RANDOM THOUGHTS:
The following were on my mind between Monday, May 7th and Monday, May 15th:
- These past three days have been the start of Upfronts Week, the time of the TV season when all of the five major primetime networks set aside time to announce the schedule for the upcoming fall season to both advertisers and TV reporters. So far, it's been NBC, FOX and ABC who have announced their schedules. CBS and The CW are expected to announce their schedule later on in the week. Here are some things from them that I just feel the need to get off my chest:
1. Alright, so the big news (at least around these parts) was NBC deciding to move "Community" out of its usual Thursday night timeslot (where it was one of the few shows on the network to get the same, consistent ratings as last year) and put it on Friday nights. At 8:30 p.m/ET. Behind "Whitney." With no promise of any more episodes besides the scheduled thirteen. Now, as you could've probably guessed from my thoughts on the last time that NBC decided to screw around with "Community" on its schedule, I wasn't all too pleased with this news. Not only is Fridays at 8:30 p.m./ET a much worse timeslot than when it was on Thursdays, but they also paired it after "Whitney," which is just adding insult to injury. Fridays have also traditionally been a low-rated night for network TV, which means that a drop in the show's already low ratings are to be expected, as I expect its highest performing demographic (18-34 year old males) will probably not be at home to watch it live.
It's been nearly two days, though, and I guess you could say that I've taken on some optimism with this news (although perhaps a naive one). After all, "Community" has a pretty dedicated audience, so there could be a chance that they could rally behind the show like they did this spring and give the show the same level of ratings that it's been getting this past spring. Furthermore, networks have lowered expectations on Fridays, so maybe it's possible that ratings in the 1.0-1.2 area, for instance, might be good enough for NBC at this stage in the show's run to give it that back nine order that all fans are already clamoring for (and then maybe putting it back to their old timeslot after "30 Rock" wraps up sometime in the winter, although that may be a bit of a stretch). Besides, I'd rather have thirteen episodes of "Community" in a bad timeslot than no "Community" at all, which seemed like a serious possibility of happening not too long ago.
2. So, yeah, if there was a time for Bob Greenblatt to convince people that he knew what he was doing, Sunday's schedule announcement would not have been the time. Not only did he announce that this might not be the final season of "30 Rock" before the network announced that it was going to be the final one again the next day, he also mentioned that "Community" might not be back next season with its creator and showrunner Dan Harmon, adding that "shows lose showrunners all the time and do well" which shows just how little understanding he might have of the comedy. Plus, the man has ordered 11 new scripted shows in addition to the ten scripted shows that it's bringing back, which should create a very tightly-compressed schedule that might see more than one new show getting the same treatment "Bent" and "Best Friends Forever" got this past year. Maybe things will turn out all well in the end for Greenblatt and the Peacock network with a season that exceeds expectations, but for now I'm just unsure of it.
3. You have to wonder if NBC might later regret over-saturating their schedule with "The Voice" now on the fall in addition to the spring. It could turn out to be their own version of "Dancing with the Stars," but it could also turn out to be their version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" NBC doesn't seem to think so, though, having it on two nights a week and using it to launch three new shows (two comedies, one drama).
4. It's weird that the network isn't going to try anything different with its famous Thursday night schedule, instead forgetting to add any high-profile show and instead putting on four of the same shows that aired on some point last season (included the low-rated "30 Rock" and "Up All Night") while giving the 10 p.m. timeslot once given to shows like "Hill Street Blues" and "ER" into the hands of Brian Williams and "Rock Center." Kind of feels like the end of an era.
5. Interesting move by FOX in deciding to place "Glee" to Thursdays after "The X-Factor" in the fall and "American Idol" in the winter. On the one hand, placing it behind one of its highest rated singing competitions is what helped make "Glee" a smash, and the show should get a nice boost after free-falling in the ratings this season. On the other hand, it gives "New Girl" (their hit rookie comedy from this season) a lesser lead-in this season with "Raising Hope" and the upcoming new series "Ben & Kate," so there could be a situation in which one show loses while another show gains.
6. Overall, a pretty conservative fall schedule from FOX. Outside of moving "Touch" from Thursday to Friday in favor of "Glee," the decision to return to the four comedy bloc on Tuesday, and the decision to give "Bones" the same timeslot that FOX once regularly gave to "House," there's nothing new or radical about it compared to the year before. It looks like the network is really supporting Mindy Kaling and her new sitcom, giving it a pretty good timeslot after "New Girl." Also, I find it real nice to see FOX keep "Bob's Burgers" and "American Dad" on the same schedule during the fall, giving it one of the more enjoyable Sunday schedules on the network in quite some time.
7. I gotta admit: seeing "Fringe" still on the schedule and in an ability to close out with a proper ending is real nice to see, and kind of remarkable considering how low-rated its been for the past three years.
8. Man, Tuesdays nights is going to be quite a slaughterhouse. Not only do you have "The Voice" going up against "Dancing with the Stars" and (I assume) "NCIS" at the 8 p.m./ET, you have three different options of comedy at 9 p.m./ET, with "New Girl" going up against "Happy Endings" and the new Matthew Perry comedy "Go On" while "Don't Trust the Brocolli in Apartment 23" goes up against "The Mindy Project" and "The New Normal." Also, since when did Tuesday becoming such a competitive night for network TV?
9. Upcoming new shows that I'm currently interested in: "Go On," "Revolution," "Animal Kingdom," "The Mindy Project," "Last Resort."
