That's Series Wrap

30 Rock has ended and there is nothing more I can add to the accolades and essays that have come out on the finale that aired in a one hour special last night. The only thing I can do is express my own feelings for this terrific show.

Tina Fey and the cast of characters that she and co-showrunner Robert Carlock have created are the brain children of improv - going back to Second City in Chicago where Fey and her talented friends first started - straight to New York's Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.  This is where her incredible crew of writers and and performers came from. They brought their comedic experience into this crazy world of Liz Lemon and TGS.

The quality of the show didn't just exist in the writing. Set designers, decorators, property masters, make up, wardrobe - each and very person who worked on this show contributed a perfect Rockefeller Plaza world. As someone who started working at NBC while still in college, and for many years after graduating, I can attest that the detail paid to the interior of that large deco skyscraper was precise. Although the show was made in Long Island City at Silvercup Studios, there was never a moment when I thought they weren't within the hallowed halls and offices of 30 Rock. I now live in Los Angeles. Watching this show brought my New York back to me.

I used to run into 30 Rock production from time to time. One day while running errands, I saw the crew in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza with Tracy Morgan, Will Arnett and Alec Baldwin present and waiting for their call.  One evening, before attending a Paley Center event which ironically featured 30 Rock Producer John Riggi and Jim Downey (who had a cameo in last night's episode), I encountered production trucks beside St. Patricks Cathedral and The Palace Hotel on Madison. My suspicion of this being 30 Rock production was confirmed when I saw hairdresser Richard Esposito (also featured last night) walk out of a trailer.

For me, 30 Rock isn't just the end of a series, it's the end of an era - a period of time when alternative comedy came out of the shadows and found an audience - small - but at least they were there.

There's so much I can say about this show ending, and I bet I'll edit this post a few times before I feel I've said all there is to say.  As I grow weary of showbiz, television and comedy, as jobs I have been qualified for slipped away, as blogs I've written are ignored, as the money evaporates, despite how hard I've tried...this show gave me an escape from from reality by making reality funny.

Thank you 30 Rock people.

'Lemon Out...'

Alas, we are roughly 24 hours away from the series finale of 30 Rock. Seven years of funny meta moments will come to an end.

Above is a video compilation "Sh*t Liz Lemon Says" to sum things up.

'My Whole Life is Thunder': RIP Mrs. Donaghy

30 Rock is winding down to it's last few episode. Liz got married. Jenna got married. It's now being revealed that Kenneth is actually a different encarnation of Clarence the angel from It's a Wonderful Life ("Jacob! Why are you doing this to me?")

But last night, the matriarch of the 30 Rock crew and the bane of Jack Donaghy's existence passed away in a horse drawn carriage in Central Park. Colleen Donaghy, Jack's hellacious mother, the woman who was going to out live us all, met her maker. Thank Thor it wasn't in an ambulance, because her father "didn't kill Germans only to end up dieing in a van."

'My Whole Life is Thunder' is the name of this episode. Very fitting, at least for this storyline. Colleen was the biggest thunder clap of all.

If only the best clips of Colleen were up on YouTube. Due to NBC's legal mumbo jumbo, there's a paltry supply. But this is basically all you need to see to get a picture of Jack's mom.


RIP Mrs. Donaghy.

30 Rock's Goodbye Season Starts Tonight!

Can this really be?  After seven years of TGS, Kenneth the Page, Jenna's neuroses, Jack Donaghy wisdom - is the end really near?

It seems so. After seven years of superb comedy, Liz Lemon and the crew are calling it quits. Tonight is the season premiere of 30 Rock, kicking off the 13 episodes due to air, one by one, like the Abbey Road side two medley going down that inevitable slippery slope to The End. Drats. I'll miss this incredible New York centric show.

Perhaps it's time. 30 Rock has run out of some steam - not in Office proportions - but its sharp wit has dulled a bit over time. But even as the shine wore off, remained one of the best comedies around.

30 Rock airs on NBC Thursdays at 8pm ET/7pm CT.

Upfronts Week

New York is abuzz with Upfronts, the fabulous time of year when television networks invade theaters, conference space and hotel ballrooms all across town to introduce their new Fall schedules to advertisers and the rest of the world. There are shows-a-plenty being unwrapped and presented, but here are a few that I'm really interested in tracking.

 The Office's very own Mindy Kaling is the latest lady on the scene with another grrrl-centric multi-camera sitcom currently called The Mindy Project that joins Fox's Tuesday comedy line up alongside Raising Hope and New Girl. I have a lot of personal jealousy over Kaling's success, but I have to admit, she's earned her due after so many years at Dunder Mifflin.  In the pilot (and presumably the series), Kaling plays a New York City doctor with a really dysfunctional personal life. She can't find or keep a boyfriend, and appears to do some demeaning things to herself as a result. The trailer below didn't wow me, but seeing it's the pilot - the show might need time to evolve as the episodes go by.



