The 2000 Year Old Man lives! He made a cameo appearance tonight at the Paley Center for Media's fund-raiser honoring the great Carl Reiner and the deserving Matt Blank and Robert Greenblatt of Showtime Networks.

Reiner's tribute was funny, of course, with hosannas coming from the event's host, Bonnie Hunt, as well as Larry Gelbart, Dick Van Dyke, Lily Tomlin, George Segall and progeny Rob Reiner. It was clear that as he surveyed his career retrospective in the clip package, the recent loss of his wife of 65 years, Estelle, was not far from Carl Reiner's mind. He credited his wife, who died in October at 94, with "raising me" and influencing every aspect of his professional life.

It was also clear that Reiner was enjoying the opportunity to reminisce. Mel Brooks, Reiner's old compadre from the "Your Show of Shows" writers' room, was among the luminaries in the crowd, along with Norman Lear. Reiner got a second standing ovation as he walked off the stage and over to where Brooks was seated and kept right on talking. Hastily, a spotlight and a microphone materialized and in an instant the crowd was treated to a dash of "The 2000 Year Old Man."

I only took mental notes but the routine went something like this:

Reiner: "So you knew Jesus?"

Brooks: "He used to come in to my candy store. With 12 guys."

Reiner: "What were they like?"

Brooks: "They wore sandals."

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Last night's Paley Festival panel for "Damages" wasn't a raucous affair, ala a night with Judd Apatow, but it offered a nice introspection on what makes FX's legal drama so compelling.

Truly, there have been few lawyers on TV like Patty Hewes, so adeptly and connivingly played by five-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close. Glenn was quicky to defend Hewes, who tried to have her own associated killed at the end of last season, saying she isn't a horrible person, just one who does whatever it takes to get the job done for her clients.

Glenn made her mark with such stellar turns in "Fatal Attraction" and "The World According to Garp" in the 80s, but for me, she's really all about TV now, having been such a force in "The Shield" a few years back. Obviously, the experience of "The Shield" convinced her that TV is a place get those creative juices flowing... that, and the fact that the pace of TV is much quicker than movies, which involves a lot of sitting around doing nothing.

The pace is so intense, as exec producers Daniel Kelman, Todd Kessler and Glenn A. Kessler explained last night, that they were editing last season's final episode up until the night before it aired.

Ted Danson said "Damages" has been a treat for him, as he's felt he's done the three-camera sitcom to death -- his last foray in that genre, "Help Me Help You," lasted 10 episodes in 2006 -- and a quality drama offered him a change that any actor would gravitate toward. As for whether he'll be back in season two after his character was shot, Danson said he's clueless and that his agent isn't even sure at this point.

Kelman and the Kessler brothers will start writing season two in a few weeks, determining where the story goes from here. As discussed Monday, they're unsure as to whether the next upcoming 13 episodes will be one long case -- the comparisons between "Damages" and ABC's stellar Steven Bochco series "Murder One" were talked about -- and which characters will come and go.

After the show sat on the fence for a while, FX president John Landgraf showed a bunch of faith in his cast and creators by renewing "Damages" not only for a second season but a third one as well, giving the writers a lot of latitude when coming up with story threads and character development.

Based on the Close's Golden Globe win, nominations for Danson, Rose Byrne and the show itself, it seems like a wise investment.

(Photos by Kevin Parry/The Paley Center for Media)

Rest in peace, Suzanne Pleshette. What a great actress, saucy but always kinda sweet, too. She was so good, she made anything she appeared in that much better. Pleshette, who died Saturday at the age of 70, was the only reason I watched more than 5 minutes of the forgettable NBC sitcom "Good Morning Miami" a few seasons ago. And she was a laugh riot a few months back at "The Bob Newhart Show" reunion held at the Paley Center for Media. (Click here for that post.)

Pleshette had been through a lot in the past year, with the death of her third husband, comedian-actor Tom Poston, and her own cancer treatments, but she was upbeat and funny, letting loose with that famous signature laugh of hers. They way those "Bob Newhart" cast members were gushing about one another that night in September, I know Bob Newhart, Bill Daily, Jack Riley, Marcia Wallace and probably every one else who worked on "Bob Newhart" are feeling a huge loss this ayem, as are Pleshette fans around the world.

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

After talking with him on the phone about a half-dozen times over the years to discuss everything from "The West Wing" to the trials and tribulations of being a TV writer, it was nice to finally sit down next to John Wells at last night's "ER at 300 episodes" panel at the Paley Center for Media.

