Actor Alec Baldwin has already demonstrated his interviewing ability on public radio and now he's taking it back to TV with a new weekly talk show on MSNBC.

Baldwin will host "Up Late w/ Alec Baldwin" on Friday nights on the cable news channel starting in October, the network announced Thursday.

The show is expected to cover culture and current events, much the same way Baldwin has covered those topics in his radio show and podcast, "Here's the Thing," which has aired on public radio in New York since 2011.

In a statement, Baldwin said, "After two seasons of my WNYC podcast, I've developed a fondness for hosting a show that involved talking with smart, talented, and engaging people in every imaginable field. I'm grateful to MSNBC for helping me bring a similar show to television."

Baldwin's absence from TV hasn't been very long at all. His seven-season run on NBC's "30 Rock" came to an end in May. Baldwin tried out as an MSNBC host briefly last year when he sat in the anchor chair for a broadcast of "Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell." MSNBC says Baldwin's show will tape at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York.

ScarJo is engaged!

Actress Scarlett Johansson is engaged, reported People magazine, saying the diamond Art Deco ring she debuted this week was fiance Romain Dauriac's engagement gift to her. Johansson, 28, who was previously married to actor Ryan Reynolds, got fans talking when she hit the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival in a sexy black dress with the gigantic accessory. The Frenchman reportedly popped the question a month or so ago.

Baldwin

Angelou to receive book award

The book world is finally honoring Maya Angelou. The poet and author of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" will be this year's recipient of the Literarian Award, an honorary National Book Award for contributions to the literary community, the National Book Foundation announced Thursday.

It is the first major literary prize for Angelou, 85, who has been celebrated everywhere from the Grammy Awards to the White House. She has received three Grammys for best spoken word album, a National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor. Angelou said she couldn't wait to be in the same room as "some very big names in the literary world" and that the Literarian prize made her feel that she was "picking in high cotton." Angelou has been in frail health and is expected to only make a brief appearance at the awards dinner and ceremony on Nov. 20.

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