Alec Baldwin To Co-Host TCM's 'The Essentials'

Alec Baldwin has been signed to co-host Turner Classic Movies' The Essentials -- the weekly movie showcase (Saturday at 8 p.m.) co-hosted by Robert Osborne.

The new season--it's ninth--premieres in March 2009. Baldwin has been a guest-programmer for the network--stars and others get to pick their favorites--and this year hosted a special on comic actor Gene Wilder.

Osborne took over the hosting duties of the show in 2005, co-hosting with Carrie Fisher in 2007 and Rose McGowan in 2008.

Baldwin continues to co-star with Tina Fey in NBC's 30 Rock, for which he snagged an Emmy. On the big screen, he was numerous credits and was nominated for an Oscar for The Cooler. He gave one of his most memorable performances in Glengarry Glen Ross.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.