— DIANE CLEHANE

If you felt the tremors in midtown around lunchtime, you weren't imagining things. There were so many honchos and heavy weights at Michael's today it's amazing 55th Street didn't buckle under its own weight. But when Alec Baldwin came strolling in for a late lunch there were more than a few of us who held our breath waiting to see if there would be fireworks when the actor who plays the egomaniacal television exec Jack Donaghy with such gusto on 30 Rockcame face-to-face with the guys that clearly must provide him with a little inspiration. Sorry to disappoint the tabs, but there was nothing but glad handing all around.

I was lunching today with my pal Tony Hoyt who knows everyone. While I kept my eye on the Tinseltown twosome of Baldwin and Natasha Richardson (who was seated a few tables away), Tony filled me in on the goings on of practically every publishing exec in the room — and believe me that's saying something. He's also been one of Michael's most faithful patrons since his early days in Santa Monica. "I knew him when he was just a young punk!" jokes Tony. A longtime publishing consultant who has been at the helm of many a masthead including Cosmopolitan and The National Enquirer, Tony has got a top secret big deal cooking at the moment. We'll be the first to know when there's news, yes? We talked about plenty over lunch including our mutual friend Dominick Dunne who is currently undergoing treatment for bladder cancer. Turns out Tony has known 'Nick' forever and recently had dinner with everyone's favorite writer. "He's hard a work finishing the novel," reports Tony. Here's to your speedy recovery — we can't wait to read the book!

Here's the rundown on today's crowd:

1. Les Moonves, Bruce Wasserstein and a mystery man...

2. Showtime's CEO Matt Blank , who was nice enough to introduce me to AMI's David Pecker. Matt and I had a great chat for my next So What Do You Do interview coming out next week. In it, the affable and formidable long time premium cable vet weighs in on everything from where he gets his best ideas (he reads everything) to his impressive slate of new pilots (We're dying to see Edie Falco in her first starring role since hanging up Carmela Soprano's acrylic nails — fingers crossed!) Today I asked Matt about the serendipitous timing of Secret Diary of a Call Girl — a British show Showtime bought at the end of last year. "Since Eliot Spitzer got caught with his pants down we look incredibly smart — and very lucky," says Matt. Indeed. Word is British actress Billie Piper makes Ashley Dupre look like an amateur. Don't miss it!

3. First seating: Playboy CEO Christie Hefner and Huffington Post CEO Betsy Morgan. Second shift: Alec Baldwin and a young lady who seemed more than a bit nervous waiting for him to arrive.

4. Gerald Schoenfeld and two lovely ladies.

5. Barry Diller and Rob Weisenthal.

6. Jeffrey Katzenberg and HBO's Richard Plepler.

7. Joni Evans holding court with a table full of pals.

8. Gerry Byrne and a gent we haven't met...

9. Tad Smith (Happy Birthday!) and Kevin Ferazzi.

10. Phoebe Eaton whose piece in this week's New York on the "The YouTube Divorcee" is a must read...

11. Natasha Richardson looking drop dead gorgeous all in ivory and sporting a curled bob with supper club chanteuse Marti Stevens. The lovely Natasha clearly held the dining room in her thrall. Alec Baldwin gave her hand a courtly kiss. Barry Diller couldn't help himself and snuck up from behind to give her an affectionate squeeze on his way out. The rest of the guys just worshipped from afar...

12. Sports Illustrated 's Terry McDonnell and Dan Patrick.

14. Alice Mayhew.

15. Yours truly and Tony Hoyt.

16. Men's Health honcho Dave Zinczenko, Best Life editor Steve Perrine and Noah Oppenheim.

18. David Rosenthal and Rick Kaplan.

20. Steven Rubenstein and guest.

22. Nina Link.

23. Condé Nast's David Carey (See you on the train to Scarsdale!) and two impressive looking fellows. Tony introduced me to David who told me his 14 year old twins are taking the SAT's this weekend. Good luck! Busy dad David also has another set of twins aged 10. The mind reels at the amount of homework that most be done on a nightly basis in that house!

24. Martin Puris.

25. Tom Goodman who has been hard at work on the opening of the Museum at Bethel Woods (thanks for the thank you!) and Rick Marks vice president of sales of Health Club Panel Network.

26. Hearst's publicity maven Deb Shriver and Sally Susman. How's the new job? Email us and let us know...

27. The always dapper Chuck Pfeiffer and a table full of pals.

28. Don Epstein.

29. Pamela Keogh — wearing vintage YSL as an homage to the legendary designer accessorized with her Obama pin — with her Locust Valley pal Nancy Tilghman. If you don't have a copy of her latest book, What Would Audrey Do? drop everything and go out and get one now.

30. My good friend Andrew Heyward and Shelley Palmer.

Please send comments and corrections to DianeClehane AT mediabistro Dot com and lunch at mediabistro DOT com.