Channing Tatum, People's Sexiest Man Alive.

– Wait, does giving Channing Tatum People's "Sexiest Man Alive" superlative mean that it's not going to Ryan Gosling? Again? If not, why not, and why Channing Tatum? And are we talking about Magic Mike Tatum or Dear John Tatum or 21 Jump Street Tatum, because that guy is just so versatile we really don't know?

– Matt Lauer, another "sexy man who is still alive" might be in the process of getting booted from Today, because no one likes how the Anne Curry thing went down and it is Mr. Lauer's fault, allegedly. Also his "brand is damaged," which is the funniest thing to say about someone, when you think about it. It sounds like it should be off of a deleted scene on the Clueless DVD.

– Thank God, dummy: 30 Rock won't be ending without one last appearance from "Beeper King" Dennis Duffy, aka Liz's first boyfriend, aka Cassidy from L&O: SVU, aka the bad things that AllState Insurance is trying to warn you about, aka Dean Winters (his actual name).

– Jason Biggs and his wife really need to have their Twitter accounts suspended during election cycles.

– Not only will Anchorman 2 be a musical, but it was originally designed to be a Broadway musical. Were the returns for the Elf musical so bad that Adam McKay just decided to scrap the idea and make a feature film instead?

Kaufman Astoria Studios.

Though the city has disallowed exterior shooting until Friday at the earliest in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, at least one studio is back open. Kaufman Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens, is planning to welcome the crews of Showtime's Nurse Jackie and Netflix's Orange is the New Black tomorrow, though the studio was open today as well.

"We're no different than any other business. And all your favorite shows will be on the air and won't miss a beat," said studio president Hal Rosenbluth, noting that the outer-borough institution did lose a couple of banners. "We weathered the storm better than I ever would have dreamt. Our building is more than 90 years old. They don't build them the way they used to!"

Mr. Rosenbluth speculated that shows would adjust their shooting schedule in order to shoot weeks' worth of interior shots at a time and pick up exteriors once the mayor's office had cleared it, noting that wiggle room was built into TV shows' schedules. "They have some room for the what-if. What if an actor gets sick?"

The studio was open today, sans the lighting crew, who were allowed to stay home given that there were no shows for them to light.

Meanwhile, NBC representatives tell The Observer that 30 Rock went back into production today, with Smash and the upcoming series Deception starting tomorrow, and Law and Order: SVU playing it by ear but still on shooting hiatus.

UPDATE, 11/1/2012: 666 Park Avenue, the New York-set show shot at Cine Magic Riverfront Studios in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, reportedly suffered damage to its sets after flooding, with the head of Cine Magic suggesting it could be three weeks before the show returns to filming. Sources connected to the show told The Observer that no date has been set or suggested internally, and that producers are still assessing the damages but that the production office is running.

Meanwhile, shows including Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show With David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel's jaunt to the Brooklyn Academy of Music this week have resumed filming.

Don't get on Bret Easton Ellis' bad side ...

– Maybe? Hopefully? Last week, the American Psycho author went on Twitter to vent about Lindsay Lohan missing her ADR (basically, redubbing tracks when the audio was unintelligible) for their upcoming film, The Canyons. He threatened to sic Patrick Bateman on her, which could only end one way:


Meanwhile, BEE isn't answering our emails, and Lindsay hasn't been spotted all weekend. (Though that might be more about her dad calling in the LAPD for an intervention at her place in L.A. on Friday.)

– James Franco is "dating" Ashley Benson from Pretty Little Liars. We give it two weeks till he reveals that their relationship was just a performance art piece he was taping for an upcoming MoMA exhibit.

– Can someone explain to us how Ryan Lochte got a little huffy over Seth MacFarlane's impression of him on SNL, but then did a 30 Rock cameo of himself as a "sex idiot"?

– Joaquin Phoenix makes the best analogies ever. When Interview asked him how it feels to be on the awards circuit for his role in The Master, he responded:

It's a carrot, but it's the worst-tasting carrot I've ever tasted in my whole life. I don't want this carrot.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Getty Images)

The Emmys, television's slightly-less-glitzy answer to the Oscars, are this Sunday, and we have some relatively uneducated guesses as to which of the nominees will bring home an oddly spiky statuette.

