Daniel's TV Blog

30 Rock was one of the greatest shows of all times.  I'm sad to see it go but also so happy it was able to have a full life.  I'm so happy it finished with a call back to one of my favorite jokes of all time, The Rural Juror.  It was the Rural Juror episode which made me fall in love with the show.  It's what I call a Cookie Episode.  The opposite of the Jump The Shark episode, a Cookie Episode is when you love a episode so much that you are forever devoted to it.  For many fans that episode was the one with Paul Rubens, but for me it was the Rural Juror.  I listened to Jenna's song at the end several times then looked up the lyrics on the internet.  Here they are courtesy of Vulture.com.

The Irma Luhrman-Merman murder
Turned the bird's word lurid
The whir and the purr of a twirler girl
She would the world were demurer
The insurer's allure
For valor were pure Kari Wuhrer
One fervid whirl over her turgid error
Rural juror
Rural juror
I will never forget you
Rural juror
I'll always be glad I met you
Rural juror

I will never forget you
Rural juror
I'll always be glad I met you
Rural juror (x2)
These were the best days of my flerm.

The show also ended with a flash forward to see everyone having happy and successful lives and Kenneth still running the network 100 years in the future confirming his rumored immortal status. A perfect end to one of the most perfect shows.  Thanks NBC for seven wonderful seasons.

Labels: 30 Rock

It's hard to say what are my favorite comedies this season. 30 Rock is as funny as even and Parks and Recreation is getting really good. Community is a great addition to the Thursday night line-up. Last week Parks and Recreation was particularly good. The show could be about a bunch of characters who work together but don't like each other but instead it's a lot more fun with them being slightly annoyed at each other but not hating each other.

CBS has the good Monday night shows. HIMYM is great because the cast is so good. I love all the Robin Canada jokes. Big Bang Theory is always a laugh.

But the best new shows are on tonight on ABC. Modern Family is hilarious and Cougartown is a hot laugh riot with Courtney Cox even funnier than she was on Friends. I've skipped the other two and I've heard they suck. Here's the full video from the song the teenage boyfriend sang on the Shelly Long episode.

Labels: 30 Rock, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation

Yay, it's Tennis Night!

Labels: 30 Rock

Labels: 30 Rock

On the season finale of both SNL and the Family Guy they had jokes about fake show promos. Here's the Family Guy one from Hulu with the fake show Shovin' Buddies.

SNL had a whole skit with an identical joke about a fake show "Mark" that kept interrupting a sports talk show. Family guy went on to run this joke into the ground with "Crossed Armed Opposites" and "Slowly Rotating Black Man". This reminded me of some great fake TV shows.

• On an old episode of Married: With Children, Peg got the Fall Preview issue of TV guide and read the show descriptions. The only one I remember was "Nunsense" which I think stared Suzanne Somers as a nun getting into crazy adventures.
• On an episode of the Simpsons, the family watched a series of bad TV show based around catch phrases. These included "Talk to the Hand!" and "Don't Go There!".
• But the best fake TV show EVER is MILF Island. Watch this clip:
  

Labels: 30 Rock, Family Guy, SNL

I love a good Christmas episode. Last year we got royally screwed out of Christmas episodes because of the strike. But they are back this year. Tonight I'm looking forward to Christmas at 30 Rock. Liz is alone! Jenna sings! Stritchy returns as Jack's mom! It's going to be great.

Next week I'm looking forward to Chuck's Christmas episode. Besides being an awesome spy show, Chuck is a great show about a retail store. This year they already had a great Thanksgiving/Black Friday episode. Christmastime at the Buy More can't be anything but great, especially with a promised hostage situation.

Also up tonight is an Office Christmas and on Monday there is a gift giving fiasco at The Big Bang Theory.

Labels: 30 Rock, Chuck

30 Rock returns tonight. Today I was having lunch with friend of DtvB, Matt and I was talking about an artical I recently read with details about the November sweeps shows. Matt asked if for 30 Rock is simply said, "30 Rock will be on in November." I'm sad 30 Rock got such a late start this year but perhaps it was all for the best. Tina Fey has become even more super famous thanks to her Sarah Palin sketches. She his been pimping out 30 Rock every chance she gets. I heard one interview where she was asked is she thought her impression were influencing public opinion of the GOP VP candidate. She replied, "I can't even influence people to watch 30 Rock." Good for you Tina!

30 Rock is the funniest show on TV right now. The premise is great (behind the scenes at a SNL type show). The stars are great (Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and of course Tina Fey). The supporting characters are hilarious (especially Kenneth the Page). And the sexual tension slash friendship between Jack and Liz just makes the show. Tonight is special guest star Megan Mullaly.

