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bethany
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« on: January 23, 2009, 03:23:43 PM » |
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Ahem. Now that Schil pointed out that this thread now includes TV...I shall repeat my comment from the RO thread in a more appropriate venue.
Liz Lemon was epic on last night's 30 Rock. Tina Fey is my hero.
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Josh
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« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2009, 03:37:07 PM » |
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I missed 30 Rock last night because we went to see Gran Torino, but we are going to Hulu it after dinner. For my money, 30 Rock is the best thing on TV right now-- this season, it's even better than The Office (which is still great), and every episode thus far has been stone killer. I am coming to believe more and more that 30 Rock has inherited the spirit of Arrested Development-- a show that, for me, will probably never be topped.
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murlough23
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« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2009, 03:41:26 PM » |
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I missed 30 Rock last night because we went to see Gran Torino, but we are going to Hulu it after dinner. For my money, 30 Rock is the best thing on TV right now-- this season, it's even better than The Office (which is still great), and every episode thus far has been stone killer. I am coming to believe more and more that 30 Rock has inherited the spirit of Arrested Development-- a show that, for me, will probably never be topped.
I've heard great things about Arrested Development, and I've heard that 30 Rock either rips off or pays homage to its cutaway gags (depending on who you talk to). Those gags are probably my favorite part of the show - because so many other sitcoms would just have a character say something absurd and leave the rest to your imagination - 30 Rock actually takes a few seconds to show you the madness. I wholeheartedly agree that it is probably the funniest thing on TV right now, which makes Tina Fey probably the only other person this century besides Will Ferrell to actually have a better career after leaving SNL. (I get more laughs out of the average 30 Rock episode than I do from the average SNL, which is problematic, considering SNL is 3 times as long.) |
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Brenden
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« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2009, 03:52:36 PM » |
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I'm wary of shows that use cutaway gags, for every Arrested Development where the gags work with the method of storytelling and the flow of the episode there seems to be a Family Guy where they're awkward, obnoxious, and just not funny.
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murlough23
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« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2009, 03:55:59 PM » |
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I'm wary of shows that use cutaway gags, for every Arrested Development where the gags work with the method of storytelling and the flow of the episode there seems to be a Family Guy where they're awkward, obnoxious, and just not funny.
On 30 Rock they're usually in the vein of someone naming a movie/play/etc. that they were in with a ridiculous title such as Who Dat Ninja, then they actually flash back to a brief clip from said movie/play/etc. just to show you how absurd it was. Another favorite cutaway gag is Liz's dorky high school and college years. You just have to see it to understand what I mean. |
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bethany
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« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2009, 03:56:04 PM » |
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I never associated the cutaways with Arrested Development. Surely they weren't the first to use them? As Brenden mentioned, Family Guy uses (abuses) the cutaway, and it predates AD. I'm sure there are other shows that have used it in the past, too, but I'm not able to come up with any now. At any rate, it seems a bit different to me, in that AD was a documentary-style show, while 30 Rock is not. It'd be more accurate to say AD was ripping off the Christopher Guest movies, or something.
And I agree, 30 Rock is by far the funniest show on television these days, the funniest thing since AD. The Office doesn't even come close, in my opinion.
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Josh
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« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2009, 03:59:04 PM » |
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The Simpsons uses cutaway gags sometimes-- maybe they were the first?
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bethany
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« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2009, 04:22:53 PM » |
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A quick Google search yielded some examples of other shows that use the cutaway editing technique for comedic effect:
Scrubs
Ally McBeal
The Critic
How I Met Your Mother
That 70s Show
Grounded For Life
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bloop
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« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2009, 04:27:56 PM » |
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I missed 30 Rock last night because we went to see Gran Torino, but we are going to Hulu it after dinner. For my money, 30 Rock is the best thing on TV right now-- this season, it's even better than The Office (which is still great), and every episode thus far has been stone killer. I am coming to believe more and more that 30 Rock has inherited the spirit of Arrested Development-- a show that, for me, will probably never be topped.
Is this a sort of commentary on "Gran Torino" that you then spend the majority of the paragraph praising "30 Rock" (which is, no doubt, a great show)? |
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Enjoy our pub. user/pw: thephorum Follow me on Grooveshark or Spotify. username: iceybloop |
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Josh
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« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2009, 04:29:40 PM » |
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No, I actually really loved Gran Torino. I had mentioned Torino before, sans commentary, because I was short on time; this particular post was intended to be all about 30 Rock, not about the film.
Actually, Gran Torino will very possibly be in my Top 10 Films of 2008, which I hope to post next week.
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murlough23
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« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2009, 04:38:51 PM » |
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A quick Google search yielded some examples of other shows that use the cutaway editing technique for comedic effect:
Scrubs
Ally McBeal
The Critic
How I Met Your Mother
That 70s Show
Grounded For Life
I'd say it's a pretty common part of the sitcom vernacular at this point. I only saw bits and pieces of Ally McBeal, but I seem to recall that on that show, the cutaways were things characters imagined or wished would happen (like a woman slicing off the head of a guy who dumped her), then they'd snap back to reality. On 30 Rock, they tend to be things that really happened or are currently happening. |
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bethany
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« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2009, 04:41:41 PM » |
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Yes, it is definitely common now. I do think it's kind of strange that people accuse 30 Rock of ripping it off from AD, though, in particular, since I think all of those listed shows (except HIMYM) aired before AD - but I am too lazy to actually look that up.  |
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murlough23
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« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2009, 04:42:52 PM » |
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"Say hello to the cast of How I Met Your Mother for me." --Mark Wahlberg
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Josh
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« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2009, 09:20:42 PM » |
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Caught up with 30 Rock. Stone killer-- that's nine straight classics this season. I embody the value of handshakefulness.
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murlough23
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« Reply #14 on: January 24, 2009, 01:32:11 AM » |
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Caught up with 30 Rock. Stone killer-- that's nine straight classics this season. I embody the value of handshakefulness.
I just watched it, too. Hilarious. I love how they always go one step beyond the obvious joke just as your brain is figuring out what the obvious joke would be. We really should start a 30 Rock thread. |
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