Elizabeth Banks is set to appear on "30 Rock's" Valentine's Day episode, this Thursday, as a CNBC reporter that hits it off with Jack Donaghy during an interview. It sounds like a great premise for Jack to fall for one of his sister network's Money Honeys (© Maria Bartiromo), especially if they bond over their love of frictionless, synergistic co-branding opportunities in internationally attractive markets. Actually, knowing the "30 Rock" writers love of in-references, I bet they could make that sentence into something dirty and hilarious. (It is already kind of dirty and hilarious if you think about it like that.) In any event, Banks talks about her upcoming role above, and even teaches us a valuable lesson: If your job takes you to Pittsburgh, there's still hope that Tina Fey will call you and sweep you back to New York.

There's no question that there's outrage in America over bonuses paid out to executives at multiple-bailout recipient AIG -- my esteemed colleague Robb was telling us about it earlier. But once you get past people being all mad about it and ask what exactly it was that AIG did (poorly) or why the federal government would judge that the company should receive bailouts lest its failure take down the entire economy, or whatever? I don't know a derivative from a hole in the ground. Thank God for MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, who laid it all out for David Letterman last night -- and so clearly and genially, too. You know, I love it when Jon Stewart gives the gears to some boneheaded hypocrite as much as the next guy, but he's getting to be a little smug in his bully pulpit. If he decides to quit reading his own press and retire from "The Daily Show," can Rachel Maddow please take his place?

Jon Stewart had Jim Cramer on "The Daily Show" last night, bringing their media-constructed rivalry to a close. Stewart came out as the aggressor, pinning Cramer with damning quotes from an interview he recorded in Dec. 2006, high times in the financial services industry. Cramer, on the other hand, didn't fight back. He was nothing but apologetic, seeing that the stock market crash has all but destroyed his alpha-male, chest beating persona. In fact, Cramer came off like the man he actually is: a talented money manager with two degrees from Harvard, fully aware of the egg on his face. There was no sign of the raving lunatic spouting about the markets.

But Stewart attacked Cramer for more than just his show. Cramer served as the de-facto representitive of CNBC, seemingly responsible for all their bad advice and pro-America cheerleading. It was much like Stewart's legendary "Crossfire" appearance where he ripped apart Tucker Carlson for being a pundit (albeit a particularly awful one). Except unlike Carlson, Jim Cramer didn't try to defend himself.

Hit "continue reading" to see all three parts of the interview, but I think it's safe to say that the Jim Cramer we're used to, like the clip above, got a muzzle thrown on him last night.

On last night's "Late Show," Andy Kindler did us all a real service by actually visiting the New York Stock Exchange, as well as several leading financial and economic experts, to help explain what in the hell is going on with the economy right now. Over the course of his exploration, he tries to top Cramer vs. Not Cramer by inciting a feud between Fed chairman Ben Bernanke and CNBC personality Maria Bartiromo, and sits very patiently while Paul Krugman finds about a dozen new ways to bum us all out.

Yesterday, CNBC personality Jim Cramer went on "Today" to discuss the stock market while standing around awkwardly. (I mean, I know he's made some bad recommendations lately, but brother can't get a chair?) Toward the end of Cramer's chat with Meredith Viera, she brought up the ongoing feud between Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central, and...well, kind of all of CNBC, but particularly Cramer himself. Viera's questions were very timely, considering that Stewart had just torn Cramer another new one the previous night; it's after the jump.

It's great when talk-show hosts can get together and riff off each other, and last night's "Late Show" was no exception. Jon Stewart continued his campaign against financial journalists in general (and CNBC in particular), kicked off on Wednesday night after Rick Santelli cancelled on him, but concludes by taking a hilarious detour into defending Nadya "Octomom" Suleman...kind of.

But that's not all! PLEASE continue reading.

Last week, you had probably never even heard of CNBC reporter Rick Santelli, who covers the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for the network. (You might not have even heard of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.) But last week, Santelli suddenly sprang to prominence by having a Jim Cramer-esque hissyfit on the floor of said Exchange, strenuously objecting to the notion that the Obama administration wants to make you pay for your neighbor's house not to get foreclosed. Santelli thus actually became news, forcing the "NBC Nightly News" to do a segment on him (above). Even the White House (in the form of Robert Gibbs) had to correct Santelli on the particulars of the plan (and then Santelli had to respond to the response), and now that Paul Scheer has done his own gloss on SantelliGate, we can probably consider the matter closed. Scheer's video is after the jump.

New York magazine's Daily Intel blog says that Wal-Mart might be interested in purchasing the Union Square retail space soon to be vacated by bankrupt Circuit City. The story cites a comment from an anonymous Circuit City sales associate and a follow-up call from The Villager newspaper, who contacted a Wal-Mart spokesperson. Though the chain claimed they had "no announced projects in the city," Daily Intel points out that the comment is a non-denial denial.

Time will tell if there's any truth to the rumor, but if Wal-Mart wants the space, history shows it will probably get it. In my hometown, we fought the big-box chain off once, only to have it eventually open a store anyway. In any event, New Yorkers, check out "The Age of Wal-Mart," a CNBC documentary, above, to learn the pros and cons of we can expect from our superstore.