The Second City e.t.c won three well-deserved Jeff Awards Monday night for its latest sketch show, Studs Terkel’s Not Working. In the revue category it took home awards for best production, best director Matt Hovde and best actress Amanda Blake Davis. I loved the show and Davis especially stood out among the excellent ensemble. The e.t.c. revues have been rocky of late, so it’s a joy to see the theater back in fine form. The Second City also won a tribute award in honor of its 50th anniversary year.

Speaking of which, the Second City is celebrating its 50th anniversary weekend with a series of panel discussion the weekend of December 12-13. It announced the full lineup yesterday. Tickets for each panel are $25 and will be available for purchase at The Second City Theater Box Office at 312-337-3992 beginning today at 10am and online at secondcity.com. Here is the complete lineup with my geeky thoughts and opinions included.

Saturday, December 12

10:00am: The Colbert Report featuring writers Peter Grosz and Peter Gwinn as well as co-Executive Producer Tom Purcell (Second City is mining the Colbert zeitgeist with this one, but we’re not complaining about the lineup. Grosz was awesome at the Second City and let’s not forget Gwinn is the brains behind the ridiculous improvised musical Baby Wants Candy.)

11:30am: SCTV — featuring Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Eugene Levy and fellow cast members (The Second City is reuniting the entire SCTV cast for big ticket show on Friday 11. If you can’t shell out the bucks for that, this is your affordable alternative.)

1:00pm: “Voices of Diversity at The Second City” — featuring Chicago’s own Aaron Freeman, Keegan Michael Key of MAD TV and Gary Unmarried, Angela Shelton and Frances Callier of Frangela, Suzy Nakamura of Curb Your Enthusiasm and The West Wing as well as current Second City resident company actors Christina Anthony and Anthony LeBlanc (Suzy Nakamura and Keegen Michael Key both rocked my world during their Second City stints and I’ve since caught Frangela’s ladies in their post Chicago gigs. Ensemble diversity has been problematic in the past; this one sounds very intriguing.)

2:30pm: 30 Rock — featuring cast members Scott Adsit and Jack McBrayer as well as staff writer Kay Cannon (I’m in this for Adsit. I saw him three times in Pinata Full of Bees and his teeny, tiny role on Rock doesn’t do his talents justice.)

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

1:00pm: “Second City: From Stage to Screen” — featuring Jim Belushi, Betty Thomas, Bob Odenkirk of Mr. Show and more (Mediocre sitcoms aside, Belushi was a helluva improviser back in the day. Weirdo Odenkirk was with the Second City for a hot minute, but we’ll take his sly wit any day and Thomas busted boundaries back when women were treated like props at Second City. This one’s a winner.)

2:30pm: Saturday Night Live — featuring SNL alums Tim Kazurinsky, Horatio Sanz and Rachel Dratch as well as current SNL staff writer John Lutz (Given the number of alum plucked by SNL from Second City over the years, this lineup is odd to be sure, but I don’t doubt these folk will have some interesting stories to share.)

4:00pm: “Second City in the Sixties” — featuring Alan Arkin, Fred Willard, Robert Klein, original cast member Mina Kolb along with Second City co-founder Bernie Sahlins and Artistic Consultant Sheldon Patinkin (Arkin, Willard and Klein + Sahlins, Kolb and Patinkin all in one room = best day of my life ever. The one show I won’t miss.)