Do the readers of other TV Guide
TV Show Blogs look at our titles and go, "Whaaaaat?!" I always wonder that, and lord knows I have trouble arriving at just the right (and proper-length) sound bite to use each week.
But with that peek inside my scary psyche aside... how about that episode of NBC's
30 Rock? From where I sit, it's got to be in the top five, if not three. It was a case where the A, B and C stories were genuinely dovetailed into another, as the Source Awards hosted the "coming out" party for Jack's wine (aka "the urine of Satan after a hefty portion of asparagus"), Liz's date with the worst boyfriend ever (but not because he's a black, or a Black, though he
was
Wayne Brady), and a possible truce between Tracy and longtime foe Ridikolus (guest star
LL Cool J). The only trade-off: virtually no Jenna/Pete/Frank/Josh/Cerie, though
juuuuust enough of Kenneth (a pit bull of an after-after-after-after-party doorman).
Things we learned this week about our intrepid "TGS" crew:
" Add Angie Harmon to Jack's all-star harem. Speaking of which, Condi Rice apparently yells at the screen during movies.
" A Phillies scoreboard once welcomed "Lez Lemon" to the stadium.
" Tracy used to settle old scores by break-dancing "at" people.
" Liz dressed as Princess Leia for "four Halloweens in a row. Recently."
Having penned a few (spec) sitcom scripts myself, I can only bow with great reverence to the effort that goes into
30 Rock, where in an episode like this week's,
every other line is funny and/or fantastically absurd. In fact, if you pay attention to my
Today's News blog, you saw that I recently (and winningly) worked Tracy's "middle school/pregnant" line into a
put-down pointed retort.
And now, the bullets:
" Steven on the partner track at "Dewey, Cheatham and Livingston," a nice Johnny Carson nod.
" Jack detailing how the Blacks are musical and bad swimmers and such: "Again, I'm talking about the family."
" Kenneth working the door, relaying Tracy's warning to crashers: "This mess is gonna get raw like sushi, so haters to the left."
" Jenna re: Liz's black beau: "Race is a huge issue... according to
Newsweek."
" Jack's version of the
real story of how
the maker of Cristal insulted the hip-hop community, complete with a French CEO (fictitiously) professing his love for Dane Cook.
" Jack eyeballing his glass of D.E.: "Is that a piece of corn in there?"
" The many ways that Steven was a lousy match for Liz: no TV; doesn't love food, unless it's Canadian cuisine; enthusiastic about the wrong Star Wars; prefers the airline edit of
Zoolander, minus the vulgarity; his hobby is taking pictures of "interesting doors."
" Liz denying she's a racist by her dessert order: "Death by Chocolate!"
" Tracy explaining how people get shot at the Sources Awards "like it's a Hot 97."
" Tracy's stages of mourning: "Fear, denial, horniness, acceptance, sleepiness...."
" And we'll let Ridikolus have the last word here: "Jay, go get my nose back."
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Do the readers of other TV Guide TV Show Blogs look at our titles and go Whaaaaat I always wonder that and lord knows I have trouble arriving at just the right and proper-length sound bite to use each weekBut with that peek inside my scary psyche aside how about that episode of NBCs 30 Rock From where I sit its got to be in the top five if not three It was a case where the A B and C stories were genuinely dovetailed into another as the Source Awards hosted the coming out party for Jacks wine aka the urine of Satan after a hefty portion of asparagus Lizs date with the worst boyfriend ever but not because hes a black or a Black though he was Wayne Brady and a possible truce between Tracy and longtime foe Ridikolus guest star LL Cool J The only trade-off virtually no JennaPeteFrankJoshCerie though juuuuust enough of Kenneth a pit bull of an after-after-after-after-party doormanThings we learned this week about our intrepid TGS crew149
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