30 Rock: Writing Derrty

Yeah, I know 30 Rock was a rerun tonight, but the absence of anything new to write about has allowed me to rummage through the heaps of TV on the INTERNETS notes I have scrawled on the backs of "Business Reply Mail" cards that have fallen out of my sister's past issues of People and pick a bone that has for too long gone, you know, not picked. 30. Rock. Is. Stealing. Jokes.

Yup, I said it, and I'll step back, appreciate it and repeat it. 30 Rock is writing derrrty. Cheyeah.

Now I'm well aware that the standards of ethical argumentation normally require at least 3 supporting pieces of evidence for each supposition, but I only have two right now and hopefully a third will strike me by the end of this post.

First example of punch line plagiarism - tonight's repeated episode "Jack-Tor," in which, according to the info on my sister's DVR:

Liz integrates Jack into a sketch; Frank and Toofer trick Jenna into fearing for her job; Liz wonders if Tracy is faking illiteracy to skip rehearsals. Rated TV-24. Program Type: Series/Sitcom. Letterbox. Repeat.

I forget when exactly this episode aired, but it was relatively early in the season, as the show was first finding its legs, and served as one of the flash points that ignited attention for both Alec Baldwin and the show (as well as star and head-writer Tina Fey) as something more than just Suddenly Susan where the new Susan suddenly has bigger boobs and no Judd Nelson. In fact, it was a fellow TV blogger I believe, who raved about the episode's Snapple Placement scene during which the writing staff of the fictional Girlie Show criticize Alec Baldwin's character for encouraging product placement while they simultaneously throw in non-sequiturs praising Diet Snapple and its Plumagranite flavor. Yeah, we get it, it's WAY meta on like SO many levels except, wait a minute, Wayne's World did it like 15 years ago.



Second example - the episode which aired about two weeks ago that featured the debut of the Tracy Jordan Meat Machine. An obvious parody of the George Foreman Grill, the Tracy Jordan Meat Machine also mimicked the George Bluth Cornholer from Arrested Development in its dangerous shortcoming of scalding its users with burning grease.

The similarities between the shows don't stop there. Both 30 Rock and Arrested Development fall into the category of, dare I say it, post-post-modern sitcoms (in other words - sitcoms written after and with the full understanding of the paradigm shift created by '80s and '90s institutions The Simpsons and Seinfeld) that not only break the use of the 3 camera system but also find jokes in the deconstruction of language and TV-reality interplay.

For the humor found in deconstructing language one need only to look at any scene involving David Cross in Arrested Development (ex, Psychoanalyst + Therapist = Analrapist) or the Colbert Report's "The Word" segment. As for TV-reality interplay, both Arrested Development and 30 Rock rely heavily on recreating the humor of real life by inviting the audience into the world of the show's characters and making them privy to inside jokes. How many times did Arrested Development quickly toss out a self-referential joke like "hermano"? Even 30 Rock created an alternative world where jokes transcend punch lines and one liners (the kind of sitcom bricks that still form the foundation for more "traditional" fare such as Two and a Half Men or The New Adventures of Old Christine) and involve situations of shared experience like Jenna's "Rural Juror." Even Alec Baldwin's character in the episode cops to it when asked to play a GE exec in a sketch mocking GE execs:

Oh I get it. The whole self-referential thing. Letterman hates the suits. Stern yells at his boss. Nixon's sock-it-to-me on Laugh In. Yeah, hippy humor.

In my opinion, 30 Rock is still the best new sitcom of the 2006 - 2007 season and has proven for many critics that the sitcom is no longer a moribund genre. However, it's important to realize originality is still the basis of creativity and without it you're just writing derrrty.

I know that's not a third supporting piece of evidence for my original argument but that's all I have written on my "Business Reply Mail Notes" I've scrounged up off the floor among old Chipotle wrappers. Cheyeah.

Studio 60 Continues Not Sucking Streak

Until I learn the purpose of the TV blog "recaplet" and how to successfully write a good one this will be how I shall address the airings of most recent episodes.

Show: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Air Date: Monday, January 22, 2007
Title: Monday
Writer: Aaron Sorkin *

Commentary: Without completely losing the Religious Right critique he's been using as the moral center of the show, a schtick a lot of viewers have grown tired of, Sorkin kicked off the second half of the show's first season with a strong story incorporating the finer aspects of his past work: intriguing overarching plot points, richly written women characters and the painful tenderness of unrequited love.

