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Herc Declares 30 ROCK The Best New Sitcom On Network TV!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
I am – Hercules!!
Is true! There’s not another new sitcom on any of the networks I like as much as “30 Rock.”
From screenwriter-actress Tina Fey (“Mean Girls,” “Saturday Night Live”), it’s about a sketch-show showrunner (Fey) who finds herself paired with a batshit-crazy movie star (Tracy Morgan) by an amiable but meddling new NBC executive (Alec Baldwin).
While it had its laughs, the pilot sent to critics early in the summer was far too odd and confusing for its own good. The revised pilot airing tonight keeps all which worked but leaves out that which derailed - and substitutes a much better ending.
But what matters Herc’s opinion?
USA Today gives it three (out of four) stars and says:
… what matters most tonight is that 30 Rock probably will make you laugh, no small achievement in a season in which too few shows are even trying. …
The New York Times says:
… Ms. Fey has some amusing, seditious lines as Liz Lemon, the put-upon creator of “The Girlie Show,” but for the most part she and other cast members slumber until Mr. Baldwin takes over as Jack Donaghy, their new network boss. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… It would be confusing opinion with fact to definitively call any series "the best show of the fall season," but I can state unequivocally and without fear of contradiction that "30 Rock" — one of two new NBC shows set backstage at a broadcast-live sketch comedy — is my favorite. I feel an almost proprietary desire to see it succeed, and given the high mortality rate of such newborns, I light this small candle against its demise. …
The Chicago Tribune says:
… “30 Rock” is less than the sum of its parts, and, as an entry in the single-camera comedy sweepstakes, it fails to show either the inspired inventiveness of “Arrested Development” or provide the surprisingly perceptive character studies of “The Office.”…
The Washington Post says:
… Fey is a clever writer with a wicked wit, but as an actress, she tends to vanish into her own scenes. Even so, there are plenty of laughs on the premiere, and it's the kind of quality show worth rooting for. …
Variety says:
… Baldwin and co-star Tracy Morgan do yield a chuckle or two, but a "Saturday Night Live" pedigree won't be enough to anchor this "Rock" unless it gets consistently funnier, and fast. …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… There are a couple of rough patches in the pilot, including maybe too much time for the scene at the strip club, an unplanned stop as Liz struggles to get Tracy to the studio. But these are minor quibbles with what is arguably the best comedy this fall and NBC's best hope for the night. …
8 p.m. Wednesday. NBC.
What book about Stanley Kubrick could possibly be worth $200? How about The Stanley Kubrick Archives
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Alan Moore's Lost Girls!!
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Every scene made me laugh out loud. I hope the rest of the series is as good.
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because the last three SNL seasons have been brutal. I can't see myself making room for this show ... too much on my plate as is. And my Tivo is full since I'm spending most nights watching baseball .... GO TIGERS !
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And most of that was at Alec Baldwin, but Tracy Morgan's take on Martin Lawrence is also hilarious. If NBC teamed this up with My Name is Earl and The Office (and brought back Scrubs early) they could legally call Thursday nights 'Must See' again.
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A friend of mine sent me an early draft of the pilot earlier in the year, along with the first draft of Studio 7 (now Studio 60). The funny thing is, I felt that Fey's script really missed the mark of what it's like working at an SNL-type show, while Sorkin's pretty much nailed it. Oddly enough, I think the situation is now reversed. I thought that 30 Rock was hilarious, especially the parts with Tracy Morgan ("I AM A JEDI! I AM A JEDI!" "Did he say the word 'pumpkin?' I'm buggin'. I cannot eat here."). Alec Baldwin is brilliant, but it's Morgan who I feel steals the show. Highly recommend.
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does it compete directly or is it more like ER (when it was good) and Scrubs?
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I thought it showed promise. The main thing that didn't work for me -- Rachel Dratch. She was acting like she was in a sketch rather than a sit-com, and I don't think it's going to help that she's supposedly playing various parts on the series.
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It was OK, but come on.
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Fey has worked for such a show, and Sorkin hasn't. So wouldn't that imply that Fey is right and Sorkin is wrong?
