30 Rock went live for the second time and … well … I don’t think it came out quite as well as the first venture. Perhaps last year’s live episode came off better because it was a new concept and everything was a surprise. I remember loving the show’s clever use of Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Liz in flashbacks, so when Amy Poehler filled the role this year it felt a bit expected. I think that was my big problem with the live episode — everything felt like we had seen it before.
I have to admit that there was a lot enjoyable about this live episode that was all about live TV. The plot found the majority of the show’s characters locked in a room by Kenneth, who was trying to make sure that TGS didn’t turn into a recorded show. While recounting the history of live television, the show flashed back to several Saturday Night Live-like skits, with many cast members included. While I appreciate the quick costume changes and the fun with logistics, there’s one problem with going to something Saturday Night Live-like: Saturday Night Live isn’t all that funny most of the time! Each skit had their funny parts, but I don’t think any of them were funnier than the average episode of 30 Rock.
The cameos came fast and furious in this episode, with a lot of familiar faces: Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Hamm, Donald Glover, Cheyenne Jackson (in a hilarious appearance explaining Danny’s extended absence), and Paul McCartney. I enjoyed seeing Glover as a young Tracy and Fallon as a young Baldwin. Fallon’s horrible Baldwin impression only made it better, and the bizarre silent cameo by an in-drag Fred Armison was perhaps my favorite moment of the whole night.
Yes, it was fun seeing all the different faces on the show. It was fun seeing Baldwin have a lot of fun on stage. In fact, the whole episode was fun, but I have to say that I’m glad 30 Rock, unlike TGS, is not live every week. Once a season is fun, but more than that and this gimmick would run this real fast.
Quotes:
“There’s a rumor that’s spreading around here like wildfire, but unlike the wildfires I’ve started, this one doesn’t sexually arouse me.” — Hazel
“For Alfie and Abner, NBC hired one African American and one Caucasian because they thought two black people on the same show would make the audience nervous — a rule NBC still uses today.” — Kenneth
“This is New York State, bitch! Anyone can get married to anything now!” — Hazel
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Apr 26, 2012 @ 21:32 EST5EDT
I liked the first live show a lot better–i wasn’t a fan of the sketch makeup of this episode. I would have preferred one long story–like a normal episode, just live. The cameos were fun though–especially John Hamm’s totally inappropriate blackface. And I liked the use of Amy Poehler as Liz this time.
The West Coast airing showed NBC page Kenneth, looking the same age, passing out news copy to Baldwin and Brian Williams at the anchor desk, and ended with a joke about 30 Rock‘s low 2.5 million viewership.
Watched the West Coast version right after the East Coast (thanks iTunes!), and it was just as funny, and fun to pick out all the differences starting with no Sir Paul, but Kim Kardashian! Cheyenne Jackson jumped in front of Jane Krakowski to sing the theme song, Dr. Spaceman had some different intro dialogue (on the color version of his commercial in the east, he was a “Nazi doctor” and on the west he was a “test tube adult”), as Ryan pointed out, Brian Williams replaced John Hamm (but Kenneth was in both versions), and Alec Baldwin was Paul Lynde instead of Nixon in the “Laugh-In” spoof. And Tina didn’t flub her line as she did in the east coast version when she said, “Henna and Jazel.” I enjoyed the show, twice, because it was amazing to see how the actors trapped in Tracy’s dressing room would have to run off to get ready for the flashback skits and then get back into the scene (Baldwin was late getting back in at one point in the west coast version). Might not have had a strong story like last season’s live show, but it put the magic of live television to the test and it paid off very nicely indeed!