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Live from New York: ‘30 Rock’ disappoints
“30 Rock,” the NBC sitcom about a live sketch comedy show, actually presented its Thursday episode live and the results were disappointing.
The show is always presented with a knowing, “hey — don’t forget this is a TV show” wink, but if it’s usually delivered slyly, last night’s wink was in overdrive. It was the kind of repeated, desperate wink that leads the person sitting across the table from you, who just wants to stare longingly into your eyes, to say “man, we had better get you to a doctor and get that checked out.”
I guess it’s a miracle that, week-to-week, a coherent plot can be shoehorned into 22 minutes of prime time television. But, maybe because of the need to be able to trim on the fly (there’s no post-production editing for time in a live show) last night’s “30 Rock” had no plot to speak of.
Oh, there was the cast forgetting Liz’s birthday and Jack quitting drinking. Lutz wore an “I’m with stupid” shirt that made Kenneth convulse with laughter and Tracy decided it would be funny to break character all night. It kind of sounds like a lot, but nothing really happened.
I think a lot of my disappointment falls on Fey, who delivered every other line with a knowing, stilted “I am acting” inflection that came off like a high-school one-act play.
There were funny ideas, if fewer actual funny moments. Recently unemployed Julia Louis-Dreyfus stood in for Fey in the show’s frequent flashbacks which, Fey explained, “have a Seinfeld budget.” Dreyfus was a pro, but it might have been more fun to see Sarah Palin in that role. I wonder if she was approached?
Matt Damon’s cameo as Liz’s pilot boyfriend — calling her from the cockpit of a nearly disastrous flight — was wasted. Jon Hamm’s commercial turn as a doctor with a hand transplant from a criminal was funnier, but borderline racist-creepy. Chris Parnell might as well have been back on “Saturday Night Live” in a lame commercial parody for a CD of music created to cure erectile dysfunction.
Alec Baldwin and Jane Krakowski fared best, delivering the lion’s share of their lines exactly the same way they would have in a regular show. I think that’s the key. Whether it was a result of discomfort or intentional, Fey’s stilted approach lowered the production to the level of an interesting stunt.
What did you think? Am I being too hard on “30 Rock?” Sound off in the comments below.
In the mean time, check out Jon Hamm’s commercial from the West Coast performance, which was a lot funnier than the version we saw here:
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By Tim England
October 15, 2010 8:19 AM | Link to this
I have to agree with you, Dale. Except for the early days of TV, presenting sitcoms or dramas live has been a rarity. So, it's worth taking note when one of the networks makes an attempt.
Last night's show, however, fell flat in the comedy department. It seemed like an SNL skit that didn't quite gel and then we got two or three times more of it. I appreciated the effort, but it fell short in the execution.