OK, so I was off ill most of last week with an ear infection (yippee) and caught up on a lot of TV. So I decided to start a blog about TV, starting with last Monday….
CHRIS’S CHOICE
30 ROCK
(Comedy Central) Double-Bill “The Problem Solvers” (Season 4, Episode 5) – “Sun Tea” (Season 4, Episode 6)
Tucked away on Comedy Central (Channel 132 on Virgin & 126 on Sky in case you didn't know) getting only around 50,000 viewers is this gem of sitcom. For those who’ve never seen the show, it revolves around the production team on an NBC late-night comedy show “TGS” primarily focussing on the writers (lead by Tina Fey’s character Liz Lemon) and its’ management (Alec Baldwin’s brilliant Jack Donaghy).
“The Problem Solvers” (9/10) was a great start to the double bill and provided many laughs from the get go. The team were awaiting their new cast member, when Lutz entered and some thought it was him, “No, I’m Lutz. Worked here for 3 years. Gave you that car I won” - poor Lutz. So when the new cast member arrived we learnt his name was Jack, to which Jack (of the Donaghy variety) informed him he couldn’t have that name and Danny would work better, he had no choice, it stuck. More laughs came upon learning that ‘Danny’ was Canadian and couldn’t say the word ‘about’ without sounding too Canadian. Cue plenty of "abooout", "abuout" and "abouout"s.
Liz’s female empowering ‘Deal Breakers’ book has been selling successfully worldwide, especially in China, where it translates to “Deal breaker, the book for you, man no good by Lesbian Flower Sour Fruit”. Jack has decided to commission a chat show based on the book, presented by Liz. Jenna tells Liz to get an agent and try to sort out a better deal. Of course the agent Liz ends up with usually deals with acting dogs and according to Jack is working on roles for, “Are You Smarter Than A Dog? and I’m A Celebrity Dog Get Me Out Arf Here!”
Also Jenna & Tracy began to go around solving peoples problems and imaginatively chose to name themselves the ‘Problem Solvers’ (complete with T-Shirts) and began giving advice to those who (they thought) needed it. After ‘Danny’ suggested to Kenneth that he does less of his page duties, Kenneth didn’t enjoy being unhelpful and sought the guidance of the ‘Problem Solvers’. It was only when ‘Danny’ informed Jenna & Tracy that Kenneth could one day be their boss, did the 'Problem Solvers' begin to act. In the end Kenneth did end up helping ‘Danny’ after an argument which led the Canadian to say ‘about’ in the correct accent! Hurrah!
This episode had two very strong narrative strands. Jenna & Tracy always work best together as the ‘talent’ on the show, and combined with new boy ‘Danny’ we could have some serious fun with the cast in the coming episodes. Liz’s ‘Deal Breakers’ show looks set to continue as a running trend throughout the season, which is a huge bonus, as it’s going to be pretty funny to see Liz in front of the cameras for once.
The second episode “Sun Tea” (8/10) still had some classic moments, namely Frank’s bottled urine, the return of Dr. Spaceman and a great comic turn from Al Gore. But as the episode centred on NBC’s ‘Green Week’ it didn’t quite translate as well to UK viewers as the first episode this week. That said, joint with ABC’s “Modern Family”, “30 Rock” is still the funniest American sitcom since “Friends” ended 6 years ago. So if you’ve got no excuse not to go and buy Seasons 1, 2 & 3 DVD boxsets and catch up! Go on, do it right now…..
ALSO ON MONDAY
“The Graham Norton Show” (BBC1, 10.45pm – 9/10) was rather enjoyable this week too. The reason Graham’s show works so well is that all the guests share the sofa together, so you get bewildered American A-Listers such as this week’s guest Jennifer Lopez, sitting next to the likes of Alan Davies! Along with the new Doctor Who assistant Karen Gillan on the sofa, the show really provided the laughs when a website produced an image of what an Alan Davies/Jennifer Lopez lovechild would look like, providing viewers with an image they’d never want to see again, until an Alan Davies/Karen Gillan baby was produced. Lopez proved to be a great sport and clearly enjoyed being on the show, Gillan seemed slightly nervy, whereas Davies was on top form and how refreshing it was to see a guest on a chat show who wasn’t promoting anything! Hopefully this chat show will end up filling the slot vacated by the departing Jonathan Ross on Friday nights.
Monday’s “Flash Forward” (Five, 9pm – 8/10) episode was actually rather good. Since returning from its’ mid-season hiatus, when the revelation that seemingly loyal Janis Hawk was the mole in the FBI, the show has regained the pace and thrills it began with. Now in this episode we learn that Janis is in fact a double agent working for CIA Agent Vogel to try an gain information from a mysterious lady working a fish shop (no, seriously, a shop that sells fish) and Janis is really a goodie after all, hurrah!
Also on Monday, E4’s episode of “Glee” (E4, 9pm – 5/10) was, well - a bit rubbish. Despite the hilarious Kristin Chenoweth returning as April, the episode sadly fell a bit flat. Plus, I only knew one of the songs. Hopefully it’ll be back on form next week – or else I’ll turn all Sue Sylvester on it.
So, that was my first TV blog, feel free to leave comments. That is if anyone is actually reading it....I'm slightly wary this was a pointless exercise.
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