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I liked it.
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...then the primary difference between this and Studio 60 is that the latter will always try to show us what Sorkin thinks running a live sketch comedy show "should" be like and this one will spend more time focusing on the hilarity that results from the imperfect reality. Not that I don't appreciate Sorkin's vision. It just never quite feels real for me.
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It was even kinda painful until Baldwin took over. Baldwin might be the funniest sitcom character currently on t.v., but the rest of 30 ROCK was okay at best.
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from Amazon, and it STILL hasn't come.
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Best line of the episode. Overall, it was pretty good but it's not up to OFFICE-quality yet (though in fairness, that show had a pretty weak pilot). There's room for improvement, I'll definitely keep watching.
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Kidding...
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How can you give them (the show) a quote like that based solely upon a pilot episode? You are an idiot. Give it time before making statements like that.
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Don't get me wrong, I have been waiting for this show for a while. Yes, I'm excited to see it. I might even LOVE the pilot and think it is the best pilot I've ever seen. I HOPE SO. But give it time.
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So, devoid of any discernable talent, Tina Fey left SNL in Downey Jr./Hall-style 1980's shambles for a sitcom that obviously won't mirror that failure. Personally, I am glad she did this project and drug Dratch with her; I can finally watch SNL again with falling asleep.
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I've never agreed with Alessandra Stanley in my life -- but I'm tempted to agree with her thought that without Alec Baldwin this show would be DOA. And have they really taken away Rachel Dratch? That's pretty sad -- I mean, didn't she quit SNL to be on the show and then NBC replaces her with someone better looking. Ouch.
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is there anything SNL-related that Herc doesn't like? if Lorne Michaels squatted on the sidewalk and popped out a turd, Herc would call it the greatest turd ever popped out in the history of that sidewalk.
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One pilot episode of 30 Rock versus the cumulative episodes of The Office (to a lesser degree Scrubs) and Herc is ready to proclaim it the best sitcom on network tv? Just when you think Herc can't say anything more retarded then yesterday - he tops himself. Like others have pointed out - it wouldn't happen to have anything to do with any crush you have on Fey would it? Don't get me wrong I think Fey is attractive and can be amusing sometimes and I have been looking forward to this premiere for a while and willing to give it a chance but that was one of the most retarded proclomations ever said here and thats saying a lot.
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Man, that guy is EVERYWHERE. The Departed, Running With Scissors, The Good Shepherd. To be quite honest...I'd watch him in anything.
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I don't understand why everyone says "My Name is Earl" is so edgey and brilliant. It's just as formulaic as every other sitcom, and it's made by the guy who did "Yes, Dear". I've given the show a chance, and I really don't understand the appeal (and the fact that it could win best writing at the Emmys only further frustrates me). Is it just that since Jason Lee is in it, it has to be cool?
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Also, not sure if anyone else mentioned it, but Tina Fey is a hack.
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come on.. tina fey is a bad actress, and the story sucks (hey, let's stop for a moment to do some exposition about the black guy's childhood!), and what's with the sound? they were having conversations and the background noise sounded like they were in diferent rooms
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Fey on top riding me. She may not write well but she is a hottie. Yummy for the tummy.
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Yeah, right. I mean, how many shows has Herc even seen of 30 Rock to declare it the best sitcom.
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...that this will be better than The Office. I'll check it out and maybe low expectations will help.
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Sorry, Herc. But with shows like Office, Earl, and Scrubs still around, I just can't agree.
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I don't see the appeal of the NBC version of the office. Steve Carrell and co are just annoying -those BK commercials featuring 'office' workers are better. Now, the British version was AWESOME.
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We are 10 minutes into it, I am waiting for the humor.
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praising a show about the TV industry makes you no less close to actually being a part of it. Yeah, yeah, go ahead and delete this post like I know you will.
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classic
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Are you seriously suggesting that this average comedy comes anywhere near either "The Office," or even the British, "Thick of it?" I agree with everything that Herc says. He is a wise and perceptive critic. On this he may be wrong.
