30 Rock **Spoilers**

Planet-man said:
As much as I like the show, it didn't deserve the Emmy in the slightest. The Office is five times the show this is. At the end of the day, 30 Rock is still just simple, mainstream comedy, while The Office is an incredibly nuanced masterpiece.

Sorry, but chock this one up to the fact that the Emmy Academy only needs to watch a single episode of each show before voting, so no wonder the simple grab-bag of laughs wins over the acquired, but ultimately far better taste.

Bah.
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Well yeah, but The Office won last year. James Spader and Tony Shalhoub notwithstanding, Emmy likes to spread the award show love around.
 
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

I am totally using that phone gag Jack used in the opening. I mean I am really gonna use that in real life.
 
I need more Steve Buescemi in more mediums NOW.

Other than that.... meh. It still seems like a lot of the jokes aren't trying hard enough, and I think the show has a SERIOUS timing problem, especially when it comes to Tracy's lines and deliveries.
 
Planet-man said:
I need more Steve Buescemi in more mediums NOW.

Other than that.... meh. It still seems like a lot of the jokes aren't trying hard enough, and I think the show has a SERIOUS timing problem, especially when it comes to Tracy's lines and deliveries.
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I agree with the Buscemi statement.

But I am failing to see your point on the other stuff.



The timing of the jokes seem to vary with each character, but each character delivers their joke on time in terms of being faithful to the character. Alec Baldwin's jokes come quick, fast and 90% underbreath---he's a slick person so his jokes are gonna be the same tone. Tina Fey's character is struggling to grasp the idiocy surrounding her so her jokes and timing is gonna be slower than say Judah Frielander's because her character's brain is trying to make sense of the fact that what was just said to her by a 36 year old man wouldn't make sense even if a 4 year old did it.

The show has the perfect mix of high-brow, intelligent humor found on Arrested Development......and the neanderthal pandering jokes.....mixed in with non-sequitr comedy that is so popular with today's culture.




Now I'm not saying that your opinion isn't valid, but I'm failing to see your point.
 
I agree with VVD, absolutely and 100%

You just keep catching me when I'm too lazy to explain, but were I not lazy, that's what I would have said.
 
Victor Von Doom said:
The timing of the jokes seem to vary with each character, but each character delivers their joke on time in terms of being faithful to the character. Alec Baldwin's jokes come quick, fast and 90% underbreath---he's a slick person so his jokes are gonna be the same tone. Tina Fey's character is struggling to grasp the idiocy surrounding her so her jokes and timing is gonna be slower than say Judah Frielander's because her character's brain is trying to make sense of the fact that what was just said to her by a 36 year old man wouldn't make sense even if a 4 year old did it.

The show has the perfect mix of high-brow, intelligent humor found on Arrested Development......and the neanderthal pandering jokes.....mixed in with non-sequitr comedy that is so popular with today's culture.


Now I'm not saying that your opinion isn't valid, but I'm failing to see your point.
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I completely agree with the stance on Alec's lines, and I think he's one of only two characters on the show who's stuff is perfect and always funny, the other being Kenneth. The only thing I want from him is more jokes, more jabs, last season everything out of his mouth was either a deliberate or inadvertant insult to Liz, whereas he seems a lot more laid back and apathetic this season. This is the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say they aren't trying hard enough in places.

The main problem I have when it comes to timing and delivery is Tracy. I think he's incredibly forced most of the time, and the timing and pacing on his lines never does it for me. Take the newest episode, where he said "would you ask a tiger not to turn back into a Chinese person at midnight?". That was a really funny line, but the way they did it really held it back. They were walking, and then he stopped and turned around to say it, and said it very directly, and I dunno, I just think it should've been far more off-handed and aptly paced, and the way they did it killed the momentum behind the line. Momentum is crucial to a show like this, the same way it was with Seinfeld and AD. Jokes have to be delivered like a juggling act with an ever-active system of punchlines bouncing off each other in perfect rhythm.

About 10 or 15% of the time, peaking around the middle of last season, the show has a great handle on that, but most of the time it just never quite cuts it for me nor gives me cause to believe that in the scenes where the show succeeds it does so because they know what they're doing, rather than out of chance.

