Things to like about 2009 already: In 360 days we won’t have to call the decade the aughts anymore, in two weeks new tenants move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and in a few days time, Salma Hayek and Tina Fey will finally be together — well, on television that is.

Salma makes her multi-episode debut Thursday on 30 Rock as an in-home nurse for Jack Donaghy’s (Alec Baldwin) mother. Her character and Jack’s later become involved. See their first meeting here, while I dream about Salma’s red dress some more. … continue reading

It’s been a long week. The economy is hanging on by a thread. MTV is pushing incestuous bisexual twins. Showtime is feeding us bad promo puns about lesbian sex. So, I think it’s time we all took a deep breath and soaked our brains in something unabashedly cute for a change. How cute? Liz Lemon as an actual lemon cute.

You can keep your adorable sometimes rambunctious, sometimes narcoleptic Shiba Inu puppies live cam. For me, nothing was cuter this week than the Sesame Street parody of Tina Fey and her show 30 Rock.

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Since we have no reason to flip back and forth between Tina and Callica this week, we are free to give our full attention to life’s best Lemon, Tina Fey.

Tonight, Jennifer Aniston returns to her former Thursday night stomping ground with a guest appearance on 30 Rock. … continue reading

Having withdrawals from 30 Rock? You can get your fix a week early thanks to NBC. They have made the season premiere available here.

In the "Do Over" episode (written by star Tina Fey), Jack (Alec Baldwin) returns to in hopes of getting his job back, and Liz (Fey) gets evaluated by tough adoption agency representative Bev, played by Megan Mullally. … continue reading

Celebrity website PopCrunch recently compiled its favorite Tina Fey moments, and since we know Tina pretty well, we thought we'd put in our two cents.

By now, you've probably all seen her Sarah Palin skits and her "Mom Jeans" commercial, so we'd like to reminisce about a few of our other Fey faves.

Liz Lemon gets some fashion advice
Dirty diva, indeed!

Tina Fey guest hosts on Ellen
Tina is not Ellen's first choice for her fill-in, but she'll do. Our favorite Tina line: "I hope you get sick!"

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No, she's not going to play a contestant on the fabled "MILF Island" — even though she totally qualifies. Instead, actress Salma Hayek will have a recurring role as Elisa, the love interest of boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) on NBC's Emmy Award-winning 30 Rock.

Who had the power to lure Hayek to the nest of The Peacock? The woman that none of us seem to be able to resist: Tina Fey. As part of NBC's announcement, Hayek said, "I have been a fan of Tina's talent, both as an actress and a writer, since working with her years ago on SNL. 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."

The love fest continued when Fey gushed over Hayek: "Salma is smart, funny and gorgeous. I think she will be a great strong presence opposite Jack Donaghy."

Here are some preliminary photos from the 30 Rock set (including a shot of Hayek with her daughter, Valentina:)

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The celebs seem to be lining up to get in on Liz Lemon's action — and who can blame them? This week, the media queen herself, Oprah Winfrey, confirmed that she, too, will guest star on 30 Rock this season. Gossip Girl's Blake Lively and Leighton Meester will follow suit.

Oprah is slated to play her very famous self, and is no stranger to guest stardom. In 1997, she played therapist to Ellen's character, Ellen Morgan, on quite possibly the most famous Ellen episode ever, urging her to come out to friends and family. Leave it to Oprah to be on board for such a historical event: Ellen’s coming out was the first time a gay character ever came out to audiences on primetime television.

You go, O. … continue reading

Oprah’s episode is tentatively scheduled to air Nov. 6, and she reportedly will share a lot of screen time with Tina Fey.

Jennifer Aniston is returning to Must-See TV this fall — temporarily. On Friday, Aniston's publicist confirmed that the Friends alum is set to appear on the first or second episode of 30 Rock this season.

"She is shooting now," her publicist told E!'s Kristin Dos Santos. "We are not giving any specifics on her character."

It's no wonder Aniston chose 30 Rock as the fountain in which to dip her toes back into the sitcom world: Tina Fey's comedy racked up a whopping seven guest star Emmy nominations last season, nearly monopolizing the categories for best guest actor and actress. … continue reading

"If only," you said. "If only I could have a complete list of returning fall television shows so I will know when to set my DVR to record my favorite women."

Well, we've heard your pleas! Your wish is our command! (All times are EST.)

SEPTEMBER

Monday, Sept. 1
Gossip Girl (CW), 8 p.m.
One Tree Hill (CW), 9 p.m.
Prison Break (Fox), 8 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 2
The Shield (FX), 10 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 3
America's Next Top Model (CW), 8 p.m.
Bones (Fox), 8 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 7
Entourage (HBO), 10 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 8
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox), 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 10
'Til Death (Fox), 9 p.m. … continue reading

There was so much exciting information spinning out of the TCA press tour last week that it was kind of like being on a 12-day sugar buzz — especially because so much of the news revolved around some of my favorite former Saturday Night Live ladies. Let me condense a week's worth of information for you: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Molly Shannon will be lining up side-by-side with their own NBC comedies this year.

Tina Fey will, of course, be back as Liz Lemon for the third season of 30 Rock. She'll return to the set with her TCA award for for individual achievement in comedy, and probably at least one more Emmy. In April Entertainment Weekly asked, "Is it hot in here or is just Tina Fey's career?"

It is hot in here, Entertainment Weekly, but it's not just her career.

