Tag: 30 Rock

Fall TV – Two Weeks In

On October 10, 2007

Now that nearly all the shows I was interested in have premiered, and most of them have gotten a couple of episodes out, here’s what I’m liking so far. Pretty much in order of how much I like them. There’s going to spoilers for all of them, just fyi. The few shows that I’m planning to look at but haven’t premiered yet are Women’s Murder Club (which I won’t actually be able to watch unless ABC puts it up on their website, or I obtain it via, um, other means, because of scheduling conflicts) and The Next Great American Band, which is American Idol for bands, and which has one of the Australian Idol judges on it! I was really excited when I saw that in a promo tonight. I might try Cashmere Mafia when it starts in December (I think), because Lucy Liu is in it, but I decided against Christina Applegate’s amnesia sitcom Samantha Who?, because the more commercials I see for it, the stupider it looks.

LOVE/ADDICTED/OBSESSED

Ugly Betty
This show is so close to perfect right now, it’s not even funny. The very first scene of the opener, spoofing telenovelas? Loved. And the way they did Hilda dealing with Santos’ death was so great–they had me fooled, but it was niggling in the back of my mind that if they really had Santos recover from being shot in the chest from a foot away, it would be really bad from a narrative point of view. But what they did worked really well. And America Ferrera, as always, great (she won an Emmy, you know). And Mark, and Amanda, and Christina (apropos of nothing, I just discovered that Ashley Jensen is on HBO’s Extras, which you should totally watch), and Wilhemena…I had no idea how much I had missed the show over the summer. Please, please, watch it if you’re not.

The Office
I’m not hugely loving the hour-long format; I think that’s short-lived, though. Some shows are just half-hour shows, and that’s the pacing that works for them, and The Office is one of those shows. The opener was pretty good, but the second ep really hit the stride, as Ryan comes back fresh from his promotion and starts overhauling the business and being generally douchy while Michael complains that the changes represent ageism. Brilliant. And Jim and Pam. SO ADORABLE. Please let them be happy and adorable for a long time without making them angsty. Let others deal with the relationship issues for a while, and just let Jim and Pam be adorable.

House
First three eps this year were brilliant. House and Wilson getting into a kidnapping war, House bouncing ideas off the janitor, actually interesting cases, the search for the new team members is cracking me up… I honestly don’t mind if they keep Cameron and Chase off House’s team for a while–as long as they’re around somewhere–and some of the new team possibilities interest me. I like the really annoyingly pushy chick, because I can see some entertaining explosions coming out of the fact that she’s just as ruthless and pigheaded as House, and I like the old guy. And I also like the woman who ended up killing the guy this week (ooh, someone died on House! That never ever happens), but I guess the fact that she killed someone may not bode well. We’ll see. But I’m not sure about Foreman getting fired from his new job…that whole subplot wasn’t really well-integrated, and that leaves the door open for Foreman to come back or something, and he was the one of the team that I didn’t mind leaving.

Friday Night Lights
I finished S1 on DVD on Friday one hour before the new season’s premiere. Yay! There’s something so fresh about the show, even though it’s about a small-town high school football coach and his family and his team, which doesn’t seem like a very original, innovative subject. But the writing is really good, the characterization is really good, and the camerawork is uncompromising (though the handheldedness of it can get a little annoying at times). Mr. and Mrs. Coach are the best adult couple on television, no question about it. And if I can fall in love with a show about football, as much as I dislike sports, you can too. So come on. The premiere went a number of interesting directions, a few of which had me screaming at the TV, so really, this season could go anywhere.

30 Rock
There’s only been one episode so far this season, but it left me wanting more immediately. 30 Rock is sort of one of those shows that sneaks up on you with how good it is. I watched it for weeks last year before I realized that I didn’t just casually enjoy it, but I honestly loved it. And I say that about so few sitcoms. Seinfeld-vision is brilliant, like most of 30 Rock‘s other comic indictments of consumerism and mercenary motivations of television execs. And poor Liz Lemon with her wedding dress! And Alec Baldwin is better than he’s been in years.

