It's been a big week for Brian Williams. Tonight, he guest-stars on 30 Rock. Last night, he emceed "Stand Up For Heroes," the star-studded annual charity show benefiting wounded returning soldiers via the Bob Woodruff Foundation, sharing the stage with Elvis Costello and his idol Bruce Springsteen. Sunday, he returned from a week spent in Afghanistan, alive and intact (it is something you can't underestimate in a paragraph that includes the name Bob Woodruff). His one big failing from the last week was not being able to do Leno, and many would regard that as a plus. (more...)

video Today we launch a new column: Do-Gooder, which will highlight all sorts of do-gooding initiatives by the kind of people who oughta be inscribed in The Book of Life on this Yom Kippur. I love this under-the-radar video from the Emmy red carpet, where director Jason Pollock asked Emmy-goers to step up and pledge their participation to public service in the name of iParticipate, a public-service initiative from the Entertainment Industry Foundation meant to encourage and promote service and volunteerism (that's Michelle Obama kicking it off). The collection of people proclaiming “I participate” here is pretty awesome, and sets a terrific example — fan faves no doubt include Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but there's also John Oliver and Rob Riggle, Tony Shalhoub, Sally Field, Padma Lakshmi,that Olivia Wilde that everyone’s so gaga for, Billy Bush, Ed Helms, Kate Walsh, Larry Wilmor, a towering and beefy Jimmy Smits, Dianne Wiest, Kevin Kline, Adrien Grenier, Phyllis and Angela from The Office, and Judah Friedlander as the French say, en chapeau. (more...)