Over at NBC, there's some new shows that will join the multi-comedy line up.
Animal Practice, starring Justin Kirk as an ornery veterinarian who loves his animals and hates the humans who own them. The old Hollywood adage, first uttered by WC Fields is "Never work with children or animals." Screw that. This looks hilarious.  Kirk is ripe for comedy after being naughty and funny on Weeds. I'm rooting for this one to make it.

The New Normal is about a gay couple who bring on a surrogate mom to have their kid, and the surrogate mom who is looking for a new life. The show really looks funny and sweet; however, the political aspect of conservative versus liberal in terms of gay rights seems a little heavy handed. It is a reality in today's world, and probably needed as a basis for conflict. Perhaps temper down and weave itself more cleanly as the show grows.



Matthew Perry's back in a new series with a less than stellar title called Go On where he portrays a recently widowed newscaster who has to now...Go on...with his life. All bets are on that he'll get it on with the counselor he's arguing with in the car.




 Book of Mormon's Josh Gad stars in 1600 Penn as a college student whose act of anarchy on campus gets him into the White House where we meet President Gilcrist and his not-so-perfect family. I don't know if this show has legs, but the trailer is hilarious.



Returning to the Peacock network are Parks and Recreation, The Office, Whitney, Up All Night, and 30 Rock, which returns for it's final season with a 13 episode order. Sadly, with the exception of the very funny live episode a few weeks back, 30 Rock has been losing steam - and prime writers have moved on to great beyond - i.e. development deals in Hollywood. (Goodbye Kay Cannon, John Riggi and anyone else I don't know about.)

So there you have it. Comedies I'm hitching a comedy ride on. Bring it, new Fall season.

Network graphic courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter. I can't do this stuff on Photoshop.

30 Rock Girl Makes Good

If you know about The Human Table, an enigmatic character that showed up during the episode "Ludachristmas", the holiday episode of 30 Rock, Season 2, or know the Jane Krakowski Tropicana 50 commercials or have attended a UCBNYC performance of the now sadly defunct show Let's Have A Ball, you might be a fan of Kay Cannon. Funny lady that she is, she's earned her comedy badge treading the floor boards of Improv comedy and in Tina Fey's writers room as a key writer for 30 Rock for six years.

The lady done good. As per DeadlineDaily, Ms. Cannon has signed a deal with 20th Century Fox Television where she will develop shows for FOX. In addition to that, she'll be tweeking her adorkability factor by joining the writing staff of New Girl for their sophomore season.

As her furniture heads across the country from New York to Los Angeles for her big move, I tip my hat to Kay Cannon, the lady I used to laugh my lungs out during those Saturday nights at UCB in Chelsea where she once improv'd getting punched in the vagina. Congratulations!

The Human Table "Ludachristmas" 2007

30 Rock Went Out Live, America!

You didn't think I was going to let the month of April get away with only one posting, did you? I almost did. A transition to a new job has me preoccupied, flustered, unhappy,  making me question my choices in life. I've been bereft of words to describe and keep track of all I love in television and comedy. However, it's time to get out of my head and onto the screen for some words about an auspicious occasion that took place this past Thursday night: The second annual live airing of 30 Rock.

The United States, being a large country attached to a massive continent, allowed our time zone situation to provide our eyes and ears with two brilliant, yet slightly different takes of the episode "Live from Studio 6H" with separate east coast and west coast broadcasts direct from 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The plot of both airings was a celebration of the golden years of live television by setting up the premise that 'TGS' would no longer be going live due to budget constraints set upon by their crappy parent company Kabletown.

So, who better than NBC stalker Kenneth Parcel to lock everyone in a dressing room and expound on the virtues (and racism) of NBC pretend live television past, which is what he did. Snark infused send ups of The Huntley Report (Jon Hamm on east coast/Brian Williams on west coast), Laugh In (Alec Baldwin as Nixon on east coast/Baldwin as Paul Lynn on west coast),  The Honeymooners, The Dean Martin Show, Amos and Andy, re-imagined as "Alphie and Abner" with Hamm and Morgan poking a stick at racism in side splitting fashion,  and cigarette ads that turned to class action suit PSA's featuring  the awesome Dr. Spaceman. 



Cameos as Amy Poehler as the young Liz Lemon spending her prom night (east coast)/sweet sixteen (west coast) night languishing in her basement happily eating cheese steaks while watching a telethon and making prank phone calls to a "General Electric" with the young Jack Donaghy, played by Jimmy Fallon, picking up the call. Donald Glover portrayed the young Tracy Jordan, who discovered his talent for being a "ridiculous man" on the same telethon.  Jenna, whose love for Paul, her drag queen doppelganger, is solidified when he appeared during a live TGS sketch floating down from the heavens singing 'Zou Bisou Bisou' ready to propose marriage. Fred Armisen was the featured background player and stand in for Judah Friedlander while he was off sketching it up on another set.

