For me, the biggest problem was the pacing, due in no small part to
the presence of the audience in Studio 8H. I'd have preferred they
keep the house mics down except during the segments where TGS was 'on
the air', but I imagine that'd be technically hard to do. (I'd have
accepted no audience at all, and use of a laughtrack - but ONLY as the
TGS audience.) The studio audience, for me, killed the pace of the
show - and on 30Rock, the pace can make or break a gag.
The Dr. Spaceman/Drew commercials were a nice way of working in
Parnell and Hamm without having to create a reason for them to be at
30Rock during the TGS taping, and the use of JLD in the cutaway
("Memory Liz" who has "Seinfeld money") was an inspired touch,
especially after their Conan-spurred Emmy feud a few years back.
I was also pleased with the use of Jack's sobriety to explain away the
difference in the episode's look & feel ("Everything looks like a
Mexican soap opera!" - I'd have loved to see him cameo as The
Generalismo in a cutaway there); Fey & her writing staff have a knack
for making even the most absurd thing fit in the show's slightly
skewed universe.
M-D
How could they have a gag about 'breaking' and not include Jimmy
Fallon in some capacity?
On Oct 16, 8:51 pm, Michael <[email protected]> wrote:
> Thanks to the "magic" of Hulu, I watched files of both broadcasts of
> Thursday night's live ep of "30 Rock," back to back. Tighter direction
> and camerawork on the second of the performances (the West Coast
> take), a few jokes changed, and a couple of lines muffed (particularly
> one smart gag flubbed by Tracy Morgan). Generally better for me, but
> the East Coast version had its moments. Both were pretty entertaining.
> Special guests Matt Damon and Jon Hamm - and a few SNL vets (Julia
> Louis-Dreyfus, Rachel Dratch, Chris Parnell and Bill Hader) - were all
> solid; and there was an interesting meta-text to the whole thing
> regarding the style of a trad multi-camera sitcom vs. the usual single-
> camera, tightly-edited "30 Rock." I'm a fan of the series, and thought
> that, the excitement of the live experiment aside, it was a middling
> effort, comedy-wise. Still, it was big fun, especially watching the
> two variations. Kudos to everyone involved, with a special nod to
> ultra-cool live-theater vet Jane Krakowski who hit her marks and
> nailed every joke she was given.
--
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