"Hope" springs eternal, or at least for a second season, at Fox.

Network announced Tuesday morning that it had renewed breakout comedy "Raising Hope" for a second season. Early renewal came a day after ABC picked up its signature comedies for fall.

"'Raising Hope' has emerged as a comedic standout: wickedly smart, hilarious and full of heart," said Fox Entertainment prexy Kevin Reilly.

Greg Garcia created and exec produces "Hope," which comes from 20th Century Fox TV. Lucas Neff, Martha Plimpton, Garret Dillahunt, Shannon Woodward and Cloris Leachman star.

Also on Tuesday, Fox kicked off its portion of the TV Critics Assn. press tour by announcing -- as expected -- a firm "preview" date for new epic prehistoric series "Terra Nova." Show will get a two-night launch on Monday, May 23 at 9 p.m. and Tuesday, May 24 at 9 p.m. (behind the penultimate "American Idol"). The show then returns officially in the fall (following a similar air pattern to the launch of "Glee" in 2009).

And the network announced that its new sketch comedy series from Jamie Foxx, along with comedian Affion Crockett, will get a sneak preview on Thursday, March 31 at 9 p.m., behind "Idol." Show will regularly air this summer on Thursdays at 9 p.m. starting June 9.

The as-yet untitled show comes from Fox TV Studios, Foxx/King Ent. and Tanatmount. Foxx, Todd Yasui, Marcus King, Jaime Rucker King, Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum and Mitch Hurwitz are exec producers.

Also, Fox announced that former "So You Think You Can Dance" judge Mary Murphy will return to the show, along side Nigel Lythgoe, this summer.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Since the decade is about to end in a mere few days, I figured this was a good time to document my favorite shows of the 2000's.

As you can see, I skew more toward drama than comedy, but that doesn't mean I didn't have a good laugh in the 2000's. Shows that often had me on the floor include "Arrested Development," "30 Rock" and "Everybody Loves Raymond," just to name a few. With only 10 slots, however, they barely missed the cut.

Anyway, enjoy my list and let me know what you think. What did I miss? What do you agree wth? 

10. Mad Men
Matt Weiner’s sometimes slow but always engrossing take on the politically incorrect 1960s workplace also acts as a history lesson, but minus the chalkboard and musty textbooks. Has there ever been a character as tortured as Jon Hamm’s Don Draper, who hid his troubled past as long as he could until wife January Jones finally learned the truth. Kudos to all the cast, but especially Elisabeth Moss, a woman wanting to move up in the working world and not waiting for a man’s approval to do it.

9. Curb Your Enthusiasm
Only the mind of Larry David could concoct such zany episodes, with the disparate stories all somehow reconnecting 30 minutes later. This last season especially, where he gathered the "Seinfeld" team in a pseudo-reunion, makes one realize how fortunate viewers are to have Larry continually find something that aggravates him. His brilliance is in separating “real” Larry vs. "Curb" Larry,
and making audiences believe they‘re both the same person.

8. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 
Ever since Jon Stewart took over Comedy Central’s nightly "news" show, there’s no way to watch the events of the day and not think about how Stewart and his remarkable team of writers and "reporters" will offer their unique spin. Sure, it leans to the political left — and you’ll enjoy it more if you do too — but that’s only because Stewart and his team find it nearly impossible to pass on such comic giants as George Bush and Sarah Palin.

7. Lost
The shipwrecked island thing has been done before, but nothing like this. Smoke monsters. Ben. The Others. Flash forwards. Hurley never losing weight. Exec producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have created a pseudo-reality where nothing is ever as it seems and manipulations, treachery and backstabbing between friends is as common as a morning shower. And don’t dare miss an episode — what you missed in season 2 could have major implications in a plot development four years later. Can’t wait to see how it all wraps up in starting in February.

6. The Sopranos
For all the mafia rough-housing of the fellas on "The Sopranos," my favorite moments always involved Carmela — the show’s tour de force, Edie Falco. While some were afraid of Tony’s venom, and rightly so, it was Carmela who held the power in the Soprano family. One particular scene stays with me, where she and Tony have a balls-to-the-wall argument and she tells him their marriage is over. There were lots of great characters who hung out in front of Satriale’s pork store — particularly Christofuh, Paulie and Silvio — but it was the Carmela and Dr. Melfi who told the boys when to play nice, or not.