Combine that with the seemingly increasing amount of time wasted by the really dumb humour and characters, like Tracy and Jenna, and it's really starting to lose my interest.
 
Personally, I love tracy, but I can see why a person wouldn't... I think his jokes work in the context of his character, and the fact that Tracy Jordan = Tracy Morgan. He is essentially playing himself... Watching SNL's Best of Tracy Morgan is like watching what Jordan's sketches on TGS... If you don't like it, i totally understand that, but I think he's hilarious, and consistently so.

I agree most about Jenna, out of the entire cast I care about her least, and whenever they give her screen time I feel that its just to showcase one of the OTHER actors on the show. I also wish there was more Pete this season, because he works so well off of Tina Fey.

So far I think the second season is solid, hilarious, I thoroughly enjoy every episode, but its not quite as good as the First Season was. The Second episode was fantastic, though, so I hope we get a lot more like that (maybe even Will Arnett as a regular member of the cast).

So doot. Hopefully it gets a little better, but I still think its the best comedy on television... At least, its a tie between this and HIMYM.
 
Planet-man said:
I completely agree with the stance on Alec's lines, and I think he's one of only two characters on the show who's stuff is perfect and always funny, the other being Kenneth. The only thing I want from him is more jokes, more jabs, last season everything out of his mouth was either a deliberate or inadvertant insult to Liz, whereas he seems a lot more laid back and apathetic this season. This is the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say they aren't trying hard enough in places.

The main problem I have when it comes to timing and delivery is Tracy. I think he's incredibly forced most of the time, and the timing and pacing on his lines never does it for me. Take the newest episode, where he said "would you ask a tiger not to turn back into a Chinese person at midnight?". That was a really funny line, but the way they did it really held it back. They were walking, and then he stopped and turned around to say it, and said it very directly, and I dunno, I just think it should've been far more off-handed and aptly paced, and the way they did it killed the momentum behind the line. Momentum is crucial to a show like this, the same way it was with Seinfeld and AD. Jokes have to be delivered like a juggling act with an ever-active system of punchlines bouncing off each other in perfect rhythm.

About 10 or 15% of the time, peaking around the middle of last season, the show has a great handle on that, but most of the time it just never quite cuts it for me nor gives me cause to believe that in the scenes where the show succeeds it does so because they know what they're doing, rather than out of chance.

Combine that with the seemingly increasing amount of time wasted by the really dumb humour and characters, like Tracy and Jenna, and it's really starting to lose my interest.
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Normally I'd do my little rebuttal here...but DSF said it best.
 
Does anyone else think that "Greenzo" was the best episode yet? I literally laughed the entire way through. First time that's happened for any TV show this season. I'd give the ep a rare A+, even though the Pete storyline wasn't 100% High-larious.

Bravo, 30 Rock. And bravo, David Schwimmer.


Huh. Never thought I'd say that.
 
Definitely the best and the only completely funny episode this season, and probably in the Top-5 of the series.

However, nothing in it could top the second half of the previous episode. Alec Baldwin's multi-character impressions and Pete's busting up of the page-off circle(This is a billion-dollar company! Demerits?!) were both absolutely classic television. The show needs to keep up this exact atmosphere.
 
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Al Gore heard a whale in need of saving. Brilliant.


How did this man go from being the butt of an election miscount to one of the coolest people alive?
 
"Cougars" was another amazing episode. Just like an Arrested Development episode, I'm always surprised they can pack in so many freakin' comedy gems in just under 22 minutes.

I think there are just two more episodes left, though. :(
 
This week's wasn't as good as the last 3 or so have been(I'm still reeling over that "Jeez Donaghue, did you comb your hair with a chickenbone?" line for some reason), but it was still pretty good.

The Judah Friedlander plot was unbearably bad, though. I thought it was a prank he was playing on Liz, but when it wasn't it was like there was no point.
 
I agree that they took that longer than it ever deserved to be... It would have been funny if it had been a few jokes rather than a sub-plot.
 
James Carville was ****ing fantastic.

Overall, one of the best episodes this season, I thought.
 
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