One of the most famous Monty Python sketches is the one in which a hapless consumer attempts to return a recent purchase to the pet store. The bird, you see, is dead — but the shop owner argues it's just resting. But when shouting and shaking fail to rouse the feathered friend, the owner changes course: The poor bird is just stunned! And what's more, it's the customer's fault for carrying on so loudly! It goes on like this for a while. Mustaches and the commuter train to Ipswich become involved. Eventually, the police are called on account of everything getting a bit too silly.
It's funny the lengths people will go to, to deny the obvious — much, much funnier than NBC's ill-fated comedy Up All Night ever was. The show — starring Will Arnett and Christina Applegate as harried hipster parents, and Maya Rudolph as someone cut and pasted from a completely different sitcom — has been reinventing itself almost from the start.
NBC has been trying to salvage something from Up All Night almost since the word "go," knowing that simply letting a collection of talent like Will Arnett, Christina Applegate, and Maya Rudolph walk out of their clutches would be wasteful, foolish, and, honestly, downright disrespectful to the comedy gods. Now finally, against all odds, it looks like the network's managed to squeeze something worth a damn out of this thing. Not a sound, well-principled half-hour sitcom — oh, dear, no. What they're now offering up is a good, old-fashioned, behind-the-scenes TV mess. Hooray!
Ah, the Television Critics Association's winter previews — that special, special time of year when broadcast networks get together and promise us that, at some vague point in the near future, the shows that they show will be somewhat less terrible. First up: NBC, which rode the stalwart back of Sunday Night Football and the resplendent deltoids of Adam Levine out of fourth and last place all the way into … second. Considering the fact that The Unmistakable Stench of Failure had come to occupy a seemingly permanent home at Peacock HQ, that's no trifling matter. So can head honcho Robert Greenblatt keep the good times rolling? To the TCA highlights!
"Last year I came out here and admitted we had a bad fall," Greenblatt told the assembled TCA masses. "I'm not saying that this year … CBS is down 13 percent, ABC is down 4 percent, and Fox is down 23 percent. We all know CBS still beats us among total viewers, but we're now a clear no. 2., [where] we were a distant fourth a year ago." More importantly: Responding to comments that Fox chief Kevin Reilly had made about how many network execs were clueless these days, Blatty let it be known that while "that may be true of other places … I can guarantee you, we don't have our heads up our asses." To prove his point, Bob pointed first to his forehead, then to his butt, at which point it was confirmed — via much excited murmuring — that the former was, indeed, not inside the latter.
Every week in this space, Grantland’s Andy Greenwald will run down the happenings and mishappenings in NBC’s Thursday comedy night done mostly right. (Note: The order reflects newsworthiness, not quality. Although occasionally the two just might overlap.)
1. Parks and Recreation
The normal metric for holiday behavior is, as Jim Halpert correctly argued last night, naughty or nice. But in terms of sitcoms, Dwight's Teutonic table might work even better: Do we prefer our comedies to be impish or admirable? Particularly at this time of year, when the tendency to sweeten the eggnog — or at least avoid the fat-free kind — can be overwhelming. For Parks and Rec, this balance isn't limited to December: The only time this most likable of shows stumbles is when its characters end up liking each other so much it muffles the conflict in a miasma of nondenominational good cheer. So it was particularly rewarding to discover that the excellent "Ron and Diane," as written by Aisha Muharrar and Megan Amram, celebrated Krampus far more than jolly old St. Nick.
Every week in this space, Grantland’s Andy Greenwald will run down the happenings and mishappenings in NBC’s Thursday comedy night done mostly right. (Note: The order reflects newsworthiness, not quality. Although occasionally the two just might overlap.)
1. 30 Rock
In the end, it seems, Liz Lemon really could have it all. The respectful relationship, the professional success, the wind-battered face of a New England cod fisherman. Proving herself, society, and Anne-Marie Slaughter wrong, last night Liz married Criss Chros, her marzipan candy man. The ceremony, held at midday in City Hall, was a typically Liz affair: Dennis Duffy brown-bagging (and black-sonning) it in the corner, a tuxedoed Jack Donaghy reading Ayn Rand, Tony Bennett. It was the lovely capper to a remarkably warm and generous episode of 30 Rock, a sitcom that usually follows its cartoony muse down some prickly rabbit holes, but last night showed real heart. (The only echo of that Seinfeldian fealty to the joke above all else was with poor Shanice: Not only would Criss not sit on her hand, she'll spend the rest of her life unmarried, working in the chapel.) "Mazel Tov, Dummies," written by Tracey Wigfield, but with Tina Fey's Pringles-stained fingerprints all over it, was a celebration of idiosyncrasy all around. From Tracy's embrace of recklessness to Jack and Jenna's grappling with their true value, the episode suggested that happiness is always possible. It just depends on whose rules you're playing by.