Molly Shannon will be staring alongside Selma Blair in NBC's remake of the popular Australian comedy Kath and Kim about a dysfunctional mother-daughter team. NBC's hopes, it seems, are even higher than mine. They've slated Kath and Kim to anchor their legendary Thursday night of Must See TV. … continue reading

For a show that reported an entire season's worth of dismal ratings last year, The CW's Gossip Girl sure knows how to create a media buzz. In late April, Gossip Girl released a poster featuring Blake Lively's, character Serena Van der Woodsen, in the, er, throes of passion. Either that or she was about to let out an astronomical sneeze. The only text on the poster was a simple, but succinct "OMFG." The Parents Television council was outraged, calling The CW to task for using, "cleavage kissing to hype a kids' show."

I love the Gossip Girl marketing team because they never peddle the show as anything other than exactly what it is: a tawdry, teenage soap opera. (Which I watch, diligently.)

To hype season 2, the folks over at The CW released another round of posters similar to the "OMFG" set. There's a lot of skin, and some simple quoted text. "Every parent's nightmare," from The Boston Herald. "A nasty piece of work," from the The New York Post. And my personal favorite, from The Parents Television Council: "Mind-blowingly inappropriate."

After giving these ads a hearty round of applause, I got to thinking about other marketing campaigns. What if all network television shows went with this advertising approach, and turned the criticism of The Parents Television Council into their taglines? The results would look like — well, they'd look just like this: … continue reading

Saturday night the 24th annual TCA Awards were presented at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., and I was lucky enough to find a seat in the back row (OK, that's probably because I spent too long trying to figure out what to order at the bar.) Guess who else was in attendance?

AfterEllen.com Hottie No. 1, Tina Fey.

Fey at the TCA Awards on July 19, 2008

Photo credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Knowing that AfterEllen.com readers would never forgive me if I didn't attempt to make contact with Ms. Fey somehow, I got there early and kept a lookout, foregoing many of the tempting hors d'oeuvres available (although I did quickly eat a bunch of dim sum) so that my mouth wouldn't be full if I had the chance to shout out "Tina! Over here!"

It seems that my Tina Fey Sensors were on High Alert, because while I was talking to my compatriot Michael Jensen, the editor of AfterElton.com, I spotted Tina out of the corner of my eye. I dropped the conversation in mid-sentence and zoomed over to her, rudely interrupting her conversation with whomever she was talking to and said, "Hi, I'm from AfterEllen! We'd love to talk with you sometime!"

I think Tina might have been a bit startled, but she did say "Thank you for all your support," and she shook my hand. Yes, folks, I shook the hand that wrote the script that brought Liz Lemon into life. … continue reading

Ah, summer: time for swimming, frolicking, eating ice cream, sitting in a dark room and crying because all the good television shows are on hiatus until fall.

Kidding, of course! Summer is a time of great optimism for television addicts. You can catch up on any shows you missed, because last fall's shows will be hitting DVD any day now. You can watch the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, hoping to catch a glimpse of any fall shows that will feature strong, confident, beautiful women in leading rolls. (And maybe if we're lucky, even some lesbian subtext!) You can even take a look at the Television Critics Association's Summer poll and set your TiVo (or order your Netflix queue) accordingly.

According to the Television Critics Association's summer poll, here are the best and worst of shows of 2008:

Best:

I definitely agree with the first seven. I haven't seen Breaking Bad or In Treatments. I can say, however, that even as a history nut, watching Laura Linney make out with Paul Giamatti in John Adams is downright yucky. … continue reading

Have you ever wondered which TV shows came thisclose to getting an Emmy nomination and never did? No? Well regardless, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (aka the people that give out the Emmy awards) are now letting us know who those losers shows will be.

Recently they announced the official Top Ten Finalists for both Outstanding Drama Series as well as Outstanding Comedy Series — with no official mention of the actors or actresses, supporting or otherwise, that may be in contention. Who knew Emmy could be such a tease?

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Academy released this information: “In an unprecedented move designed to head off the kind of cyberspace leaks that have played havoc with the nomination process the past two years.”

Really? There has been internet “havoc”? And by "havoc" do they mean public speculation? Forums on discussion? Emmy buzz? I thought these were all good things that would inevitably lead to getting people to actually sit through three hours of Emmy award distribution. Clearly I know nothing about award shows.

Here is a peak at the nominees that may get nominated, or may not get nominated (in case you are a "glass half-empty" kind of person.)

Top 10 Comedy Series Semi-Finalists

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
The Office
Pushing Daisies
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men
Ugly Betty
Weeds

Out of this list, only five will go on the hopes of becoming America’s Next Top Emmy Finalist — or something like that. If I had to guess who those lucky final five would be, my money would be on 30 Rock (because Tina Fey is amazing and deserves all the Emmy gold they can dish out), The Office, Weeds, Ugly Betty and Two and Half Men (because they always seem to nominate this show. Does anyone out there watch this? Seriously, I’m asking.) … continue reading

Entertainment Weekly just released their list of the new classic TV shows, movies, music, and books. So Lori and I — with guestbian Dee — decided to give you our take on the new TV classics.

We nominate some shows we all agree on (like Golden Girls), some we definitely don't (Arrested Development), and a few that might surprise you (Dawson's Creek).

Watch and see if you agree with our choices...

Let us know in the comments which shows you think future generations should watch, and why!

SMMWT! will be on a short break for the next few weeks while Lori and I are in France, but we'll be back with new episodes in late July. Watch previous episodes here.