Live from 30 Rock It's 30 Rock Live

The 30 Rock Live episode was like finding two bosses or two teachers making out in a back room: Not what I’d expect and didn’t feel quite right.

Compare it to “Live from Lincoln Center,“ for instance. Something originally written for live performance - a stage production like “South Pacific” (which aired on PBS in August) - actually works better on live TV than a TV show that’s usually written/directed/performed/edited in a filmic format.

The look, the timing, everything seemed just that little bit askew tonight.

For instance, a couple lines that should’ve gotten bigger laughs got lost in the shuffle.

And a number of people on other blogs mentioned how much fun the cast seemed to be having. I thought almost all the regulars except Broadway vet Jane Krakowski looked nervous as hell at the start.

Cameraman must've been nervous too. Shaky handheld camera? Might want to rethink that. Oops, too late. It was live.

And did the show actually run short? Seemed they were stalling at the end.

Not to be all Debbie Downer -- here were a few of the fun, funny moments:

Well, yes, nice that Dratch was back and she and Tina fell into their old Second City/SNL/first-year 30R rhythm easily.

Jack sniffing Jenna’s alcohol breath was hilariously bizarre enough that I want to make it my Facebook picture.

Didn’t see the Julia Louis-Dreyfus stuff coming. Man, do all the successful SNLers eventually come back to the fold? (Except Jane Curtin.) Oh wait. This wasn't SNL.

(But speaking of that - I'd seen a picture of Jay Pharoah hanging around 30 Rock this week. Damn, I thought we were going to get him playing Tracy in flashback.)

The executed-criminal hand was dark/ sick - but it made me laugh anyway. Damn you Hamm.

So 30 Rock, it was like our own game of seven minutes in heaven. After today we’ll be glad we got it out of our system, and then move on.

Saturday Night (Live) Housecleaning

Saturday Night Live @ 36

 

Season debut. Oh yes, I knew Poehler would not disappoint. Although didn't she look just a wee bit nervous during the opening? Then imagine the butterfly garden other hosts‘ tummies must be when the clock moves from 11:29 to 11:30 p.m.

But seeing NBC advertising “Outsourced” while Amy Poehler is hosting? Kind of like seeing some douchebag brag about his skanky new wife when his former, fantastic wife is standing right there.

I loved the gay wedding at Ground Zero mosque bit ("20 percent discount for the military"). Or maybe I just loved the idea of how apoplectic some people would get at the real thing.

"The kids'll come for the boobs and stay for the books." Thanks for addressing the Sesame Street controversy. (Altho' what would Leslie Knope think of Amy saying nice things about punkass book jockeys?)

However, let’s not get too overjoyed. I think a lot of what was good in this episode was an Amy influence. I don't hold as much hope for episodes hosted by non-SNL veterans. Not while the show is still dominated by some of the cast who've been there too many moons.

Which brings me to this -- After the almost complete and utter disaster of the last 1.5 seasons, wouldn‘t a radical housecleaning have been a wonderful shock? Sure, they’ve garnered some publicity already with a stellar set of fall guest hosts. After Poehler Cranston, Lynch and Hamm are now on the menu.

But you can‘t keep nursing the show along with good guests being forced to do bad material, or incessant cameos from former favorite cast members. Who only remind us of wonderfulness past.

Dump a couple more old-timers and let the raw newbies take over right away. What’s with this acting like you need to slowly integrate them into the environment?

Once upon a time Aykroyd, Radner, Curtin, etc. not only went on the air without a chance to break in gradually, they were working without a template. They were creating the template. And it was brilliant.

Give the newbies major airtime. Get some fresh blood in the writers room. Find a way to keep the stale long-termers otherwise occupied. Maybe send ’em out to make some SNL movie. (And hey, you know the punch line to that thought.)

Yes, Someone Has Already Called It Saturday Night Dead

SNL is one of the longest relationships I've ever had. We've grown up and are growing, um, older, together.

I'm old enough to recall my frustration over not being able to get the show in certain Michigan towns when it first when on.

To remember how truly different it was, and to have nearly worshipped some of the first, vaunted cast.

To remember the night the last of the OC walked off the stage and out the door together. To have corresponded with one of the early writers. To have owned probably the first book ever written about it.

And on through the decades - to have stuck with it in the Doumanian year. (My reward: Having seen the Charles Rocket incident live. Oh what a handsome, troubled man he was.)

Through all the years that are a blur now, of You look mahvelouses and Dieters, Ed Grimleys and Mangos, all the various incarnations of Clintons and Bushes. And I remember strongly how much I disliked the smug Spade/Sandler years. And any of the "stars" whose main claim to fame seems to be wildly laughing at the own sketches: Fallon, Thompson, etc.

Like so many others, I refocused on the show during the '08 elections. Hulu, I'm about 100 of those hits for the Palin rap and Fey/Poehler cold opens.

But then SaturdayNight Live lost steam again the minute those two ladies were back out the door. But I let forth another burst of snarks when Michaela Watkins was fired. She just showed promise, true enough, but that was more than what half the curernt cast was actually delivering.

So SNL, I kvetch 'cos I care. And while I'm kvetching, I can't help also snarking about us snarkers. So to reprint what I said on Gawker (http://tinyurl.com/ycfjppv)
here's the shorthand guide for everything we have to say (and say and say again) about SNL:

Standardized Responses for SNL Threads.
1. SNL is still on?
2. I might have to watch this SNL sometime.
3. SNL hasn't been funny since _____ (insert name) was president.
4. The Tina Fey era was the (Choose one:) Best/ Worst.
5. (Canadians/Brits/Aussies:) You Americans can't say Fuck on the telly?
6. (Me, other Oldes:) Jane Curtin/ Dan Aykroyd - now there was a Weekend Update.
7. And I remember when Charles Rocket said Fuck. I got on my Commodore computer and typed a letter about it.