It was a great group of folks from the show — Wells, showrunner David Zabel, in-house director and EP Chris Chulack, actors Linda Cardellini, Mekhi Phifer, Scott Grimes, Maura Tierney, Parminder Nagra and John Stamos — and it gave one a chance to pause and reflect on "ER's" incredible 14-season run.

Back when "ER" launched in September 1994, it broke out like gangbusters in its 10 p.m. Thursday spot on NBC (and where it still remains) up against David E. Kelley's "Chicago Hope." Wells reflected on the hysteria the show brought out in fans in those early years, including when they were shooting on location in Chicago and 4,000 people came out to get a glimpse of George Clooney.

Cardellini, who I will always cherish for her turn in the beloved teen drama "Freaks and Geeks," which was offed way too soon and I still miss to this day, kidded she wasn't a fan back then and everyone gave her a hard time. Tierney, whose character, Abby Lockhart, is mired in a serious case of angst this season, said she occasionally checked it out. She also added that she can't watch herself on the small-screen today — she was visibly squirming as the 300th episode screened — as she's way too critical of her performance.

Stamos provided plenty of laughs, recognizing his good fortunes in now having a chance to trade dialogue with these seasoned pros rather with the Olsen twins in "Full House." Nothing against the girls, of course, but they were tykes while he was trying to become a better actor, and it's tough to run lines when your colleagues are still learning how to read.

Wells, who was once the president of the Writers Guild and still sees himself as a scribe first and foremost, spoke on how it's tough to say how or when "ER" will end, with the state of the TV biz in such flux right now. But he acknowledged, certainly, the show is closer in time to its finale than to when it began. And as he and Warner Bros. know, "ER" is an expensive show to produce and with ratings nowhere where they used to be — and that's not a knock against just this show but for most longrunning series — there comes a point where the profit margins become too small for another season.

That being said, the quality of "ER" remains solid — a nice mix of medical traumas, personal stories and just the right amount of humor to make it all go down easy.

— Stuart Levine

Photos: Kevin Parry/The Paley Center for Media

Just as things were looking particularly bleak heading into the weekend, the emails arrived, one right after the other. And for a change, the AMPTP and then the WGA West were saying basically the same thing: Talks to resume Nov. 26. Whoo-hoo! ('Whoo-hoo' added for emphasis.)

This joyous news reached my BlackBerry while I was taking in the "Lou Grant" reunion at the Paley Center for Media. The reunion was a hoot, as these things go. They're all much grayer than they used to be in the Trib newsroom -- even Animal, aka thesp Daryl Anderson. But they're still feisty, particularly Ed Asner. When asked by a frothing super-fan type whether there was any hope for a reunion series, Asner quipped: "I'll work for food." When asked if he was ever sorry that his stint on "Mary Tyler Moore" and "Lou Grant" typecast him as the curmudgeonly Lou Grant-type, Asner didn't hesitate.

"I'm extremely lucky to have been chosen to do him in all his embodiments. He was a good guy," Asner said. "I could've been Ted Knight." (I think he meant "Ted Baxter" but you never know...)

I didn't froth too much, but I made a point of telling a few of the principals how much the show meant to an impressionable girl who only ever wanted to be a reporter when she grew up. (For a little while I wanted to be a novelist, and then I read "Ten Days That Shook the World" and "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail" in quick succession and that pretty much sealed it.)

Linda Kelsey, aka Billie Newman, was gracious, as was exec producer Gene Reynolds. Allan Burns, who co-created "Mary Tyler Moore" with James L. Brooks and shepherded "Lou Grant" with Reynolds, was smart and funny and insightful about TV then and now. Moreover, Burns outta qualify for hero status with the younger-gen of WGA members -- he's been out pounding the picket pavement in front of 20th Century Fox every day that I've gone to the lines since the strike began Nov. 5.

Burns (pictured far left with Asner) noted that despite its Emmy and Peabody winning glory, "Lou Grant" was frequently on the verge of cancellation. Burns recalled "a famous meeting at CBS" a few weeks into the first season in 1977-78 with then CBS programming head Bud Grant, Burns and Reynolds and Grant Tinker, then head of MTM Prods.

"They told us we were doing it all wrong. We were a little 'uptown.' We want more action...What you're giving us is The New York Times and we want the Daily News." After hearing this, "Tinker had smoke coming out of his ears," Burns recalled. "You mean you don't want the New York Times on your network?"

Given the setting -- the lovely wood-paneled halls of the Paley Center for Media -- there was a funny story to tell about how the show went out after the 1981-82 season. Asner, of course, had been gaining noteriety for his outspokeness regarding the political situation in Central America, back in the days when U.S. foreign policy was greatly concerned with shooing Communists out of America's backyard, particularly in places due south of Texas like El Salvador and Nicaragua. (Asner actually made an interesting point that his "activism" was somewhat overblown in this period.)

