Thursday’s Must See TV Lineup

30 Rock

Definitely my favorite sitcom of the past few years, 30 Rock always manages to mix the zany with the witty perfectly.

I enjoyed the first season, especially after they found their footing after the first few episodes. However, the improvements in the second season, notably the development of Tracy and (especially) Jenna made it one of my can’t miss shows of the week. Alec Baldwin was the reason to watch the first season, and he still is a great reason to watch the show, but the ensemble as a whole has really come together since the first season and even on an off week, there’s something I’ll look back and laugh at.

Tina Fey was robbed of her Entertainer of the Year trophy by Entertainment Weekly. I like Robert Downey Jr. and I really liked both Iron Man and Tropic Thunder, but between her great SNL episode after the writers’ strike, everything with Sarah Palin, and what she has done with 30 Rock, no one entertained me more in 2008.

Incidentally, I also just watched Mean Girls a few weeks ago, so she gets credit for that in 2008 too. I was really, really surprised at how funny that movie was. I thought it would be good – I had heard all good things about it – but I was not expecting it to be that good. It was like a great 30 Rock episode without the bizarre asides and fantasy sequences (like Werewolf Bar Mitzvah, Mystic Pizza: The Musical, etc.). And Lindsay Lohan, well I guess there was a time when she could act. Maybe it was just the material.

I have been very much enjoying the third season on 30 Rock, and although I’ve read that some have found the stunt casting distracting, I really feel like it’s worked in every case. My least favorite ep of the season was the premiere, but that had less to do with Megan Mulally, and more to do with my expectations, I think. I thought the Oprah ep was hysterical (“Hellooooooo Liz Lemoooooooooon!”) and the Steve Martin ep too (“I miscounted the men!”)

This week’s ep might have been the best of the season though (with no huge guest stars…) when Liz goes to her high school reunion with a depressed Jack. Liz’s confession on the plane, Tina Fey’s perfect (multiple) line reading of “I want to go to there,” “Lemon out!” and Jack’s reaction to his “son” were particular stand-outs. I thought that the B story with Tracy and Jenna worked really well too.

It’s one show that I very rarely complain about, so that makes it all the more welcome in my TV week.


ER

I watch ER because I’ve watched since the beginning. It is very far from a great TV series right now, but sometimes they’ll sneak in a decent ep.

I haven’t watched at all this year, but I hope they manage to head out with some amount of dignity, but I’m really not holding my breath.


My Name is Earl

I’ve never been the biggest Earl fan. I like the show, but I don’t ever really need to watch. I love Jaime Pressly and I like Eddie Steeples too, but it’s always been a ‘meh’ show to me.

That said, I do think it is improved this year, since Earl is not stuck in jail or in a coma or married to Samantha Miceli (not that she was bad, but the story really didn’t work for me). It’s never been a show that makes me laugh the way that 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother or The Office has, but it does entertain.


The Office

I like The Office. Beginning with the last couple of episodes of the first season, I was hooked on The Office. I liked all the quirky characters and often laughed endlessly at the things Kelly said.

Lately though, I just hasn’t been great. I loved everything with Amy Ryan earlier this year, but she’s gone now and I miss her.

I hate Jim and Pam. They are dull and boring. Why did they send her to art school if she was just going to end up compromising at the end to come back to her dead end job? As much as having her out of the office wasn’t working, their way of bringing her back was just terrible. I like the Jim and Pam of the past and I saw a bit of that in this week’s ep, which was nice, but still…

I think my big problem is that they will never be Tim and Dawn. I know you can’t really compare them because the BBC Office had a much shorter run, but in that (perfect) finale, when Dawn came back and they kissed, you really felt like you earned that. There was a time that I wanted Jim and Pam together, but they’ve become like Ross and Rachel before them, an annoyance that I do my best to ignore.

Jim and Pam seemingly have a functional relationship now. (Well, except for him buying her a house – I mean, really, that’s romantic? That’s just stupid and he’s lucky she’s such a pushover.) Anyway, functional relationships rarely work, especially when they’re a couple that weren’t together, but you wanted them to get together. That’s why Tim and Dawn were so perfect – you didn’t have to see them together – you just see the kiss and the beginning of their relationship, where everything is perfect.

Another thing I hate is when Michael is too stupid. It’s fine when he’s awkward and saying inappropriate things, but when he’s driving into a lake because his GPS says so or he doesn’t understand what a surplus is, it not only questions his place in Dunder Miflin, it questions how he can tie his own shoes.

The large supporting cast is always fantastic though. Everything Creed says makes me laugh. Kelly and Angela and Andy and Phyllis and Daryl and Meredith – they all make the episodes worth watching. If only Jim and Pam (the couple, not the individuals) and stupid Michael could be excised from the show, it might be the show that I once really loved.


Supernatural

Supernatural was a good show in its first couple of seasons, but somewhere during season three and continuing into season four, it has become a great show, a show I never thought it could be.

It’s a rare show that only has two actors as its main cast, but Supernatural makes it work because the two guys they have are particularly capable to carry a show on their shoulders. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles have a great camaraderie on the show and do really come off as brothers onscreen.

The show can be funny, unsettling, upsetting and moving all in the same hour and it’s because of an excellent showrunner who seems to know what he wants to do with his show and also because of the two leads. Ackles, especially, is a much more talented actor than I gave him credit for in the first season. It’s unfortunate that awards shows like the Emmys ignore Supernatural, because he is worthy of competing with the best actors on TV. (But then again those award shows to tend to ignore stuff that’s in the horror/sci-fi genre, and it’s also on the CW, so that doubly damning.)

It’s a horror procedural that has an overarching mythology and story that drives it: it gets to have mystery of the week episodes, but also season and series-long arcs that captivate TV watchers like me.

It’s not quite up to Buffy or Angel-level adoration from me yet, but it is certainly a worthy successor.


Ugly Betty

When it’s good, Ugly Betty is funny, over-the-top and campy. When it’s bad, it’s boring, predictable and annoying. Unfortunately, good episodes and bad episodes lately seem to be split 50/50.

I know she’s the hero of the show, but I wish Betty didn’t have to be so perfect. The recent episode when she turned down an acceptance to an exclusive school because someone said that she might have been accepted because she is a minority drove me crazy. Whether or not it’s true, she got in, so wouldn’t it be best to try to prove the doubters wrong and show that you belong rather than martyring yourself?

Of course, the best characters on the show are the over-the-top ones like Wilhelmina, Marc, Amanda and Justin, while the ones I hardly ever want to see are Betty, Ignacio and Daniel because they are generally so dull.

It’s not as ridiculous as it used to be and that makes it less entertaining for me, which is a shame because I did actually enjoy it during its first year.