Blah blah parental alienation ... What about me, Alec? The tiny slice of joy that is 30 Rock, shining a light into my otherwise dark Thursday nights, the sweet balm for my own alienation from most sitcoms?

[Seriously, though, quitting the show to devote more time to litigating against Kim is not going to help his relationship with his kid.] [NOT SELF-INTERESTEDIST]

He's way beyond totally humiliated and doesn't know what to do with himself, it seems. I wonder how his daughter is dealing with all this.

From Perez Hilton (I would link directly to it but his site is so freaking wonky in Firefox sometimes...ugh):

Verbally abusive daddy Alec Baldwin just filmed a segment on The View - set to air on Frdiay - about his unfortunate situation with daughter Ireland and ex-wife Kim Basinger.

And PerezHilton.com had a spy in the audience!

This is our snoop's first-hand account:

"I was just an audience member on the View this afternoon for their show that will air Friday. Alec Baldwin made a v. awkward appearance on the show. Rosie came out before the segment to prepare the audience for the "polite applause" we were supposed provide. She was really great, compassionate, funny and said she loved alec and they'd been friends for years but she has been trying to convince him not to do this interview. He seemed really all over the map - asking nbc to release him from his contract with 30 rock, went off about his battle for parental alienation prevention and pulled a little papa simpson talking about how much he loved his daughter and how he wakes her up by getting in bed with her and stroking her hair.

He really had me til he said the last bit but generally I feel for the guy, I think he's so out of it, lost and upset. Rosie told the audience during a commercial break that he had asked her every day for a week now to be on air to explain himself but she'd advised against it because people at the height of a problem shouldn't make rash decisions. He had threatened to leave the country and was totally ambivalent about his future in acting. He stuttered non-stop, really all over the map and didn't look at the audience once even tho there was a quasi-standing ovation when he walked in. Oh, and there's this weird bit at the end about his mom's voicemail about pumpkin seeds that translate to life that made him cry. Stay tuned on Friday!!!! "

You know, stuff like this makes me glad I'm not famous. The amount of scrutiny these people get put under, I don't know if anybody could come out looking good.

Me too. Never in a million years would I want to be famous.

I saw someone on CNN the other night, some Hollywood lawyer type I think, who said that the Alec-Kim custody battle is bigger and on a whole different scale than the typical rich person Hollywood custody battles.

There was a clip from Alec (from last year) talking about how he would never give up. That he meets fathers who talk to them about their own custody battles, who ultimately "give up" and stop litigating, but that he will never give up. Whatever the merits of his legal position (I'm sure there are merits on both sides), his resolve to keep fighting to the death made me sad.

[Aside: The phrase "parental alienation" is used by the "fathers' rights" people; Alec uses that phrase often, but doesn't seem to go on wholesale to the other (to me troubling) themes from fathers' rights world. But he's writing a book about these issues, so we will see.]

I can't imagine my worst moments being scrutinized by the world. Sometimes I imagine just a run-of-the-mill "investigation" of my life, googling or talking to my exes or whatever, and how bad an opponent could make me seem. Someone like Alec Baldwin faces a slew of people every day -- with cameras! -- who are dedicated to making him look ridiculous, bad, out of control, whatever sells.

Famous or not famous, it seems to me that if they were good enough to breed with, they're good enough to share custody. (unless there's violence or abuse involved.)

minor quibble:

The phrase "parental alienation" is used by the "fathers' rights" people

To the degree that this sentence implies that fathers' rights people use this term and concept more than other groups, I don't think that's right. As I noted in the prior thread on the whole Baldwin-Basinger mess, family courts (including judges, lawyers, and litigants on both sides) use this term quite a bit. I have used it in my practice when representing mothers to explain to the court that the father is purposefully manipulating the children's emotions against their mom.

Lassie -- what do you think about the AB-KB court battles? (It sounds like you've already opined in a thread I didn't see.)

In short, I, like most people here, think the whole thing's tragic for everybody involved. The thread you missed was here, and had a lot of wise, sympathetic comments from a lot of people.

I just don't see many winners at the end of family court custody and visitation proceedings, particularly when it comes to repairing fractured family dynamics. To be clear, I'm not talking about abuse and neglect proceedings, which are a whole different ball game and have a different cost-benefit analysis in my opinion.

But did anyone else see the episode where he was settling his divorce with Isabella Rossellini?
"You know how I love my Big Beef 'n' Cheddar."
His daughter could be the Arby's neither would let go.

I think you may be right, ethylene.

I didn't think I could dislike Kim Basinger any more (she is one of those women who is simpy ADDICTED to playing the victim), but if she takes my 30 Rock.....

30 Rock ain't going no where, i think it was just publicity. i feel bad for Kim, with her panic attacks and years of dealing with spastic tantrum Baldwin. It took her a long time to get a way from him.

I didn't think I could dislike Kim Basinger any more (she is one of those women who is simpy ADDICTED to playing the victim)

Baldwin: I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now.

Sounds like it runs in the family.

I totally think the Baldwin family is full of undiangnosed type 2 bipolars.

Alec needs to go have a long talk with his brother Stephen.

Would 30 Rock survive without him? Maybe, but it just wouldn't be the same.... Tina Fey is pretty funny, though; I hope she'd be able to keep bringing the funny.