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About LinkBackswho is that?Originally Posted by aenemaTron
who is that?
I haven't watched this season of 30 Rock, so I'm not sure of the reference, but I'm a nerd, so I know that's Krang!
Liz: And do not write another sketch with Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. No one knows who Krang is. It would be a waste of time to talk about Krang on television.
And then thirty seconds later, as Liz is startled by something: "Krang!"
This whole episode (the second one) was like a Season 1 or Season 2 episode. From the above bit of nonsense to the Weird Al appearances to the sound editor gag (continued in the end credits) to Billy Baldwin appearing as Alec's character to the final Lorne Michaels joke, it was like they went all-out on this episode. They crammed it full of as many jokes as possible. Lately I was afraid the show was getting a little too plot-oriented, but this was one of the silliest, funniest episodes they've done in a while.
I thought Billy Baldwin did a great job. Sure, he's mostly cast as a joke, but he can do Alec's rasp perfectly.
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Yeah, it was pretty hilarious. I was surprised at first, since they were already so meta, that he wasn't just playing himself. In the end I'm glad they went with Lance Drake Mandrell.
Does anyone else really not like Kristen Schaal's character this season? No offense to Schaal, who was great on Flight of the Conchords, but there was already a creepy page/suckup character in Kenneth, so there was really no need to bring her in as a female Kenneth. Not to mention they don't seem to really have a grasp on her character- whether she is crazy, or just devoted to her job, or has a lesbian obsession with Liz, or what. I think one of the reasons the second episode was so good last week was that Hazel wasn't in it. When they went back to focusing on her character again this episode, I think the show suffered as a result.
It was okay for maybe one episode, but I just kind of tune out when she is on the screen. It's like they went too wacky for her, when she plays just wacky so well.
Liz even said "You're just a weird page, and I already HAVE one of those!"
I love Kristen, but I almost resent her presence on 30 Rock because she cannot replace Kenneth - and I want her to be Mel on FoTC. I'm so conflicted.
One Kenneth is more than enough.
Hot tub foot?
I also am very much over Kristen Schaal on this show. It's so clear they're setting up a Single White Female conflict between her and Liz, I wish they'd just do it already and let this storyline be over.
Disagree. I don't have any reason other than I think she's funny on the show.
See, I've got to believe that people who are always saying "It's not as good as in Seasons 1 and 2!" about new episodes haven't watched those seasons lately. I actually went back and watched every episode starting with Season 5 and working my way back, and what struck me was how I didn't find the Season 1 and 2 episodes as funny as the later episodes.
Also, I like Kristen Schaal's character.
"The wisdom and the the spiritual beauty within Roy Jr ... it's just effin sick!"
I think the show was a lot sillier and more SNL-like when it first started out. In the first season, they had Rachel Dratch playing a different character in every episode, and she even played Barbara Walters and Elizabeth Taylor like she did on SNL. In the 12th episode, they devoted an entire show to Paul Reubens playing a prince from some non-descript European country who has a little tiny ivory hand and can't swallow food or he'll die. I think with Seasons 3 and 4, they started trying to develop "arcs" and storylines for the season, so the show just wasn't complete randomness from week to week. So you had the Jack and Salma Hayek storyline in Season 3, then the Julianne Moore/Wesley Snipes/marriage stuff in Season 4, and then the Elizabeth Banks/North Korea storyline in Season 5. Not to mention the ongoing Kabletown/Don Geiss/whoever the character that Ken Howard plays is stuff. Making the show more plotline-based like this gives them more to work with, but it also makes it more like a normal sitcom and grounds it in reality a bit more.
It depends on what you want out of the show. There are always individual jokes in every episode that are funny, but sometimes the rhythm of the show gets very predictable and episodes like this week's just kind of plod along, making you laugh from time to time but ultimately becoming forgettable when there isn't a lot of bizarre stuff happening. I think last week's episode about the Avery TV movie was more like an earlier episode because it was very meta and there was a lot of craziness going on with Billy Baldwin and Weird Al and Jimmy Fallon and all that. The live episode from last season was very SNL-like too, of course.
I like it when the show is like a live-action cartoon, so I think I prefer the earlier seasons.
I think the only thing missing nowadays is Dr. Spaceman
I don't dislike Schaal's character but I wish they would get to her story. She clearly isn't a permanent character, especially not filling in Kenneth's job. Some of her stuff is funny but I feel like they're going to spend a lot of time on tiny jokes and then just quickly sweep her out which will annoy me.
I get the love for the early seasons, season one alone had Jack-tor, The Rural Juror, and Tracy Does Conan. I personally don't think the quality has really suffered but people can argue that. You can't really say there were no storylines though. Liz trying to adopt, Liz's relationship with Dennis, Will Arnett as Jack's rival, Jack dating Salma Hayek, etc. All of that was the first two or three seasons.
When we're watching this show all mixed up in syndication in 10 years, it's all going to seem like one big glob of greatness.
Last edited by Gluehead; April 2, 2012 at 12:33 PM.
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