Remember last week when I was all for of pep and promises that there would be no more delays? Yeah…In my defense, this was Houston’s problem and not my own tardiness.

None the less, apologies. Instead of rambling on, let’s just get to the nitty gritty: discussing last week’s TV. Share your thoughts in the comments

Zoe

30 Rock: “Emmanuel Goes to Dinosaur Land”
Will there ever be enough Tracy Jordan for me? It seems unlikely. Even relegated to a C-plot, his character always knocks it out of the park, whether it be his hilarious list of childhood tragedies or the way Tracy Morgan says “copy shop” and “Nermal”. The viewer wins either way, even if finding the right balance between over-using and under-using the character is something show still seems to struggle with.

Something else 30 Rock struggles with: thinking we give a damn about Julianne Moore’s Nancy Donovan character. It’s not even the accent (though, lord knows the accent is a fair chunk of it). It’s how undeveloped and dull the character is. Elizabeth Smart’s Avery, who we have maybe seen less of manages to full formed and human. Nancy Donovan is a joke that stopped going anywhere long ago.

No matter. Catholic jokes are always nice and Liz Lemon, in her increasingly desperate quest for a relationship, was in good form. And, despite being on British parentage, it’s nice to see an annoying, irritating Brit on TV. Especially one that is supposed to be that way, instead of just being Mr. Bean.

Community: “English as a Second Language”
A theory, if you will: on Community, indirect references are always better than direct references. Or, why I didn’t find that Good Will Hunting bit all that amusing. If they had put in the effort to spoof that sort of genre, it might have been something. Instead it was literally Good Will Hunting but with Troy and plumbing and, except for when he changed seats, it fell flat for me.

Actually, the whole episode sort of fell flat for me. Maybe because it was a finale not-finale? Maybe because it advanced plots in a neat way, but was sparse on interest and jokes. I mean, this episode had to happen. And it was by no means bad. It was just….there. And that’s ok, but next week (a prom!?) better be awesome.

Dennis

Parks and Recreation: “The Master Plan”
It’s always weird when shows bring on new characters in the middle of their run. We’re always afraid it’ll be another Cousin Oliver or another Seven. But considering Parks & Recreation‘s sister show, the American Office has done pretty well with that (do we even remember a time when Ed Helms wasn’t on the show?), I have faith Parks & Rec will succeed. Rob Lowe and Adam Scott showed up for the first episode and were pretty likable. They’ve already gotten paired up with the show’s two leading ladies (Rashida Jones and Amy Poehler) it seems, which is a bit quick. Still, good for almost everyone (even Tom!) for getting some potential lovin. I guess we shouldn’t get too used to Lowe and Scott, since NBC is benching the comedy until midseason. Bad, NBC. Very, very bad!

30 Rock: “Emmanuel Goes to Dinosaur Land”
I thought this was one of the better episodes of the season. The others may be great in their roles, but I have always thought Tracy was the most dependable for out loud laughter on this show, and Tracy had some good moments here. Namely: Tracy in a green screen spandex, filming Garfield 3, and melting down in front of the director and a similarly costumed child actor. Someone give this man an EGOT already. Meanwhile Liz goes on yet another trip down Ex-Boyfriend Lane again (I’ll take it if it means Jason Sudeikis, Jon Hamm, Dean Winters, and, best of all, Michael Sheen, are back). And even an appearance by the heinously accented Nancy (Julianne Moore deserves better) couldn’t ruin this episode. Jack even had a good line to Liz about Nancy’s red hair not clashing with her red underwear. That’s the first time that character has made me laugh, even by association.

Lost: “Across the Sea”
Since I missed the “Getting Lost” deadline this week, I figured I’d talk about this here. As an episode, this one was… interesting. There were things I liked about it (Allison Janney! The reveal of who Adam and Eve are!), and then there were things I thought were cheesy as hell. I think Scott got a bunch of the things that annoyed me out there already in Getting Lost when he said, “And seriously, the Man In Black has no name? Really? Even after living with a group of people for 30 years, you have absolutely no handle. Well if Darlton won’t give him a name, I will. I’m calling him Timmy from now on.” And meanwhile, when one character says, “Every question you ask will be answered with another question” Scott had the same reaction I did. As he puts it, “That’s not playful, that’s being an asshole.” Meanwhile, in other poor writing news, why do Jacob and “Timmy” (or Smokey looking like TimTim as the case may be) have to dress in one color for all of eternity? It’s too bad a stylist never landed on the island. Still, I liked this episode more than (the even more gouda-filled) “Ab Aeterno” so I still hold hope that I won’t be disappointed with the “Lost Event” in two weeks