One interesting thing to take away from Monday's episode is Sorkin's maturing exploration of race. Predominantly a non-issue in Sports Night, race became an awkward scepter of self-righteousness which Sorkin used to pat his own back in certain episodes of the West Wing. In Monday's Studio 60, however, the developing story line of Simon Stiles, his race and his relationship with a young, black writer introduces a topic often noticed but rarely discussed - the black identity within the history of American comedy.

Perhaps it was of no oversight of his own that Sorkin wrote the scene between Simon Stiles and the new, black writer for an episode to air 30 years after the premier of that other great institution of American television, Roots.

Maybe the improbable is possible; Sorkin can be topical without being pedantic; maybe someday I'll learn to write a recaplet.

*Sorkin only gets a "created by" credit not a "teleplay by."

Colts 40 Share

Sunday's AFC Championship game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots was the most watched television event of the season, surpassing even the 2007 premier of American Idol.

Despite the game's last-second tension, a majority of viewers most likely tuned in to decide for themselves if Peyton Manning was indeed the illegitimate spawn of a wild night threesome way back when between his father Archie Manning (left), Howard Dean and Timothy Busfield.

Potato Chip Company Makes Ad For What Looks Like Prescription Allergy Medication Featuring Music of UK Indie Band to Effect of Promoting Sun Flowers

It's the question that's on the tip of everyone's fingers in potato chip chat rooms all across the internets, who sings that song in the Lays commercial and why do they sound like an early Wilco cover band?

Probably because they're British and their name is The Candyskins. Are they any good? I don't know, you tell me. My musical standards tend to be more Zach Braff than Ziggy Stardust. Less Ruffles and more Lays.

Celebrity Dopplegangers: Jandy Charmberg

With another Sunday my Samberg complex continues to grow despite last night's mediocre Saturday Night Live with Jeremy Piven. A few strong sketches did air, however. First there was the serial sketch "Macgruber" with SNL sleeper Will Forte and second, another installment of Samberg's "Blizzard Man." Was it really that funny? Probably not, but credit is definitely warranted to the SNL wig department for successfully making Samberg look like that other hero of my heart, Sports Night's Dan Rydell, whom you may better know as Agent Barker in Muppets From Space.

Daughtry Rawks Oh So Soft

Come Monday morning will Chris Daughtry attribute the lone, heroic tear that fell from his right eye during his rendition of the National Anthem at Sunday's NFC Championship game to the deep empathy he feels for America and those who defend its liberties or that cold Chicago wind that skips off Lake Michigan?

Prognostication: Neither. Daughtry cries for the low box office receipts of Rock Star and the hollow realization that the movie of his life has already been made, was bad but based on a band that was better than his.

Van Milder: The Edgeless Edge of Kal Penn

It's been a busy week for Kal Penn. When not losing life on 24 he was taking it on Tuesday's Law and Order: SVU. Playing the Indian kid with daddy issues, Penn successfully executed the difficult task of overacting understated. Still, for too few legitimate reasons, touted as a film star, Penn underwhelmed TWICE this week on network prime time, doing little to strengthen the occasionally whispered argument that Van Wilder II failed because of residual imperialist attitudes of the West and not because, you know, the incredulity of Kal Penn as a hetero player.

3 quick notes to the producers of Law and Order: SVU:

1) Change your name to Order: SVU. There's no law in your story lines. There's a sex crime, an unfortunate similarity between a victim and a real person, the chase of a wrong lead, the introduction of the actual culprit as a character peripherally related to the initial suspect, the scene where "remand" is denied and bail is set at $1 million, the capture of the reprobate who actually turned out to be a flight risk, the killer rapist's confession of the crime brought about by Freudian interrogation, and, finally, an uncomfortable ending during which Elliot, Mariska or Ice T realize justice served can never undo the scars of a crime already committed.

2) On a related note, Order: SVU, plot twists and guest stars don't really go hand in hand. If you paid for Kal Penn's SAG fee then he's probably going to be the killer.

3) Order: SVU, be more like this:

Golden Globes / Golden Showers

Most recently epitomized by The Aviator's victory for Best Picture however many years ago, the Golden Globes have repeatedly reinforced in the eyes of the critical populace its image as a booze-fueled hand-job for Hollywood that serves as the shaggy-haired roadie one has to get through to make it to the Academy Awards. The most valuable barometer to use to predict whom the Hollywood Foreign Press will choose as its winners is the institution's obsession with the "golden age of Hollywood." It's "Inside the Beltway" politics for the Holiday Hills resulting in a pretty alienating experience for the rest of us. Except when stars get drunk, jokes get crass and the pomp and circumstance of the Oscars is eschewed instead for an atmosphere reminiscent of a French Pot Luck - you can almost smell the smoke and feel the sticky heat of George Clooney's gin sweats through the television.