One confounding difference between the two time zone broadcasts was the walk on by Sir Paul McCartney during the east coast transmission, and the appearance of Kim Kardashian's walk through on the west coast. Talk about an inbalance. If you can't get Sir Paul for both broadcasts, at least find someone with equal esteem. Kim Kardashian? No.

The live broadcasts of 30 Rock may be seen as a ratings gimmick. So what if they are? If ratings motivates a network to allow a filmed episodic sitcom whose very essence is being meta to go live for Nielsen, then so be it. As the television season winds down, 30 Rock going live was a refreshing infusion of fun, no matter which coast you were on.

"Live from the Apollo, it's...'Lemonem'

30 Rock had some hilarious moments last night in its twilight double header of comedy with two episodes of hilarious guest starring fun. One episode boasted a Baldwin-fest, as Alec's brother Billy joined in as an actor cast to play Jack Donaghy in the made-for-TV movie biopic Kidnapped by Danger: The Avery Jessup Story, a dramatization of his wife Avery's abduction by the North Korean government. But the first episode featured a celebration of parody as Tracy and Jenna raced to create a song so bizarre even Weird Al Yankovic couldn't parody it. Two fun episodes for the price of some loud laughs. Let's go over two highlights for last night's first episode.

Liz Lemon once competed on Live From the Apollo. This is "Lemonem" just before the audience threw her in the river.



Watch the weird and wonderful (and incredibly nice) Al Yankovic sing a parody of the 30 Rock theme.

Tracy Jordan, Meet Tracy Morgan

"He's not a homophobe. He's an idiot". Liz Lemon

30 Rock Returns Tonight!

After a Fall season of Whitney filling in for Tina Fey as she rightly tended to maternity-hood, 30 Rock returns to the NBC schedule tonight in its new time - 8pm ET/PT.  Okay, perhaps the show, now heading into its sixth season, is starting to get a little tired. Yet, seeing the TGS team and Alec Baldwin post-American Airlines brawl back in the lineup should be fun, and remains a good reason to tune in. Also, Parks and Recreation returns with a new episode. And if you're still into The Office as it gasps on its last fumes, that's new too.

However, we must bow our heads and hope for the return of Community, now off the NBC schedule and awaiting word on its fate.

'30 Rock' Is Coming...

NBC is Christmassy Tonight

NBC has put out the Christmas decor for tonight's Holiday lineup. The Office is a must see. Holly Flax is back in town to take over for Toby Flenderson while he's doing long term jury duty. It will be anyone's guess if she's going to leave AJ behind and embark on a life with Michael. There was a time when I'd root for AJ, the new love of Holly's life because he seemed nice. Why not have her move on, right? But now I say - screw him. Here's hoping that Holly and Michael step into the happily ever after and leave that guy behind. Meanwhile, Jim and Dwight are acting like little boys in the backseat of a SUV who won't behave. A snowball fight challenge is on the table. Revenge will be Schrute's. (The Office "Classy Christmas" Tonight. 9pm et/8pm ct.)



30 Rock never disappoints at Christmas time - especially when Jack's mother Colleen pays a visit to her son. Liz Lemon stays put to avoid her once painfully repressed parents who have broken their daughter's fantasy of their perfect marriage and replaced it with tears. Jack is spending Christmas with the make believe voices in his head at NBC, and Tracy is inflicting his good will by doing charity work, which means something funky and weird is going to happen to some people in need. That's my take on it. What really happens is Liz and Avery try to get Jack to confess some secrets to his mom while trying to get Jenna to patch up her break up with Paul, and Tracy tries to block his own firm's release of a song because it "undermines his newly invented persona". Alan Alda, Elaine Stritch and Elizabeth Banks are in the house. This is going to be Christmas-awesome. (30 Rock "Christmas Attack Zone". Tonight. 8:30pm et/7:30pm pt.)




And...Community! This hilarious Joel McHale starring joyful show is entering the land of Claymation tonight. (Community. "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas". 8pm et/7pm ct.)

Live From New York...It's 30 Rock!

It's a super exciting night for 30 Rock fans. Tina Fey and her crew will be taking the show live tonight. The episode will broadcast from 30 Rockefeller Plaza's SNL studio (Studio 8H), and will offer up a cast of very nervous but capable funny people who will not only be doing the show as live as can be at 8:30pm New York time, but will be doing it all over again for the Mountain and Pacific time zones.

