I Came For Donald Glover, And Stayed For Jon Hamm!

30 Rock, S06E19

I haven't commented on 30 Rock much because I haven't thought this season was too funny, and I have enough unfunny things to discuss.  However, since they were doing their live show again and I heard that Donald Glover was going to make an appearance, I decided that it would have some good material.  The main story was about Kenneth trying to convince the TGS staff (minus Jenna) that it should remain a live show.  He used several examples of past TV to convince everyone.  Only Jack and Liz resisted agreeing until Tracy shared his first live appearance on a telethon where he realized how hilarious he was.  Jack and Liz also realized that Tracy's first live experience also impacted their careers and got them all where they were today.  In a side story, Jenna wanted to have Paul propose to her on live TV, but he was against it.  When he came around and did as he thought she wanted, she actually wanted what he originally desired and requested that he propose again to her in private.

I really did watch this episode for the guest stars.  I liked that Amy Poehler played teenage Liz.  She's just such a cute dork.  I miss all the nutty characters she used to play during her SNL career.  Not to say that I don't like her work on Parks and Recreation (one of my favorite shows now), but it's nice to be reminded of her past every now and then.  Jimmy Fallon, who I usually don't care for, was pretty good as a younger Jack too.  But mostly when he was talking, I was checking out the wide-eyed expression of Fred Armisen staring at the camera behind him.  Seeing him, I really wish that Portlandia was still airing new episodes.  He's so hilarious.  When I finally saw Donald Glover as a young Tracy Jordan, he was indeed cute, but not as funny as I was hoping.  If I had only had his part to enjoy (which was rather short) I would have been pretty disappointed watching this episode.

Who was a surprise guest for me (since the SNL buddies are pretty much a given and I'm not too interested in Paul McCartney) and made the episode great was Jon Hamm.  It was actually his hostings of SNL that made me give Mad Men a try.  He was just so handsome and hilarious on live TV, I thought he had to be good in a drama.  Anyway, Hamm, made that "Alfie and Abner" skit incredibly funny.  Blackface is usually something you don't want to see anyone doing, but Hamm pulled it off because he just looked so ridiculous in his overalls, afro, and stereotypical speech.  Besides, they were only poking fun at the Amos 'n' Andy show from back in the day, so there's no reason to take offense by it.  Tracy Morgan's serious and proud character opposite of Hamm acting like a cartoon character was comedy gold.  You gotta love when he hit him over the head with a chair!  And It was just as good when they were just staring tensely at each other and Tracy choked him when he said "banjo."  I couldn't stop laughing.  It's one of the funniest things I've seen in a while and definitely the funniest thing I've seen on 30 Rock the entire season.  Before they even showed the "Alfie and Abner" bit, Kenneth had a really good line:

For Alfie and Abner NBC hired one African American and one Caucasian because they thought two black people on the same show would make the audience nervous. A rule NBC still uses today.

 Best line of the whole show.  It makes me think of this old sketch from MAD TV (so old it was when UPN and WB were still networks, instead of the CW).  They were parodying Chris Rock and talking about how there aren't many black people on the major networks.  I'm not so sure if it's gotten better or worse, really.  Usually, I don't notice diversity issues (as long as the show is really good) until something in the show brings my attention to it.  But anyway, I'll post that sketch because I was a big fan of MAD TV:

Jenna's story wasn't that interesting, except that when Paul interrupted TGS show with his proposal, he was singing the popular "Zou Bisou Bisou" song from Mad Men as he descended from the sky.  I enjoyed that, as a fan of that show.  And I just like Will Forte in general.

Apparently Kim Karshadian appeared too, but I don't remember her.  Since I was waiting for Donald Glover, I pretty much ignored most of the other guest stars who weren't people I was happy to see.  I'm wondering if she was in that sketch when Alec Baldwin was playing this guy named Joey who was talking into the camera and seemed confused about where he was.  Oh, well.  I don't care for her anyway.

Although, I do enjoy most prerecorded shows better than the live ones like SNL, I do appreciate those kinds of shows for all of the surprises that can happen during them.  Maybe live television isn't as popular now as it was in the past, but I wouldn't like to see it become a complete relic of the past.  After all, growing up, I was a huge fan of watching such comics as Chris Farley and Adam Sandler every week.  This week's episode of 30 Rock, which is its best of all this year, really proves to me that, like Kenneth suggested, live TV is a necessary and amazing way to broadcast a TV show.  Hope they do another one next year (if they have a next year)!

Ray Takes A Wife And I Take A Nap

Archer, S03E06

I was happy this week to see that Ray was no longer confined to his wheelchair, and it was going to be an episode centered around him.  I was disappointed that I did not enjoy the story as much as I thought I would.  Not only was the story set in Ray's hometown in Virgina, but his brother Randy was voiced by 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer.  Somehow the focus became Randy and his wife wanting to sleep around with Carol (Ray's fake wife) and Archer, respectively, and less about the sheriff of the town out to get Ray's drug "farming" brother.  I was hoping for more about Ray's background or him getting harassed further by the sheriff.  However, the sheriff had a small role, and Ray and Randy's squabble didn't get that intense.  Dang.  What was the point of showing his brother in the first place?