The HFPA's obsession with all things, well, Hollywood as well as the Golden Globes' role as a prelude to the Oscars, make the Hollywood Foreign Press' film picks inherently political and a little too up-it's-own-butt. It's TV picks, however, are usually more deserving than the Emmy's, caught up in its own degree of self-importance, and serve as the strongest statement of the year of what's been the best in TV Land in the past year (See Mary Louise Parker's win for Weeds in 2006 and her subsequent loss to a Seinfeld Curse Breaker at the Emmy's that same year).

So without further stream of consciousness verbosity, my Golden Globe TV picks for 2007.

Best Television Series - Drama

24 (FOX)
Real Time Productions/Imagine Television/Twentieth Century Fox Television; FOX

Big Love (HBO)
Anima Sola/Playtone Productions/HBO Entertainment; HBO

Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Touchstone Television; ABC

Heroes (NBC)
NBC Universal Television Studio/Tailwind Productions; NBC

Lost (ABC)
Touchstone Television; ABC

Pick: Grey's Anatomy
Why: Last year's winner, Lost, fell off in the middle of season 2 and has suffered serious momentum challenges by its extended hiatus schedule and fan reactions to too few sequential new episodes. Grey's Anatomy developed into a true blockbuster series during its second season with an enormous post-Super Bowl episode that literally exploded the show out of the shadow of its Desperate Housewives lead-in. Season 2 gave no less than 3 memorable episodes that delivered the suspense of mid-90's ER and the emotional drama of a great evening soap. It's irreverent attitude and impetuous sexiness forged a new voice in prime-time TV that resonated with an audience no show has found since HBO's Sex and the City. Big competition from FOX's 24, however, which beat out Grey's for the Best Drama Emmy in '06.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama

Patricia Arquette – Medium (NBC)

Edie Falco – The Sopranos (HBO)

Evangeline Lilly – Lost (ABC)

Ellen Pompeo – Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer (TNT)

Pick: Kyra Sedgwick
Why: I've never seen The Closer but all those reviews make it sound like Kyra Sedgwick's southern accent makes Matthew Mcgonnagay sound like he's from Hoboken. Don't be surprised by a win for Edie Falco, though, for a Sopranos farewell, and there's always that whole HBO lobby...

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama

Patrick Dempsey – Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

Michael C. Hall – Dexter (SHOWTIME)

Hugh Laurie – House (FOX)

Bill Paxton – Big Love (HBO)

Kiefer Sutherland – 24 (FOX)

Pick: Michael C. Hall
Why: Laurie won last year. Kiefer won the Emmy. Dempsey's character doesn't demand enough range. Michael C. Hall's the shit. And kinda so is Showtime.

Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy

Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Touchstone Television; ABC

Entourage (HBO)
Leverage/Closest to the Hole/HBO Entertainment; HBO

The Office (NBC)
Deedle Dee Productions/Reveille/NBC Universal Television Studio; NBC

Ugly Betty (ABC)
Touchstone Television; ABC

Weeds (SHOWTIME)
Showtime/Lionsgate Television/Tilted Productions, Inc.; SHOWTIME

Pick: Weeds
Why: Not even nominated last year, The Office could follow up its '06 Emmy win with this year's Golden Globe. Midway through season 2, however, The (American) Office made it very clear that when not adapting story lines from the British original it mired itself in overwrought plot and excessive pop culture references so thin they date themselves during the time between production and broadcast (Lazy Scranton?). Last year's winner, Desperate Housewives, is a critical non-entity this year serving as the osteoperatic backbone for ABC's flaccid Sunday lineup. Showtime's Weeds, on the other hand, rose to a new level in its second season, sharpening its banter and executing a smart, well-developed story that was both hilarious and surprisingly touching. Oh, and did I mention Showtime's the shit?

