Though last weekend's Emmys didn't give much praise to 30 Rock, fans have plenty to be pleased with for this coming season of the NBC's comedy series. On the red carpet before the Emmys, series star and writer Tina Fey revealed to EW that Jon Hamm will make an appearance on the previously announced live broadcast episode of season five.  Fey also threw out another season guest star: Paul Gamatti.  Appearing in the second episode of the season, he'll play a grouchy, Staten Island native who works in a cavernous editing room.  The guest stars of 30 Rock have become one of my favorite bits on the series, and as long as they keep them coming like this, then we'll all be happy.

After the jump check out casting news for Showtime's United States of Tara and their new forthcoming series Shameless.

After a couple seasons of quality programming, it was a disappointment to many that FX cancelled their gypsy-centric, con-family series The Riches starring Eddie Izzard.  Fortunately, Deadline reports that the brilliantly hilarious British comedian has signed on for a major recurring role on Showtime's United States of Tara, which stars Toni Collette as a wife and mother who struggles with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).  Izzard joins the series as Tara's psychology professor who starts as a skeptic of her disorder, but then finds himself fascinated with Tara and her condition to dive deeper into the mysteries of DID.  Aside from his comedic chops, Izzard certainly showed he can handle dramatic material quite well with his stint on The Riches, and I look forward to his return to television.

Finally, TheWrap reports that Joan Cusack has stepped up to replace Allison Janney in Showtime's Shameless.  The series follows a dysfunctional, drunken father, played by William H. Macy, and his six rebellious children.  Cusack, appearing in all twelve episodes of the first season, will play the Chicago housewife Sheila who has a horny teenage daughter.  Emmy Rossum also stars in the series as Macy's eldest daughter.  Cable television has been garnering all sorts of talent lately, and it certainly seems that the supposed gap between television and film actors is getting even smaller.