Edie Falco and Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock by Nicole Rivelli/NBC Photo
Every week, after laughing myself silly at the warped lunacy of 30 Rock on Thursday nights and then being greeted by the stubbornly low ratings on Friday morning, I’m more than ever convinced that this inspired comedy is the new Arrested Development. (And not just because it’s a dark-horse Emmy winner, also taking home the best-comedy trophy after its first season.) Here’s another cult classic that is apparently too off-kilter to be more than an acquired taste, unfortunately destined to fly under the radar.This view isn’t coming from a comedy snob. I get a kick out of most of CBS’ more mainstream Monday comedies, including the new Big Bang Theory, which gets funnier and more confident by the week. On Thursdays I’m still delighted by 30 Rock’s time-period rival, the sweetly campy Ugly Betty. But 30 Rock strikes me as something special, something to treasure, firing on all burners with a wild and hilariously absurdist sensibility.This week’s epi...
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William Baldwin, Dirty Sexy Money
Thrice-wed Karen Darling may be headed down the aisle again on Dirty Sexy Money (10 pm/ET, ABC) tonight, but it's her brother Patrick who's in for some serious marital mayhem after his affair with transgendered knockout Carmelita is hauled out of the closet. We talked with William Baldwin about playing the shady politico and maintaining his own family ties.
TV Guide: Of all the political scandals we've seen, Patrick and Carmelita definitely break the mold.Baldwin: Some might think it's kinky or deviant, and he may have been drawn [to Carmelita] for those reasons, but at some point it became very real. I have friends who say that we're the most normal couple on the show, the most stable. People seem to be loving it.
TV Guide: Even though we've already been through the politician-and-his-wronged-w
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Diahann Carroll in Grey's Anatomy by Craig Sjodin/ABC
If you don't like tonight's first-rate episode of Grey's Anatomy, which fires on about as many cylinders as possible (humor and emotion coexisting wonderfully), then you should probably face the fact that you simply don't like Grey's anymore, if you ever did. Diahann Carroll, terrific as the departed Burke's visiting mom, hovers around Seattle Grace this week as a much-needed reality check and conscience for the various characters: including Meredith, who could always use a good dressing-down for her narcissism, and George, who's still dithering about how to do the right thing in his romantic quandary involving wife Callie and obsessive crush Izzie.But Mama Burke is really there for Cristina (the fabulous Sandra Oh), who is frozen emotionally as she surveys the wedding gifts that surround her to remind her of her broken relationship. Work is a thankful distraction (“Carnage always trumps rounds,” she tells her nameless interns), but she can only hide from Preston’s mo...
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Alec Baldwin and Jerry Seinfeld, 30 Rock
There'll be no Pez dispensers, puffy shirts or Junior Mints in sight. Still, the Emmy-winning 30 Rock's Oct. 4 season premiere (8:30/ET) will seem like a trip back in time as Jerry Seinfeld returns to Must-See TV for a sidesplitting one-night stand. Fans have Seinfeld's upcoming animated feature, Bee Movie, to thank for the comedic legend's return to Thursday night. While Seinfeld was working on NBC promos for the flick, network cochairman Ben Silverman asked the comic if he'd be interested in appearing on 30 Rock. Jerry was all over the idea. "I like Tina Fey. I think she's very bright. I like the whole vibe," Seinfeld says. "So I thought, 'Yeah, I could see myself on that show.'"
