Art Imitates Life: 30 Rock Returns

After a strange autumn season, during which “Community” was taken away from us and “Whitney” was allowed to stay (I have a bizarre theory that an exec fumbled on the spot when the moment of decision arrived during a programming meeting. “Whitney!” he said. “Wait, I thought you said which show we didn’t want back.”), I was looking forward for Liz Lemon and Company to return. On a bittersweet note, they now occupy Jeff and the gang’s timeslot.

I was looking forward to “30 Rock” even more after the death of Kim Jong Il. To quickly summarize, his son, who is now the new guy in charge of the Hermit Kingdom, was married to Jack’s wife Avery (Elizabeth Banks, who is humorous even posing for a Christmas card early on in the episode) after she was kidnapped. This surprise change in casting now makes Avery the First Lady of North Korea. This makes Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) very depressed.

But since Kim’s death occurred after the first few episodes were created, this dilemma has to be aside for awhile. The big dilemma at the moment involves Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon. Why is she so happy? She no longer tries to please egomaniacs Tracy Jordan and Jenna Maroney (Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski, respectively). It turns out that she has a new side gig as a jazz dancer for WNBA games, after Tracy mistakes her for becoming a crack addict.

Jenna is a guest judge on “America’s Kidz Got Singing”, a musical competition that has become Jack’s surprise hit but it comes at a price. Her judging skills would be too cruel for Simon Cowell to use. “That was good—if you were trying to make me commit suicide,” she blurts out in front a girl, who looked like a kindergartener (these scenes are funnier if you watch it).

Everyone becomes concerned, even frightened, at the sight of a happy Liz Lemon. “I made you laugh,” boasts Kenneth (Jack McBrayer), who claims he has spent six years trying to accomplish this task. Speaking of Kenneth, I did not enjoy his story, in which he believed that the world was ending the following day and he kept telling people in which specific hell they would be heading for. It reminded me of those evangelicals (or that irritating-as-hell man right outside the Old Navy in downtown, damning people on his second-rate microphone.) who judge and condemn strangers and implant fear into their followers and money out of their wallets. However, I did like the fact that he had a list of dream chores, which included reorganizing the snack table and getting a piece of gum off the ceiling.

“Liddy, thank you for coming in,” Jack says, greeting his infant daughter. “I know you have to read your book with Sleepy Bear in half an hour, so I’ll make this brief.” In the episode’s best scene, Jack attempts to rationalize “Kidz” success to his daughter, mentioning to her that the world is unjust and sometimes emotions can’t get in the way of being a success story. Jack needs “Kidz” to gain big ratings and revenue. (Just like real-life NBC desperately needs a cash cow.) But at what cost? Kids are crying on-camera by Jenna’s vicious yet strangely humorous remarks. Liddy asks for “mommy”, which Jack mistakes for “money”. “You want money,” he asks. “I want money too!”

Emma Stone. The coolest woman in the world.

This season, art imitates life throughout the show. Of course the show will deal with Kim’s death and what happens next for Avery. Tracy Jordan will make an anti-gay slur, during which Liz Lemon will call him an idiot, inadvertently offending the Idiot community. Both GLBT and Idiot activists are protesting outside 30 Rock. And Liz has another reason why she’s in a good mood. (Hint: A recurring male guest star) Many, many guest stars will appear. Even Emma Stone is going to be there, but only in a short scene for an upcoming movie Jenna co-stars in. I want to go to there and see Emma anyway.

Are You There, Comedy? It's Me, Someone Who Wants Good Funny, Not Bad Funny

Laura Prepon: You deserve better comedy roles

During NBC’s forum at last week’s Television Critics Association press tour, a place where the networks attempt to sway TV critics with their hopes and dreams for the remainder of the TV season (I was in creative writing class, so I couldn’t go. Also I am not a “professional” TV critic, so that’s also why I wasn’t there.), Bob Greenblatt didn’t hesitate to acknowledge how far the once-mighty Peacock network had fallen. “We had a really bad fall—worse than I hoped, but about what I expected,” he said, possibly in a mournful tone. When the head of entertainment programming says that, you know his network is in trouble.

This is probably why NBC was very cheerful when “Are You There, Chelsea?” pulled in over 6 million viewers for the pilot on January 11. That’s more viewers than the beloved “Community” and “Parks and Recreation” receive; two comedies so much better in quality, casting/acting, and writing; than this desperate attempt to cash in on the ever-growing popularity of comedian Chelsea Handler.

In the pilot, Chelsea Newman (Laura Prepon) has been charged with a DUI. While in lockup, she promises to vodka (“Are you there, vodka? It’s me, Chelsea?”, which was once the name of the show) that she will change her life around if she gets out of this mess. Her plan is to get an apartment that is 115 steps away from her job at a sports bar. (“If you can’t finish your drinks, our waitress will.”) Her roommate is Dee Dee (Lauren Lapkus), a sweet-yet-strange woman who becomes the designated “weirdo” character. She wears clothes that cover most of her body, is a virgin saving herself for marriage, and does not drink or offend—in other words, the anti-Chelsea. Also, Lapkus has a pair of large eyes ready to pop out of her head, just like Amanda Seyfried. I couldn’t stop focusing on that, which meant I couldn’t concentrate on her performance. Or maybe I am bad TV critic, which is why I wasn’t invited to that fancy press tour.

One pet peeve of mine is that I can’t stand laugh tracks. It’s so bad that I can’t even watch a rerun of old-school sitcoms with the canned laughter. There is canned laughter here. “No!” I said. “You can’t make me laugh and believe that line is funny.” Like clockwork, the canned laughter arrives to irritate me.

