Pajiba

Is it really a good line if it's not funny out of context?

I think Neil Simon's funniest line was, "Uh-huh." But it took an hour and a half of buildup to make it funny.

I'm sorry, sir, but practically every line on Community last night was hilarious. 30 Rock was better than it had any right to be, but that's because all the players have years of experience doing such work. I was really hoping it would be a little less scripted, less tight. Tracy's story being all about breaking was a good idea, but it was awful in its execution because he wasn't ever actually breaking. It's a joke that would work on a pre-filmed bit, but not live.

I thought The Office was pretty enjoyable, too, but, yeah, not many standout one-liners.

And I finally watched some of Outsourced last night. Once the assistant manager's conflict was revealed, I stopped watching. Had it actually been about pilfering the best employees for a kickback, I would've continued. That said, Diedrich Bader definitely nailed the trunk line. I might have kept watching the show because of that, but the lead actor is quite annoying. Maybe it's just me. I think I just hate his face.

I'm sorry, but I thought The Office was best last night. I was bored during Community, and 30 Rock was good, but it felt a bit like how we all expect SNL to be instead of complaining how shoddy it is. And I HATE when a studio-audience or laugh-track is there to tell me when to laugh.

I appreciated how Michael managed to walk the line between jackass and sympathetic at the same time. I feel like the show tries to make us feel for him more often, but rarely succeeds. Last night it did.

What, people? 30 Rock nailed it last night. I cringed at the beginning, because I was afraid Alec would botch his lines and he is already so self-loathing regarding his acting career.

A few lines in, I got really into the concept. My only criticism would be that Kenneth is tired! His dumb, backwoods thing is hackneyed at best, and it makes me want to punch him in the teeth.

The surprise of the night was Jenna. She's always funny, but her self-aware narcissism really came through in a live performance.

Finally, the live performance allowed very current cultural references (in which 30 Rock already excels). The Brett Farve and coal miners references...both via Jenna were brilliant.

Immigants, eh? I knew it was dem! Even when it was the bears, I knew it was dem!

I think the most interesting diff between the east and west coast 30 Rocks is that the west coast Hamm sketch had a lady hand, and the east coast had this sort of awkward black hand thang. The lady hand was hilarious and had us all laughing. . .the black hand made me cringe. Good call on the rewrite, peeps.

It was a solid night for the main 3. It wasn't the funniest episode of 30 Rock, but it was a lot of fun and moved very quickly. The Office is rebounding well these last couple of episodes. This one had a lot of funny bits. I like the Pros and Cons of sex, that was pretty damn funny when they kept moving everything into the "Pro" column. Reminded me of when NBC would give lip service to "Very Special Episodes", like the episode of Friends where they decide Monica's boyfriend drinks too much, then when he quits they hate him sober so they make him start drinking again.

Outsourced needs retooled. The non-funny smarmy Jeff Winger clone is annoying. Keep the Indian characters except the annoying fat guy, make the Australian their boss and keep Diedrich Bader. Make the show smarter. It is so out of place with the current lineup. Failing that import Rebecca Hazelwood over to another show because that woman is gorgeous.

I admit the John Hamm black hand bit was off. I think I blocked it out....or maybe that was the 4th glass of wine. A lady hand WOULD be much funnier and appropriate.

"Doctor" Spaceman was much better.

Also, did anyone else see Vincent D'Onofrio's stunt double at the beginning of the episode of Community? Seriously, I did a treble take.

Riles: I don't know if "inappropriate" is the word I would use. I used the term "bad-taste" up above. The east coast version featured Hamm pushing new (fake) program that recycles the hands of executed criminals for people who are missing hands and not only was the hand black (which could by itself be seen as a fair comment on the fact that more Black people than White end up on death row), but then it (the hand) refused to "obey" the white owner and made a black power gesture instead. Taken as a whole, it just was in bad taste to me.

If you think the black hand is offensive, or whatever euphemism you want to use, I don't think you can visit Pajiba. Because you will be offended.

I thought 30 Rock was pretty good. Granted I don't watch 30 Rock because I hate the show...so maybe that's why I thought the live episode was good? The "This is Fox News. I'm blonde" line was the funniest line of the night by far.

But I'm gonna agree with shanmarie that Community was a bit boring. Maybe because I can't for the life of me remember the plot of Apollo 13 which I saw Oh, so long ago.

The Office was solid, not exceptional. And Outsourced was, as always, not that good. It's troubling how funny the Indian actors are and how not funny that main guy is. I wish they wrote a better script for these actors...they deserve it.

PaddyDog: I completely share your thoughts, which I am incapable of expressly as succinctly at this juncture. And by "at this juncture", I mean Friday afternoon. And by "Friday afternoon", I mean a few hours before vodka-guzzling-time.

I thought 30 Rock Live was a hoot! Yay is Cheyenne Jackson back? Tracy could have been better though. All the guest appearances were a lot of fun and I loved the idea that everything looked "like a Mexican soap opera" because Jack was off the sauce and everything turned back to the normal, recorded version once he had a drink.

I think it's pretty obvious that 30 Rock really needs to trim some of its characters. Less Kenneth and less Pete (sorry Pete). More Danny and more Frank.

I thought Matt Damon's "Clear out all my porn" lines on 30 Rock last night were pretty damn funny.

E PLURIBUS ANUS

Out of Many, Asshole?

Or Does Anus mean something....google...google...

Out of Many, a ring.

What Does it mean? ...Double Rainbow...Oh My God...what does it mean?,

Shut Up...I'm high.

I preferred the Jon Hamm lady hand.
"Please take off your rings!"

And the Dean's truck stop map from Community.
"Those aren't thumbs."

I thought 30 Rock Live was just awful. I didn't really know what to expect, but ultimately none of it was funny. It also reminded me why I don't watch SNL anymore.

As for The Office, I thought Kelly's "Like Jim and Pam. What?!" was hilarious.

How has no one mentioned the Hader cameo? Tiny but brilliant.

"You know I ...love you."

On the office: Dwight:
"When did the phrase do or die become so corrupted?"

Community was awesome. 30 Rock was meh, and yes, the West Coast Jon Hamm gag was hilarious, the East Coast one was... not really funny and bad-taste, like it was said above.

I have come to the conclusion that Donald Glover and Jane Krakowski are probably the two people on TV right now that can sell, perfectly, any line they're given.