Best Actress in a Comedy nominees

Zooey Deschanel, New Girl

Lena Dunham, Girls 

Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly

Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

This overstuffed category--seven nominees!--excluded two of last year's nominees as well as the acclaimed and Golden Globe-winning Laura Dern performance on Enlightened, so each person here has a passionate base of support. Even so, it's not hard to believe that Edie Falco and Tina Fey have already been rewarded amply, and Melissa McCarthy's moment of big-screen fame after Bridesmaids contributed more to her win last year than any great love for Mike & Molly. That leaves four! Zooey Deschanel's New Girl performance seems too controversial to gain broad support here, while Lena Dunham will get her reward elsewhere, in the writing category. Amy Poehler's Parks and Recreation simply doesn't seem as popular among Emmy voters--it failed to get a Best Comedy nomination--and Julia Louis-Dreyfus has won twice, for two different series. They like her any way they can get her, and she'll win for being the star of a buzz-y, popular show.

Best Actor in a Comedy nominees

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Louis C.K., Louie

Don Cheadle, House of Lies

Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men

Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Ryan Lochte

Beloved Olympian of few words Ryan Lochte told New York's The Cut blog that he was preparing for a 30 Rock shoot that's happening... right... now! "I know I have the cameo for 30 Rock in the morning," Mr. Lochte said last night, "and after that, E! And then Live With Kelly. So I’m all over the place."

One of these things is unlike the other two--but then, 30 Rock has historically done fine with celebrities we think of as a bit overexposed. (They made Denise Richards seem, if not "funny" in a traditional sense, at least game, and stuck a pin in guest star Aaron Sorkin's ego.) Besides, how much damage can a rather inarticulate gent do in a brief "cameo"?

A full list of nominees is available here: nominees of note include Lena Dunham, nominated as a producer, actress, and writer for Girls, as well as the thirteenth career nomination for Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Veep and the cementing of Claire Danes's career comeback with a Best Actress in a Drama nomination for Homeland.

• 30 Rock
• The Big Bang Theory
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Louie
• New Girl
• Modern Family

Sorry, guys: Girls skews a little young for this crowd. All of the shows on this list are essentially perma-nominees at this point, but for Louie, which is so well-regarded among the establishment that its nomination seems likely, and New Girl, which is youngish but is sort-of, kind-of an actual hit on broadcast TV (unlike possible nominees like Parks and Recreation).

Best Drama

• Breaking Bad
• Downton Abbey
• Game of Thrones
• The Good Wife
• Homeland
• Mad Men

The Good Wife sneaks in just so broadcast TV is represented somehow; the rest are the five TV shows (yes, Downton is a series now, not a miniseries) that combined critical acclaim with your co-workers asking if you were caught up yet. (Poor, not-quite-loved Boardwalk Empire.)

Best Actress, Comedy

• Laura Dern, Enlightened
• Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
• Lena Dunham, Girls
• Tina Fey, 30 Rock
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
• Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

We stand by our prediction!

Best Actor, Comedy

• Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
• Louis C.K., Louie
• Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
• Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
• Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Now that perpetual bridesmaid Steve Carell is no longer on TV, there's a spot open, and perhaps it'll go to the guy who helped keep Two and a Half Men on the air, if in attenuated form. Mr. Cryer's already won an Emmy as a supporting actor, anyhow.

Best Actress, Drama

• Claire Danes, Homeland
• Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
• Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey
• Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
• Jessica Paré, Mad Men

Lots of turnover in this category! But presumably Ms. Hargitay will remain, constant, impassive, immovable.
Best Actor, Drama

• Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
• Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
• Kelsey Grammer, Boss
• Hugh Laurie, House
• Damian Lewis, Homeland
• Jon Hamm, Mad Men

With the exception of Hugh Laurie (whose show just ended), this is a party of all the ill-behaved men of cable TV.

This is a pie chart (NBC)

1. The Office will be getting yet another season.

2. The network has ordered a Dane Cook comedy, Man Time.

3. Whitney is getting a second season.

4. Renewed: Parks & Recreation, Up All Night, and Community.

5. Canceled: BFF, Bent, and Are You There, Chelsea.

Answer: #2. Dane Cook IS getting a show, but it's name is The Caller, not Man Time. Sorry to bum everyone out with this horrible news; we were all rooting for #3 to be false, too.

Brian Williams (Getty Images)

Nikki Finke's Deadline has a so-called "speculative" schedule for NBC's fall season, in the run-up to the network's upfront presentation on Monday. Included are 30 Rock, which is said to be moving to Wednesday night along with Parks and Recreation, and Smash, moving to Thursdays. Missing? Rock Center, the Brian Williams newsmagazine. This doesn't necessarily mean the end for the low-rated series--the schedule is anything but definitive, and even if it is, Rock Center has a way of cropping up. The series came on air earlier than planned after last fall's Playboy Club flopped.