Line
“Funny” Line
Canned laughter
Line
Line
“Funny” Line
Canned laughter
“Funnier” Line
Canned laughter
Someone slightly famous enters scene
Applause
Line
"Funny" line
Canned laughter


I did have my reservations about the show before watching, particularly the source of the material. I must admit I was once a big fan of Handler, having discovered her books “Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea?” and “My Horizontal Life” while living in Florida years ago. (The books, along with her stand-up, is the primary source of the show) It was one of the few times I had laughed out loud from reading a book. I even watched her show “Chelsea Lately” on a semi-regular basis. But her routine did grow old for me and I went back to “The Daily Show”.

I couldn’t resist passing up this show, though. After all, there was talk and previews since last summer. The cast changes even made it as news. It looked promising. It looked better than “Whitney”. (And that’s not tough to do.) And Laura Prepon (Donna from “That 70s’ Show”) is a pretty good comic actress who should definitely be in more high-profile roles, like movies, something Handler is now entering.

Handler herself appears in the pilot, but she is portraying Sloane, Prepon’s judgmental sister who is tired of bailing her out of every dilemma. It was strange to watch Handler attempt to not be herself on a show with her name in the show’s title. I was waiting for her to take off that wig she was sporting, pour herself a double Belvedere, and start trashing “Jersey Shore” or Mitt Romney.

While she gets a few funny lines and seems game for anything, Prepon deserves more than being a younger stand-in for an overexposed celebrity. Maybe Dan Harmon can create a role for her where she’s Pierce’s long-lost daughter or involved in a love triangle with Troy and Abed. Or she can be Andy Dwyer’s Burt Macklin’s new crime-fighting partner, Ann Perkins’s old high school nemesis-turned-new co-worker at City Hall, or be involved in a love triangle with Chris Traeger and Ron Swanson (or all these roles in both shows). #

New Track from The Shins

It has been five years since The Shins released an album (and eight years since they changed Natalie Portman's character life in Garden State). In between Wincing the Night Away (2007) and Port of Morrow (due out March 20), everyone but singer-songwriter James Mercer left the band. Mercer wrote and recorded the track, "Simple Song", which is pretty good.

A Visit to 'Portlandia'

Out west there is a place called Portland, which sits on the banks of the Columbia River, bordering the states of Washington and Oregon. (Portland is in Oregon.) It is best known as an environmentally green city thanks to its extensive public transit, cyclist-friendly roads, and efficient land use.

This is where the inhabitants of "Portlandia" reside, a place where hipsters go and do the things that hipsters do. They frequent and own indie bookstores, boutiques, and coffeehouses. They one-up each other on which magazines and articles they have read.

"Did you real that thing in PASTE that was about The National?"
"Did you read the fortune cookie from last night?"
"Did you read what that guy wrote in the sand at the beach?"
"Did you read Family Circus?"
"Did you read it?"
"Did you read the writing on the window?!"

They listen to indie rock and local musicians, and also know someone who is in music
(In the second season, Fred and Carrie attempt to avoid attending their friends' and others' DJ nights.)
They make sure everything they eat is locally produced, grown, and/or raised.

"Portlandia" is a sketch comedy created and starring Fred Armisen ("Saturday Night Live") and Carrie Brownstein (indie rock band Wild Flag.)
It returns for a second season of 10 episodes on Fridays starting Jan. 6 at 9p.m. on IFC. (The first season is available on Netflix Instant.)

The show originated from sketches that Armisen and Brownstein worked on over the course of several years that were posted online. (Videos can be found at thunderant.com) It was a good outlet for Armisen, who was able to go further into depth with sketches and characters that might not have a home on "SNL".

"Portland is a city where young people go to retire," quips Jason, one of many characters that Fred Armisen portrays in the musical sketch "The Dream of the ‘90s", in which he discovers that the 1990s are alive and well in Portland. His fellow co-conspirator is Carrie Brownstein; best known for her work in the ‘90s-era band Sleater-Kinney and her current membership in the band Wild Flag, which released their first album last September.

The first season consists of six episodes that are a combination of short features loosely related to one another. Some of the people we meet in "Portlandia" are Daniel and Meg, proud dumpster divers who use some of the food they find for a dinner party.

Diners Peter and Nancy are determined to make sure the chicken—named Colin—they are about to eat is from an organic farm outside of town by visiting the farm right as their server asks for their order.
In one of the most memorable sketches, trendsetters Bryce and Lisa place birds on various items at a gift shop. ("Put a bird on it!")
Singer-songwriter Aimee Mann defends fellow singer-songwriter Sarah MacLachlan when Fred and Carrie create and destroy a piñata in the image of MacLachlan.

Actor Kyle MacLachlan, best known for "Desperate Housewives", "Twin Peaks", and numerous movies, is Portland's mayor.

SNL's Jason Sudeikis, Aubrey Plaza from "Parks and Recreation", and award-winning filmmaker and Portland resident Gus Van Sant appear on the show in various roles.
In order to promote the show, the second episode (rather than the first) of the new season is available to watch on ifc.com.

The episode starts off with a big parade. It's not just any old parade; it's an Allergy Pride Parade, celebrating those who are affected with allergies, from soy to daylight. In one sketch, Carrie tries to get over a bad tattoo of Eddie Vedder on a guy she is dating. Then she goes on a date with Eddie Vedder himself, who is also sporting a bad tattoo of someone else. Also two diehard "Battlestar Galactica" fans attempt to track down writer Ronald D. Moore and get him to write another episode, even reeling in that show's stars Edward James Olmos and James Callis for the episode's table reading.

Take a trip to "Portlandia", where you can stay for dinner with the dumpster divers or retire right out of college (a true dream of the ‘10s.)