Best Performance By an Actress in a Series - Musical or Comedy

Marcia Cross – Desperate Housewives (ABC)

America Ferrera – Ugly Betty (ABC)

Felicity Huffman – Desperate Housewives (ABC)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus – The New Adventures Of Old Christine (CBS)

Mary-Louise Parker – Weeds (SHOWTIME)

Pick: America Ferrera
Why: I can't watch the show but everyone seems to love American Ferrera, and I have to admit, it would feel kind of warm in the chest if a fat, little dark girl won an award. Also, MLP won last year yet JLD took home the Emmy. Why should the HFPA pick sides between the two when it can reward someone young and new and also say fuck you to two white chicks that, in the end, kinda look the same but aren't cumulatively hotter than Sigourney Weaver's Key Master in Ghostbusters 1?

Best Performance By an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy

Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC)

Zach Braff – Scrubs (NBC)

Steve Carell – The Office (NBC)

Jason Lee – My Name Is Earl (NBC)

Tony Shalhoub – Monk (USA)

Pick: Alec Baldwin
Why: Duh. I mean Carell's acceptance speech was funny enough last year for NBC to use it as a promo for this year's airing, but Baldwin? C'mon. And Tony Shalhoub has been consistently condescending in his speeches toward those he's beaten like six times, so Baldwin? Duh.

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV

Bleak House (PBS)
Masterpiece Theatre/BBC/WGBH Boston/Deep Indigo; PBS

Broken Trail (AMC)
Butchers Run Films/Once Upon a Time Films/Sony Pictures Television; AMC

Elizabeth I (HBO)
Company Pictures/channel 4/HBO Films; HBO

Mrs. Harris (HBO)
Killer Films/Number 9 Films/John Wells Productions/HBO Films; HBO

Prime Suspect: The Final Act (PBS)
Masterpiece Theatre/Granada/WGBH Boston; PBS

Pick: Bleak House
Why: Yeah, I know it's risky to bet against anything backed by Killer Films, John Wells and HBO, but everyone's been sweating the PBS adaptation of Dickens without having sat through it so why can't I?

Best Performance By an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV

Gillian Anderson – Bleak House (PBS)

Annette Bening – Mrs. Harris (HBO)

Helen Mirren – Elizabeth I (HBO)

Helen Mirren – Prime Suspect: The Final Act (PBS)

Sophie Okonedo – Tsunami, The Aftermath (HBO)

Pick: Gillian Anderson
Why: Let Helen Mirren win for The Queen. Annette's got her nom for Running With Scissors. And Gillian's just always been awesome from The X-Files to The House of Mirth to, apparently, PBS' Bleak House.

Best Performance By an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV

André Braugher – Thief (FX)

Robert Duvall – Broken Trail (AMC)

Michael Ealy – Sleeper Cell: American Terror (SHOWTIME)

Chiwetel Ejiofor – Tsunami, The Aftermath (HBO)

Ben Kingsley – Mrs. Harris (HBO)

Bill Nighy – Gideon's Daughter (BBC)

Matthew Perry – The Ron Clark Story (TNT)

Pick: André Braugher
Why: It's been Bill Nighy's millennium, but he couldn't bring the Globe home last year for The Girl in the Cafe, which means a) he's out this year b) Ejiofor's out as well since HBO doesn't seem to be too favored and c) FX had the balls to re-brand a canceled show as a mini-series and that deserves the pilfering of some serious hardware.

Best Supporting Actress in ANYTHING on TV

Emily Blunt – Gideon's Daughter (BBC)

Toni Collette – Tsunami, The Aftermath (HBO)

Katherine Heigl – Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

Sarah Paulson – Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip (NBC)

Elizabeth Perkins – Weeds (SHOWTIME)

Pick: Elizabeth Perkins
Why: Sandra Oh won it last year for Grey's, somewhat deservedly, but Heigl's emotional basket case, Izzie, was more difficult to watch than Isiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey on Oprah. Perkins' Celia Hodes character in Weeds, however, develops her own strong storyline in season 2 that Perkins plays with a wry disgust that somehow becomes fragile and endearing.

Best Supporting Actor

Thomas Haden Church – Broken Trail (AMC)

Jeremy Irons – Elizabeth I (HBO)

Justin Kirk – Weeds (SHOWTIME)

Masi Oka – Heroes (NBC)

Jeremy Piven – Entourage (HBO)

Pick: Justin Kirk
Why: Justin Kirk's character in Weeds is hilarious and is dating Kate Walsh. Jeremy Piven's character in Entourage is brilliant but he's fighting with John Cusack. Piven won the Emmy, but he also wore an ascot. Kirk is every much an "actor's actor" as piven but may, in real life, actually have a sense of humor, which Piven, obvious to anyone who saw his MTV sponsored trip to India, may actually lack.