There Goes the Funcooker: Saying Goodbye to 30 Rock

In 2006, two shows premiered on NBC. One was Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the other 30 Rock. Both shows dealt with the behind-the-scenes happenings on sketch comedy shows. Studio 60 was Aaron Sorkin's return to television, while 30 Rock was Tina Fey's first big project since leaving Saturday Night Live. Sorkin's show was riding a lot of buzz generated by its excellent pilot that brought to mind Network. The pilot for 30 Rock, on the other hand, was roundly panned as being rather mediocre bordering on bad. I hadn't seen the 30 Rock pilot, but I loved the Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip pilot. I thought for sure that Sorkin had hit gold again, and a deserving successor to The West Wing had been found. If I even thought about 30 Rock, it was how it was likely to run through 13 episodes, maybe even a full season because of Lorne Michaels sway, and get cancelled.

Blergh, was I wrong.

Studio 60 ended up being far more "Bad Sorkin" than "Good Sorkin", and ignominiously bowed out after one season. These days it is rarely brought up, other than as evidence along with The Newsroom to show how "Bad Sorkin" has taken over his TV projects. The only time I think about the show is when Jeff Daniels is bitching about those young folks and their technology, when I remember how stupid it was Nate Corddry's parents didn't recognize Abbott and Costello, and when I listen to the admittedly great version of "O Holy Night" from the Christmas episode*.

Meanwhile, 30 Rock became one of my favorite shows, with Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy becoming two of my favorite characters of all time. Yeah, the pilot was not great, but it very quickly gathered its momentum, and was firing on all cylinders within a few episodes in the first season. The unhinged craziness of Tracey Morgan and Jane Krakowski worked wonders in contrast to the grounded craziness of Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin and the weird cheerfulness of Jack McBrayer. Beyond the big five characters, the rest of the group, including Scott Adsit and Judah Friedlander, helped flesh out the show. If those still weren't enough, the show had many great guest stars, ,such as Dean Winters, Jon Hamm, Will Arnett, and many others. Oftentimes it was the funniest show on television.

The core of the show was the relationship between Jack Donaghy and Liz Lemon. It was a special relationship, and fairly unique in that it was a friendship between a man and a woman character that didn't descend into "will they or won't they" nonsense. This seems to be a pretty rare thing, although more frequent in recent years with others like Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson, or Don Draper and Peggy Olson. I'm glad they never tried to force that situation, because it worked so much better as a platonic friendship.

And now, after seven seasons, it's time to say farewell to the show. Although I am sad to see it go, I am happy to say it is leaving strong. Unlike many shows, such as The Office, it is going out on its own terms, before it gets too stale. Although the show did get a bit weak (at times) in the middle of its run, it has rebounded to be consistently great the past couple of seasons. Of course, they have yet to stick the landing, so perhaps you'll see me on here tomorrow decrying the awfulness of Seinfeldesque proportions of the finale. Given the show's track record, I'm confident that won't happen.


*As annoying as the show could be, this was still a pretty great moment. Oh, the episode Allison Janney guest starred in was pretty good as well, if I recall.

My thoughts on the Bears Hiring of Mark Trestman

Of all the possible candidates I thought Phil Emery would hire after firing Lovie Smith, Mark Trestman was not on my list. As I am not a follower of the CFL, obsessed with the fortunes of current and former NFL assistants, and am not one of the quarterbacks he helped prepare for the pros, I would be hard pressed to know who he was. Before his named popped up during the coaching search, the only other time I had heard it was an episode of 30 Rock, and I probably assumed he was just a star player on the Grey Cup winning Alouettes.



Nevertheless, as I got to know his resume and hear what people are saying about him, I feel really good about him being the Bears head coach. He sounds very smart, very details oriented, and very methodical. Intelligence doesn't necessarily translate to being a great coach* but it certainly can help. Hopefully he'll be able to end some of the chaos and confusion that has dominated the Bears sidelines for as far back as I can remember. I would love to see those damn early 2nd quarter time outs to disappear.

Given his reputation as a "quarterback whisperer", I'm eager to see if he can help Jay Cutler be the quarterback we were hoping he'd be. My guess is that he'll help Cutler turn the ship around, or Cutler (and perhaps Trestman) could go down in a maelstrom of Jeff Georgeian suckitude. Only time will tell.

Beyond Cutler, I'm wonder how the rest of the team will respond to the new coach. It's no shock that a lot of the players disagreed with the firing of Lovie Smith. It's possible Devin Hester may not play another down for the team, and I'm sure there will be other Bears players who just won't fit with the changed environment. Although its not guaranteed as of yet, the possibility that they'll keep Rod Marinelli as the Defensive Coordinator might help smooth the waters. Of course, that assumes Marinelli sticks around, and being a friend of Lovie he may find another place to be defensive coordinator, like longtime special teams coach Dave Toub did.

Mark Trestman is the first coach from the offensive side of the ball hired by the Bears since Mike Ditka in 1982. I'm hopeful that he'll be able to bring that elusive consistency which has dogged the Bears offense for as long as I can remember. Any amount of improvement he can get from Cutler will help, but it might be for naught if he can't get the offensive line fixed.

Beyond who Phil Emery hired, I was impressed with how he made the choice. It was done smoothly, with apparent due diligence, and without the usual Bears screw ups. Barring anything crazy, like Trestman turns out to be an internet hoax, there won't be anything like the Dave McGinnis debacle.

Perhaps Trestman won't work out. Perhaps he'll lead the Bears to that elusive Super Bowl championship. For now, I'm happy with the fact that the team seems to finally showing signs of consistent competency in off field matters. Now only if that competency can translate to the field.