5. The West Wing
I’m still not sure Martin Sheen wasn’t actually the president. Aaron Sorkin’s presentation of the political process was done in such an entertaining style, that it almost made you made wish you had a career in Washington, D.C. Meticulously offering the inner workings of the White House and how those in the Administration sacrificed much of themselves for the benefit of the American people, “The West Wing” was all about public service, and how there are still some politicians who actually care.

4. The Shield
Whether Vic Mackey was a good cop or not all depends on your point of view. He did whatever it took to take criminals off the street, and if that meant killing one of his own or pocketing a few hundred grand along the way, so be it. The series that put FX on the map was superlative in its grittiness in depicting the mean streets of L.A. Michael Chiklis won an Emmy for his work on the first year of the show, and with the addition of such stellar work from little-known actors such as Jay Karnes and Walton Goggins, “The Shield” has set the bar for future cop shows awfully high.

3. Friday Night Lights
Sometimes television gems come along when you least expect them. NBC might have fumbled the marketing opportunities when “Friday Night Lights” first came on the air a few years bck, but the few fans who watched realized they were witnessing greatness. And they still are. Thanks to DirecTV and the fans at NBC who keep the show on the air , audiences have come to love everything about the citizens of Dillon, Texas — its students, coaches, administrators and, most of all, the families that make is home. How Kyle Chandler has not won an Emmy, much not even nominated, is a primetime disgrace.

2. Deadwood
The term genius shouldn’t be thrown around loosely, especially when it comes to television. Yet, David Milch’s vision of those ebullient gold rushers settling into camp in the Black Hills of South Dakota, circa 1890, was mesmerizing at every turn. While Milch’s dialogue was Shakespearean in its verse, the actors who delivered it captured the spirit of the words brilliantly. Kim Dickens, W. Earl Brown, Timothy Olyphant, Paula Malcomson and, especially, Ian McShane as Al Swearengen brought so much life to their characters, it was as if viewers were allowed to go back in time and see how this country was shaped … one whiskey shot at a time.

1. The Wire
Simply put, there has never been, nor will there ever be, a series as good as David Simon’s “The Wire.” The way Simon and his fellow creatives were able to capture the ills of a metropolitan city on the decline — Baltimore, in this case — through its drug pushers, police, mayoral office, school system and newspaper was to watch Picasso and Michelangelo paint. Impossible to pick a high point from five seasons, many will offer the tragic destiny of the corner boys in season four, yet how does not one single out Bunk, Avon, Prop Joe and, of course, Omar. When asking folks about “The Wire,” the response was often, “Yeah, I’ve never watched, but I hear it’s great. I need to get that on DVD.” Yes, you do. Now.

Comedy Central execs are giddy at having nabbed the rerun rights to "30 Rock" starting in the fall of 2011.

How giddy? In a tribute to the Emmy-winning awesomeness of Alec Baldwin in his role as Jack Donaghy, Comedy Central program scout David Bernath has made a slight tweak to his title.* Why be a mere senior veep of programming when you can be senior veep of program strategy and microwave programming?

At this rate, David, you could be headed to the chairman's job at Viacom. Or back to the MTV Networks mail room. Only time (and the performance of those "30 Rock" reruns) will tell.

*At least for the purposes of the press release announcing the "30 Rock" deal.

Good for Tina Fey. "30 Rock" was solid in its second outing of the season, indicating that the Emmy and biz darling is finally getting some traction.

Post-election euphoria for at least 52% of Americans probably didn't hurt (I'm convinced Fey-as-Sarah-Palin helped Obama defeat the GOP ticket), nor did a guest shot from Oprah Winfrey probably didn't hurt. "30 Rock" averaged 8.1 million viewers and 3.9 rating/9 share, according to prelim Nielsens. That's an even better retention out of "The Office" (8.4 mil, 4.2/10) than it managed last week in its third season preem.

