30 Rock Review: "Klaus and Greta" & "Black Light Attack!" (4.9 & 4.10)
I don't know why NBC decided to put two episodes of 30 Rock on back to back this week, but the station is chock full of wonderfully terrible ideas these days so it shouldn't come as a surprise. Especially when it comes to scheduling they seem to not know have a clue what they're doing, but what can you do? The main problem here stems from the fact that the first of the two episodes last night, "Klaus and Greta," was all sorts of funny while its follow-up "Black Light Attack!" was a big let-down. Which one are you going... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsFaux News is Good News
Over the last decade, the newspaper industry has buckled. Three of network TV’s longest-running and most trusted news anchors (Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather) have disappeared from the airwaves. And cable news has become consumed by talking heads paid to eternally bicker as if trapped in some earthbound Purgatory, a place where opinion and hearsay are subtly suggested to be fact, and where it’s policy to cut away from coverage of the day’s most important issues to follow a live car chase on the L.A. freeway.... read more
Found in: Culture, FeaturesThe 40 Best Sesame Street Guest Spots So Far
The 40th season of Sesame Street premiered on Nov. 10, 2009, promising guest spots from notable figures such as... read more
Found in: Blogs, List of the Day30 Rock Review: "Secret Santa" (episode 4.8)
You know, I like Christmas episodes. They're cheap and easy, they tend towards heavy-handed moralizing and more often than not they end up sickeningly saccharine in a way that makes me wish the holiday would just go away. But when done right, they just kind of hit that special sweet spot that manages to be both heart-warming and funny. Think of the original Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas as the rarity in pulling things off and Jim Carrey's nightmare-inducing demonic crap-o-rama from a few years back as the other 90% of things out there. For whatever reason, regardless... read more
Found in: TV, Reviews30 Rock Review: "Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001" (Episode 4.7)
The two big surprises for 30 Rock this week were that a. it looks like Dealbreakers is done and b. a whole episode based around Dealbreakers ended up being pretty good after all. Admittedly, the later is a bigger surprise, but I’m happy that the show dispatched things with such grace when almost everything else having to do with the whole Dealbreakers plotline tended to be cliché, unfunny, or at the very least filler. ... read more
Found in: TV, Reviews30 Rock Review: "Sun Tea" (episode 4.6)
The most tiresome thing about this season of 30 Rock has been the entire Dealbreakers plotline. There’s a lot of other gripes people have had, some well-founded, some not so much, but for my money the Dealbreakers thing has generally slowed things down and turned a somewhat funny joke into a running gag that lost its steam some time ago. It’s sadly a bit like what SNL will do by taking whatever success it accidentally stumbles upon and reusing it again and again until even hearing about it makes you cringe. Dealbreakers had become like that for me, and the... read more
Found in: TV, Reviews30 Rock Review: "The Problem Solvers" (Episode 4.5)
Last night’s episode of 30 Rock was the best one so far in the season. Ok, who am I kidding, it was the best. I’m not going to pretend I’m not still a little disappointed in it, though, but it’s just because the show was so close to greatness and we all know it’s done it before and can do it again. 30 Rock is like a mistress I’m going through hard times with at the moment. She continues to give me enough to keep coming back, but I know she’s delivered better in the past and that she’s just... read more
Found in: TV, Reviews30 Rock Review: "Audition Day" (Episode 4.4)
You know how sometimes a song can be well-written, the lyrics literate and its singer passionate, but you still think "meh" about it? That's kind of what this episode of 30 Rock was like for me. It had a good premise that had been set up for episodes and the usual manic comedy that the show thrives on, but I wasn't really feeling the whole thing. ... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsJames Franco to Play Jenna's Boyfriend on 30 Rock
30 Rock never wastes a good guest star. Salma Hayek’s six-episode arc last season as Jack Donaghy’s girlfriend was rapaciously sharp-edged and clever. Will Arnett’s appearances as Jack’s closeted nemesis who sexually harrasses Kenneth is always squirm-worthy and hilarious. And hey, even that ridiculously unfunny comedian with the hatemonger puppets was well placed in last week’s episode.... read more
Found in: TV, NewsWhere Have All The Weird Girls Gone? Gone to the Big Screen, (Nearly) Every One
Her clothes aren’t right. Her old man doesn’t understand her. And her love life? Nonexistent to abysmal. She’s too cool for the nerds, too square for the cool kids. She’s the alterna-girl, one of television’s most beloved archetypes—and she’s in trouble.... read more
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