I was in the second year of my career as a TV critic when NBC presented its golden anniversary prime-time celebration, NBC: The First 50 Years. That 1976 special was four-and-a-half hours long, and hosted by Orson Welles. Forty years later, with almost twice as much network history to celebrate, tonight’s The Paley Center for Media Salutes NBC’s 90th Anniversary special is only three hours long, and is hosted by Kelsey Grammer. But as a TV historian and long-time critic, I applaud the presence of this special – TV looks back at itself way too seldom, especially in any critical or socially relevant sense. And looking back, in 2017, may be more comforting than looking forward.