Goodness knows, the Peacock needed some good ratings news after Wednesday's makeover went over like a lead balloon. "Knight Rider" slipping to a 1.6/4 in the demo, handicapping the rest of the night. The return of "Law & Order" (7.9 mil, 2.2/6) at 10 p.m. didn't do much to improve things, though it did seem to take a notable bite of the aud for CBS' competing "CSI: NY" (11.8 mil, 3.3/9).

God, this is good stuff. Scribe Ian Parker has penned a heck of a profile of "30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin for this week's New Yorker. There's a bit of requisite NBC bashing in there, of course some discussion of the fateful voice mail message he left for his daughter last year, but the best stuff is really the stream-of-Baldwin-consciousness that he lets flow, and flow, and flow (see below). I'm rooting for Baldwin in the Emmy lead comedy actor competish this year, for obvious reasons.

“I always think, What if you just took your hand off the wheel, and slowly, over time, it all went away, and your life became about, you know, ‘Is the mail here yet?’ I always think about that.” But this dream of disengagement quickly gave way: in the space of a few minutes, sitting in weak sun on a New Jersey driveway, smoking a cigarette, Baldwin imagined himself as the restaurant critic of the Times; the proprietor of an inn near Syracuse; and the presenter of a classical-music show on public radio. “I could do that,” he said, and he wasn’t exactly joking. He cares about classical music; he began to take an interest in his twenties. (Perhaps not surprisingly, he adores Mahler and can’t quite see the point of Mozart.) “To sit there in the studio and just say”—a rich radio voice—“ ‘And now Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.’ Click. Hit a button, and then you sit back and listen, and they pay you for that. And I can’t imagine they pay you as much as the movies, but to me it’s getting to that point where there’s just something else I want to do. I don’t know what it is. I’m tired of being somebody else. I spend the waking hours of my life saying things that other people think and say and do. And behaving as someone else. I’m tired of it. I want to be me! I want to be myself!”

Hot off the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences nomination vote-tallying machine, here are the top 10 finalists for Emmy noms in the comedy and drama series heats. The final noms will be announced on Thursday, July 17.

(My 2 cents on the list follows after the jump)

COMEDY

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

DRAMA

Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Grey’s Anatomy
House
Lost
Mad Men
The Tudors
The Wire

The 67th annual George Foster Peabody Awards ceremony at Gotham's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Monday turned into an impromptu tribute to Tim Russert. Peabody honorees including Christiane Amanpour and Stephen Colbert offering kind words and remembrances about the NBC News stalwart who died Friday at the age of 58.

"60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl stepped in as Peabody ceremony host at the last minute as a sub for NBC News anchor Brian Williams, who bowed out in order to spend time with NBC News staff following his return from Afghanistan.

Colbert recalled Russert's generosity and sense of humor when Russert had Colbert on "Meet the Press" last year during "The Colbert Report" star's short-lived bid for the GOP presidential nomination.

ABC News' Bob Woodruff (pictured left) and CBS' Kimberly Dozier (pictured right), both of whom suffered serious injuries in the line of duty in Iraq, were among those picking up Peabodys for their work. Cast members from two of this year's scripted honorees, "Mad Men" and "30 Rock," were also on hand. (Pics after the jump.)

Congrats to "The Sopranos" and "The Office" for taking the SAG Awards for drama and comedy ensemble -- totally deserving. ("Sopranos" mob pictured at left; "Office" workers below)

"Sopranos" stars James Gandolfini and Edie Falco also got another final bow by prevailing in the individual drama categories. NBC's "30 Rock" was hot on the comedy side with wins for Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey.

Kevin Kline lived up to his rep as an actor's actor, taking the SAG-y for longform actor for HBO's "As You Like It." Queen Latifah won the distaff side for HBO's "Life Support." And the high-octane crew from "24" took the inaugural SAG Award for TV stunt ensemble.

I made a point of taking home the "30 Rock" season preem screener when it arrived earlier in the week.

I wanted the seg to live up to the show's Emmy win for best comedy. It even boasts Jerry Seinfeld...but the upshot was, I liked it, didn't love it. That's kinda how I felt about the show last season, even after friends kept opining how much funnier it became in the second half of its frosh year.