Every week in this space, Grantland’s Andy Greenwald will run down the happenings and mishappenings in NBC’s Thursday comedy night done mostly right. (Note: The order reflects newsworthiness, not quality. Although occasionally the two just might overlap.)
1. The Office
Something strange and unexpected happened last night: The Office made me laugh. More than once actually. At first it was a guilty snicker that slipped out when Phyllis accused Dwight of mispronouncing a female client's name in the most OMG/GYN way possible and Nellie muttered "Ugh, that's not good." Confused and a little concerned, I looked around the room. Had anyone heard me? (No. I was alone.) Was I getting soft? (Inevitably, but maybe not all the way just yet.) Then a gloriously porn-stached Toby leaned into the face of a passing female pedestrian and brayed "Smile if you love men's prostates!" and I lost it again. No shame this time. This was really happening. "The Whale" was a legitimately funny episode of The Office. Like a less-addled Ahab, it seemed my years of searching had finally come to an end.
King Kong probably has a few things on Chris Ryan and me. But as evidence has shown, the big guy has nothing on Denzel Washington. In anticipation of Flight (2:10), we had a spirited discussion/IMDb trawl on the man Chris termed “the greatest movie star of our lifetime.” Once we finished singing the praises of The Siege and brushing our St.Elsewhere mustaches, we moved to the small screen, tackling the most recent episodes of Homeland (20:50) and The Walking Dead (32:40). Have we reached the end of the road for Carrie and Brody? And does the arrival of the Governor and his exotic collection of face-fish temper our simmering disgust with the Grimes family?
Every week in this space, Grantland’s Andy Greenwald will run down the happenings and mishappenings in NBC’s Thursday comedy night done mostly right. (Note: The order reflects newsworthiness, not quality. Although occasionally the two just might overlap.)
1. Parks and Recreation
Last week, I led this piece by suggesting that “all great comedies are at least a little bit serious.” Now, I’d like to take it one step further: Sometimes the best parts of comedies are the moments that aren’t funny at all. The trend in modern sitcoms is to speed everything up: more jokes, more references, less time to catch your breath. But the old-fashioned Parks has always appreciated the value of the slow build, the pause, the very human need to inhale oxygen before LOL-ing it out with glee. As Claude Debussy — himself a huge fan of Cheers — once put it: “Music is the space between the notes.”
Every week in this space, Grantland’s Andy Greenwald will run down the happenings and mishappenings in NBC’s Thursday comedy night done mostly right. (Note: The order reflects newsworthiness, not quality. Although occasionally the two just might overlap.)
1. 30 Rock
All truly great comedies are at least a little bit serious. It’s a delicate, delightful balance to mix purely goofy laughs with those that resonate on a deeper, Homer Simpson–y level. In the past few years, as 30 Rock has pushed its jokes-per-minute ratio to nearly unheard-of proportions — in our recent podcast, former staffer Kay Cannon talked about how her job went from two jokes per page to a joke every line — it’s been easier to overlook the sharp satire lurking behind all the silliness. But the archly brilliant, Tina Fey–scripted “Stride of Pride” proved that, just like Jenna doing Kegels and thinking, it’s more than possible to do two challenging things at the same damn time — and look awfully good in the process.
Every week in this space, Grantland’s Andy Greenwald will run down the happenings and mishappenings in NBC’s Thursday comedy night done mostly right. (Note: The order reflects newsworthiness, not quality. Although occasionally the two just might overlap.)
1. 30 Rock
If the mere sight of a spreadsheet can open Liz Lemon’s boneyard to any and all approaching dump-truck traffic, imagine what the whiteboard in the writers' room for last night’s episode of 30 Rock could accomplish. “Governor Dunston,” written and directed by co-showrunner Robert Carlock, flooded the zone like the American heroes of BP, packing nearly as much story into its 22 minutes as jokes. What resulted was a choppy, overstuffed–like–Bob Dunston–at–a–BBQ half hour. The humor was as pedigreed as the guest stars. But it would take a lot more than Criss and Liz’s sex paper clips to hang it all together.
Every week in this space, Grantland’s Andy Greenwald will run down the happenings and mishappenings in NBC’s Thursday comedy night done mostly right. (Note: The order reflects newsworthiness, not quality. Although occasionally the two just might overlap.)
1. 30 Rock
A few days ago I recorded a podcast with Warren Littlefield, the former entertainment president of NBC and the man who, in the '90s, oversaw the last great era of Must See TV. The pod will be posted in a few weeks, but one thing he said seemed particularly relevant to last night’s slate. While Warren agreed that The Office, in its prime, was a worthy successor to Cheers and Seinfeld as the 9 p.m. “tentpole” of a night of sophisticated comedies, he used another term to describe the fringier pleasures of shows like Community and 30 Rock: “velvet rope.” He was in no way disparaging the quality of either series, just pointing out that both maintain an air of exclusivity to their humor, that life in a boring yet familial workplace might prove slightly more universal and relatable than, say, the continuing adventures of a man who transports a pregnant snake in a casserole dish. The television landscape may have changed radically since Warren was in charge, but the mission remains the same for current topper Bob Greenblatt: Expand the audience, don't limit it.
