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

Ca-hoot na na na oh oh

^truer words were never spoken

Keep talking about the president
Wont stop air pollution
Put your hand over your mouth
When you cough
Thatll help the solution

^^^something to keep in mind, FYI

i'm ashamed to admit that i sometimes cuss around womenfolk

Nate, I think you were just mis-articulating the thing about the Bruce Willis line. It isn't that it's out of character for Jack in particular; it's not an issue of character. It's that people's speech and naturalistic dialogue don't usually contain things like mismatched pairs of references, or comedy lists, or little turn-arounds of expectations -- those are all kinda sketch-comedy writing habits, where there's no attempt to hide the artifice of it.

So yes, "Picasso : painting :: Bruce Willis : action and rock harmonica" is a very writerish, constructed joke. Same goes with Kenneth saying "We Parcells have had our share of rock soup and squirrel tail ... but we have also known lean times." They're in character, they're just a bit arch and constructed. I think this is what makes the show special, to be honest -- the sensibility that differentiates it from most of what's around it -- but obviously I won't argue too much about the fact that I respond well to it and you don't.

I don't think this is just about scriptedness vs. naturalism. I mean, Arrested Development is an extremely writerly show, and I don't have the same complaints there because everything happens so fast and on multiple levels that a throwaway, slightly out-of-character joke isn't just an excuse to goof on a B-list celebrity, but it's also likely a pun and a callback to a joke from the previous season and you might not even realize it until a minute later. Whereas jokes on 30 Rock announce themselves as jokes, like you could almost put canned laughter after them.

I guess the truth is - and this may be a bit of a cop-out - that I don't mind things that are arch and constructed when they're funny. That Kenneth line is funny. It sets up perfectly, then pow - hits you with the punch line. And his delivery, IIRC, was spot on. The Jack line is kind of huh? Is it serious, is it ironic? I don't know - and either way it isn't funny.

xpost

Is it serious, is it ironic?

take a wild guess!

like you could almost put canned laughter after them.

ALMOST? CANNED LAUGHTER ON SITCOMS UNHEARD OF, SIR.

I think my favorite 30 Rock joke is still "You can't have a Lemon Party without Old Dick!" (with "Yay, equality!" a close second; that whole epsiode was genius)

I get the feeling that the very act of mentioning Bruce Willis and harmonica playing is supposed to be intrinsically funny. Like, can you believe what bits of pop-culture trivia we worked into the script this week? I think it tries too hard, or not hard enough.

xposts

i do see what you are getting at. tries too hard is maybe the right one. but it's the flavor of the show. those are the jokes.

xxxp Well, I recognize that that's true for 95% of sitcoms out there. I've probably been spoiled by The Office and Arrested Development. 30 Rock is the only other sitcom I've regularly watched since Seinfeld went off the air, so maybe I have high expectations for it. Like I said before, I still think it's a fairly amusing show.

Yeah, the thing that is supposed to be funny is holding up Bruce Willis as a pinnacle of his art of the same stature as Picasso.

Basically, you are failing at understanding jokes.

I think part of what I'm getting at is that if you rely on arch, constructed jokes for the meat of your comedy, then if they fall flat somehow, it feels even less funny than if an Office bit didn't work (because it might still feel "natural" -- the awkwardness might actually even work in its favor) or if an Arrested Development joke missed the mark (because there'd be another joke or absurd scenario three seconds later).

it's not that he doesn't get the joke. he's turned off by the fact that the joke makes him picture some harvard grad in a writing room being very pleased with a bruce willis joke.

he sees the man behind the curtain and he doesn't care for it.

agreed that 30 rock is very "writerly" but it doesn't bother me.

or if an Arrested Development joke missed the mark (because there'd be another joke or absurd scenario three seconds later).

i dunno, 30 rock has to be at least as rapid-fire as AD (if not moreso).

J, I think you're only half-right there. When Tracy says there are various parallels between the Jordans and the Menendi, and the last one is "both families are staples of Court TV," that really announces itself as a joke -- it's even a traditional list of three with the third one as the punch line. But the funniest part of the statement is that he says "Menendi" in the middle of it!

I am not going to rep for the Bruce Willis joke, because I don't think it was that funny, and didn't think the episode as a whole was a great one. But every time I use my new microphone, I will think that somewhere out there, underneath the same big sky, wishing on the same stars, Bruce Willis is playing harmonica into a microphone from the same stack, and a tear will roll down my cheek.

xpost - J, I would dispute that the pace of jokes on Arrested Development is any faster than 30 Rock. The editing and story move faster (to an extent that actually irritates me), but I don't think the pace of jokes is all that different.

you don't have to rep for the joke, but you at least admit it was IN CHARACTER, which is really how this started.

man i miss when this thread was just FUNNY QUOTE IN ALL CAPS city

― Dumb Assantino (some dude)

is this a ref to elli$'s classic "tron assantino"

we need a new episode to have funny quotes in all caps, duhr

six hourssssszzzz...

you know what's fun and entertaining? microanalyzing jokes.

I'm glad you told us this 2 hours after everyone decided this conversation sucked, we needed the validation.

imagining writer patting himself on the back for constructed a cleverly written joke>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>watching Steve Carrell try to squeeze laughs out of a humorless turnip

i didn't realize there was an expiration date on pointing out your lameness, duly noted

oh boy!

:D

LOOK AT THIS NECKLACE!

guys like live blog

lolpilladdiction

UGH, EVEN ____ HATED ME? HE WAS THE FIRST GAY GUY I EVER KISSED

The birthmark girl (god pooped on me) is Casey from L&O: SVU!!!

ugh this is so hard because my reception is so bad! was so psyched to watch in real time (woohoo class got canceled!) but i can't really see it.

MAKING UP WORDS WON'T HELP YOU

I think I'm gonna have to have an "angry chair" now.

rich 50 is middle-class 38

you're too quick!

omg donna moss

omg their dancing!

FREAKS AND GEEKS REFERENCE FREAKS AND GEEKS REFERENCE

We all have ways of coping. I use sex and awesomeness.

jenna killin it this season

I LOVE THIS EPISODE SO MUCH

LEMON OUT

LEMON OUT

LOL XP

LEMON OUT XXP

A+

C'mon everybody! Do the Diane!