In the sophomore season opener, "SeinfeldVision," which airs next week, there seems to be a concerted effort to put a wee bit of heart in the show, and to Tina Fey's Liz Lemon TV producer character in particular.

"I think it's going to be my year," Lemon declares at the top of the episode -- signaling of course that things are about to go awry.

For me, "30 Rock" is still a little bit too clever for its own good, what with its endless inside-the-Peacock references. Alec Baldwin, however, makes takes the edge off every time he's on screen. I've watched the show more than once wondering if I wouldn't like it more if Baldwin's nutty TV exec character Jack Donaghy was the main focus.

The "30 Rock" definitely has its moments. As the network prepares to launch a new season, Donaghy gets the bright idea to use old NBC footage of Seinfeld to digitally insert him into new episodes of shows ("Heroes" and "Deal or No Deal" among them). When the real Seinfeld returns from vacationing in an exclusive European enclave that only super-rich people know about, he takes exception with the "SeinfeldVision" campaign, forcing some fancy footwork by Jack.

NBC Universal's pre-Emmy party at Spago on Saturday night was as relaxed as a shoulder-to-shoulder schmoozefest can be. Place was hopping with NBC U execs, agents, scribes and helmers and stars of NBC U productions -- it seemed everywhere you looked there was a staffer from "The Office" or a savior from "Heroes" holding court.

"Heroes" trouper Hayden Panettiere looked particularly fetching in a white minidress that flattered her cheerleader-worthy figure. Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock" was surrounded by a hub of well-wishers and back-slappers. Kathy Griffin picked up compliments while in line in the ladies room for her win  (unveiled at the Creative Arts ceremony) for Bravo's "My Life on the D-List"; there was some discussion of whether her show's title needed to be adjusted in light of her victory. And there was much chatter throughout the night at Spago of the goings-on the previous night at the private affair thrown by new NBC U co-chairman Ben Silverman and impresario Brent Bolthouse. (Among the more talked-about elements of the affair at a rented 10,000-square-foot mansion in the Hollywood Hills: the caged tiger that greeted guests, the number of bikinis running around, and of course, Paris Hilton).

NBC U graciously pushed back the start time of its Spago party to 8:30 p.m. to accommodate the dance cards of those who also attended Saturday's "Evening Before" benefit in Century City for the Motion Picture Television Fund home, co-sponsored by Variety. Among those who took in both parties on Saturday were "Top Chef" star Tom Colicchio, whose new Century City restaurant Craft pitched in with "Evening Before."

(Sorry, no pics posted yet of the NBC U party. Above shot of Kathy Griffin at the Sept. 8 Creative Arts ceremony by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage.com.)

Not much of an upset Saturday night during the first leg of the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony as HBO's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" maintained its trophy market share with a total of five wins, followed by Discovery Channel's "Planet Earth" (wha?) and NBC's "Tony Bennett: An American Classic" with four apiece. (For a proper report on who-won-what, click here for the report from Variety's Jeff Sneider, who sacrificed his Saturday night so that you and I wouldn't have to.)

Contrary to conventional wisdom the Creative Arts ceremony isn't all craft and tech honors (though let it be said here that the below-the-line folks are not only H'wood's salt of the earth but its true artisans). NBC nearly swept the guest-star awards categories, which can be a handy career reviver for the right actor at the right moment if the sun and the moon and the stars align...

Elaine Stritch (pictured left) bagged the guest actress in a comedy trophy for her turns in "30 Rock." Leslie Caron (pictured right) took the drama trophy for her one-shot on "Law & Order: SVU." John Goodman's visits to "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" were recognized for guest actor in a drama, while Stanley Tucci (pictured above) got the nod on the comedy side for having fun with the great Tony Shalhoub on "Monk." (So if you count USA Network as one of "the networks of NBC Universal," as the Peacock likes to put it, NBC U did sweep the category. That bit of bragging rights and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee at Musso & Franks...)

(Pics of Stritch and Caron on Creative Arts Emmy red carpet by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)

What Emmy didn't giveth on Thursday morning, the TCA Awards bestowed on Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton.

