Things took a turn toward the serious with Eddie Izzard in 'The Green Room with Paul Provenza' (Thu., 11PM ET on Showtime). The comics started talking about how comedy can be used to put forth serious ideas and raise serious issues.

Izzard stunned his fellow comics by announcing that he's going to run for political office.

He said that the comedy environment that's been fostered in the US and the UK means that "you can be comic philosophers where you just put out your idea of where things should go or what things should be or whatever. I think people want to listen to a voice."

As such, he explained his decision to enter politics. He said that in 2020 he'll either run for Mayor of London, or stand for election as an MP either in the UK or the European Parliament. While most of his fellow guests agreed he could win, and might even do well at it, Jimmy Carr couldn't understand it at all.

Robert and Stephanie Wilson were happily married for 22 years before appearing on 'The Marriage Ref' (Sundays, 9PM on NBC). They seemed to be deeply in love, with just one problem. Robert, a doctor, had a dream of becoming a vintner, and he happened to find a vineyard for sale ... in North Carolina. They were at an impasse, and clearly only will.i.am, Ali Wentworth, and Judah Friedlander were qualified to handle it.

Robert didn't have the qualifications to run a vineyard, but he did have two other guys who also knew nothing about vineyards who he could hire to work the place. Robert figured he was fine, and Stephanie obviously disagreed. "He started a garden this year in our backyard and we wound up reaping six jalapeno peppers and a three hundred dollar water bill because he kept on forgetting to turn off the sprinkler," she lamented.

Like Bob wrote the other day in his TV Squad review, 30 Rock is the kind of show that you have to watch and really pay attention to in order to get all the great lines and jokes. That includes the lids on Judah Friedlander's noggin. At a recent event, a New York Observer reporter cornered 30 Rock's Frank with a few questions ... all about his hats.

The baseball caps that Judah wears in every show -- and you never see him sans-hat -- are his own creation. It's a shtick that he began nearly two decades ago. "I've been making my own hats for years. I've been doing stand-up for 19 years and my hats have always said world champion in some language." See, the joke is that he's not the world champion of anything. Now, as one of the writers on TGS, Judah tailors his hats to the individual episode. Some are obvious jokes, some are in-jokes, nothing is accidental or unplanned.

First the apology, then the early look.

Dear Tina,

I've always liked 30 Rock, but I've never loved it. Maybe it was because my concentration was on Studio 60 or maybe it was because I wasn't in the right frame of mind when I watched the pilot. Or maybe I just didn't try to get into it because Thursday nights are really jam-packed (would it upset you to tell you that I watch Ugly Betty too?). I just never gave the show a chance to grow on me, though I did enjoy Alec Baldwin's performance as Jack.

Ninja Expert. ESP Tutor. Extra Sausage. Joystick Master. Bahama Trapezoid.

What do all these phrases have in common? They're all slogans that can be found on the many hats worn by the character Frank Rossitano on 30 Rock. Of course, if you read the headline to this post, you probably already figured that out, but thanks for playing anyway.