B-Minus.

Really?

30 Rock might be the smartest and funniest comedy currently on television. It’s certainly in the top three. That being said, can we really heap upon it praise after praise when it consistently delivers the most uninspired B-stories this side of Full House. For as sharp as this show’s writing can be, I simply don’t understand why every episode tends to have a secondary arc (usually involving Pete) rife with cliché. I mean, really? Pete get’s his hand stuck in a vending machine?

This has made me realize that 30 Rock is perhaps too tight for its own good. Take away these completely idiotic and disjointed B-stories and do you know what you’re left with? A fifteen minute show. They might as well cut it down and just put it on after Aqua Teen on Adult Swim (making it without a doubt the most expensive 15 minutes on television).

Though perhaps the lameness of these stories is the joke. Maybe they’re a parody of the type of sitcom fare that usually gets an audience to respond. That has to be the case, right? A show this funny wouldn’t produce material so tepid otherwise, right?

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 1:23 am and is filed under 30 Rock, NBC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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3 Responses to “B-Minus.”

  1. L-Ham Says:
    April 13th, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    I concur that many of these b-stories are dispensable, but - when Jena or Kenneth or Tracy have the b-story, it’s usually really funny. Laugh out loud funny.

    For the return ep, I was a little disappointed. I didn’t find anything about Milf Island to be LOL-worthy. It was clever, sure, and it struck some strike-related notes, but normally I chuckle more at 30 Rock.

    Rick - so glad to see you back to covering many of my favorite shows! I just started on Top Chef this season and it’s half your fault.

  2. Rick Says:
    April 13th, 2008 at 9:59 pm

    I guess my complaint isn’t just that the Pete storylines are generally kind of lame, but that the secondary arcs — even when they involve Kenneth or Tracy — tend to have no connection to the main storyline. The writing on the show is typically so sharp I’m kind of surprised they can’t figure out a way to have the two intertwine more naturally (something Arrested Development did quite well and what Larry David build an entire career around).

  3. MagneticMediaFed | » It happened again! Says:
    April 18th, 2008 at 1:36 am

    […] this is what I’m talking about! Tonight’s 30 Rock was hilarious, as it always is, and even featured the real-life mayor of […]

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