NBC's Thursday night comedy night has it all. Generally, the barage of commercials on the big networks is a turn off. I still wish the networks could do a mid-show intermission and load it up with commercials leaving the first half and last half of the show commercial-free. I guess the advertisers have figured out the quick sell every five to seven minutes works better for their purposes. The string of commercials is still over the top. The other night, I counted five pitches in one quick seguay. However, I will not be deterred from my Thursday night comedies.
Park & Recreation:
Amy Poehler is back as a mid-management Park & Recreation city employee. Her character Leslie Knope tries desperately to keep her belief in public service in gear. Her first big project in the small town in Indiana is to gain approval for filling in a huge pit located in a neighborhood. The pit was created when the developer-owner abandoned the lot because he went bust. The problem surfaced when a nurse, the girlfirend of garage band fun guy demanded the city do something because "fun guy" fell in the pit and broke both legs.
The trials and tribulations of a mid-level city employee trying to get something done is a riot. Her co-worker is busy playing computer match Bingo with her boss. Her boss, Swanson loathes his ex-wife and has an equal disdain for government. He thinks Chuck E. Cheese should operate Parks & Recreation, not taking into account he would be out of job. Albeit, some stimulus dollars are on the way and Swanson is on board for creating a park where the pit blights the neighborhood. The trials and tribulations for Leslie Knope have just begun, creating a sub-steering committee, public comment and advocates for keeping the pit surface. It is the stuff that happens every day in local government and it is a riot.
The Office:
The established comedy show, The Office took a funny twist recently. The Scranton Dunder Mifflin Paper Company was reorganized and Steve Carell, (Michael Scott) defected taking Jenna Fischer (Pam Beesley) with him to form the Michael Scott Paper Company. The new digs are located in a hefty size walk in closet in the Dunder Mifflin building. As expected, Dwight can hardly wait to get the ear of the new boss and dump his friend Michael. The story unfolds with hysterical office gamesmanship with all right with the world results.
30 Rock:
Tina Fey (Liz Lemon) is faced with budget cuts on her production and decides to use her womanly wiles to woo the management consultant hired to make the cuts. She gets to keep almost her entire staff, but ends up in Human Resources' Sexual Harrassment classes and is suspended for two weeks. She hooks up with some apparant free spirits in her building and does the girl thing. Spas, shoe shopping, repartie and wine.
Liz Lemon is having the time of her life without regret. The apparant fun girls are in reality searching for some kind of oomph in their lives. Liz Lemon is confronted with a girlie version of Fight Club. She can hardly wait to get back to normal with Alec Baldwin. 30 Rock is funny, sharp and consistently good comedy in every single episode.
Check it out, Thursday night on NBC is a barrel of laughs.
This weekend, the Times dissected the "morning-news-romcom-verite" that is MSNBC's Morning Joe, thanks to the banter-filled dynamic between hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Proving just how convincing a romantic comedy the program really is, reigning rom-com auteur Nora Ephron is a fan. “For me it’s not so much about the politics," she told the Times. "I tend to watch almost anything like this in terms of: is this romantic comedy? And it is … I’m very busy thinking about them as a temporary couple on the air … The conversation is like some kind of dream sequence at a bar, only you can have a part in it, and it’s in the morning.” Excellent tip for anyone who would like to watch Broadcast News all day, every day, but feels guilty not staying on top of current events. [NYT via NYO]
TUESDAY 4/27
Writer’s Bloc: Carol Burnett & Tim Conway, 7:30p Saban Theater. Two comedy legends get together on stage to talk about her new book and reminisce. Probably the coolest thing you could go see all week.
Tremendosaur, 8p Comedy Central Stage. Tremendosaur is one of LA’s most beloved sketch comedy groups, and they’ve been working hard to put up a whole bunch of new sketches that are practically guaranteed to kill.
WEDNESDAY 4/28
Past Her Prime, 6:30p UCB. This great sketch show by Justine Barron is going up at UCB for one show (so far). Go give it some love.
Conan O’Brien’s Writers Room, 8p Hollywood Improv. The writers for Team Coco have all been crafting their stand up routines in the intervening months, and they’re ready to show off their considerable skills.
THURSDAY 4/29
Mash Up, 8:30p Hollywood Musicbox. A great Comedy Central TV stand up taping, this set features the hilarious Matt Braunger, T.J. Miller, Hannibal Buress, and Kumail Nanjiani. Oh, and it’s effing FREE, for all my pimps-on-a-budget!
4 Stories & A Cover, 9:30p UCB. Andy Daly, Matt Price, and Greg Behrendt are all taking part in this great storytelling show,with a little bit of music thrown in to boot.
FRIDAY 4/30
Tig Has Friends, 8:30p Largo. The cast of the Sarah Silverman program steps out to Largo on La Cienega for some stand up.
Sam Tripoli, 9p Downtown Comedy Club. Sam is a longtime LA stand up comic who is taking his comedy stylings to the woefully under-served downtown area.
SATURDAY 5/1
Jon Dore, 7:30p Hollywood Improv. Canadian comedian Jon Dore drops in for a single show that should be required viewing for anyone interested in funny, off-beat, nice-guy humor.
Tang, 10p iO West. These lovely award-winning sketch comedy ladies are back doing a full show for your giggling pleasure.
Quick & Dirty Musicals, 10p UCB. A phenomenal line up of musical comedians, including John Ross Bowie, The Apple Sisters, and Chris Farah.
SUNDAY 5/2
Harland Williams, 7p Brea Improv. Go out and get weird with Harland Williams in Brea.
Bobby Slayton, 7p Ontario Improv. Bobby is a gravely, energetic comic with a voice and stage presence all his own.
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