“Saturday Night Live” will open its 30th season with a host making his second appearance on the show this year.

Ben Affleck has been tapped as host of the season premiere, scheduled for Oct. 2. “SNL’s” producers had asked former President Bill Clinton to be the host for the opener, but he declined. Rapper Nelly will be the musical guest.

The season premiere will be Affleck’s third turn as “SNL” host; he last had the honor less than seven months ago, shortly before the premiere of his film “Jersey Girl.” He also hosted in 2000 and has made a couple of cameo appearances as well.

‘Nip/Tuck’ bags Baldwin

Oscar and Emmy nominee Alec Baldwin will join the cast of “Nip/Tuck” for the show’s season finale next month.

He’ll play Dr. Barrett Moore, the ex-husband of “life coach” Ava Moore (Famke Janssen), who has succeeded mostly in disrupting the lives of the show’s lead characters. The episode is scheduled for Oct. 5.

Baldwin will be joined in the finale by Joan Rivers, who will come to Drs. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) for an unusual plastic-surgery consultation.

Traylor Howar joins ‘Monk’ cast

Traylor Howard, who’s starred in such shows as “Boston Common” and “Bram and Alice,” is joining the cast of USA Network’s “Monk.”

She’ll play a single mom and former bartender named Natalie who becomes neurotic detective Adrian Monk’s (Tony Shalhoub) new assistant. Howard replaces Bitty Schram, who left the show.

“Every successful series changes over the course of its life,” says Jeff Wachtel, head of original programming at USA. “We were fortunate to have Bitty Schram in our cast for 2 1/2 seasons, and we are thrilled to have Traylor Howard join our cast now.”

Executive producer David Hoberman pronounces himself “thrilled” to bring Howard aboard: “We fell in love with her during her audition, and we’re sure the audience will fall in love with her too.”

“Monk,” which is one of USA’s top-rated shows (originals draw about 5 million viewers a week), resumes filming its third season next week.

In addition to “Bram and Alice” and “Boston Common,” Howard starred in the ABC sitcom “Two Guys and a Girl” and the feature film “Me, Myself and Irene.” She also appears in the sequel “Son of the Mask,” set for release in February.

Bobby Brown show a go on Bravo

Bravo President Lauren Zalaznick says the cable network is about “providing programming that goes deep into the internal worlds of creative people.”

So the question with Bravo’s latest pickup is this: How deeply do you want to explore the internal world of Bobby Brown?

The network has ordered 10 one-hour episodes of “Being Bobby Brown,” an unscripted series that will follow the R&B singer, superstar wife Whitney Houston and their family for several months as they, in Bravo’s words, “put their respective lives back together.” It’s set to premiere in the first half of 2005.

Brown will serve as a co-executive producer of the show through his company, Brownhouze Entertainment; Atlanta-based studio B2 Entertainment is also involved.

“On the one side there is Bobby as he is portrayed in the media. On the flip side is Bobby as a person,” exec producer Tracey Baker says. “This show … is an introspective look at Bobby Brown the husband, father and friend. This is his story, told in his voice. Viewers can decide for themselves about what kind of man they think Bobby Brown really is.”

The putting-his-life-together aspect of “Being Bobby Brown” will likely focus in part on his legal troubles. He spent a day in jail in Massachusetts this spring in a child-support case and faces a charge of violating probation from an earlier DUI case. The show will also detail his efforts to return to the music charts.