The mind of Tina Fey, now freed from the bedridden, terminally-ill confines of her SNL respirator, perhaps will have a chance (with a little good luck and some cutting-edge medications available only through clinical trials), to fully recover and once again become a productive member of society.
The last funny thing to come out of SNL was "Colonel Angus," and even that relied on puerile, repetitive humor -- though admittedly it worked.
Plastic, pretentious, bespectacled Tina, squinting at the Weekend Update TelePrompTer, often left viewers with massive indigestion, as well as upset stomach and nausea, delivering punch lines with a graceless, perfunctory monotone and smug self-satisfaction that was never, ever earned or deserved.
Yet with 30 Rock, Tina may have realized that the world does not, in fact, revolve around her spotty, irregular menstrual cycle and predictable feminine angst.
Yes, Tina -- GOOD comedies must yield star-power and embrace the ENSEMBLE cast.
Thank you for realizing this.
Though a strong case can be made for prime-time television to never, ever allow another appearance by a Baldwin, somehow in this case... the minor transgression can be forgiven because he's just not taking himself seriously by virtue of playing a character who DOES take himself too seriously. It's not quite irony, but it's enough to get the viewer through without having to reach for the economy-sized bottle of Mylanta.
So far.
While pacing did lag in a few spots, this is par for the course during a pilot episode wherein tone, mood and future story lines must be established. One gets the feeling that Tina Fey made an internal pact with herself to not allow a return to stilted, painfully embarrassing SNL skits that belabor a single joke for eight minutes. Hell, she even admits as much, with not-too subtle stabs at the flailing SNL.
NBC has a self-promotional tool here, with industry references in abundance, with gloating nods to parent company GE, thinly veiled as self-deprecating humor in the hope that consumers will find this endearingly charming and rush out to buy scores of GE appliances.
True, there are many ways to "cook a turkey in twenty-three minutes," and 30 Rock may yet still prove to be golden-brown and delicious, but fair warning: do we really WANT our turkey cooked in twenty-three minutes? After all, we need time to get drunk and watch football on Thanksgiving, don't we?
With enough careful basting and some well-seasoned stuffing, 30 Rock might be tender enough to eat, and may provide a high dose of scripted trytophan, easing us into a gentle sleep before having to suffer through the dreadfully awful Twenty Good Years that immediately follows.
Nurture this big bird, NBC. You need only one more decent comedy if 30 Rock succeeds and you may have a solid four-pack of shows to air on Thursday nights once more. Yet those days are probably long gone, and we'll have to DEAL with Howie Mandel interrupting the flow of laughs after Earl and The Office for quite some time to come.
Not bad, Tina Fey. Thanks for shedding your skin, for letting other cast members get some laughs, for poking fun at yourself and your industry, and for at least picking the one and only PROPER Baldwin.
It's hard to be IMPRESSED, but at least we can say we're not utterly disappointed.
Now go, little Tina. Be creative. And never, ever read from a TelePrompTer again.
The last funny thing to come out of SNL was "Colonel Angus," and even that relied on puerile, repetitive humor -- though admittedly it worked.
Plastic, pretentious, bespectacled Tina, squinting at the Weekend Update TelePrompTer, often left viewers with massive indigestion, as well as upset stomach and nausea, delivering punch lines with a graceless, perfunctory monotone and smug self-satisfaction that was never, ever earned or deserved.
Yet with 30 Rock, Tina may have realized that the world does not, in fact, revolve around her spotty, irregular menstrual cycle and predictable feminine angst.
Yes, Tina -- GOOD comedies must yield star-power and embrace the ENSEMBLE cast.
Thank you for realizing this.
Though a strong case can be made for prime-time television to never, ever allow another appearance by a Baldwin, somehow in this case... the minor transgression can be forgiven because he's just not taking himself seriously by virtue of playing a character who DOES take himself too seriously. It's not quite irony, but it's enough to get the viewer through without having to reach for the economy-sized bottle of Mylanta.
So far.
While pacing did lag in a few spots, this is par for the course during a pilot episode wherein tone, mood and future story lines must be established. One gets the feeling that Tina Fey made an internal pact with herself to not allow a return to stilted, painfully embarrassing SNL skits that belabor a single joke for eight minutes. Hell, she even admits as much, with not-too subtle stabs at the flailing SNL.
NBC has a self-promotional tool here, with industry references in abundance, with gloating nods to parent company GE, thinly veiled as self-deprecating humor in the hope that consumers will find this endearingly charming and rush out to buy scores of GE appliances.
True, there are many ways to "cook a turkey in twenty-three minutes," and 30 Rock may yet still prove to be golden-brown and delicious, but fair warning: do we really WANT our turkey cooked in twenty-three minutes? After all, we need time to get drunk and watch football on Thanksgiving, don't we?
With enough careful basting and some well-seasoned stuffing, 30 Rock might be tender enough to eat, and may provide a high dose of scripted trytophan, easing us into a gentle sleep before having to suffer through the dreadfully awful Twenty Good Years that immediately follows.
Nurture this big bird, NBC. You need only one more decent comedy if 30 Rock succeeds and you may have a solid four-pack of shows to air on Thursday nights once more. Yet those days are probably long gone, and we'll have to DEAL with Howie Mandel interrupting the flow of laughs after Earl and The Office for quite some time to come.
Not bad, Tina Fey. Thanks for shedding your skin, for letting other cast members get some laughs, for poking fun at yourself and your industry, and for at least picking the one and only PROPER Baldwin.
It's hard to be IMPRESSED, but at least we can say we're not utterly disappointed.
Now go, little Tina. Be creative. And never, ever read from a TelePrompTer again.