Grey’s Anatomy
Okay, so I’m really mad at Grey’s right now. But it still legitimately counts as an obsession, since obsession includes the idea of being unable to let go of something that no longer really lives up to expectations. And I can’t let it go. I still love the characters, even though they’re being stupid, and I still love the music, and I still love the show. And every once in a while there are flashes of goodness, and for an obsessed person, sometimes that’s enough. Plus, Becky and I spent the whole show last week arguing through text messages over whether or not Lexie is annoying enough to merit Meredith’s bitchiness toward her, and anything that provokes logical argumentation has value, right? Right?

More after the jump.

Fall TV Planning

By Jandy

On September 15, 2007

In Television

The fall TV season is nearly upon us again, and I can’t wait! On the other hand, there are so many things I want to watch that I’m going to be overwhelmed within a few weeks. Thank goodness for DVRs, but there are still some timeslots that have three or four things I want to check out, and my DVR can only record two a time. (We’re not dealing with actually finding the time to watch all the shows…we’ll figure that out later.) Anyway, here’s what I’m looking at this fall. What’s everybody else watching? Anyone want to join me and Becky in chatting about the shows on YahooMessenger while we watch?

BTW, spoilers after the jump for all the returning shows I’m watching, especially: How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, House, Bones, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, The Office, and Desperate Housewives.

Videos for my Harlem Renaissance class

By Jandy

On February 21, 2007

In School

I’m posting some videos here for the interest of the other members of my Harlem Renaissance class. Thought it would be easier to maintain one post rather than multiple links to the multiple videos. Feel free to pass by and ignore if you’re not in the class–or not, it’s up to you.

The Colbert Report: Stephen Colbert’s guest, Debra Dickerson, claims that Barack Obama is not, in fact, black. Interesting counter-position to the editorial we read for class. (Obviously Stephen plays it for laughs, but I think Dickerson does a fair job of making her point despite him.)

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a video by a high school student. She’s interviewing black teenagers on racial perception, and includes a recreation of the famous doll experiment from the 1950s.

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30 Rock – This NBC sitcom focuses on a Saturday Night Live-type sketch comedy show, the Tracy Jordan Show. In this clip, Tracy and the only black staff writer (nicknamed Toofer, I don’t know why) are working on writing a sketch together, but they clash because of their different racial experiences.

30 Rock – Tracy vs. Toofer

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30 Rock – In another episode, Jack (the, uh, I’m not sure what he is–he’s the boss, but not of the whole network–programming director, maybe?) wants Tracy to entertain an important client, but Tracy resents that role.

30 Rock – Tracy the Entertainer

Early TV outlook

By Jandy

On September 8, 2006

In Television

Not all my shows have premiered yet, but a few have, and I think it’s about time I start obsessing, so here we go.

Premiered shows

Prison Break (Fox, Mondays at 7pm CST) – Prison Break started off a little slow for me this year, but by the third episode, it’s gathering itself a bit. I’m not sure I’m going to keep it on the schedule, but I’ve invested a year in it, so I’m less likely to give it up than some of the newer shows. Plus, I want to make sure Sara doesn’t get in too much trouble.

Vanished (Fox, Mondays at 8pm CST) – We’re three episodes into this new show, and I’m still figuring out what I think. I am getting drawn into the story to some degree, especially the conspiracy theory / secret society angle, because I’m a sucker for that. But I’m not sure the whole structure really works–there’s too many strands at one time, none of which are developed enough for me to really care about them. It’s one thing to keep watching it now, when there are only six shows that have premiered, but when it’s jockeying for my (increasingly limited) free time with 15 to 20 other shows, Vanished may vanish. (Sorry, had to do the easy pun. Series totally ask for it when they name shows like that.)

House (Fox, Tuesdays at 7pm CST) – One episode in, and it’s as good as ever. I think the conflict between what House wants to do and what Cutty will let him do is going to increase this year–and making it even more interesting is Cutty’s growing inability to separate what’s medically sound from House’s hunches. I just hope that it doesn’t devolve into familiar ground regarding House’s vicodin addiction. But it looks like a solid beginning to a good season of a great show.