-This week's "Mad Men" thought: while this episode wasn't nearly as the last four, I did enjoy seeing everyone trying to either to either spite someone else or get back at them, whether it was Don leaving Ginsberg's ad idea at the the taxi cab, Roger trying to get a client away from Pete, Sally trying to hurt Megan and Betty with her manipulative words, or Betty trying to anger Don and Megan with the reveal to Sally about Anna. Also, seeing another moment in which Roger has to pay someone off to get what he wants continues to be one of my favorite running gags this season.
- There are moments when I just wonder if I'm too out of touch from my generation than I should be. The success of Get Glue is one of those times.
- Has Will Forte done anything else post-"MacGruber" that hasn't included guest-starring on other TV shows? Guess that guy hasn't found any luck in the leading man role department.
- It's really fun to see just what a month can do to change public opinion. A month ago, Obama was in the lead in pretty much every poll, especially among women thanks to the help of Rick Santorum and his remarks on abortion during the primaries. Now, Obama is actually trailing to Romney in some polls, including among women.
-Damn you, Tupac hologram! This is just the beginning.
-Damn you, Tupac hologram! This is just the beginning.
- As mentioned, NBC announced on Sunday that "Community" would be moved to Fridays. Not only that, but it was also announced that "30 Rock" is going to end after their 13 episode seventh season wraps up. At this point, it looks for certain that the era of the NBC's current Big Four comedies ("Community," "30 Rock," "The Office," and "Parks and Recreations") dominating Thursday nights has come to an end, which means that Thursday was the last time the four will have each aired an all-new episode on the same night. An end of an era, to be sure, which makes this edition of the Power Rankings extra special, since this will probably be the last time I ever do this. Here, now, is how I ranked each shows based on the episodes that aired on March 10th (a very strong slate of episodes, too, if I say so myself):
1. "Community"- "Curriculum Unavailable"
One of my all-time favorite episodes of "Community" was season two's "Paradigms of Human Memory," the season-two "clip show with brand new clips," an episode in which the show was also at it's all-time most hilarious. With "Curriculum Unavailable," the show decided to bring back the clip show idea in the form of the study group reminiscing about the school and themselves in a therapy session with guest-star John Hodgman, and just like the "Modern Warfare" sequel "Fistful of Paintballs," it managed to be just as good (if not better at times) than the original. The first act was a bit so-so, but I thought the show started to really pick-up during the second act with the introduction to the many not-so-great aspects of Greendale (I especially liked the various classes like "Ladders," as well as the human chess game and the show's reveal of the really cool third paintball game which simultaneously noted that they would never do one again). Then, the third act arrived with the meta-goodness that was the Greendale Asylum (instantly one of my favorite moments from the series ever), and that where I knew that this episode would go down as one of the season's finest. I also liked how, unlike in "Paradigms" (which was more of an homage to the clip-show format) there were some actual stakes this time around, and I thought it neatly set-up next week's three episode season finale (boy, it's good to be able to say "season" again and not "series").
2. "Parks and Recreations"-"Win, Lose, or Draw"
First of all, let me just say that if this wasn't Amy Poehler's Emmy episode, than I don't know what is. Overall, I found her to be simply terrific this week, and her crying both in the voting booth and after founding out that she won (a culmination of many years of hard work and ambition finally paying off with her first election victory) was one of her finer acting jobs in her entire time on the show. Second, while this episode wasn't filled with a ton of laughs, it had plenty of heartfelt moments and it gave us a solid ending to the season-long election campaign storyline. I'm also starting to get pretty excited about season five, just to see what happens to characters like Leslie, Ben, and Andy after the opportunities presented to them in this episode. A solid (if slightly down) season with a solid ending.
3. "30 Rock"- "The Return of Avery Jessup"
A funny episode, but a slightly disappointing, anticlimatic one considering that this was the episode that finally brought back Elizabeth Bank's character into Jack Donaghy's life follow her return from North Korea capture last season. Good to see that the mind games between Jack and Avery have still continued since "The Fabian Strategy," and good to see an episode in which Jenna tries to battle through her trashy roots. Plus, it was funny, which is never a bad thing. I hope that the show wraps up this great season with a strong finale next week.
4. "The Office"- "Free Family Portrait Studio"
And here we come, as we do every week, into the bottom of the rankings, still held by "The Office."
And...that's gonna do it. If these power rankings were just like last year's power rankings, now would be the time where I tally up all the points accumulated throughout the various points of the season and announce a winner. But since there weren't any rankings through the past four weeks, this is not a possibility. However, here are the top honors that I would have given had this been the case:
Best Comedy:
1) "Community" (but just barely)
2)"30 Rock"
3)"Parks and Recreations
4)"The Office"
Best "Community" episode: "Remedial Chaos Theory"
Best "Parks and Recreations" episode: "Smallest Park"/"The Comeback Kid" (tie)
Best "30 Rock" episode: "Leap Day"
Best "The Office" episode: "Trivia"
Best Actor: Joel McHale, "Community"
Best Actress: Amy Poehler, "Parks and Recreations"
Best Supporting Actor: Jim Rash, "Community"
Best Supporting Actress: Jane Krakowski, "30 Rock"
Obviously, there's plenty about this list that you would disagree with. I assume that Best Supporting Actor would be the most controversial, since there are so many other actors that you would put in the same category and it would still be a good choice (Nick Offerman, Donald Glover, Danny Pudi, etc.). In the end, I chose Rash simply because no one this season seemed to make me laugh more consistently with some of the worst material than he did in his first season as show regular. If you do have any complaints, feel free to share them in the comments.
More "Random Thoughts" to come next Monday. See you then!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
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