NBC Thursdays = Good Laughs? Review

Wow, NBC's Thursday Night Lineup is decent-looking on paper. Or in commercials. Whatever.

I hope I have at least a show or two to look forward to on Thursdays!

Review:

8-830pm: SNL: Weekend Update Thursday
There were two funny parts in this half hour. That is about average for an hour and a half episode of SNL. The rest of the episode was as mediocre as usual. Isn't that how SNL has been forever, though? Luckily, the funny parts are worth the muck.

Funny part 1: Bill Hader's demented impression of James Carville.

Jump to the 3:35 remaining mark:


Funny part 2: Darrell Hammond, the king of impersonations (was the prince before Phil Hartman got shot) does a killer Jimmy Carter.

Jump to the 3:35 min remaining mark:


Half-way funny part: "Really?!? With Seth (Myers) and Amy (Poehler)"

In an attempt to do semi-funny ranting, the weekend update hosts almost hit this right on. I think, given time or better writing, this segment could flourish.
I like the idea of allowing the anchors to do cultural satire as straight ahead, hell-bent, and death-inducing as fucking possible. "Really?!?" felt a little flat but the format, if tinkered with, could blossom.

Overall rating: C+

I'm a little disappointed. SNL, you had the whole summer off and had two genuine funny parts for your debut?

Luckily, I think they're doing this for a few more weeks until 30 Rock restarts. Also, "Saturday Night Live" will have an actual full episode during their normal time-slot, 11:30pm Saturdays (Duh). Megan Fox and U2. Terrible. Perhaps I will review that.

8:30-9:00pm: Parks and Recreations

I had too-high expectations for this show.

Reasons for Outlandish Presumption:

Co-created by Greg Daniels, one of the gurus from "The Office" (US)

Co-created by Michael Schur, the man behind the now-defunct best baseball blog ever:
Fire Joe Morgan RIP

Aziz Ansari, kinda funny comedian, is in the show.

Why I hated "Parks and Recreation" and watched for twelve minutes:

First off, the camera "mockumentary" style bugged me. "The Office" is presented in the same exact way. They didn't even try to make anything subtly different. Bogus.

I could have gotten by this similarity (duh, because of Greg Daniels) but there was too much to beef about:

Amy Poehler, does her best "Michael Scott clueless yet charming" impression, and fails.
Jim's ex from the Office, Rashida Jones, is boring.
Aziz Ansari is type-cast as "the straight guy who is kind of feminine."
The rest of the cast, "an ensemble," is forgettable.

Overall, my theory is the NBC executives found a witch's cauldron, got stoned, and started throwing shit into the pot that sounded similar to "The Office."

Then, they waited half-way through last year (when it originally debuted), decided the crap had simmered long enough, and decided to air the pool of excrement to the masses.

Somehow, the first six episodes of this car-crash scored enough reviews/ratings for the executives to give it another try this year.


Rating: D

Compared to the varsity squad found on the rest of the night's line-up, "Parks and Recreation" was down on the freshman team. On the bench. Getting the water.

9-9:30pm "The Office"

I had lost touch with this show for the past couple years. A couple friends had recommended going back. Thanks, brothers and sisters! Great episode!

Favorite part:

Creed, hearing Pam is pregnant: "Who's your OBGYN?"

Rating: A-

Not quite a classic episode but still very funny. Steve Carell kills in every scene.

9:30-10pm "Community"

I had low expectations for this one.

Actually was surprisingly funny mostly because the Indian kid makes a funny "Breakfast Club" joke that made me laugh hard.

Rating: B

Overall rating for the night: B

Bonus: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia satirized "Juno," in their season premiere.
Rating: B