When things start to pick up action-wise after everyone is so distracted trying to have sex, the shoot-off with the sheriff is cut short after Randy admits that he lied about the reasons why the sheriff was after him.  Dunno how I feel about that "twist."  The only thing that I really liked about this scene was that Archer pointed out a potentially dirty joke that I wouldn't have noticed without him:

[Ray] Easy, don't shoot!  I'm coming out!

[Archer] Haha.  Phrasing.

 That must have been the only time I laughed, except I might have when Ray admitted to having a Miss Piggy diary that would have revealed his homosexuality.  His brother had been spared reading it, thanks to their father burning it.

Archer and Carol were free from police persecution by pretending to be hostages, but it was unclear to me at first why Ray, who had clearly been shooting at them, wasn't handcuffed like his brother.  When the sheriff comes on to Ray in a not so subtle, but surprising manner, it was no longer a question.  That twist might have been funnier if the sheriff had more screen time.  All we had to go upon, really, was Ray's word that he had been an asshole as a kid.  Meh.

I'm not sure what is going this season that I'm not enjoying it as much as I have previous ones.  I think perhaps it's because they don't have any significant adventures.  I'm not sure.  But if things keep going in this direction, I don't think that I need to keep this show in my primary section for much longer.

An Extra Long Snore

30 Rock used to be one of my favorite shows a season or two ago, but their sixth season is severely lacking for me.  I'm not sure where the magic went.  Perhaps the writers have changed--it's a mystery.  The characters are still their loveable selves, but perhaps after a while, the jokes are stale and their antics are unimpressive.  This week, there was a double-episode, which I decided to write about, as there was more material to work with than usual for this show.

So there were a few different stories going on.  The most boring was Jenna's.  She was having a case of the yips before her live performance.  Jenna only shines best when she is in pain--what a wonderful revelation!  It would be if I gave a damn.  The next up on the boring scale was Jack and his mother-in-law's story.  I love Mary Steenburgen, but I thought her character was lacking.  That was a shame!  All their troubles were solved with golfing...  I was slightly interested in their story only because I wondered if Jack would be a big enough ass to sleep with his mother-in-law.  Thankfully no.  How would his Canadian daughter respect him after that?

Okay, so let's go to the stories that didn't make me completely turn away from the screen.  There was the new page at their neck of woods, Hazel, who wasn't adapting well to the insanity that surrounds TGS.  She seemed on the verge of quitting until she met Liz at her apartment.  She quickly became obsessed with her to a level I thought we would see episodes later.  No, we got a little taste this time.  She was sitting in Liz's room, hugging her pillow, and then she was found to be in Liz's room, putting lipstick on her.  With all the psychos that already occupy the show, you'd wonder why I'd want another.  I like Kristen Schaal (from her various voice-over roles), so I welcome her to the cast if she can jump start my interest again.  The show's missing something, and she might fill that void.

Liz and Criss' story was fairly interesting in that they went to IKEA.  I love that store, but I like the idea that it's a place where couples come to break up after disagreeing on various furniture and home decor choices.  I don't care much for Criss, but I did like how this guy in the store was nearly walking on his heels as Criss moved throughout the store.  In the end, they argue, but Liz decides to apologize.  It turns out that she didn't even need to because Criss had made her a crudely but sweetly made table, along with dinner.  It's sad that she seems to be in a good relationship and I can't cheer her on.  My favorite person she dated was by far Carol.  Man, it sucks that he couldn't be a permanent fixture on the show.  But it was Matt Damon, so I don't know how much longer they could have kept him on anyway.

The best story was the one with Tracy, Frank, and Lutz.  They were scheming in different ways to take advantage of women and get dates (or possible just some sex, knowing them).  The general technique was to step in exactly when a woman was at her most vulnerable point and ask her, "Hey, Baby, what's wrong?"  Frank and Tracy kept saying this line in unison, forcing me to laugh during this episode.  They could have made this the central story, and I would have been happy.  Poor Lutz, who made the horrible mistake of suggesting to a postal lady that her hair looked bad, didn't get any dates for Valentine's Day, but he did get to go to IKEA and enjoy some meatballs with his boys.  That last part where they were all eating together outside of the store was the kind of silly fun that I have missed on this show.  But there just wasn't enough of it this time.

Lastly, I'll mention my favorite line from this episode (besides the "Hey, Baby" thing).  This was when Jack's mother-in-law was telling him that you catch more flies with honey, and Jack replied:

First of all, why do you want flies?

Yeah.  That phrases makes sense, and it doesn't make sense.  Anyway, I'm a little more motivated to comment (or watch) next week's episode if there is going to be more Hazel.  I could do with less Criss, and Tracey is always welcomed.  It's a good thing, though, that there aren't so many people I know watching 30 Rock.  I would have to be tortured by friends coming around and saying "Hey, Baby, what's wrong?"  It was funny on the show, but I'd probably punch someone in real life if I had to hear it more than twice.