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tracy morgan probably got 2/3rds of my laughs tonight (anything the man says makes me laugh). can't judge a comedy on the first episode though, so i'll wait and see. but yeah, calling it better than the office is preposterous.
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And waggy, you're right about not being able to judge a comedy by the first episode, EXCEPT, for Arrested Development. The characters are as well defined, developed, and humorous as they ever well.
Also, I know last week's South Park was underwhelming, but tonight is about Cartman figuring out who was really behind 9/11. That warrants discussion. I have high hopes, and it better be crab people. -
That's kind of like winning the gold in the special olympics but it was pretty funny. Definitly better than shmaltzy Earl.
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This show wasn't good at all. The jokes were infantile at best and the show felt like one of the overly long skits that SNL tends to run. Not the best at all. I will give it another episode or so before I remove it from the tivo.
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But I have to stand up for a show that consistently gets knocked by EVERYBODY,including me until I actually watched it. "Two and a Half Men" is FUNNY. Really.
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It seems like it actually has the potential to have some of that Larry Sanders vibe if the writing gets a little sharper. Turn Baldwin into even more of a Jimmy James-type, strolling in and causing havok, and then strolling out, keep Morgan in more of a supplemental role as an unpredictable whack-job and build the other writers up a bit, and you might have a decent mix.
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Question: "Mr. James, what did you mean when you wrote bad clown making like super American car racers, I would make them sweat, War War?" -
If this wasn't funnier than the office, it was at least on par with it. I love the office, but it misses it's mark way too much. That "gay" episode was painfully unfunny. I've never been more embarrassed for actors in my life. And so far this show doesn't have any of that overused, shmaltzy, "will they or won't they" love crap that stops all humor in it's tracks. Why, in order to post on these boards, do we always have to choose sides. Why is it always either Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, why can't we like both 24 and Lost (other than the fact that Lost isn't very good), and now, just because The Office is slightly better, why does that mean that 30 Rock is the worst thing that has ever been aired?
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Was looking forward to this one and it failed to impress me.
The only time it really shined was when Baldwin spoke.
IMO -
The scar is sexy, don't hide it NBC!
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I lol'ed
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It had funny parts, but I'm so SICK of insider TV shows. Is hollywood that devoid of ideas. The past years have given us far too many shows about the trials of being in showbusiness. Studio 60, Joey, The Comback, Entourage. Love Monkey was about a man in the music business. Curb Your Enthusiasm, while great, is about a guy in show business. Ugly Betty is in the Entertainment (ok "fashion") magazine business. Knights of Prosperity is about people wanting to rob someone. . . in showbiz. Hannah Montana? The Cheeta Girls? Freakshow? Music, Music, uh, carnie shows. Even The Office and Arrested Developent have self referential we are a TV documentary moments. STOP STOP STOP. You are far less interesting than you think you are.
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"Excuse me, you are wielding a red lightsaber, indicating that you are indeed a Sith Lord and therefore not a Jedi. Oh, I've wasted my life."
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So was the show. Some of the scenes seemed to go just a little too long. They should pick up the pace, get frenetic, and don't try to get profound.
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My favorite sitcom
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In the NBC preview show, Rachel Dratch was part of the show (the fake show). She was th eone in the weird dress getting her hemroid cream.Now there's some tall blonde doing it. What the hell happened? I know the pilot was re-tooled, but has Dratch been demoted to "cat wrangler"?? What a waste of her talents.
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... is the best sitcom on TV (no qualifiers)
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Isn't It's Always Sunny... cancelled yet? I feel embarrassed from having to watch the promos alone during Rescue Me...
I was surprised by the number of laughs 30 Rock got from me tonight, and I have been getting only meh vibes from the promos. Of course, I think they showed nearly every funny scene in the promos, so I can only imagine what a fresh show will look like (better maybe?)
It makes me cringe when I see Buster Bluth in the Stranger Than Fiction trailer.
It makes me grin when I realize future sitcoms will be compared unfavorably for the rest of eternity in television reviews.