Every week in this space, Grantland’s Andy Greenwald will run down the happenings and mishappenings in NBC’s Thursday comedy night done mostly right. (Note: The order reflects newsworthiness, not quality. Although occasionally the two just might overlap.)
1. The Office
As if powered by a Pawnee-esque serving of Dwight’s vomitous blue energy drink, the momentum of last week’s final-season premiere carried through last night’s cold open. The quick degradation of the chore wheel into a much more exciting fun wheel (cue Erin sound effect) was everything that was and is still delightful about The Office: a gaggle of brightly drawn, warmly familiar characters elevating the mundane into absurdist glee. (Who would mind scrubbing the toilets if a tiny piece of circular cardboard commands it?)
Every week in this space, Grantland’s Andy Greenwald will run down the happenings and mishappenings in NBC’s Thursday comedy night done mostly right. (Note: The order reflects newsworthiness, not quality. Although occasionally the two just might overlap.)
When this column launched one year ago, the intent was both to celebrate and chronicle the ill health of a beloved institution. NBC’s Thursday-night comedy block had gone from Must See to Might See to Mercy! in just a few short years, its ratings decline in perfect alignment with the overall fortunes of its parent network. Yet at the same time, the quality of the shows had never been higher: In the preening Peacock glory years of the ‘80s (Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Cheers) and the ‘90s (Friends, Mad About You, Seinfeld), there was always the 9:30 black hole, a rotating placeholder for room-temperature turkeys like Grand, The Single Guy and Veronica’s Closet. In contrast, the lineup in 2009 and 2010 was stacked top to bottom, a simpatico salsa of cleverness, quirk, and the familial warmth that historically has separated NBC’s best comedies from those of its competitors. There’s a legitimate case to be made that Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, and 30 Rock, taken as a whole and in their primes, might be the best Thursday-night lineup ever fielded. (Note: This definitely depends on your feelings about Night Court.) It’s too bad no one was watching to agree.
Every week in this space Grantland pop culture correspondent Andy Greenwald will run down the happenings and mishappenings in NBC’s Thursday comedy night done mostly right. (Note: The order reflects newsworthiness, not quality. Although occasionally the two just might overlap.)
1. The Office
How do you know when the spark is gone? For a romantic naif like Andy Bernard it’s pretty simple: You fall in love with someone else, drive to Tallahassee, share a few laughs, a couple sandwiches, and then crash a bachelorette party to tell your soon-to-be-ex the great/terrible news. But with a sitcom, it’s rarely that clear cut.
The Office has been a mess all season, but the last run of new episodes before a not-particularly-earned spring break were at least an interesting mess. The banishment of half the cast to the Florida panhandle enlivened the writers' room like nothing since the Michael Scott Paper Company, creating an arc that, while manic and bizarre, at least demonstrated the 8-year-old (that’s 150 in sitcom years) still had some fight left in it. The hot Southern sun brought out a strange sort of crazy in familiar characters — Stanley the rum head, Dwight the sympathetic psychopath — and there was a palpable charge that resulted from pushing such a well-established franchise to the bleeding edge of plausibility. It wasn’t good, necessarily. But it was something. After a stuttering, frustrating start to the season, it seemed possible that The Office had somehow survived the loss of its head.
Every week in this space Grantland pop culture correspondent Andy Greenwald will run down the happenings and mishappenings in NBC’s Thursday comedy night done mostly right. (Note: the order reflects newsworthiness, not quality. Although occasionally the two just might overlap.)
1. Community
These past few weeks, as NBC has mixed and matched reruns and overstocked new episodes like an addict’s final pass through the medicine cabinet before rehab, one thing has become abundantly clear: Thursday nights, like sailboats and pirate business cards, need an anchor. In this case, an anchor would be a steady, passably popular show, most likely in the 9 p.m. slot. A show with universal appeal, tangible warmth, and a forward-moving plot. A dependable, viewer-attracting sun for the more out-there sitcoms in the network solar system to orbit, a different rhythm to diversify the night. The Office served this function reliably for years and, it must be said, even the diluted version we’ve had this year would have sufficed last night, when the extremes of the remaining shows, both good and ill, were on full display. (Parks and Recreation, of course, is an ideal candidate for the job but it’s on hiatus for another two weeks and lags behind Dunder Mifflin in viewership by a factor of the population of Dubai.)
