NBC

['Saturday Night Live' - 'Season 36, Episode 8']

For a show that can be as hit-or-miss as 'SNL,' it's puzzling when they choose a host who all but guarantees a miss. I can't remember an episode, in all my 20-plus years of watching the show, that was worse than the Dec. 18, 2004 effort that marked De Niro's most recent hosting go-round.

"But it's De Niro!" you yelp, "how can you say such things about acting's greatest treasure!?" He may be, but to say that De Niro is out of his element live on stage at Studio 8H, is like saying pizza is awesome. It's just true. Can he brave the "elements," and drop his whole "I'm an acting robot, programmed to read my lines and collect awkward pauses for fuel," shtick? We could only hope and pray.

Dear Bob,

(I can call you Bob, right? I mean, we've never met, but I feel like we can be chummy enough for me to do that... no? Well, Ok, let me try again...)

Dear Mr. De Niro,

Despite the fact that I haven't seen a movie with you in it since the bitter and boring disappointment that was 'Showtime,' I'm still a huge fan of yours. Sure, you haven't exactly made the smartest career decisions over the last ten years; your most memorable roles lately seem to be in the endless stream of 'Fockers' movies that inflict themselves on the public every few years. But you built up plenty of goodwill with me over the decades, through movies as diverse as 'Taxi Driver' and 'Midnight Run' (still one of my favorites), for me to forgive the 21st century portion of your IMDb profile.

So, as a big fan of yours, I'm here, on my virtual knees. I don't usually beg anyone for anything, as I have my pride. But, pride be damned; I'm begging you right here and now:

Please don't suck on 'SNL' this weekend like you did the last time you hosted. I just can't go through that again.

Funnyman Steve Carell may be checking out of 'The Office' soon, but he's not leaving the workplace (or NBC). It's been reported that he's just sold a half-hour single-camera comedy to the network.

According to deadline.com, the comedy is provisionally entitled 'The Post-Graduate Project.' It's described as "a sweet and nostalgic take" on Carell's own early post-college life, during which he worked as a mail carrier in Littleton, Mass. Carell has always said he quit after only a few months when his boss told him that he wasn't a very good mail carrier.

The new comedy will center on a small-town post office frequented by a quirky but tight-knit group of local twentysomethings. Carell will serve as both writer and executive producer, alongside fellow 'Daily Show' alum Thom Hinkle.

['The Biggest Loser' - '2 of 6 Eliminated']

By the end of this episode, the final four would stand revealed, as Alison revealed a double elimination at this week's weigh-in. That meant the return of the dreaded red line and the immediate elimination of the contestant who fell through it.

The power trio of Frado, Brendan and Patrick have stood strong until this point, and they made up half of the remaining contestants going into this final week on the Biggest Loser Ranch. But could they maintain their strong threesome through a double elimination? With Mark and Ada standing as strong competition throughout the season, only Elizabeth seemed a sure thing for them to beat.

For their final challenge, the contestants had to recreate the Episode 1 challenges that earned them their spots on campus, while carrying all the weight they'd already lost. Before that, they faced off in a grueling reward challenge, for $10,000, that saw them participating in a series of exercises.

['The Event' - 'Everything Will Change']

When you title an episode 'Everything Will Change,' you're inviting a host of skepticism. When you're 'The Event,' you've already got plenty of skepticism aimed at you, so why not promise a game changer in the final episode before the show returns at the end of February? Very little substantially changed, although the show did manage to finally tie the Sean/Leila story more firmly into the rest of the show, along with perhaps showing us onscreen what the title of the show means.

Thomas's long-distance phone call to wherever "home" is for Sophia's Crew, did expand the show's scope in a fairly compelling manner. It wasn't quite first contact, insofar as "aliens"/alterna-humans are already here, but it did push the show from merely "extraterrestrials walk among us" into "extraterrestrials might be coming to put a hurt onto us." The former is unnerving, to be sure, but the latter is downright terrifying. That's not to say that the end results will play out that way, but at least the scenario is a possibility.

['The Biggest Loser' - '1 of 7 Eliminated']

Every season, we watch the contestants on this show sweat and bleed and cry away years of abuse to their bodies. For weeks, we see them looking their very worst as they make positive changes. So it's as exciting for us as it is for them when we get to "Makeover Week."

Finally, the men can lose those scraggly beards, and the women can get their hair done. This year, with some of the weaker contestants being kept around, the weight-loss transformations weren't as dramatic as in years past, but it was no less heartwarming and touching as they finally got to strut their inner models on the runway.

['Saturday Night Live' - 'Season 36, Episode 7']

According to Dylan from 'Modern Family,' Anne Hathaway is "everywoman," and I'm finding it difficult to disagree with him. After being heralded as the second coming of Julia Roberts, both in talent and looks, she went on to live up to that billing.

How does one get out from under such a looming and intimidating comparison? One goes out and makes a name for oneself as a versatile and nimble performer, on a stage one's predecessor has yet to grace. Enter 'SNL,' and Anne Hathaway's return to hosting duties, a stage that not just "everywoman" can fill.

['The Office' - 'WUPFH.com']

Tonight we had one of those "nothing more to see here folks, go back to your homes" kind of episodes. There were three stories, but none of them really worked very well.

That's kind of a surprise, given the fact that we had a "Jim bored in the office" story for the first time in forever. Jim's actually been motivated to work lately, given the fantastic commissions Sabre offers. So when he learned that those commissions were capped, you'd think that he'd start with the office hijinks. He did, but only to a point.