PS I think maybe Herc intended to say 30 Rock is the best NEW sitcom on network? Surely... -
Compared unfavorably to Arrested Development of course, you dashing mind-readers!
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Without a doubt, the best sitcom on TV, or possibly of all time.
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I think Dratch is going to be play various characters, not just the cat wrangler that she played in this episode.
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was in her role in the pilot, but NBC said she wasn't hot enough. She was replaced. Surprised Dratch didn't commit seppuku. That would be way depressing.
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is very funny. People who say otherwise don't watch it. Somehow the 16 million people that watch it do not read AICN.
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mediocre at best. And most of the laughs came from Morgan, followed by Baldwin. Krakowski was blah.
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I agree, it's pretty damn amusing most of the time. And the kid actually gets a lot of decent lines.
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I thought the show was alright. could be better.having Baldwin was great. its not some hour long bloated show like Studio 50 (which was advertised as this silly comedy and it ends up being this overdramatic serious series now). anyway the fact I can see Tina again on tv makes me happy. and yeah this pilot is a million times funnier than anything i have seen on snl in the past 4 years
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"Five inches, but it's thick", "No, THAT'S charisma!" "This eye doesn;t open all the way since my sister peed in it when we were little." Are you peeing?" Fey 'dancing' in a strip club. Tracy getting audience approval by quoting his catch phrase from a fictional movie that honky gramma be trippin'" or whatever it was. Some funny stuff, some funny writing, some funny characters. Admittedly a show with Fey, Dratch and Krakowski is sort of anti-eye-candy (which is so Ugly Betty - how trendy). I see potential here. *** Just too bad there's nothing on between this and the Lost/Nine double feature.
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Extras is on BBC2 tonight! Ian McKellen, homophobia, barry from Eastenders. Top that!!
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That went out of style circa 1987. At first, I thought it was supposed to be intentionally corny, then I had a knot in the pit of my stomach when I realized it wasn't.
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I turned it off after Alec Baldwin's 2 minute talk about the GE stove was followed by a commercial about the same stove. I prefer to know when the commercial's starting so I can go piss.
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but parts of it were awkward, and Jane K.'s character annoyed me big time. NO WAY is it better than the Office, which seems to get more and more brilliant each week.
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and too early to compare it to the Office...
But I certainly enjoyed these 30 minutes far more than the first 180 minutes of "Studio 60".
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How can you sit there and say its the Best sitcom on TV?
OK, perhaps you can proclaim "Its the Best Sitcom that premiered on network TV on a Wednesday night in the 8pm timeslot created by a former Saturday Night Live writer."
But the best on TV? Not a chance in hell. -
... so his mom can be proud of him. Why else would he come out and say that?
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Oct 12, 2006 9:47:58 AM CDT
why the fuck is there no talk back for venture bros?
by jeanluc dickhard
the venture bros are about to end for the season and we get nothing?
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Does anyone know if a 3rd season is happening, and when?
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I'm sad that I missed this last night, but someone said that South Park was underwhelming last week...whaaaaat? That was one of my favorite episodes ever. Maybe I just don't have good taste.
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Just watched the first episode...so not good.
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That seems to be more what The Girlie Show is based on. Anybody remember that unbearable, poor excuse for a sketch show on ABC? Of course you don't.
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...on the two early drafts of both pilots I received earlier this year. I thought the Studio 60 script (operative word) was much better than Fey's script. However, upon execution (and rewrites), 30 Rock is definitely the superior product. My favorite part of the show was the blonde receptionist, who, when asked to get coffee, said "no." That's definitely based on Lorne Michaels' assistants, called "The Lornettes" (I dealt with them at one point).
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then zodiac is the greatest movie of all time, based of course on the poster alone. the show had its moments to be sure, but seriously... its a contrivance. if it makes 3 seasons ill be shocked.
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who thought Tina Fey was an absolute trainwreck? She was completely wooden, with no comedic timing. Acting just isn't her thing. I thought Morgan and Baldwin were great, but not good enough to overcome the disaster that was Fey. I know you're all in love with her, but it's time for a reality check. She can't act. I will not be watching again.
