[TV orNotTV] 30 Rock Live Again

[PGage]

I was out of town when the second live 30 Rock aired, and watched both versions (east and west coast) a few days ago ON Demand. I don't think I saw any mention of it here, and had almost forgot about it when I saw this piece this evening: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/03/DD3U1OCC4R.DTL, which really captured my take.

When a thread on this list noted that there was going to be another live 30 Rock, I agreed with the main question of "why would they do that?" The first one was an interesting exercise, but ultimately not as good as one of their regular episodes. But the second live show was fundamentally different - as the piece suggests, less a live episode of 30 Rock and more a really good episode of SNL.

[David Bruggeman]

Sounds like they borrowed a page from The Drew Carey Show.  The live episodes they did had a lot of "Whose Line is it Anyway" style improv games.  I don't remember if they did that from the first time they went live, or if it grew over time.  They also had a lot of 'spot the error' stuff tied into contests and such.

David

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From: PGage <pga...@gmail.com>
Subject: [TV orNotTV] 30 Rock Live Again

[PGage]

On Fri, May 4, 2012 at 9:38 PM, David Bruggeman <bru...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Sounds like they borrowed a page from The Drew Carey Show.  The live episodes they did had a lot of "Whose Line is it Anyway" style improv games.  I don't remember if they did that from the first time they went live, or if it grew over time.  They also had a lot of 'spot the error' stuff tied into contests and such.

It was not quite as self-conscious as the Drew Carey shows, but there were some meta-elements.

I meant to note that the east coast version of the live 30 Rock was significantly better than the west coast, both in terms of the different special guests, and in the energy and focus of the cast, even though the only obvious goof that I noticed was made by Fey in the east coast show (she flubbed a name).

[Steve Timko]

On Fri, May 4, 2012 at 9:58 PM, PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:

I meant to note that the east coast version of the live 30 Rock was significantly better than the west coast, both in terms of the different special guests, and in the energy and focus of the cast, even though the only obvious goof that I noticed was made by Fey in the east coast show (she flubbed a name).

SPOILER ALERT

I'd say the East Coast version was better overall, but I'm not sure I'd say significantly better. Two things stood out as better on the east coast version. The main one is that Tracy Morgan showed up mentally for the east coast version. He was especially better in his scenes with jon Hamm in the Amos N Andy style show. That sketch was one of the best things about the live show on the East Coast version, but it fell flat on the west coast version. Hamm was good in both sketches.
Jimmy Fallon seemed a little sharper in the East Coast version as well.
Donald Glover seemed to miss the ghetto mating call joke on the west coast version, but I thought maybe it had more to do with the audience reaction stepping on the joke.
On the other hand, I liked Brian Williams' version of the newcast better.
I don't know that Paul McCartney's appearance was better than Kardashian. And the whole kiss at the end of the first show was predictable.

[PGage]

I agree with most of your analysis (inlcuidng BriWil making the newscast better for the west coast), with the huge exception of your claim that McCartney was not better than Kardashian. How do those two even wind up in the same sentence, let alone be used as interchangeable parts in the same scene? One is a defining songwriter of the 20th century, and the iconic popular music performer of his generation. The other screws professional athletes (well, I'm sure she does other things, but that is all I know about her).

[Steve Timko]

If it were people I'd want to hang with for dinner and drinks, McCartney wins by a large margin. For a brief joke on "30 Rock," it was pretty much a tie.