NBC's "Friday Night Lights," conspicuously snubbed by Emmy voters, got its due in nabbing best new program. Michael C. Hall of Showtime's "Dexter," another near no-show in the Emmy derby, was deemed best drama actor at the ceremony hosted by "Daily Show's" John Oliver.

Overall the Peacock swept the Television Critics Assn. kudofest with four trophies, including best comedy for "The Office," natch, and Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock" for top dog among comedy actors.TCA-ers didn't overlook NBC's other big frosh drama of last season, picking  "Heroes" the program of the year.

(Pictured: Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler of "Friday Night Lights")

Ben Silverman's having a good week. First he charms the assembled multitudes at TCA on Monday, getting through his first big press test as co-chair of NBC Entertainment without any scars. Then he wakes up this morning to a bounty of Emmy good news, with comedy series noms for "The Office" and "Ugly Betty," plus two NBC rookies, "Heroes" and "30 Rock," flexing some muscle by landing high-profile series noms that could translate into a bigger ratings next season. It could've been a Ben trifecta if "The Tudors" had hit big, but, hey, it did get costuming and a few other arty type nods. Congrats Ben.

(Pictured above, L-R, "Office" costars Melora Hardin and David Denman with Ben Silverman.)

The series writing and directing noms are always a good bellwether of what shows or individuals are deemed best of breed by industry standards. There's so much politicking and campaigning that goes into the race to grab top series and acting noms. Writing and directing noms are a little more above the fray, though it does seem that Emmy voters sometimes see them as consolation prizes for deserving shows that don't crack the top series categories. To wit, "Battlestar Galactica" (pictured left) was recognized for drama writing and directing, but the show's rabid fans will have to keep the faith until next year to see it break into the top echelon of nominees.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Does the fact that viewer totals are excruciatingly low mean NBC's stellar Thursday night comedy lineup has little chance to be placed in the same class as in the days of "Cheers," "Friends" and "Seinfeld," all of which were ratings behemoths?

Ratings, mind you, have never come close to being equated with quality. Geez, "Veronica's Closet" and "The Single Guy" probably have higher numbers than "The Office" or "30 Rock" will ever do ... combined.

But after a TCA panel with the creator and star of each of the four comedies that air on Thursday -- "My Name Is Earl," "Scrubs," "30 Rock" and "The Office" -- it's quite obvious these guys (and lady) are funny. Really funny. What exactly does somebody have to do these days to get people to tune in?

"It's our job to make the shows good and Ben's job to make them watch," said Lorne Michaels, exec producer of "30 Rock" and "Saturday Night Live" godfather, about the job new NBC topper Ben Silverman has ahead of him.

When a reporter asked "30 Rock" star/creator/exec producer Tina Fey (pictured) whether she was confident last fall that hers was the NBC show-within-a-show would survive to see a second season, unlike Aaron Sorkin's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," Fey didn't hesitate in her response.

I was 100 percent sure," she said. "I have a nasty streak in me."

(Pictured above, from right: "Office" exec producer Greg Daniels, Lorne Michaels, Tina Fey and "My Name is Earl" exec producer Greg Garcia.)

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Jerry Seinfeld is coming home to the Peacock.

Comedian-actor, whose show became a signature for the network, will appear as himself in the first episode of "30 Rock" when the sitcom returns on Oct. 4.

NBC is hoping the appearance of Seinfeld will give the highly praised comedy a ratings shot in the arm. The show, which stars Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin, returns at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, as part of the Peacock's comedy block, in addition to "My Name Is Earl," "The Office" and "Scrubs."

"Thursday night is a poweful comedy lineup for NBC. To have Jerry join '30 Rock' for the second-season launch is impressive, to him return even for one night in his old Thursday night turf is just classic," said NBC topper Ben Silverman.

"I think it's going to be so refreshing for me to be playing myself in a show that has nothing to do with neurotic, dysfuctional New York characters," Seinfeld quipped, tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Added Fey, who also acts as exec producer: "Finally, my parents have an excuse to watch the show."

-- Stuart Levine