Sometimes, you gotta give thanks in this world for comedy writers. As far as I'm concerned, Chuck Lorre is fast on his way to national-treasure status.

Lorre, exec producer and co-creator of CBS' "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory," livened up the Brandon Tartikoff Awards ceremony at the NATPE confab on Monday evening with a few well-placed jabs as he accepted his kudo from the NATPE org and Tartikoff's widow, Lily Tartikoff.

Lorre (pictured left) recalled his salad days as a staff writer on the NBC sitcom "My Two Dads." One of the highlights of his time on the show were the occasions when Peacock programming chief Tartikoff would come in to the writers room to listen to jokes and scenarios from the scribes. Those moments always sent Lorre, who had only recently graduated from writing low-rent kidvid cartoons, into flop-sweats, until one day he got up the nerve to throw out a joke. Tartikoff laughed and told the "Dads" showrunner to make sure it went into the script. That didn't win Lorre any points with said showrunner, but it did wonders for his self-esteem as a writer.

Of course, Lorre didn't toil on the lower rungs for long. His experiences as a top writer and then showrunner on sitcoms fronted by high-maintenance femmes ("Cybill," "Grace Under Fire," "Roseanne") is now the stuff of biz legend. Lorre got in a barb at Cybill Shepherd and "Grace's" Brett Butler, but he admitted to still being too intimated by Roseanne to take aim at her.

The material that really got the aud in Ballroom F of the South Convention Center at the Mandalay Bay Resort going was Lorre's call-out to fellow Tartikoff award honoree, NBC Entertainment/Universal Media Studios co-chairman Ben Silverman. Lorre took the big boss at NBC Entertainment to task for a remark that he made this time last year, at the height of the management-vs.-labor animus during the writers strike.

NBC is duly proud of its perf during the past week nights with boffo numbers harvested from the Beijing summer Games.

The primetime average for the first seven nights is an eye-popping 30.6 million viewers, up 13% from the comparable period in the 2004 Athens summer Games.

In adults 18-49, the Olympic pageantry and competish has delivered an average 10.5 rating, up 12% from the perf at this point in the Athens games. The numbers are up, Beijing vs. Athens, in the elusive younger demos as well: up 10% in adults 18-34 (8.9); and 8% in persons 12-34 (8.0). The biggest bounce has come in the male demos -- thank you, Michael Phelps -- with viewership posting a lofty 23% spike in men 18-34 (8.6); a 17% gain in men 18-49 (9.9); and a 20% jump in males 12-34 (7.8).

So NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker can be forgiven for frothing a bit in an interview Friday morning with CNBC's "Squawk Box" about the ratings and the additional $10 million in ad coin that NBC U has booked since the Games began. Zucker has spent the past year talking up NBC Universal's cable and international portfolio and how it's transforming the House that Sarnoff Built. But he did a verbal victory dance celebrating the unparalleled reach of broadcast TV in his gushy interview with CNBC's Carl Quintanilla, Joe Kernan and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.

(For really gushy dispatches from Beijing, check out NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman's reportage for Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM show. "Beijing Ben" sounds like he's having an "amazing" time in China, but it kinda begs the question of who's minding the store in Burbank as Silverman's first slate of shows prep for launch next month?)

Pictured above: "Today" co-host Meredith Vieira flanked by members of the U.S. women's gymnastics team.

The fall season is well underway and so is the fall leg of panel-confab-Q&A madness. The Hollywood Radio and Television Society's annual network chiefs sesh outta be lively this year, what with ABC's Steve McPherson, NBC's Ben Silverman and Fox's Kevin Reilly on the same stage. (Quick quiz: Which net prexy said "Be a man" during the summer Television Critics Assn. press tour about which prexy in regards to the firing of another prexy?) All I can say is, CBS' Nina Tassler and CW's Dawn Ostroff probably shouldn't wear anything they really love to the luncheon, set for Oct. 16 at the Bev Hilton Hotel...

The night before the HRTS soiree, a group of industry vets who remember a time when a panel of entertainment chiefs featured only three male execs, will gather at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences HQ in North Hollywood to celebrate the release of an industry memoir from Ralph Baruch, founder of Viacom. Event will include a "how-to" Q&A with Baruch, who telegraphs just how much he's seen in his many years in the biz with the title of his tome: "Television Tightrope: How I Escaped Hitler, Survived CBS and Fathered Viacom"...

And for further schooling in smallscreen history, head on over to the Fine Arts Theater in Bev Hills for a conversation among TV publicists who've been through the wars (and then some). The Entertainment Publicists Professional Society panel dubbed "Legends of Television Publicity" will include network and studio vets Cliff Dektar (who was always a gentleman and a friend to me during his days with the Lippin Group), Michael Casey, Doug Duitsman, Hank Reiger, Gene Walsh and Murray Weissman...

OK, this one's kind of a stretch in terms of a TV connection, but I've always loved Raymond Chandler and this event sounds like fun. (And come to think of it there was a "Philip Marlowe" gumshoe skein on ABC in  1959-60. Powers Boothe also played the tough-talking sleuth in a mid-1980s HBO series.) Hollywood Heritage cultural org is offering a three-hour guided tour of "Raymond Chandler's Hollywood on Oct. 20 and Oct. 21. (Think "The Big Sleep," "Murder, My Sweet," Dick Powell and Humphrey Bogart in really great suits.) Tour promises to take the curious to various homes, apartment buildings, streets, hotels and dives where Chandler (pictured right) and his lit alter ego Philip Marlowe hung out in the 1930s and '40s. Hard to tell where the line between fact and fiction is drawn here but it still sounds like good, clean, noir-y fun. For more info high-tail it to http://www.hollywoodheritage.org/.

