All in all, Thursday was a good night. The live episode of ’30 Rock’ was a bit of a letdown, but ‘Community’ and ‘The Office’ held it together for a really great night of comedy.

Community

It’s a space race between Greendale and City College. Sort of, anyway. The two schools are rushing to be the first to feature a space flight training simulator in a slightly obvious but still very funny episode.

There’s a definite ‘Apollo 13‘ vibe throughout the entire episode, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The parody works and actually builds the drama while still being funny. Abed especially is in top form.

As you may know, I’m a huge fan of really bad jokes and puns, so the fact that the KFC branded contraption is named the “Kentucky Fried 11 Herbs and Space Simulator” makes my day.

Pierce is tormented by a half-real and half-imagined digital Colonel Sanders, Jeff gives an inspirational speech that gets everyone in the Greendale spirit, and the dean finds out that handicapped spots count on weekends.

There’s another little moment in here where Chang tries really hard but fails and is rejected. I hope this is leading up to something big, or it’ll all be for naught.

It’s one of the easiest jokes that actually makes me laugh the most by the end of this episode. You know how some things aren’t funny until they’re repeated over and over again? The “E. Pluribus Anus” flag seems dumb at first, but by the end I found myself really getting a kick out of people waving them with a look of pride on their faces.

30 Rock

There’s a lot of potential in a live show, but this week’s episode of ’30 Rock’ just doesn’t live up to it. I haven’t had a chance to see the second live episode, so viewers in time zones further west may have a different experience.

Let’s talk about the good. I love Julia Louis-Dreyfus filling in as Liz – that’s just plain clever. Matt Damon delivers as usual, and there’s definitely a lot of energy in the room.

Alec Baldwin is dead-on as well. Since Avery can’t drink due to the pregnancy, Jack isn’t drinking either, which leads to an amazing moment where Jack gets up close and personal to smell the alcohol on Jenna’s breath.

Tracy’s segment, on the other hand, just doesn’t work. He wants to break out laughing in the middle of a sketch, Carol Burnett-style. Liz tells him not to do it because it’s cheap. Tracy explains that this is what the audience wants and does it anyway. This gag could have worked really well in a normal episode, but it doesn’t work in a live episode.

I went to see a band called Exodus a few years ago. You may not immediately see why this is relevant but bear with me. Exodus has one hit song called “Toxic Waltz.” It’s a song I like and it’s why I went to see the band. At the show, the lead singer screams out to the audience that they’re not playing the song, because they hate it. It’s not a great feeling.
’30 Rock’ felt similar. Let’s face it, half of the excitement about watching ’30 Rock’ live is the chance that something will go wrong. By having Tracy – the character who’s always wrong – embrace that, the show is making fun of us for wanting to see it.

I also found myself really becoming annoyed with the audience. They cheered at everything, laughed way too much at lame jokes, and really had a strange effect on the pacing of the show.

The live episode of ’30 Rock’ is really self-indulgent and self-referential, but as long as it doesn’t become a habit it’s not a big problem. I’m definitely looking forward to a traditional taped show next week.

The Office

Season seven is going strong so far after a really rough start. Andrew Bernard takes a major role yet again, and Michael actually seems human instead of cartoonish and horrible. The only problem that I really have is the cold open.

It’s not that I take offense somehow, or that I don’t think the joke is funny – I just find myself confused. I know that there are plenty of places around the country where day laborers wait outside of home improvement stores looking for work, but Pennsylvania doesn’t seem a likely one. I haven’t ever seen it in Michigan, and I didn’t see it when I visited Pennsylvania a few years ago. Of course, I could be wrong.

Michael Scott goes on an impromptu post-mortem tour to visit his old girlfriends and reveal that he has herpes. To be more accurate, he merely thinks he has herpes on his lip, but it may be an ingrown moustache hair.

This is a bit of an old-school episode for Michael, who takes Dwight along on the road trip. He isn’t the funniest character, but this return to the Michael we know and love is definitely a good thing.

The best part of the episode is Andy Bernard taking over Michael’s role as the guy who calls meetings whenever he feels like it. Ed Helms is a truly funny man, and his list of sex pros and cons is one of the highlights of the episode.

Andy’s temper comes back towards the end of the episode, followed by a quick heart-to-heart with Daryl which results in a line that only Craig Robinson could do justice to. “I don’t know what’s got you upset, but my advice is… Stop crying.”