Check out an interview with Executive Producer Robert Carlock at NYTimes.com to get the full behind the scenes vibe on this cool feat. (NYTimes.com)

30 Rock Writer: Kay Cannon

Kay Cannon is one of the funniest improvers and writers in comedy today. When she's not performing Improv at UCB's Saturday show "Lets Have a Ball", Kay can be found at Silvercup Studios writing funny words for Liz Lemon on 30 Rock. She showed up on camera once, as the "Human Table" - meaning, she played a lady with a bad cough who was hired to have meats eaten off her body at a TGS holiday party.

She talks about her work with Tina Fey and the process of balancing her love for performing and hauling long hours on the NBC sitcom. I truly admire this lady.



More videos on comedy can be found at www.ucbcomedy.com.

Community Picked Up for Second Season

It's a nice feeling to see a underdog television show like Community get the green light for season two. It's fresh. It's funny. The cast is solid. Joe McHale rules and Chevy Chase seems to be back to his old wry self. Series showrunner Dan Harmon video taped the cast in Makeup as he broke the good news. I think Chevy Chase was still alive. You can't really tell. (You can see it here).

Also wisely picked up by the bizarro peacock network was 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation. Good news for all comedy fans. However, The Office will be groaning and thumping it's way into a seventh season since they've been renewed as well. How much more blood can they mine out of this stone?

Ghosts of Boyfriends Past

The end tag of last night's 30 Rock was...amazing. This is the best Valentines Day ever!

Thursday Night

NBC. What can I say? You suck. But you still air Community, Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock. I want to hate you tonight, avoid you like the evil you are, but like a platter of tantalizing cupcakes you lure me into your house made of gingerbread. I'm going to have to play Gretel to your big bad witch and be tempted inside your door because apparently I love metaphors, and I love the guest stars you have lined up for tonight's comedy block.

Are you kidding me? Jack Black and Joel McHale in the same 30 minutes of hilarious continuing college education fun on Community? Yes, I'll have another cupcake, Mr. Zucker.

Will Arnett guest stars opposite his real life lovely, funny and awesome wife, Amy Poehler on Parks and Recreation, portraying a potential love interest for Leslie Knopes.

It's around this time the hallucinagens start kicking in from the roofie laced cookie I snagged and Team Zucker has me under a spell. I'll fall asleep during a rerun of 30 Rock (Secret Santa), until an NBC programming executive hoses me with ice water in time for...


James Franco on a new 30 Rock (Klaus and Greta). Franco plays himself as the pretend boyfriend to Jenna in an attempt to stir publicity; however, that crazy blond with daddy issues is actually falling for him. (Hey guess what? I was wrong. It's a whole new hour of 30 Rock, and its super hilarious.)

You got me, Jeff. I want to boycott the network. Yet, I love these shows. I will watch them and buy the DVDs. I will also worship Conan until he goes off the air. But I will not be be lured into your dungeon and made into a Leno sex zombie slave.

(Check local listings)

FunnyorDie.com is not evil. In fact, it's angelic...if the angels got drunk, smoked weed and mooned a bunch of nuns. Here is a Parks and Recreation audition reel with Wu-Tang Clan.

Parks and Recreation is the Wu-Tang of Comedy - watch more funny videos

Christmas Time at 30 Rock

Yeah, there's a giant tree with pretty Swavorsky crystal lights, crowds of holiday makers blocking sidwalks and an ice rink overflowing with enough skaters to form a sizable Olympic team, but Rockefeller Plaza at Christmas time means one thing to me... 30 Rock's Christmas episode! Raise our happy fists of Christmas cheer! Don be now our black eyes of playful drunken parties that got out of hand! It's Christmas in the land of Liz Lemon!


Tina Fey plays continuity to a tee by actually growing out Liz's strange haircut from last week. Julianne Moore guest stars as Jack's high school crush. Cheyenne Jackson returns as the new cast member. Lemon wants to buy Donaghy a Christmas present that doesn't include "bath salts in a mug"...


...and Kenneth tries to initiate a Secret Santa gift swap that freaks everyone out. God bless our egg nog... one and all!

30 Rock's Scott Adsit joined his improv partner Christina Gausas last night at Upright Citizens Brigade for their fantastic show. I haven't been to UCB in a month or so, nor have I seen them in a while, so I'm still buzzing about it. I Tumbled about it over yonder.

That's A Deal Breaker, Ladies...

"Liz Lemon you booger-face, I'm gonna kill you with a bazooka!"

Frank and Lutz Test Their Knowledge of Porn...

...with Sue Galloway, who is woefully underused in 30 Rock. She's a super funny lady who can be seen at Upright Citizens Brigade in NYC performing with The Law Firm - one of UCB's hilarious Harold teams.