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Kay wins! Kay beat b.wall 4 to 3
30 Rock is the most under-appreicated comedy on tv right now.
b.wall said
30 Rock is one of the only quality shows as of right now on the Peacock network, yet it is shunned by audiences. Tina Fey is a goddess and her own quirky, witty brand of humor deserves SO much more than 6 million viewers weekly. Tina, Alec Baldwin, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer and company put thier own stamp on everyone line they say, and are so lovable and off-kilter, that you can't help but want to work at 30 Rockefeller Center. Everyone is always, at the top of their game and overall great, that it being beaten by "Two and a Half Men" weekly is beyond me(no offense to 2&1/2M). Just look at these quotes and tell me 30 Rock is not amazing:
1. Kenneth: I know how you like this cornbread Mr. Jordan.
Tracy: LIKE it? I love this cornbread so much I wanna take it back behind the middle school and get it pregnant.
2.Jenna: I'm on a crash diet to get back to my old weight by Friday.
Liz: Well, what diet is going to do that?
Jenna: Oh, it's the Japanese porn star diet. I only eat paper, but I can eat all the paper I want, so...
3. Jack: She needs to lose thirty pounds or gain sixty. Anything in between has no place on television.
Now how is 30 Rock NOT underappreciated?
Kay said
I cannot argue with you that 30 Rock isn't the best comedy on television. It obviously is. Under-appreciated, however, it isn't. If your statement were phrased under-watched, sure we'd have nothing to argue about. But you can't call the Emmy winner for Best Comedy, a show that has racked up best comedy nominations and wins for its lead actors from DGA, Golden Globes, SAG, WGA, and a bunch of other groups I've never heard of, under-appreciated. Should more people watch? Probably, but ratings aren't the end-all be-all determining factor of the true value & impact of a show. And there are a few other genuinely funny shows on TV that get higher ratings but much less critical appreciation.
b.wall said
when i say under appreciated, i mean that the viewers at home do not watch, even though this is one of the only shows that NBC promotes the crap out of. 30 Rock has the best guest stars on television and a ton of hype, but is still ignored by those at home, who in the end, it matters if they watch or not. 30 Rock is greatly appreciated by pratically every critic out there, giving it tons of awards and praise, but critical attention can only get you so far. If the viewer doesnt come to watch, then all that promoting is pointless. Meaning, that in the terms of viewers, who are ultimately one of the biggest, if not the biggest reasons networks keep or cancel show,(even though being a critical darling is helpful) 30 Rock is the most under appreciated comedy on tv right now.
Kay said
I understand your fears. Surely you loved Arrested Development and watched it gain critical attention and never viewers, eventually ending up cancelled. And you've rightly drawn the conclusion that critical appreciation does not really mean anything ??? otherwise Firefly, Wonderfalls, My So-called Life, etc. would have had much longer runs.
Thus, since 30 Rock has no viewers (or more accurately "dozens and dozens"), it is under-appreciated where it really counts. Except, you're wrong. Where it really counts, 30 Rock is one of NBC's best shows. The thing that none of those shows had that 30 Rock has in spades: advertising dollars. Viewers do not keep shows around, money does, and 30 Rock attracts millions, broadcast ads & internet ads. It gets ad dollars because it attracts a young, rich audience (richest next to The Office). Name another show that American Express has embraced like it has 30 Rock. Seinfeld maybe?
In your estimation 30 Rock is under-appreciated because it has few viewers. I say it is greatly appreciated because it is a critical darling, a network money-attracting jewel, and is now becoming a cultural touchstone. We're arguing semantics.
b.wall said
30 Rock is a critical darling and a network money attracting jewel, being that it flat-out promote products while still turning it into a joke. But i think the bottom line, is that 30 Rock can never be a cultural touchstone if nobdy watches it. I mean Arrested Development is like 30 in that it was hysterical, and was a huge critical favorite, winning award after award, and i think won bunches of money for Fox, thus giving it a sizable run. But since it had such low ratings, it eventually faded away, critcs and network money didnt really matter. And although i'll be the first to say that Arrested was an excellent show, i would by no means call it a cultural touchstone, because if i called it that, most people in the room would not know what i'm talking about. I think 30 Rock is a show that can't afford a sophmore slump, or any type of slump, because if it slacks off in quality whatsoever, even MORE viewers will stop tuning in and then it will most certainly face cancellation. Although i agree with you in a way and love your points(you happen to have mention all my favorite brilliant but cancelled series), i have to say that 30 is definetly underappreciated as a comedy or series
Kay said
I think using Arrested Development to predict what will happen with 30 Rock is ill-advised. Fox just keeping it around isn't at all similar to the support that NBC is showing 30 Rock. I couldn't find that Arrested was lucrative for fox. But I did see that its ratings peaked lower than 30 Rock's last season average, and fell quickly once Fox started shuffling it. 30 Rock is averaging more viewers this season so far, and that's not counting internet views. Viewers haven't stopped tuning in, other than the million or so who tried out the premiere and then went back to whatever. I really can't agree that it's the most under-appreciated comedy.
In the interest of a new argument, I will offer 2 shows that I feel are currently more under-appreciated critically and more in danger of cancellation: My Name is Earl and How I met Your Mother. Granted, both of these shows averaged more viewers than 30 Rock last year, but more importantly, both are down in viewers this year. And they're still as funny as they've ever been, so why are they losing viewers? They don't have the cultural cachet of 30 Rock to keep them afloat, because they're Under-appreciated. No best comedy Emmys to protect them.
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Comments
The Counteragent 02/19/08
As someone who thinks 30 Rock is the best comedy on television right now, I have to agree with both of you. And just for my two cents, I'll add that I really want to be Tina Fey when I grow up.
b.wall 02/19/08
pshhh who doesnt? (:
Capncrunch 02/19/08
Honestly there is good writing and many laughs. If I laugh during a show, like an out loud gut laugh, it gets my thumbs up and deserves to be watched again.
ScottD 02/20/08
How I Met Your Mother
ABCSOAPS55 04/01/08
while it is a fantastic series i can't say it's undderated since it's on just about every single critics top 10 list and has won an emmy for best comedy series, has won multiple golden globe awards and a SAG award. not to mention the fact that it continually pulls in decent ratings.
If you want to talk about underrated sitcoms i'd say "The New Adventures Of Old Christine", "How I Met Your mother", "Scrubs" and "Samantha Who" are all much more underappreciated.
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