4 posts tagged “30 rock”

Saturday Night Live was actually pretty funny for a change.  This season has been particularly weak with key departures and budget cutting dismissals leaving a lean cast.  This week with Alec Baldwin as host was both cameo and laugh packed.  The Carpool, Platinum Lounge and Tony Bennett sketches were highlights.  The very rude punchline about Bobby McFerrin in the carpool sketch was hilarious and worked only because of Baldwin's pitch-perfect deadpan.

And speaking of Alec Baldwin, he who is en fuego this year (he was also awesome in The Departed) elevates 30 Rock from just enjoyable to must see.  30 Rock moves to Thursday in NBC's schedule shuffle in yet another attempt to recapture Thursday night comedy block glory.

Studio 60 is another story altogether.  I am a fan of NBC for giving full-season orders for Studio 60 and Friday Night Lights even though I don't watch FNL and may give up on Studio 60.  It's great that NBC is giving both these shows time to find their audiences instead of dumping them at the first sign of weak ratings for two more hours of Deal or No Deal.  I wanted to like FNL after the constant critical praise it's received but it just didn't click with me and I barely made it through the first episode.  Studio 60 had enough in the pilot to keep me coming back to see if I could get into it.  But after last night's episode (part 2 of "Nevada Day") I just don't know that I can keep watching.  I didn't laugh, chuckle or even crack a smile for the entire hour.  Some argue that it's a drama and therefore doesn't have to make you laugh.  But given that it's about a comedy show and that they show pieces from the fictional show-within-the-show, there should be some humor.  And for the drama part, I have to at least care about the characters.  There is little to invest me in the characters other than the dialogue that tells me how I should perceive the characters (e.g. Matt and Harriet have chemistry because they used to be a couple when there is no chemistry on screen).

I still think there is hope but I'll join the chorus of viewers giving notes to Aaron Sorkin: 1. Matt and Danny have chemistry, Matt and Harriet do not.  Shift the focus.  2. Even when trying to be fair and balanced your discussion of issues is too heavy handed - I felt beaten about the head and ears with the whole gay marriage thing.  Bringing up topical, sensitive and thorny issues is a good thing - preaching, especially to the choir, is not so good.  3. Show some action to make us care about the characters rather than taking it as a given.  Regardless of the debate over the context of his introduction, the character Darius (the black comic newly hired as a writer) was shown as vulnerable (bombing on stage with his too-literate, not-base-enough comedy) so I buy his nervous unsure efforts in the writing room and care about him and can root for him.  You just telling me that Tom is one of the "big three" and that he has groupies means I don't buy it and nor do I care about him getting out of jail in time to get back and do the show.  Make me care, Sorkin!  I want to like your show not just admire it intellectually.

So if you have room in your life for only one SNL or SNL-inspired show, I'd say pick the shortest and funniest one: 30 Rock.

The best laid plans... so done in by work, migraines, drama and several hours fussing with my TV and DVR setup...

Anyhoo - on to the TV!

Wednesday: 30 Rock once again featured no "girlies" past or present which is a mixed blessing but, hey, more Alec Baldwin, yay! ... Lost - darn it, I was right about who got died - memo to ABC - don't promo that someone is going to die on Lost and then promo by name that an actor from Lost will be making the talk show rounds the day after that episode!  The Nine continues on its maddening pace but I'm intrigued enough to keep watching... Top Chef picked up a bit after the lackluster first couple of episodes but it still seems like the "characters" are edited a little too closely to match last season's cast.

Thursday had another fun Ugly Betty, but no Justin!  What up with that?  After his fabulous Halloween Gene Kelley dance break how could you leave his energy out of an episode?  And focusing on the story about the Dad being a killer illegal immigrant is a downer.  More Justin and less immigration drama, please.  However, Debi Mazar guesting as an immigration lawyer was a kick so maybe a little more immigration drama... Roseanne Barr was enjoyable as a guest item on Earl's karma list... The Office was my favorite episode I've seen.  I haven't drunk the kool-aid on this show and I generally find it amusing though sometimes repetitive in the jokes.  At times the humor in Michael's cluelessness wears thin.  However, this "Diwali" episode written by Mindy Kaling (who plays Kelly) was freakin' genius.  And Jim and Andy, drunk and rolling around on the floor singing "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls... I'm still giggling... ER continues to benefit from John Stamos' injection of Clooney-esque bad boy rebelliousness.

Skipping to Friday (saving the best for last) - I got hipped to Battlestar Gallactica too late and now I want to play catch-up before getting into it.  Someday I'll rent it all and learn what I'm missing.

Saturday is a complete wasteland now that NBC isn't even burning off the remaining episodes of Kidnapped.

Sunday is, of course, all about The Wire.  And, just a spoiler alert note, HBO has started offering the next week's episode of some shows, including The Wire, a week prior to when it runs in its scheduled time slot.  So, if you visit some sites that cover the show they will have recaps of the On Demand episode up several days before it runs on Sunday.  Just be careful with your clicking if you hate spoilers.

Today is Monday and that means watching How I Met Your Mother and it should be interesting to appreciate anew the awesomeness of Neil Patrick Harris' acting abilities and his portrayal of womanizing Barney and, even playing "himself" in the hilarious Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle now that he's outed himself.  Recording Everybody Hates Chris and Girlfriends, and Studio 60 which I appreciate more intellectually than emotionally.  I'm hoping it will grip me more but if, as rumors persist, it goes away, I don't think I'll be too sad except for the fact that it means NBC will give us more game shows.

OK - the best thing in the past week (other than The Wire) was the return of The OC.  Seriously, wonderfully, awesome.  And the music was perfect.  "A Bad Dream" by Keane came at the end, but bookending the show was Placebo's cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill."

"If I only could, make a deal with God, and get him to swap our places..." 

The perfect soundtrack to this episode which showed the ways in which those Marissa left behind were continuing to mourn her 5 months after her tragic demise.  The show benefits from the absence of Mischa Barton's sulky, slouchy Marissa.  It gives Ryan's brooding the appropriate weight in the show's balance and keeps his Fight Club life from going too over the top.  We got Luke's younger twin brothers as Kaitlin's lap dogs - hopefully this means that somehow Luke will make his way back to be Ryan's pal once Seth goes off to RISD.

Unfortunately, the viewership for this airing was abismally low.  So Fox is playing around with the schedule and will run the next two on Wednesday and Thursday.  The show is up against too much fire power either way but perhaps, if it can survive this week, Fox can run it against Day Break once it subs in for Lost.  I just hope that Fox doesn't give up and dump the show before even finishing off the shortened final season.  And, hopefully, Josh Schwartz will spare us any more Olivers or Johnnys to disrupt the flow now that Marissa is gone.