Which to Watch?
Two new SNL-type parodies, both on NBC, both with numerals in their name. Do I really have room in my life (and on my recordable DVD's) for both of them? Well, until tonight, the answer was no. Over the last few weeks, I've grown quite fond of Studio 60: Fantastic cast (especially that Matthew Perry! Could there be a better post-Friends comeback role for him?), snappy dialogue, exciting hour-long stories. I'm not yet convinced that Sarah Paulson is funny, but I think her character(a passionately religious comedian) could be interesting. So in my mind, 30 Rock, with Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Tracy Jordan, was over before it even aired. I love Tina's writing, but I'd rather see another actor perform her stuff. As an actor, she has the potential to irk me. More than that, I felt like 30 Rock would make Wednesdays feel like a lame sequel to Mondays. And I hate sequels.
But then I got home from work early tonight, and I needed something to do with myself before LOST came on at 9pm. I decided to give 30 Rock a chance. And you know what? Tina wasn't half bad! She held her own alongside both Baldwin's delightfully oily TV/oven exec and Jordan's hilariously nutty, say-anything comedian. She did some of her usual self-deprecating shtick, but she was also feisty and fun in an appealing Mary Tyler Moore-ish way. And the half-hour length, instead of feeling abrupt, made the laughs all the more precious, and left me wanting more (take note, Ugly Betty).
Of course, television shows follow trends, just like anything else. We've seen the legal trend (Ally McBeal, The Practice, Boston Legal), the crime trend (the CSI franchise, the Law & Order franchise), the scary catastrophe trend (Invasion, Surface, Jericho), the I-see-dead-people trend (Medium, The Ghost Whisperer), among others. Not all of those shows felt like retreads; there was a time when I was a simultaneous fan of both Ally and The Practice.
I'm still skeptical of whether Studio 60 (dramatic SNL spoof) and 30 Rock (funny SNL spoof) can co-exist on TV in general, and on my TV in particular. But until my recordable DVD's fill up, I think I'll keep watching them both.