Paul Ryan took on one of the toughest jobs in our annual political cycle Tuesday night, as the Republican congressman offered his party's response to the president's State of the Union speech.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal offered the GOP response to a presidential address to Congress early in 2009 and became the butt of jokes that compared his sing-song voice to Kenneth, the goofy page on NBC's "30 Rock."

Have you heard much about Bobby Jindal lately?

The comparison of the two is always jarring. The president speaks in an historic chamber surrounded by the men women who wield national power. Usually, the response comes from a lone Republican, speaking to the camera.

In this case, Ryan performed well. I'm not looking at the substance of what he said. You can find plenty of analysis of his argument elsewhere.

It's his TV performance that interests me. And I think it's safe to say that Tuesday's GOP response didn't kill his national career. In fact, the speech probably helped his growing reputation as a rising Republican.

The boyish looking Ryan, with a shock of dark hair, cuts a vigorous figure on camera. He spoke plainly, if a bit wonkishly.

He offered phrases that stuck out from the wonk words, like "tipping point."

The next sentence didn't flow as smoothly as written, "We are at a moment, where if government's growth is left unchecked and unchallenged, America's best century will be considered our past century."

But, generally, Ryan read the speech well, and came off as sincere, and concerned about the fate of the nation.

While the president pushed optimism and hope, Ryan talked of crisis, warning the U.S. could follow the financial messes of Greece and Ireland.

But he maintained a flicker of hope about fixing the nation's problems.

"We still have time ... but not much time."

Ryan should be pretty satisfied with his prime-time appearance. He's definitely not this year's Bobby Jindal.

Here's the video of his speech:

Green and gold TV: The Green Bay Packers are so powerful that they can push Fox's "Glee" back an hour -- at least on Channel 6. The Fox affiliate, which is carrying the Super Bowl, got the OK from the network to delay the post-game airing of "Glee" on Feb. 6.

Channel 6 released its schedule for the day of the big game, starting with a locally produced pregame special at 10 a.m. Network coverage starts at 11 a.m. with "The Road to the Super Bowl" and runs through a half-hour post-game show scheduled to start around 9 p.m.

Channel 6's post-game special airs around 9:30, followed an hour later by "Glee" and Channel 6's late news airs around 11:30 p.m.

On TV: Milwaukee Public TV launches an eight-part series tonight looking at the challenges of finding a job in southeast Wisconsin. "Jobs" airs at 9 p.m. on Channel 10.

• Channel 58 is shuffling its weekday afternoon schedule in anticipation of the departure of Oprah Winfrey this fall. Starting Monday, "Ellen" moves to 4 p.m., and "the Doctors" goes to 2 p.m. "Dr. Oz" remains in the 3 p.m. slot.
• Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, has joined NBC News as a political analyst. He'll appear on the NBC and MSNBC.
• MTV's raunchy "Skins" lost more than half the audience of its premiere in Tuesday's second episode, just as it's losing advertisers because of the Parents' Television Council. Nielsen Media Research counted 1.6 million viewers this week.
• Oprah Winfrey's heavily-hyped unveiling of a "family secret"-- a half-sister from Milwaukee named Patricia -- earned her show its biggest audience in six years, according to the Hollywood Reporter's Live Feed.

Milwaukee's time in the network spotlight: Last summer's Milwaukee auditions for Fox's "American Idol" are the focus of tonight's two-hour episode of the "reality" competition at 7 p.m. on Channel 6.

Here's a little sample of what you'll see tonight (No, I don't think this guy made it to Hollywood):