But here's what really sealed the deal: "I'm a gigantic fan of
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Oliver Driver in Black Sheep courtesy IFC First Take
Ask FlickChick When movie animals attack gill men and more movie questionsQuestion I just saw that theres a movie about killer sheep being released on DVD Is it some kind of joke or is it serious I started wondering about other horror movies with animal killers but after the one about the killer rabbits I couldnt come up with any others Can you Carlos FlickChick First the movie youre talking about is the New Zealand-made Black Sheep 2006 and its neither entirely serious nor seriously joking Hard though it may be to believe its really clever occasionally very funny and gets in a couple of genuine scare sequences And really are killer sheep so much sillier than killer birds Not eagles and hawks and other major winged predators but finches and seagulls and other run-of-the-mill birds theyre the villains in The Birds 1963 and while its not one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock films its generally well regardedThe ridiculous rabbit film y
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OK, first off, how freakin’ hilarious was The Bachelor Monday night? Holy human desperation, I loved it! And Hillary from my hometown made the first cut. Represent, Philly ‘ho!Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk last week’s Emmys. Yes, the in-the-round stage was a hot circular mess and why so many statues went to TV-movies, I’ll never know. It’s not like any of the good Sci Fi Originals get nominated. Hello, Mansquito? So robbed. But Seacrest didn’t totally suck, the opening Family Guy number was inspired and some of the winners were deserving.So if you’re like me and think you suffered a stroke that made the word Gandolfini sound like “Spader,” or ya can’t get your head around anyone from Torque ever winning anything, you might want to grab the champs on DVD. Turns out that the slights are, in fact, slight.Ugly Betty — Much like Betty’s Guadalajara poncho, you could spot America Ferrera’s Outstandin...
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Ryan Seacrest hosting the Emmys
Question: After watching the dreadful Emmys, I'm wondering if there is any thought of eliminating this awards show, or at the very least completely overhauling the format. Who could honestly claim that this year's show celebrated the best in television over the past year? Let's review the problems with the Emmys: 1) The nomination process: When only three networks existed, I'm sure it wasn't difficult to decide who to nominate. But now with five major networks and dozens of free and pay-cable channels, it seems impossible to properly choose the five best candidates in each category. 2) The winners: Every year seems to be this mixed bag of the confusing and predictable. There never appears to be any consistency in their picks. How could 30 Rock win for best comedy and yet Alec Baldwin not win for best actor? 3) The categories: I have nothing against Tony Bennett and I'm sure his special was great, but to lump his one-night special against shows that air every night seems unfair. 4) The ...
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Katherine Heigl and Kevin Dillon by John Shearer/WireImage.com
And some people worried that getting Ryan Seacrest to host this year’s Emmy telecast was going to be the producers’ worst idea. That’s before we got a look at the set, an unwieldy and unappealing theater-in-the-round setup that looked more suitable for the new American Gladiators revival than for an awards show. The nominees, half of whom saw only the backs of the various presenters and performers, had a deer-in-the-headlights look every time Seacrest approached them or the cameras awkwardly cut to them. They appeared to be sitting in penalty boxes, not deluxe auditorium seats.Honestly, though, we poor schnooks at home were the ones suffering the penalty here: as in, confronted with one of the worst Emmy telecasts I can remember. As Emmy years go, I’m actually at peace with the majority of the winners, given who was and wasn’t nominated (and we’ve been over that frustrating ground plenty of times since the July nominations). Learning who won was a lot m...
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Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey by Mary Ellen Matthews/NBC Universal Photo
30 Rockers Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, and The Closer's Kyra Sedgwick are among the latest adds to the list of presenters for the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards, airing Sept. 16 on Fox. Per the Reporter, other newly announced presenters include Marcia Cross, Ellen DeGeneres and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.Related: Emmy Presenters Include Office Boss and Jack Bauer
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Britney Spears by John Sciulli/WireImage.com
Some of the findings of a "pop culture" poll conducted of nearly 5,000 people by Parade.com:• Britney Spears is your nightmare babysitter, with 77 percent dreading the thought of the pop tart minding their own tots. Conversely, Katie Holmes and Reese Witherspoon are deemed supermoms.• Britney's rep is the most tarnished (says 40 percent of respondents), with Lindsay, Rosie and Paris tying for second.• Jennifer Aniston (yeah?) and Jessica Alba (oh yeah!) boast the best bikini bodies, while Matthew McConaughey wields the washboardiest abs.• Alec Baldwin's voice-mail to his daughter is deemed the most shocking caught-on-tape moment. David Hasselhoff's hamburger humiliation placed second.• McConaughey and George Clooney are the most eligible bachelors, while Aniston tops the list of single-and-looking femmes.• King of Queens is the most-missed show to recently exit the airwaves (say 26 percent of you), with The Sopranos very close behind. Gilmore Girls was ...
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