Friday Morning Backtrack
Posted November 16th, 2007 by Rich Heldenfels
I did get through "Earl," "The Office" and "30 Rock." I may post some longer thoughts late. For now, my amusement was at best piecemeal — the Joy stuff in "Earl," the trash-talking in "The Office." …
I will note that reaction to "The Office" and "30 Rock" seems to vary widely, based on my requisite Friday-morning office conversations about the shows, and some of the discussion over at Sepinwall's blog. And I have wondered if some of that is a function of the writers strike, that we've gotten into episodes that were written a little too hastily, or didn't get much on-set tweaking, either of which could have polished some things that didn't quite work. (I think, for instance, that as many good lines as Alec Baldwin had on "30 Rock," and as fine as Edie Falco is, it could have been much better. And that I'm in the minority on "The Office's" "that's what she said" part of the deposition, where it felt as if, I don't know, slightly different line readings would have made it funnier.)
I also watched "Grey's Anatomy," where I disliked Bailey going all schoolgirl, even if it led to a big Bailey moment. And in that moment, I would have much preferred if she had been angry instead of getting a little weepy. Be strong, woman! Be strong! (Also, I dread the upcoming "Grey's" "event" because that probably means that the show will be big as all outdoors and swing for the fences … and whiff.)
Probably more about that later, too, as well as "Private Practice," where it doesn't trust its ability to do good drama enough to avoid piling on. (Three baby-delivery stories, one of them good.)
And I still need to catch the last two "Heroes," because I know I'll have something to say about that.
But I've been feeling a bit blah about TV in recent days, and I keep thinking that it's anticipatory regret — that I know that soon enough we will have seen all the episodes of things made before the strike, and we'll have to get by some way until more new stuff comes along.
In another year, this wouldn't feel so bad, because late November brings reruns and Christmas specials anyway. But we all know that, as of right now, nothing's waiting in January, so I want the stuff we're seeing now to be especially good.
Also, here's a link to my review of "I'm Not There," Todd Haynes's contemplation of Bob Dylan, which ran in the Beacon Journal today.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
I didn't find the "That's what she said" bit terribly funny myself, but that was more of a function of it seeming very much to me like "Who's on first?" at times.
I just kept thinking this week's show had a tinge of sadness to it, and if need be it could function as an effective season finale, with Michael and Jan each trying their hardest not to figure out where to go from where they'd ended up, and with Michael's rationale for supporting the company here. About the only thing left unresolved to me (since it wasn't really touched on at all during the episode, and maybe this is because they were trying to rush the script to completion) was Jim's descent into "Michaeldom," which I think he began to realize during last week's tag. Also, there was no Creed last night, which at least to me, was devastating.
The biggest problem of the night came during a commercial break, when we realized at our house that there would be no Christmas episode this year.
November 16th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
I loved the beginning of "Earl" with the "last time on.." recap in the movie-guy voice and script. As for "The Office" I was really hoping that Pam would've just beat the crap out of Kelly, whether it was physically or in ping-pong, but I kind of saw the weak girl-game coming. Dwight & Mose at the end - I was sad it wasn't longer. But the lawsuit seemed a little forced, and yet, I wasn't really sure how to feel for Jan, but she threw Michael under the bus, as did everyone, and that sucked. He took it like a champ. I wonder when Jan gets a new job - what will she be doing? Gus - I like your "Michaeldom" revelation.