New receptionist Erin (played by Ellie Kemper) on The Office has become quite the partner in crime for Mindy Kaling's pop culture-obsessed Kelly, and now the two have put together a pop group called Subtle Sexuality, whose music video "Male Prima Donna," along with two short webisodes about its creation, can be watched on the NBC website. It has nothing to do with any particular Office episode, but it's amusing on its own, and features more of Kelly and Ryan's depressingly codependent relationship.

This past week's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia featured Mac and Dennis devising the brilliant novelty item known as the Dick Towel, and now those curious about this useless, crass bathroom accessory can go to its official website for a hilariously pathetic commercial (warning: kind of explicit) and, apparently, the chance to order your very own Dick Towel. If anyone buys one, please illuminate us in the comments.

Photo courtesy of NBC

Things are going pretty well for NBC's acclaimed sitcom 30 Rock (although honestly I've found the current fourth season a little disappointing): This week, 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin and onetime 30 Rock guest star Steve Martin were named as the hosts for this year's Academy Awards (airing March 7, 2010), which is a somewhat odd but intriguing pairing. Oscars producers have been trying to shake things up with their hosting choices, and pairing two actors together who aren't known as a team is certainly an unexpected way to go. Martin has hosted solo before, but will his deadpan style mesh with Baldwin's more over-the-top personality? Will they do comedy bits together, or alternate the spotlight? It'll certainly be interesting to watch (and probably give a big boost in visibility to 30 Rock).

The show could probably use the help in Germany, where it debuted as the flagship show on a new cable network with a 0.0 rating, meaning it pulled in fewer than 5,000 viewers. Granted, the show is already available on DVD and online in Germany, and aired on a fledgling channel still struggling to find an audience, but that still isn't good news for potential worldwide success for the show, which does have a lot of U.S.-specific cultural references and humor.

If Germans like James Franco, maybe they'll be pleased that the increasingly odd actor (who just signed on to a two-month stint on daytime soap General Hospital apparently as part of some performance-art project) will be guest-starring on 30 Rock, playing himself, getting into a publicity-generating manufactured romance with Jane Krakowski's Jenna Maroney. Sounds like just the sort of weird project Franco himself would pursue these days.

Photo courtesy of NBC

In continuing with its tradition of giving every popular stand-up comedian his or her own showcase series for at least one season, Comedy Central has announced that Nick Swardson, perhaps best known to Comedy Central viewers as rollerskating gay prostitute Terry on Reno 911! (he's also a frequent Adam Sandler sidekick), will have his own six-episode sketch series sometime next year. Swardson's stand-up special, Seriously, Who Farted?, premiered on Comedy Central last month, and you can get an idea of his comedy style from that title. The show doesn't really sound like it will have a new approach other than to let Swardson do his thing; whatever happened to building a sketch-comedy show around a group of people? I don't think Comedy Central has had a troupe-based show since the end of Upright Citizens Brigade, and I kind of doubt Swardson will be able to carry a whole series on his own.

Photo courtesy of Comedy Central

It's silly anymore to complain that TV Land has strayed from its original mission of reairing classic TV programming. Over the years, the network has switched from playing vintage shows to playing recent repeats, and has started filling its schedule with crass reality shows and pointless awards. So if we're stuck with the TV Land of today, at least we may be getting some original sitcoms rather than shows about rich people hosted by Joan Rivers. The network has given the green light to two comedy pilots, which stand a good chance of ending up on the TV Land schedule.

Hot in Cleveland is about three middle-aged Los Angeles women who end up unexpectedly living in Cleveland and discover they love it there. Retired at 35 is about a New York City businessman who leaves the fast-paced life behind to move back in with his parents in their Florida retirement community. Granted, these sound like totally hacky, cliched premises, and both rely on the "big city types clash with laid-back small-town life" trope that has fueled countless sitcoms (including ABC's currently failing Hank), but it's nice to see shows that are focused on the lives of people over 35 (especially women), and even if this is a shaky start, it's also good to see another network giving original comedy a chance. If ABC Family can turn in surprisingly decent original programming, there's no reason to think TV Land couldn't as well.

Courtesy of TV Land