A new 30 Rock thread because I can't find the old one

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tina is wonderful

― cutty (mcutt), Friday, 9 February 2007 20:10 (nineteen years ago)

the editing on that bender sequence was totally brilliant and it was just so friking LONG to boot.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 10 February 2007 00:27 (nineteen years ago)

i forget where someone mentioned the bugs-bunnyness of tina fey. it was so perfectly done in that "ugly betty" bit i was all about upthread.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 10 February 2007 01:05 (nineteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/2020/tinawinkwc4.gif

― A B C, Saturday, 24 February 2007 06:53 (nineteen years ago)

the "bodyguard" scene--when was the last time tv was so absurdly awesome

― cutty, Saturday, 24 February 2007 07:46 (nineteen years ago)

'I DO need someone to harmonize with!'

― Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved, Saturday, 24 February 2007 17:04 (nineteen years ago)

omg the wink

the everything

I LOVE THIS SHOW.

― s1ocki, Saturday, 24 February 2007 18:28 (nineteen years ago)

I love it so much, I wanna take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant.

― m bison, Saturday, 24 February 2007 18:31 (nineteen years ago)

i want this show to be my boyfriend

― rrrobyn, Saturday, 24 February 2007 19:44 (nineteen years ago)

if this show was my boyfriend, i would take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant.

(see what i did there?)

― tehresa, Saturday, 24 February 2007 19:55 (nineteen years ago)

these are the hottest women in comedy?
where's jackee?

― mizzell, Saturday, 24 February 2007 21:33 (nineteen years ago)

"ya BURNT!"

"GOOD LORD! THE WORM! That's so DEGRADING! Are its origins GERMAN?"

― Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved, Saturday, 24 February 2007 21:35 (nineteen years ago)

jackee

― max, Saturday, 24 February 2007 21:49 (nineteen years ago)

finally saw this - its hysterical! why didnt anyone tell me

― deej, Saturday, 24 February 2007 22:08 (nineteen years ago)

the running gags are often so perfectly done...even from episode to episode. i cant get enough of that wig corporation which is apparently all-powerful.

― ryan, Saturday, 24 February 2007 22:13 (nineteen years ago)

we've been trying to tell you since it started

― s1ocki, Saturday, 24 February 2007 22:14 (nineteen years ago)

The Scheinhardt Wig Corportation!

I downloaded all 15 episodes last night and just finished a marathon viewing only minutes ago. I was worried that it might not stand up when repeated, but it actually gets better!

― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 24 February 2007 22:17 (nineteen years ago)

is this better than arrested development? i'm ready to start having that conversation.

― ^@^, Saturday, 24 February 2007 22:30 (nineteen years ago)

I say yes, but I only ever watched AD's first season (partly).

― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 24 February 2007 22:43 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know if it's better but it's warmer towards its characters

― Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved, Saturday, 24 February 2007 23:40 (nineteen years ago)

can't say yet that it's better. leaning toward no... but i'm happy to have the convo.

― s1ocki, Saturday, 24 February 2007 23:55 (nineteen years ago)

i watch every episode about 2-3 times and they all get better. lots of stuff goes right past me the first time.

― ryan, Saturday, 24 February 2007 23:55 (nineteen years ago)

AD was denser and had fewer actual bad jokes, but Jack Donegy is better character than anyone on AD.

― Chris H., Monday, 26 February 2007 21:12 (nineteen years ago)

Can't wait for this to come out on DVD.

― jaymc, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:13 (nineteen years ago)

but Jack Donegy is better character than anyone on AD.
COME ON!

Oh wait, actually, I think I agree with you. It feels really odd to write this, but I think Alec Baldwin is one hell of a comedic actor. Nearly all of my favorite 30R bits are thanks to him. Nothing will beat the 'What am I, a farmer?' comment.

Love this show. I'm really glad newer sitcoms are ditching the laugh tracks, too, as it lets them squeeze in more content. Contrast Christina Applegate walking into the Bundy-home and standing around for a minute waiting for the hooting to end before she delivers her first line.
I don't love it like I love AD, but then it hasn't gone on for nearly as long either.
My favorite American comedy is still Curb Your Enthusiasm, however.

What's the Lemon-winking-to-the-camera picture from? I didn't notice that.

― Øystein, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:19 (nineteen years ago)

she does that after she says the line about how she still loves america, even though she thinks we should all drive hybrid cars and etc.

― kenan, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:23 (nineteen years ago)

Married with Children is about the only time that a laugh track has really worked. It was one of the best parts of the show. If someone walked up to my cubicle right now with a "NO MAAM" shirt on, I'd applaud too.

― Chris H., Monday, 26 February 2007 21:24 (nineteen years ago)

It feels really odd to write this, but I think Alec Baldwin is one hell of a comedic actor.

He always has been! Every time he's been on SNL, he's been the funniest and most talented part of the show. He's never really done any movies that showcased this though.

― Nicole, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:25 (nineteen years ago)

He's never really done any movies that showcased this though.

Alec Balwin was hilarious in Miami Blues.

― Chris H., Monday, 26 February 2007 21:26 (nineteen years ago)

THE DEPARTED!!!!!

