I knew going in that last night was not going to be easy. Thanks to the recent WGA Strike — like any good athlete — this TV Addict was out of practice. One hour a night, two hours, heck even three on a good Monday. But six and half hours of television. It was a TV Addict’s Everest! And even for this self-proclaimed TV Addict, I wasn’t sure I could do it.
So I decided to get some back-up/moral support. Enter fellow TV blogger and local Torontonian TapeWorthy. Figuring at the very least we’d help each other through the ‘dark times,’ also know as commercials, TapeWorthy was more than happy to drop by TV Addict Central for a few hours. Bringing with him a TV Addict’s best friend, Popeyes [Cue Homer Simpson, “Mmmmm…. Chicken Strips”] for sustenance.
Unfortunately, the night didn’t start off on the right foot. UGLY BETTY was an ugly disappointment. Henry once again gets called away by a scheming Charlie leaving the far cooler Gio to pick up the pieces. And by pieces, I naturally mean Betty.
Which leads me to this question. Why is Betty still with Henry? Love triangles only work when one of the lovers isn’t totally lame. And I’m sorry to inform all you Betty/Henry [or is it ‘Benry’] shippers out there — Betty/Henry is no Ross/Rachel. In other words, the entire series should not be built around their snooze-inducing relationship.
UGLY BETTY works best, and by best, I mean it’s at its funniest and most entertaining when Betty is at Mode, your classic fish out of water. Interacting with her hilarious foils Marc, Amanda, Daniel and Wilhelmina. It’s time to put the bitch back in Betty. Or, in this case Wilhelmeena back at Mode. Or this TV Addict may soon find himself shaving an hour off his busy Thursday night schedule.
Talk about a bad week to be a child actor. Monday THE BIG BANG THEORY’s Asian Doogie Howser trades in his status as ‘the next Bill Gates” for a date with a girl. Then on BACK TO YOU, Kelly and Chuck’s daughter gets re-cast when the producers decide to ‘go in a different direction’ and finally SMALLVILLE’s Lex Luthor puts an end to Mini-Lex by tossing him in a roaring fire. Ouch!
And speaking of SMALLVILLE. Is anyone else bothered by the fact that after waiting the better part of seven seasons for Lex to finally go to the dark side, he’s being quickly written off the show due to Michael Rosenbaum’s real-life wishes to only return to the series part-time next season. Talk about a letdown of super proportions.
Far be it for this TV Addict to rain on the ‘Comedy Night Done Right’ parade. But SCRUBS aside, one thing was abundantly clear when it came to last night’s return of 30 ROCK and THE OFFICE. The members of the Writer’s Guild of America weren’t messing around. Pencils down meant pencils down.
When did THE OFFICE turn into CURBED YOUR ENTHUSIASM? Michael and Jan’s dinner party from hell was quite possibly one of the most horrifying, not to mention cringe-inducing half hours of comedy I’ve ever experienced. Sure, there were a few funny moments. Particularly Jan dancing to Hunter’s CD, Michael’s $200! Plasma TV, the video camera in the bedroom, Michael’s ‘bed’, Jan’s candle business, Dwight’s ‘date’… Okay, so there were more than a few funny moments. But there were also long stretches of awkwardness. And while most fans undoubtedly reveled in the awkwardness that was last night’s dinner party from hell. This TV Addict wasn’t one of them. To me ‘Comedy Night Done Right’ should have me genuinely laughing, not curled up in the fetal position, fearful of what will happen next.
As if you have to ask! New episodes of 30 ROCK, THE OFFICE, SCRUBS, ELI STONE in addition to the AMERICAN IDOL result show! Who else is counting down the minutes until 8:30PM tonight.
Yesterday, 30 ROCK star, current poster girl for funny women everywhere and TV Addict obsession Tina Fey was kind enough to take an hour out of her busy schedule to talk to reporters about 30 ROCK’s return this April 10 on NBC.
1. On the strike
I think that hopefully the public just wants to see their favorite shows back on the air. In terms of 30 ROCK, everybody’s just happy to be back working. In our world, the strike didn’t happen. Although oddly enough, before the writer’s strike we had a story about a strike, but we shelved it. The strike was a big enough pain and fans at home probably don’t want to hear anymore about it.
2. On Political Humor
I don’t miss the news humor business. I think it’s a lot of responsibility and pressure. On 30 ROCK we just like to put things out there that spark discussion. We’re more about observing than endorsing a specific campaign. But we do have a story-line where Jack tries to in-list Tracy to be the new black face of the Republican Party.
3. On critical acclaim versus ratings success
I think the way ratings are measured is going to continue to change because the traditional Neilson rating might not quite reflect everyone who’s watching the show. There are DVR’s, the internet etc. I don’t worry about ratings much because you can’t control them. We try to make the show as good as we can and we’re going to keep making them until someone tells us to stop.
With apologies to HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER — 30 ROCK is right now — hands down the funniest show on television. Be it the endless brilliance of Tina Fey “You can’t be gay for one person. Unless you’re a woman, and you meet Ellen.” The “Fun Times Accomplished” subplot featuring Jack, Kenneth and Tracy trying to help out an underprivileged little league baseball team [Does Knuckle Beach really exist?] or the hilarious and underutilized Judah Friedlander turning Gay for Liz’s twenty-year-old boy toy Jamie. I quite literally didn’t stop laughing the entire episode. Except of course to fill out my application to become Liz’s next slightly-older-than-twenty-year-old boy toy.
And speaking of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. Quick SAT prep question. Elliot on SCRUBS is the equivalent to ___________ on HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. [With apologies to the SAT board, I’m Canadian and don’t really ‘get’ the whole SAT thing]
When we last left 30 ROCK two weeks ago, Jenna accidently burned Kenneth’s NBC Page jacket leading to an unexpected yet hilarious fight club style “Page-off” in the bowels of 30 Rockefellar Centre.
Yet before the fight/NBC Trivia contest could commence, uber-page Donne and newbie page Kenneth were interrupted by a very angry Pete. Which left this TV Addict disappointed. Not so much because I didn’t get to witness what would undoubtedly be one really funny fight. Rather I was excited to see how I’d fare in the NBC Trivia contest.
Which naturally led to thinking, why not run our very own NBC “Page-Off”?
Think you’ve got the smarts to outwit Kenneth? Have what it takes to wear the illustrious navy blue jacket? Click the link below to answer 10 not-so-simple NBC related questions, leaving your answer in the comments below.
Thanks to the headache of moving servers [so long GoDaddy!], this TV Addict unfortunately missed virtually everything on television last night with the exception of the SCRUBS last ever season finale [funny, but not hilarious].
With that in mind, I leave it up to you, my far smarter and better looking readers to let me know what’s worth watching on the glorious two days known around these parts as ‘the weekend’
Was it a welcome return to thirty minute episodes of THE OFFICE? Did 30 ROCK manage to be its usual hilarious self? Is anyone still watching BIG SHOTS? Post away.
Hoping to avoid the best comedy curse that plagued ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, 30 ROCK isn’t taking any chances with Thursday’s second season premiere. Enjoy this first look at special guest star Jerry Seinfeld. Any chance he’d agree to become a series regular?
Unfortunately, the night didn’t start off on the right foot. UGLY BETTY was an ugly disappointment. Henry once again gets called away by a scheming Charlie leaving the far cooler Gio to pick up the pieces. And by pieces, I naturally mean Betty.
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