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And not not bad is in not good either! Some VERY funny moments, funny characters - Fey did well when she was a little more manic, but generally pretty fun to see her again. I wasn't expecting to see Dratch at all, so that was a pleasant surprise (so she's going to be a repeat performer?) I don't remember Tracey Morgan ever being this funny in SNL. We're not watching Studio 60 (not interested at all after trying two different EP's) so I can't compare. We actually own a GE Profile Tri-Convection! - Stiffy
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This show seemed so forced and unfunny.
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I obviously liked the show more than you did, but I think that's a valid complaint in this initial offering. I think I just see it as something they can get past if the cast is allowed to get comfortable with who their characters are and thus looser in general ala NewsRadio or something.
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Is that this show is NOT as funny as Scrubs or The Office, nor does it have the heart of My Name Is Earl... It could make a network 4th though now that Arrested is gone...
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Yeah I'm pretty sure they have personally never been called that. And the episode was promising, but its not the work of genius people are talking it up as. It needs to get alot better. And I hope it does. Im really rooting for it.
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Always Sunny is definitely the best sitcom on TV. But I think the first season was better. Danny DeVito is dragging it down a bit and the situations are becoming a little more contrived.
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best sitcom on network TV out of the fuckin water. Not even close. But then again neither Fey nore Michaels are writers of producers for The Office.
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I had high expectations for the show, but it was 'simply just another sitcom.' The show doesn't even compare to Sunny in Philly. Earl and the Office are ok, but I'll take FX shows any day over anything the big 3.5 put out.
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Tracy Morgan is the kind of funny that is immune to good or bad writing. That said, the writing wasn't bad, often funny or at least clever. But, despite the 'death of the sitcom', the sitcom bar has really been raised in recent years: The Office, Scrubs, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development (I'll take everyone's word -- I'll eventually catch it on DVD), South Park, Futurama - it's not like 30 Rock is competing with "the boss is coming over for dinner but my wife just burned the roast" shows for "funniest comedy". I'll keep watching 30 Rock, but I won't pretend its appeal isn't 80% the charisma of Tracy Morgan and Alec Baldwin.
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You have got to be kidding. Just because you have a hard-on for Tina Fey doesn't mean it's a good sitcom. JFC, what a crap.
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but he's wasted because the writing fucking sucks. That Ally MacBeal chick is still hella cute though. Great to see the show is a ratings failure.
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Fey really proved herself as a phenomenal writer with this thing. I know I'll be quoting "I am a jedi master!", "I'm not a drug addict, I'm straight-up mentally ill", and "This isn't HBO, this is TV" for a long time to come.
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otherwise you'd be a gigantic tool.
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...saw this via tivo finally because I wanted to have time to enjoy it. Tina Fey's one of the rare babes who gives me both giggles and wood at the same time. But this just didn't fly. It didn't crash and burn, either. But the moments being heralded as such great writing are just basically competent sitcom writing, and the same that you'd expect to get a rewrite seven times out of ten. The system just doesn't seem capable of recognizing what is truly working and what isn't. If you're hot on many levels the wat tina fey is people sometimes fall over themselves lauding material they'd yawn at or even scorn if it came from somewhere else. As yet, Fey hasn't fallen into that trap, but i guess it was just a matter of time
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without him, there's not much to this one. with him, it's a whole lot of fun.
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Baldwin was wasted, Tina Fey can't act to save her life (or apparently write a non-hackneyed sitcom.) 20 Good Years was horribly formulaic, but it was still better than 30 Rock thanks to Lithgow and Tambor mugging their asses off and going off-script (a drunk Lithgow to his pregnant daughter: "You're so ferocious and round!") 30 Rock's got nothing going for it at all, unless you think Fey's presiding over one of the worst prolonged slumps in SNL history gives her some sort of special insight into salvaging crappy comedy. Hey, maybe that's it - the show's *supposed* to be unfunny, and they're doing a pomo Andy Kaufmanesque sort of thing...
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