Standoff (Fox, Tuesdays at 8pm CST) – This one’s been looking good all summer, and it wasn’t a bit disappointing. Hostage negotiating is always a very tense subject, and the suspense was kept up quite well. The only thing is going to be keeping up that intensity over a whole season, but hey. Procedurals do it all the time with crimes, so why not hostage situations? I like the characters, the writing isn’t bad, and I’m definitely keeping this one on my schedule.

Bones (Fox, Wednesdays at 7pm CST) – I have friends who deride Bones all the time, for writing, or poor forensics, or whatever. But you know what, I like it. I don’t care. I enjoy the interplay between Brennan and Booth, I like the goofiness of the team, I’m enjoying the tension that the new boss is bringing to the Jeffersonian. I know nothing about forensics, so I don’t know if it’s accurate or not, but it looks interesting to me, and that’s what TV is about…entertaining the ignorant, right? Just kidding. But it kept my interest all last season, and the first episode of this season was good, too. So I’m not letting it go.

Justice (Fox, Wednesdays at 8pm CST) – I’m not completely convinced by this one yet–high-powered defense lawyers and all that. I do love Victor Garber, though, and the young lawyer is hot hot hot. This week’s episode had Amanda Seyfried (Lilly on Veronica Mars) as the guest star, and she was great. The closing gimmick of showing how the crime really happened (i.e., whether the defendent really did it, independent of the verdict) strikes me as just that…a gimmick. And they’re going to have to lose some cases now and again, too. I hope they handle that well. Overall, I’m not done with it yet, but it’s not top of my “keep watching” list either.

New shows not premiered yet

Kidnapped (NBC, Wednesdays at 9pm CST, premieres 9/20) – I actually saw this premiere from Netflix. And between then and now, I’ve almost completely forgotten it. Even when watching it, now that I think back, it wasn’t terribly memorable. I may give it a shot for a week or two, but I doubt it’ll differentiate itself from the huge pack of new dramas this fall.

Six Degrees (ABC, Thursdays at 9pm CST, premieres 9/20) – I haven’t heard much advance buzz on this, either, but when I was making my fall TV schedule, I saw it on the ABC website and the concept looks interesting. I’m always fascinated by how people and events are connected together in unlikely ways, and ABC has done well on their dramas the last few years, so I’m going to test it out.

Heroes (NBC, Mondays at 8pm CST, premieres 9/25) – Now here we go. One of my two most anticipated new series of the year. Each otherwise ordinary person has some extraordinary power–I’m not sure where it’s going to go from here, but the cast is good (Greg Grunberg, yayness!–he was Agent Weiss on Alias, as well as the doomed pilot on Lost), and NBC’s relentless promotion of the show all summer has me very interested.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC, Mondays at 9pm CST, premieres 9/25) – And my other most anticipated new series. Aaron Sorkin, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, behind-the-scenes at an ailing-but-hopefully-recovering SNL-type show–I’ve seen the premiere, and it’s excellent. Great cast, great writing…if the rest of the series can keep it up, this will be great.

The Nine (ABC, Wednesdays at 9pm CST, premieres 10/4) – I don’t remember what this one was about. But whatever description of it I read interested me enough to throw in on my schedule, so I guess I’ll find out for a few weeks anyway. edit: Okay, reading TV Guide in the checkout line is sometimes helpful–this show is about nine people taken hostage in a bank robbery over the whole season arc. TV Guide was high on it, and it does sound like it might be good. The actress who plays Audrey Raines on 24 is in it, and she’s apparently quite the little firecracker.

30 Rock (NBC, Wednesdays at 7:30 CST, premieres premieres 10/11) – I’ll actually take bets on how long this can make it before being cancelled. I give it…five episodes. But I do like Tina Fey, so despite my overall sense that it’s going to totally suck, I’d like to catch an ep or two to confirm that. edit: TV Guide tagged this Best New Comedy. Heh. I’m still not convinced.