*Case in point: Dick Jauron

Looking Ahead in 2013: Television

For several of my favorite shows, 2013 will be a year of goodbyes. 30 Rock will be wrapping up in a few weeks, while The Office will end its run in May. Odds are this will be the final lap for Community as well. And of course, later this year we'll be getting the last eight episodes of Breaking Bad. For a while at least my viewing mix will get a bit smaller.

However, for many other shows it will be business as usual, and one show will be coming back, this time in Netflix form! Starting here in early January, and going on throughout the rest of the year it'll be an interesting ride.

The show I am looking forward the most to is Game of Thrones, which will begin it's third season on March 31. I've read all of the books that currently are out there, and have watched both seasons of the TV show, and I'm really excited. Sure, A Storm of Swords is split between two seasons, but that is because it is the most action filled of the books. I'm curious exactly what we'll be seeing in the season, and how they'll have to change it around to fit the constraints of television. Apparently they've added extra minutes to each episode, so there will almost be eleven episodes, once you consider the sum total of running time. I'm especially curious to see where they'll cut off the episode. I've got my theory of what will be the end of the tenth episode, although I wouldn't be surprised if that ends up at the end of episode nine, considering how they've done the first two seasons.

Of course, Game of Thrones is not the only HBO show I'm looking forward to seeing come back. Enlightened and Girls are coming back this month, and The Newsroom comes back in June, warts and all. Also at some point Veep may be coming back, so that's good.

Outside the world of HBO, another thing I'm cautiously looking forward to is the return of Arrested Development, as it makes its Netflix exclusive debut later this year. Perhaps it will be a disappointment, an affirmation that sometimes the end of a series isn't a bad thing. Hopefully it won't be, and will be something worth watching.

As for shows that aren't yet ending, but aren't beginning (or are not on HBO), there is a lot to look forward to. Archer premieres a week from today, the same day as Parks and Recreation comes back from the holiday break*. Mad Men will build upon it's great season five, coming back sometime later this year. Futurama will be starting the back half of season seven this summer. Although not as great as it's initial run, the show is still good for many good episodes, and a couple great ones each season.

It's too early to tell what new series might show up next Fall, at least in regards to the usual broadcast networks. As it stands, I've not followed any of the shows that premiered last fall, and only occasionally watch ones such as New Girl that are in their second season. Part of it is because the new shows are rather dire, but part is there is just too much good TV to watch. Especially since It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The West Wing are on Netlix now. Man, I need to really catch up on Bob's Burgers. You know what, I'll get back to you in...oh...December.

*Hmmm...do you think there might be a regular Thursday night wrap-up feature starting in a week? Perhaps.

When to Say Goodbye

Next year. The Office, 30 Rock, and Breaking Bad will all be wrapping up their runs. 30 Rock and Breaking Bad are going out before they get tired. The Office is leaving well after its creative peak, although this last season has gained back some of its spark. Meanwhile, shows like South Park and The Simpsons keep chugging along, the former still at times pretty strong, while the latter mostly settled into a comfortable rut of mediocrity.

One thing fans of shows like to mull over is the lifespan of a show. Not exactly meaning how long the show actually goes, but how long it should go. Some shows were cancelled too soon, as any Browncoat still in mourning will attest. Others lived on well past their "sell by" date.

While we fans of good TV lament those shows cancelled before their time, we tend to focus far more on the shows that go on too long. How many pages of words have been spent in forums and blog comments on the post golden age episodes of The Simpsons*, or seasons 4-7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or season 7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation with its iguana cats and ghost orgasms.

Very few shows get to go out while at or near the top. For every Seinfeld leaving at the height of its popularity, there are many other shows like Roseanne or Scrubs that became shells of their former selves. If the ratings, particularly those in the ever important 18-49 bracket, are still good, the network has no real reason to cancel it. Neither does the production studio, particularly after it hits the magic number for syndication. As long as the salaries of the cast don't outweigh the potential revenue, there really isn't an financial reason for a show to end. This is especially true on troubled networks such as NBC, where even moderate ratings are cause for celebration.

Of course, shows on premium and basic cable have somewhat different rules than the broadcast networks. Many of these shows have particularly powerful executive producers who have definitive ends in mind for their shows. Shows like The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and others end because that is when their creators wanted them to end. Ratings and cost still matter (see: Deadwood), but the economics is a bit different with 10 or 13 thirteen episodes instead of 22 or 26.

A rare but increasingly more common occurrence is a show that was cancelled to soon, brought back, and then becomes a show that lived on too long. The best example of this is Family Guy, which was cancelled initially by Fox, got great ratings for reruns on Adult Swim, and then was renewed by Fox. Its second run has dwarfed the first run in quantity, while oftentimes lacking in quality. Another example is Futurama, which came back with new episodes on Comedy Central after four (mostly) wonderful seasons on Fox, and four good but not great straight to DVD movies. We'll have to see if Arrested Development, resurrected by Netflix, will suffer the same diminishing returns.

Regardless of the timing, it is hard to see a show go. I'll be sad when The Simpsons, even if probably should have ended long ago. Likewise, I'll be sad when another favorite show (such as Parks and Recreation) leaves the air, whether too soon, too late, or exactly the right time. When that last episode ends, that's it. Never again will it be able to disappoint, or rise back up to its highest highs. Like life, saying goodbye to a TV show is always hard, if far, far less painful or difficult.


*The definition of The Simpsons "Golden Age" is subject to debate. Some consider it over after season 8, while others argue for seasons 9,10, and even occasionally 11. For what it's worth, I think the "Golden Age" started with "Radio Bart" in season 3, and ends with "Behind the Laughter", the season 11 finale. Sure, there are great episodes before ("Lisa's Substitute", "Krusty gets Busted") and after ("HOMR", "Trilogy of Error"). However, that wonderful, giddy balance between heart, satire, and absurdity is at its peak during those 8+ seasons where it's at its peak.