Watch this show!

Labels: 30 Rock

There are certain types of humor that's easy to do. Nannyisms is one that comes to mind. That's when you immediately contradict some you just said. If you watch any episode of the show The Nanny you will see this kind of dialog.

• The Nanny: "I'm going on a diet starting now. No more dessert."
• The Nanny's mom enters. Mom: "I brought chocolate cake!"
• The Nanny: "Oh, give me a piece!"

That's a classic Nannyism. Another cheap sitcom trick is Plate Glass Window Humor. That's when a character points out the fabulous new plate glass window that was just installed. Moments later Urkel crashes through it on his new Segway. Wa-wa. Here's a good example of Plate Glass Humor used ironically in The Simpsons:


But last night 30 Rock used a variation of Plate Glass Humor I call "The Dead Executive." It starts like this.

• Executive: "I'm going to give you that big promotion/job/account/raise. But don't tell anyone. It's our secret until I meet with the board of directors."
• Schmuck: "Yes sir, I won't tell anyone.

Then the executive dies. Or in 30 Rock's case, he slipped into a coma. It was a funny episode otherwise.

Labels: 30 Rock

I just rewatched the second episode of 30 Rock's season 2. This is the one wear Jack battles with GOB to look good in front of Don Geiss. Geiss is the CEO of The Sheinhardt Wig Company which owns GE which in turn owns NBC. Of course that is only in the absurd reality of the 30 Rock universe. In reality, Jeffrey Immelt is the CEO of GE which is the second largest company in the world. It owns an 80% share of NBC Universal which runs the various television networks, studios, and themeparks associated with the brand. But this absurdity is one of the reason 30 Rock is the best sitcom on TV right now. The hilarious cut away jokes are also great. In this episode Tracy flashed back to his hit party song, Werewolf Bar Mitzvah. "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah, spooky, scary. Boys becoming men, men becoming wolves." I also love whenever Dr. Spaceman shows up. This time not only did he try to get Jenna to go on Crystal Meth to loose weight, he also showed off some of his celebrity clients which include, ALF, the unibomber, and John Ashcroft.

Labels: 30 Rock

While I hate award shows, I do love to look at the lists of nominees and winners and look for trends. Once again the cable networks have hit big with 40% of the comedy nominations and 72% of the drama nominations. The odd thing about the drama nominations is the number. There were six series, five actors, and seven actresses nominated. Why not just pick five? Be decisive! If they can limit the comedy category to five, they should limit the drama category. CBS got no nominations. All the comedy awards were limited to shows on ABC, NBC, HBO, and Showtime. I may be wrong, but it looks like the most number of non-premium cable channels got nominations. Among that group are Damages, The Riches, Mad Men, and The Closer. I watched the first two and I'd love to catch up on Mad Men.

One of my favorite actresses got nominated. Christina Applegate was nominated for her new show Samantha Who? She was previously nominated for a Golden Globe for Jesse. I was one of the few people who watched that show. She was nominated and won an Schmemmy for her guest spot on Friends as Rachel's sister. I love her and love her show.

Both 30 Rock and Pushing Daisies picked up one nomination in each category. I'm very pleased. I've been worried that ABC wouldn't appreciate Pushing Daisies. My friend Lorna refuses to watch it because she doesn't want to get attached to the show only to have it get canceled. I hope now she will go back and catch up. 30 Rock continues to be the funniest show on television and despite my love for Pushing Daisies, this should win.

Labels: 30 Rock, Golden Globes, Pushing Daisies

The season premiers of rival time slot sophomore comedies had a great common joke that worked great for both shows: Fatty Fatty Fat Fats. On Ugly Betty, stick figure receptionist Amanda got chubby over the summer after she found out her real mother was the now deceased Fey Summers. This means her ex-boyfriend Daniel might be her half-brother. Icky! Fat reveal: Amanda stands up from behind the receptionist desk to expose her huge bottom.
The best joke: Wilhelmina sees just Amanda fat but and says, "Hi Betty."

Over on the Peacock network, 30 Rock returned with one of the funniest episodes of the season. Jenna returned from Hiatus with 30 extra pounds after working on Mystic Pizza, The Musical all summer. She ate 32 slices of pizza a week. Fat reveal: Jenna's make-up tarp thingy is removed while she talking to Liz. The best joke: while wearing a ill fitting outfit with large vertical stripes she exclaims, "It's Visual Trickery!"

I'm glad I have two TiVos so I can watch both.

Labels: 30 Rock, Ugly Betty