Returning shows yet to premiere

The Amazing Race (CBS, Sundays at 7:30pm CST, premieres 9/17) – I avoided TAR for a long time on the basis of being prejudiced against all reality-type shows. Then I was convinced to try it, and it’s actually quite interesting, if only for the travel aspect.

How I Met Your Mother (CBS, Mondays at 7:30pm CST, premieres 9/18) – One of the very few sitcoms I really like. It’s cute, and funny, and sweet, and GORRAM IT ROBIN AND TED NEED TO GET TOGETHER ALREADY. Sorry. I’m not usually much of a ‘shipper, but Robin and Ted are so awesome.

NCIS (CBS, Tuesdays at 7pm CST, premieres 9/19) – I didn’t watch this one from the beginning (bad me!), but I do enjoy it. But it’s more of a fun procedural now and again rather than an “I have to watch it every week!” kind of show. I intend on watching it all on DVD eventually to get the overall arcs down, but depending on time, NCIS may fall by the wayside.

The Office (NBC, Thursdays at 7:30pm CST, premieres 9/20) – I scoffed off the American version of The Office at first, but enough people have told me that it’s really good, and acclimated itself well to being American instead of British that I think I’ll give it a shot this year.

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, Thursdays at 8pm CST, premieres 9/20) – My watching or non-watching of Grey’s depends entirely on how quickly I get and watch the S2 discs from Netflix, which should be on their way to me soon. I watched the whole first season in about a week on DVD, and LOVED it, far more than I’d expected. So I’d love to be watching the current season, but I absolutely do not want to watch out of order.

Numb3rs (CBS, Fridays at 9pm CST, premieres 9/21) – Numb3rs is just fun. I do so enjoy good procedurals sometimes, and Numb3rs has characters that I like, even if they aren’t really so much into the relationship side of things. Sometimes that’s refreshing.

Desperate Housewives (ABC, Sundays at 8pm CST, premieres 9/24) – A lot of people thought the second season went so far downhill that they aren’t even planning to watch the current season. I don’t think it was as great as the first season, but it didn’t turn me off so much that I don’t want to keep watching. It’s just such a guilty-type pleasure, you know? They do need to settle down the try-it-and-see-if-it-works style of writing employed last year.

Gilmore Girls (CW, Tuesdays at 7pm CST, premieres 9/26) – Yeah, I probably won’t be watching GG this year either. My brilliant plan of watching seasons 3-5 on DVD and somehow scrounging S6 from somewhere over the summer and thus being caught up for the current season didn’t really work out. And I doubt I’m going to be able to watch four seasons in the next three weeks. No spoilers, okay everyone? Please?

Supernatural (CW, Thursdays at 8pm CST, premieres 9/28) – I know some people who really like Supernatural (because of the hot boys), and I thought I might check it out, but I probably won’t have time. And the one episode I saw last season didn’t really make me want to see more, so I’ll most likely save it for a rainy day on DVD.

Veronica Mars (CW, Tuesdays at 8pm CST, premieres 10/3) – Why, oh why, does Veronica have to premiere so late?! I WANT IT NOW!! Guys, seriously, if I gave up every other show on here, I wouldn’t give up Veronica. That’s how great it is. Watch it, love it, share it, talk to me about it. :)

Lost (ABC, Wednesdays at 8pm CST, premieres 10/4) – Lost isn’t my favorite show, as I know it is for several of y’all, but I’m in it for the long haul. No way am I quitting now, just when the world of the island is starting to open up. I wish I’d kept up with the Lost Experience online stuff better, but I fell so far behind I gave up. I really have to congratulate ABC, though, on the way they’ve handled this show.

And 24 and American Idol, of course, start in January. ;) Oh, and in case it comes up, I have officially given up on The O.C.. I’m really tolerant of my shows, really, and I can put up with a lot of suckitude, but last season was incredibly bad, and I’m so totally over it. The only temptation is that Rachel Bilsson has been excellent all through, and I’m going to miss Summer. But one good character isn’t worth giving up so much of my time to THE SUCK.