And back in the days when even moderately successful primetime series routinely drew 20 million-25 million viewers, it was hard to hide from a "shit-storm" stirred up by the star of Big Three network show -- as Asner provoked in 1981 by taking part in the presentation of a $25,000 check to a humanitarian org that aimed to provide medical care to the needy in parts of El Salvador that were held by rebels. Humanitarian gesture to some; sedition to others. Conservative forces in Congress and elsewhere mounted a letter-writing campaign to CBS boss William Paley. And though a host of CBS execs denied it to Asner, he's always believed the story he heard after the fact about how "Lou Grant" got spiked.

"We heard that CBS (execs) had 'Lou Grant' on the scheduling board" in the spring of 1982 when they were setting the sked for the 1982-83 season. "And supposedly Mr. Paley came in and said 'What's that doing up there? Get it off, get it off," Asner recounted. "And at that point, 'Lou Grant' was off the board."

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

There probably wasn't a lot of love for the striking writers in the ballroom at the Grand Hyatt in Century City last night, but with the Paley Center for Media honoring NBC Universal honchos Jeff Zucker and Dick Ebersol that was to be expected.

It was a company night, for sure, and a quick one at that (more details later on).

Ebersol (pictured here with Paley topper Pat Mitchell and Zucker) has been NBC's sports maven for a while now, though he began his career at the Peacock in the entertainment division, starting up "Saturday Night Live" with Lorne Michaels in 1975. Eventually, he would become one of, if not the top, most important figures in the history of the Olympic Games.

NBC has a bunch of Olympics lined up over the next few years — Beijing in 2008, Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012 — so there's little doubt Ebersol will remain busy.

Only half-kidding about Ebersol's influence when it came to the 2006 Olympics, newsman Brian Williams said in a videotaped message: "He renamed the city of Turin to Torino. That's the kind of power Dick has."

Al Michaels, who introduced Ebersol to the podium, added: "He may be the most important person in the history of sports television after Roone Arledge."

It's a bold statement but one that would be hard to argue. We'll forgive him for the ill-fated XFL.

In a very classy acceptance speech, Ebersol took time to acknowledge the importance of former NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff ("He treated failure and success in the same way") and colleague Ron Meyer, calling him one of most respected guys in Hollywood.

Throughout the portion of the evening dedicated to Ebersol, there was no mention of the tragic plane crash that took his son Teddy's life in 2004, but at the conclusion of his speech, Ebersol said, "I'd like to thank everyone in this room for the way they embraced my family three years ago."

Again, very classy.

In a very funny taped intro, the accomplishments and failures of Zucker were shown before his moment on stage. Included, of course, were his producing days at "Today," which helped catapult his career, and his rare moments in front of the camera as well. And what would a tribute to Zucker be without showcasing some of his historic flops, such as "Inside Schwartz" and "Good Morning, Miami."

Zucker soon took the podium and seemed much more business-like and less personable than Ebersol in accepting his award. He quickly addressed the strike — "It's a difficult time for all of us. We're in the middle of a seismic shift and I hope the issues will be resolved soon." — and congratulated his fellow honoree.

Zucker's speech might've set a record for expediency. I didn't time it but it felt like it couldn't have lasted more than 5-7 minutes. Geez, I had barely finished my key lime dessert. As soon as he was done, he introduced John Mayer to sing a few numbers for the crowd and that was it.

With a meal that started around 7:30, I was in my car by 8:50 (though I didn't sit through all of Mayer's performance), making for a short evening. Maybe it was Zucker's master plan, as he hoped people would be home to watch "Heroes" at 9. "We could use the eyeballs," he said, not kidding.

The quick night wasn't a bad thing at all. Just wasn't expecting the lovefest to end so soon.

— Stuart Levine

(Photo courtesy of Kevin Parry/Paley Center for Media)

Congrats to this year's She Made It honorees. The Paley Center for Media's ongoing tribute to femmes in TV and radio announced an eclectic batch of 50 honorees for 2007.

List includes one of my heroes, Linda Ellerbee (pictured right). There are the no-brainers a la Gracie Allen and Jay Presson Allen; execs including Betty Cohen, Bonnie Hammer, Margaret Loesch, Abbe Raven and Lucie Salhany; journos including Nancy Dickerson, Betty Furness, Gwen Ifill, Andrea Mitchell, Hannah Storm, Nina Totenberg and Meredith Vieira; and multihyphenate creatives including Lee Grant, Salma Hayek, Marta Kauffman, Lynda La Plante, Shonda Rhimes (pictured left) and Jennifer Saunders. Third annual She Made It kudos are set for Dec. 6 in Gotham.

