BabeWatch... Salma Hayek

The first season of 30 Rock was so dazzling, largely, because it was about a TV show. That is, the show followed a single woman, Tina Fey, running a weekly, live, late-night comedy show, dealing with writers, actors, bean-counting suits and, occasionally, her personal life. There was political and corporate satire, delicious tension between Liz and Jack, Alec Baldwin's character, and the sense we were getting a lot of thinly-disguised tidbits about life behind the scenes at Saturday Night Live. Like "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "Mary Tyler Moore," "SportsNight," and others, "30 Rock" looked destined to join the pantheon of great TV shows about TV shows.

Then came Sarah Palin, and the Wink Seen 'Round the World. Fey went from critical darling to national cover girl. Great for her, but the show went sour.

This season, crying for ratings, the character-driven comedy has given way to manic plotlines and stunt-casting, notably Jennifer Aniston, Steve Martin and Oprah. Thus far this season, we have watched Liz fall for a reclusive millionaire, give Christmas presents to poor kids, try to adopt a child, go to a high school reunion and hallucinate on a plane. The only thing she hasn't done is exhibit any interest in putting on a weekly comedy show.

Anyway, last night's shark-jumping guest star was Salma Hayek, who is still insanely hot.