The episode's focus, of course, was Michael's relationship with Ryan, one of the great failed hucksters on TV. And, if an 'Office' fan is going to get anything out of this episode, it might be that Michael's burgeoning maturity saved him and a small set of his staff from going completely broke due to one of Ryan's bright ideas.

Newly engaged Prince William's not the only British royal to make headlines in the US this week. Prince Charles will bring his passion for the environment to US TV viewers with the broadcast of a new documentary designed as a call to action on global climate change.

The hour-long 'Harmony' premieres on NBC Friday, showcasing the work and ideas of the heir to the British throne on issues like rain forest protection, sustainable farming and the importance of restoring balance between man and nature.

Speaking to Reuters, co-producer Stuart Sender said, "A lot of the things that are very close to the prince's heart, and have been at the center of his work for a long time, are featured in the movie."

Friday's broadcast, part of NBC's annual "green week," will also feature a separate interview with Prince Charles, recorded in August in Scotland, in which he talks about his role in the royal family and his relationship with sons Princes William and Harry.

['The Biggest Loser' - '1 of 8 Eliminated']

It's getting down to the wire for these contestants, so this is usually when gameplay escalates. In a season where it has been a dominant force almost since day one, I fully expected it to become nearly intolerable. Instead, I was surprised by one of the most genuine and moving displays of simple friendship we've ever seen on the show.

Don't get me wrong, it was definitely game on. With Alison announcing that it was every man and woman for themselves from here on out, it was time to get serious. And if these women want to prove they can hang with the big boys and aren't just placeholders for Frado, Brendan and Patrick, they're going to need to really step it up.

When I spoke to Michael Schur, executive producer of 'Parks and Recreation,' last week, he hadn't yet known where NBC was going to put his show back on the schedule, or what its timeslot would be.

The midseason pickup was a surprise for him and the staff of the show; when they got the news in May, they had been in the middle of shooting the first six episodes of the third season, in order to get ahead of the game before star Amy Poehler had her second child. The decision by NBC was "disappointing" to Schur, but he told the network that whenever they wanted to bring the show back, the crew was ready.

"'We have these 6 episodes for the beginning of season 3. We're ready,'" Schur told the executives. "'Just tell us where to go and we'll be there.' And they've continued to say that they have a plan and that they're supportive and everything."

It turned out that the Peacock net did have a plan; they're returning 'P&R' to Thursdays starting January 20, airing it at 9:30PM ET as part of a 3-hour comedy block that network TV hasn't seen in almost 20 years. So I followed up with Mike via e-mail in order to get his thoughts on the move.

That response and tidbits from the original interview are after the jump, including some spoilers about season 3, thoughts on Nick Offerman's mustache, how he's intimidated by Aubrey Plaza, and how he feels about playing Dwight Schrute's off-kilter cousin Mose.

['The Event' - 'For The Good of Our Country]

'The Event' has often been described as a hybrid of '24' and 'Lost.' What tonight's episode demonstrated was that if that assumption is correct, then audience members should be glad for the latter's supposed influence. Because as a straight '24' ripoff, 'The Event' simply isn't very good.

Stripped of all things alien/alterna-human, this episode slogged along with plot but little character, action without motivation and, in the end, left its primary players no different than when they started. Think of it like Dempsey's head at the end: Sure, it changed momentarily, but things went right back to the way things were at the outset.

Promos for tonight's episode promised a 'Rashomon'-esque retelling of the pilot episode, with the show retelling events from different perspectives in order to illuminate new truths. In actuality, all we got was a singular flashback to that day in which we learned Vice President Jarvis helped indirectly to order the plane attack on Coral Gables. This revelation would have meant something if we knew more than the most cursory things about Jarvis before this episode. We've seen him on several occasions, but he's been all but absent during Thomas's freeing of Sophia, and his scenes before that had little impact.

Hey, NBC, why don't you just rip up your whole schedule?

Well, OK, NBC didn't shift every show on its roster, but it did a whole lot of rearranging in the mid-season schedule it released on Monday.

There's one very large, mustachioed upside to all this: 'Parks and Recreation' finally returns Jan. 20, which is when NBC will debut a three-hour comedy block.

News and notes on NBC's big mid-season shuffle are below, as is a complete early-2011 schedule for the network:

Another season, another 10PM scheduling shakeup for NBC. Don't worry, though -- this has nothing to do with Jay Leno.

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that NBC might move '30 Rock' to 10PM as part of a "six sitcom" strategy for Thursday nights. When 'Parks and Recreation' returns in 2011, the network would also debut another sitcom that has been waiting in the wings, 'Perfect Couples.'

The line-up for Thursday night could then look something like this:

Despite its not-so-hot ratings, 'The Event' has already landed a full-season order from NBC. But in an attempt to drum up more viewers, the network is planning a relaunch strategy for the show's post-holiday hiatus return.

According to Entertainment Weekly, NBC will air a one-hour clip show before 'The Event''s first January installment to get viewers up to speed on the drama's storyline.

"We will finish up with our first 13 [episodes] and then there will be a break, and then we'll come back with a one-hour compilation clip show of the first 13 so everybody can catch up with story," Bill Smitrovich, who plays Vice President Raymond Jarvis, said. "I hope that will spark another increase in the audience."