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.)

Among the guests on the next seg of CNBC's "Conversations with Michael Eisner" is the peacock's Ben Silverman. Episode is set to air Sept. 26 and also features L.A.'s hizzoner Antonio Villaraigosa and celeb blogger Perez Hilton....

Among the events of particular interest (to me) on the Paley Center for Media (fka the Museum of Television & Radio) sked of events for the 2007-08 season include seshes at the New York outposts with the writers from CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman," set for Nov. 9; a so-long-farewell-Auf-Weidersehn-etc. to "Scrubs" (Nov. 10); and an "Evening with" sitdown with the inimitable Angela Lansbury (Nov. 14), pictured left. At the Bev Hills branch, good times outta be had at the Oct. 1 "Inside 'Robot Chicken' panel -- that's gotta be a bizarre 90-minutes; the 100th-seg salute to "Two and a Half Men" (Oct. 3); and the "Lou Grant" reunion (Nov. 16)...

Kinda sad to see that Don Bellisario didn't appear to make it to the "NCIS" 100th-episode cake-cutting photo op on Tuesday. I never did figure out the story behind Bellisario's abrupt exit from the drama he created (one of many) at the start of last season -- some reports blamed it on a clash between him and star Mark Harmon. Oh well, Bellisario will soon (one day?) be able to take comfort in his syndie residual and profit-participation checks.

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.)

Big panel, big show, big challenges.

The "Friday Night Lights" cast and crew were well-received by the TCA-ers in the show's sesh on Tuesday. The crix weren't overly gushy but there was a general consensus that this Peabody-winning show is a fine example of quality triumphing over anemic ratings. Getting a wider audience to appreciate the show had become something of a mission for the previous steward of NBC Entertainment, before Kevin Reilly hustled out of Burbank in June following the Ben Silverman shakeup.

To Ben's credit, in the eyes of "FNL" fans, he's vowed to support the show and one of his first bulletins on Monday in his exec Q&A was a time slot switch for the show that at least takes it out of the vortex of 10 p.m. Friday (where only CBS has found the right mathematical equation to get a decent number lately with "Numbers"). Now "FNL" is due to get a little hammock support at 9 p.m. on its namesake night between "Deal or No Deal" and "Las Vegas." And Silverman's co-topper, Marc Graboff, praised the show for being "efficiently produced," which was another thing that helped it survive for a second season.

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 MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

(Updated Friday morning with fresh comment from Steven Moffat, see below)

Never mind the bollocks, "Coupling" creator Steven Moffat (left) may have to explain a few things the next time he rings Ben Silverman.

Back in his pre-NBC days, Silverman helped Moffat bring the hit BBC comedy over to the States -- where the U.S. "Coupling" promptly fizzled.

Why did the Yankee "Coupling" fail? (For one thing, see the image to the right: It was promoted as a sex-drenched romp, rather than a plain ol' funny show, as the BBC version was.) Moffat offered up his own hypothesis last week during BBC America's TCA session (where he was promoting his new BBC series "Jekyll"):

“I can answer it with three letters: N-B-C. Very, very good writing team. Very, very good cast. The network fucked it up because they intervened endlessly. If you really want a job to work, don’t get Jeff Zucker’s team to come help you because they’re not funny …I can say that because I don’t care about working for NBC. The way in which NBC slagged off the creative team on American “Coupling” after its failure was disgraceful and traitorous. So I enjoy slagging them off. That’s the end of my career in L.A.”

Hmm... that's what makes this part awkward: According to Silverman -- now co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios -- Moffat has been in contact about, yes, doing something for him at the Peacock!

"I find that a little hypocritical," Silverman said. "(Moffat and "Coupling" exec producer Beryl Vertue) have called me a number of times about doing a show."

The lesson?

"Never say never," Silverman added.

-- Michael Schneider

Friday morning update:

Just a few comments, if I may (and I'm assuming Ben's been quoted correctly.)

1.  I have NEVER been contact with NBC about making a show.  Not once.

2.  I have NEVER said I won't work for NBC, I just assumed they wouldn't want me (and I wouldn't blame them, really!)

3.  At the time of American Coupling, Ben Silverman was the producer of the show, not chairman of NBC - it was HIS work, and his team's work that suffered so badly from network interference.  It was, in effect, Ben I was defending.  Oh, the irony!

4.  I know and like Ben, but I've seen him type on his Blackberry, and realise he might have been trying to say something else entirely.

Steven Moffat

The build-up to Monday's exec sesh with newly minted NBC toppers Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff (pictured left) was more dramatic than the actual 50-minutes of Q-ing and A-ing. The Hilton's International ballroom was packed, there was an audible buzz in the room and in the lobby outside. A number of top industry agents and execs were on hand, just because....It was rock-star anticipation time. (For a good time read Brian Lowry's review of "The Ben Silverman/Marc Graboff Show.") And get the lowdown on all the news out of the sesh from Variety's TCA avatars Joe Adalian and Michael Schneider.

By any measure, Ben aced his first TCA test, with a lot of help from Marc on those nagging "why'd you sack Kevin Reilly?" questions.

Graboff took those blows for the team, provoking laughter when he asserted in a very lawyerly fashion that "Kevin was not fired," which in point of fact is true. He just got demoted when his boss decided to recruit a new top-top guy.....But that's so late May. (Besides, it's not like Reilly's on the unemployment line. He'll get his TCA turn on Sunday as Fox's new head programmer.)