Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

NBC's Thursday stalwarts, "My Name is Earl," "The Office" and "ER" joined forces with the new comedy "Kath & Kim" and the first of three Thursday "Saturday Night Live" election specials to propel the network to its highest Thursday rating in 18-49 since last March, excluding sports, according to "fast affiliate-based" "live plus same day" viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research. NBC finished within one rating point of the nightly lead in adults 18-49 and won this highly competitive Thursday in adults and men 18-34, pending updates. "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday" began its three-week Thursday run with a 47 percent gain over NBC's time-period averages last season in adults 18-49. "It's already been a historic season for 'Saturday Night Live,' with its earliest premiere ever and its biggest audiences in 14 years," commented Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC ...

Multiple award nominee Jason Lee has been recognized with two Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Television Series and two Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor for his starring role as Earl Hickey on NBC's hit comedy series "My Name Is Earl" which airs Thursday nights at 8 PM on WKYC. Lee not only stars, but also serves as a producer on the show about a hapless crook who has an epiphany after winning a small fortune in the lottery. Determined to change his karma, he sets out to right all the wrongs he's inflicted on people. To date, "My Name Is Earl" has received the People's Choice Award, two Television Critics Association Awards, a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, and Emmys for executive producers Garcia and Buckland for writing and directing, respectively. Born and raised in Huntington Beach, California, Lee turned a childhood pastime of skateboarding ...