But in the midst of this he was taken to the hospital after threatening his teenage daughter, Ireland, that he was going to kill himself after they got into a fight. Then, on the way home from the hospital he attacked a photographer. All this pales in comparison, however to the infamous voicemail tirade he left his daughter three years ago calling her a "piggie" and other horrible names.

Sure these aren't on the same level as some Hollywood meltdowns, but Baldwin clearly has a very troubling approach to parenthood. Why doesn't Hollywood and the scolding celebrity industrial complex care that much that he yells at his daughter and manipulates her with death threats? Maybe it's because they like his work and he's a liberal. After all, the film-making establishment and Oscar voters forgave Roman Polanski for raping a girl in the '70s because he's such a "genius," why not overlook the fact that Alec Baldwin likes to cuss out his kid?

The culture isn't so forgiving to other stars that it doesn't like or who are too conservative. Crazy cult member Tom Cruise jumped on one couch and everyone is ready to write him off. And that wasn't even that crazy, he just wanted to profess his love for a contractually-obligated lady. Still, we saw it everywhere with massive dissection about how he was mentally unstable, and it is continually brought up when assessing his declining box office draw. Even though he seemingly treats his daughter very well—letting her wear lipstick and high heels aside—he still faces the scorn. Many have given up on his movies not because of their quality, but because he's a creepy, furniture-jumping Xenu-lover of the highest degree.

God-loving über-Christian Mel Gibson went on a drunken rant about how Jews control the weather or some shit, and he will never ever ever again be an insider in the biz (though the $17 cajillion bucks he made on his Christ-torturing movie still make him a power player). That's because his work is schlocky, he's way too conservative, and he pissed off the wrong people. Granted he is still a raging prick, so maybe it's best that we keep ignoring him.

Baldwin isn't nearly as bad as Gibson, but it seems like his personal life can't affect his professional life. Why? Because everyone fawns over his work and he is such a supporter of liberal causes that the conservative Page Six has forever labeled him the "bloviator." Welcome to the party, darling, treat your children however you want! The success of million-dollar enterprises such as movies and television programs are based on something as intangible as whether or not the audience likes the star. And the power firmament's decision whether or not personal behavior will affect career performance is just as fickle—it comes down to the fact of whether or not you're in favor. But if a star is in favor, his personal failings will fall by the wayside in the hope that his professional successes (which stand to make a lot of people a lot of money) won't be affected.

What are we going to do about Alec Baldwin? We're going to keep watching of course, knowing that as soon as he falls from the industry's good graces, he's toast.

[Image via Getty]

•Martin Scorsese is remaking Taxi Driver with Robert De Niro, but the whole thing is complicated by the fact that Lars Von Trier is making him do it. Sort of. So, Von Trier did that movie The Five Obstructions in 2003 with Jorgen Leth, where Leth remade his film The Perfect Human in a bunch of different ways. Now, writes Variety, "In the new project, Von Trier will challenge Scorsese and De Niro to remake their 1976 classic Taxi Driver." Is this a collaboration between the directors, or will Scorsese simply make the film at Von Trier's behest? Either way, Variety says filming won't likely start until Von Trier finishes shooting his sci-fi film Melancholia Next year. It's all very strange. [Variety]

•Variety reports that British director Mike Newell is writing and directing "an untitled feature about the mysterious death of former KGB spy Alexander Litivinenko" for Warner Bros. Remember that guy? He was poisoned with polonium-210 and died in London in 2006 after all his hair fell out. Putin totally did it! (If I'm dead tomorrow, you know what happened. -ED) [Variety]

•For 29 years, Barbara Walters has bumbled her way through the hour before the Oscars with her interview special. But this year will be her last. Guests will include Sandra Bullock and Mo'Nique. Said Walters: ""I will always remember when Hugh Jackman gave me a private lap dance or sitting down with the legendary Bette Davis or being taught to tango by Al Pacino." Ugh, why did she have to remind us of that Hugh Jackman lap dance thing. [THR]

•Michelle Borth ("The Forgotten") and Jonathan Scarfe ("Raising the Bar") have been cast to star in the ABC pilot The Matadors. Matadors is "a Romeo-and-Juliet-style drama about two feuding families' battle against each other as one populates the state attorney's office and the other manages an influential private law firm." Also stars Zach Gilford. [THR]

•People won stuff this weekend at the American Cinema Editors' awards: The Hangover won best editing in a movie, and 30 Rock won best editing in a half-hour series. Editing! [Variety]

•A publicist for Craig Furgeson's Late Late Show was busted sending out fake ratings to showbiz types. Good thing nobody cares about late-night anymore! [The Wrap]

Did 30 Rock Unwittingly Make the Most Genius Suggestion to Solve the Late Night Debacle?
In the midst of 30 Rock's non-stop bashing of Boston, the crew revolted against Liz Lemon and NBC management's decision-making (ha!). So Liz, genius that she is, thinks of a solution that Jeff Zucker wishes he thought of first.

Has the Taliban Been Watching Mad Men?
According to the New York Times the Taliban has resorted to the kind of public image campaign that might might make them the new darlings of the Afghanistan political structure. Stephen fills us in, suggesting some ideas all his own.

Archer Is Raunchy, Unapologetic, Brilliant
There's a whole lot going on in Archer, but it's actually surprisingly simply to sum up. It's the lovechild of James Bond, Arrested Development, and Sealab 2021. In the words of Ina Garten: how bad can that be?

Justin Theroux on Parks and Recreation: Dreamboat or Douche?
After last week's dismal setup, Leslie Knope was due for real romance. Justin Theroux guested on Thursday's Parks and Recreation as Leslie's love interest, whose adventure-filled life and unintentional superiority starkly contrasts Pawnee's municipal sphere and its denizens' Indiana dreaming.

The Office's Clip Show Cop Out
The Office returned last night from holiday hiatus... or did it? It seems, ladies and gentlemen, in a world where the laugh track is treading water and variety hours have become a distant memory, the clip show will not die.