― David R., Monday, 26 February 2007 21:27 (nineteen years ago)

AD has funny jokes and great acting but its steez is anoying. 30rock is just completely great.

― jh0shea, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:28 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, the little bit of AD I've seen just takes the long way around to get to the same end 30 Rock goes straight to.

Plus, no character on AD would've ever gone off their meds and seen Rachel Dratch dressed up as a furry little blue man. 30 Rock had that, and it was probably one of the most WTF moments ever on a network sitcom.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:33 (nineteen years ago)

Blue man was kind of forced, like they were really really stretching to come up with a Rachel Dratch part that week. That's the sort of thing that wouldn't have been on AD, to its credit. Rachel ought to stick to what works -- the cat agent and various talk show hosts/therapists.

― Chris H., Monday, 26 February 2007 21:37 (nineteen years ago)

That's the sort of thing that wouldn't have been on AD

MR. F to thread!

― David R., Monday, 26 February 2007 21:39 (nineteen years ago)

I so disagree. Blue man was probably one of my three favorite 30 Rock episodic elements so far (Kenneth's poker skills and Brian Williams' dressing room being a couple others).

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:41 (nineteen years ago)

the lame part abt AD is the forced zaniness and narration - it's still really funny but 30 rock is more better

― jh0shea, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:41 (nineteen years ago)

The Tracy-off-his-meds episode was one of my favorites, between the "I'M BUGGIN OUT" on the ceiling part and the introduction of Dr Spaceman.

― nickalicious, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:43 (nineteen years ago)

Also I want more Grizz and Dot Com!

― nickalicious, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:44 (nineteen years ago)

I love both shows, but AD has the edge. There was a poignancy to the characters that 30 Rock doesn't have yet.

― Nicole, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:45 (nineteen years ago)

The other thing that really sags about Arrested Development in this comparison is the shotgun narrative construction -- it's really antic and all over the place, all kinds of cutaways and flashbacks and insert gags taped together with voice-over, so that over the course of 30 minutes it can't exactly put together a story that feels natural and coherent, and instead goes for a kind of Seinfeld / Larry David-style "random scattershot things that start to intersect with one another in bizarre and hilarious ways."

Which is funny, but if you put the DVD in my hand, I can only watch so many episodes of that in a row. Part of what's amazing about 30 Rock is that it gets that same kind of humor into a format that feels a lot more coherent, and spends a lot more time sticking with the characters in an actual situation-type comedy, rather than just hitting a gag or awkward pause and then racing off to the next one. I mean, if you measured scene lengths and stuff, I'm not sure 30 Rock is actually constructed THAT differently from Arrested Development, but it definitely feels like it is, and I'm guessing my one-episode-after-another DVD-viewing tolerance for it would be like three times as long as with AD.

― nabisco, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:45 (nineteen years ago)

Mr. F was wonderful. I still sing the jingle to myself when I need a little pick-me-up.

― Chris H., Monday, 26 February 2007 21:45 (nineteen years ago)

I think the AD characters mean more to me, but that's probably because it was a show about family, whereas 30 Rock is a show about co-workers, whose relationships with each other just isn't quite as important.

― nickalicious, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:46 (nineteen years ago)

"I'M BUGGIN OUT!" indeed. Everything about that episode was perfect (Pete wearing the wig/parting the crowd of NBC tourists, Conan and Liz's chat outside Tracy's dressing room, Dr. Spaceman, the blue dude... all of it).

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:46 (nineteen years ago)

I guess the main element there is that 30 Rock actually focuses in trad sitcom style on particular characters dealing with particular issues, whereas Arrested Development's humor is more often about characters' repetitive / predictable wacky behavior -- I can't recall it ever grounding itself in anything so straightforward as, you know, "Liz Lemon struggles to balance her role as hard-assed boss with her desire to be well-liked and 'feminine.'"

― nabisco, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:50 (nineteen years ago)

Two things:

1. 30 Rock's characters are not as wacky as AD's, which helps

2. I always felt like AD strained at times when it tried to hook up with every character in every episode. With 30 Rock we sometimes see Jenna's character in an epsiode, and sometimes we don't--and that's okay.

― Mr. Que, Monday, 26 February 2007 21:56 (nineteen years ago)

I've watched a couple of the AD re-runs and it's just not as good as I remember it being. There's a lot of time wasted in episodes (where 30 Rock fills in with sight/background gags) with oh-look-how-wacky-we-are filler. Feh.

― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 01:29 (nineteen years ago)

Okay, what the hell is going on? Did they export the writing duties offshore or something? This episode isn't funny so far AT ALL!

― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 March 2007 02:48 (nineteen years ago)

"Ghostface, do you think you could mention Donagy Export dot com?"
"Yeah, let me get my rhyming dictionary."

― nickalicious, Friday, 2 March 2007 03:02 (nineteen years ago)

^crazy. it was really funny! so many good tracey lines!

Ghostface: "Let me get my rhyming dictionary"

― johnny crunch, Friday, 2 March 2007 03:03 (nineteen years ago)

Tracy does an excellent Oprah.

― nickalicious, Friday, 2 March 2007 03:03 (nineteen years ago)

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