Complete list follows:

Perry Miller Adato

Gracie Allen

Jay Presson Allen

Candice Bergen

Frances Buss

Peggy Charren

May Chidiac

Betty Cohen

Judy Crichton

Nancy Dickerson

Margaret Drain

Rebecca Eaton

Linda Ellerbee

Betty Furness

Amy Goodman

Lee Grant

Bonnie Hammer

Salma Hayek

Maria Hinojosa

Gwen Ifill

Marta Kauffman

Barbara Kopple

Claire Labine

Lynda La Plante

Margaret Loesch

Nancy Malone

Caryn Mandabach

Mary Margaret McBride

Beth McCarthy Miller

Marilyn Suzanne Miller

Andrea Mitchell

Gloria Monty

Christine Ockrent

Suze Orman

Rosie O’Donnell

Abbe Raven

Shonda Rhimes

Martha Rountree

Radhika Roy

Lucie Salhany

Jennifer Saunders

Martha Stewart

Hannah Storm

Nina Totenberg

Ellen M. Violett

Meredith Vieira

Judith Cary Waller

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

Yang Lan

Paula Zahn

Actually, Tom Selleck and my Variety colleague Brian Lowry are old pals, having done the Q&A tango once before at an Academy of Television Arts & Sciences event. They reunited Tuesday night at the Paley Center for Media for "An Evening with Tom Selleck," which I'm genuinely sorry to have missed.

Girls of a certain age will always harbor the deepest of crushes on Mr. Magnum P.I. Thomas Magnum's short-shorts drove us crazy. And like all great leading men, Selleck only gets better looking with age.

(Pic by Kevin Parry/Paley Center for Media)

Hard to believe a late night cable show involving stop-motion animation and action-figure parodies of celebs, kidvid and other aspects of pop culture (and relentlessly sophomoric sexual humor) could warrant the museum treatment. But sure enough, Adult Swim's utterly ridiculous "Robot Chicken" was the subject of a jawboning "Media as Lens" sesh at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills on Monday night.

Alas, events conspired to keep me from attending but I'm told it was good, surreal fun and that series co-creator/writer/director/voice cast member Seth Green charmed the hard-core fans who showed up. (That must've been a little scary for the Paley Center folks.) For the uninitiated, click here for all the "Robot Chicken" clips and genitalia jokes you could ever want.

(Pictured above, from left: Adult Swim senior veep Keith Crofford, Seth Green and "Robot Chicken" co-creator Matthew Senreich. Pic by Kevin Parry/Paley Center)

I walked out of the Paley Center for Media in Bev Hills a tiny bit unsatisfied after taking in "The Bob Newhart Show" reunion tonight. The discussion among the core cast members (minus Peter Bonerz) was fun and funny, but low key. There were no jaw-dropping anecdotes or side-splitting stories of episodes gone wrong or saved in the clutch by a quick-witted crew member, etc. But it hit me by the time I got to my car. In all of its low-key-ness, it was the perfect tribute to "The Bob Newhart Show."

As discussed by Newhart and panelists Suzanne Pleshette, Marcia Wallace, Bill Daily, Jack Riley and helmer Dick Martin, "Bob Newhart" was a quiet ground-breaker in its 1972-78 run on CBS. While "Mary Tyler Moore," "All in the Family" and "MASH" soaked up the headlines for being convention-busting and envelope-pushing, Bob and Emily Hartley quietly shot scenes in bed together, with the emphasis on together. Newhart staked his claim to "Bob Newhart" being the first TV comedy to eschew twin beds for a more realistic queen-size mattress. And as fans of the show know, those talking-in-bed scenes are some of "Bob Newhart's" greatest moments.

Also unusual for the era was the concept that from the get-go, there were no kids in the picture for Bob and Emily, despite the fact that they obviously had the hots for each other; maybe Emily a little more so than Bob. As Pleshette put it in her trademark gravely-snarky voice, "If you listen quietly (in the bedroom scenes) you can hear me sticking my foot up his ass" to get her co-star going in the intimate setting.

Pictured above left: Suzanne Pleshette and Bob Newhart. Above right, clockwise from top, Marcia Wallace, Bill Daily, Jack Riley, Pleshette, Newhart and Dick Martin. Pics courtesy Paley Center/Kevin Parry Photography.

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.