30 Rock Addresses the NBC Late Night Issue

Months ago, NBC was in the news as a result of a controversy involving their 11:30 time slot on week nights. The story of Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien attracted a lot of attention and the network faced bad publicity when O'Brien walked away from the Tonight Show (and Jay took it back). Since then, I have been waiting to see how the sitcom 30 Rock would respond to this situation, and this week I found out.

30 Rock has been parodying the goings on at NBC since the show first aired three years ago and often features actual NBC personalities who work at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York. News anchor Brian Williams, talk show host Jimmy Fallon, SNL announcer Don Pardo, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, and even Conan O'Brien have appeared on the show before as themselves. A few episodes ago, 30 Rock addressed the sale of NBC by General Electric to Comcast by having NBC sold to the fictional Philadelphia based company "Kabletown".

I was not sure how they would handle the NBC late night issue, with Leno and O'Brien both being referenced as real people on the show in the past, but they nailed it. In the 30 Rock version, NBC Vice President for East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) is told by his assistant that they have a "janitor emergency" on their hands. Into Jack's office enters a Kashmiri immigrant janitor named Khonani. Khonani reminds Jack of the promise he made to him five years ago to promote him to 11:30 custodial shift. He had threatened to quit unless he could leave the late night shift for an earlier one. Khonani wants to move up to 11:30 because it is more prestigious and he convinces Jack that the current 11:30 janitor, Subbas, will be willing to step aside because he wants to retire and spend more time on his hobby of "collecting classic car- *cough* *cough* -dboard".

When Jack sat Subbas down, it was clear that Subbas did not want to leave the 11:30 shift. Jack quickly came up with an idea that would keep both janitors happy. He could have Subbas work at 10, as a way of reinventing late night custodial work or "innoventing" as he called it. They shook hands and it seemed as though things would work out and Jack Donaghy would be lauded as a managerial genius.

It was not too long before Khonani realized the problem with the new plan: since Subbas was working at 10 PM, there was no trash to clean up at 11:30. He realizes that his lifelong dream of "hosing the tonight shift" is not worth it if there is no trash to take out. Jack suggests the possibility of letting Khonani and Subbas share the 11:30 shift becuase he does not want anyone to get upset over this janitor emergency. Khonani explains that one of them has to leave and he is willing to do it to protect the integrity of the 11:30 shift. Besides, he will easily be able to get a job "at Fox- *cough* *cough* -woods casino" where his cousin is the head janitor. Khonani quits and Subbas is free to take back 11:30.

This episode made me laugh so hard. It was brilliant the way they made two janitors in the NBC studios a microcosm for the problems that the network has had with its late night talk show hosts recently. Although Conan did not go to Fox (he signed with TBS last week), it is still a brilliant use of referencing the actual situation's people and places without acknowledging that it was anything bigger than a custodial shift.

Psycho Thriller Qu'est-ce Que C'est?

Some of the best movies come from a very under-appreciated film genre. There are always people who enjoy horror movies, science fiction, action, and romantic comedies, but perhaps the least talked about genre is the most interesting films fit into a different category: the psychological thriller.

These are the movies that make psychology classes more interesting. These are movies that you see once, and spend the next few weeks thinking about it all the time. You are forced to watch them over and over again to try to pick up on the different clues as the movie goes on. Even if you know the twist ending, the movie is still interesting. A well done psych thriller is perhaps the most cerebral and the most intense and the most terrifying product the film industry ever creates. Horror movies can be scary; that is true, but horror built upon the notion that it is not real. The gore is dramatized for the sake of entertainment, and it often looks fake. With a psychological thriller, it often hits closer to reality. Everyone has a brain. Everyone has dreams and nightmares. Even if the film presents an extreme case, like leading an anarchist group to destroy the financial centers of every major city and level everyone's debt back to zero, there is the idea that this could happen.

Psychological thrillers target the feeling that you get when you wake up disoriented from a dream you thought was real. This seems to happen to me all the time. In the months where I had no roommate at school, I used to have what I diagnosed as "roommate dreams". For a few weeks, I kept having a similar dream every night for a few weeks where the Fitchburg State housing department would assign me a new roommate and I would have to deal with it. The worse imaginary roommate I got was Jay Leno. Every day, instead of going to class or working on his cars or something, he would sit in the room and monologue, but there was no audience, just me. Instead of poking fun at George W. Bush or Bill Clinton or Michael Jackson, he would make jokes about my every action. He was a real jerk. I vowed I would one day get my own show to get back at him, and NBC offered me the Tonight Show when Jay retires.... and then I woke up.

Also, sometimes I stay up so late that I do things I do not remember. Sometimes I wake up the next day and see an essay that is done that I do not remember finishing, or a blog post I do not remember posting. I usually assume I was awake and aware when I did it, but I can't help but wonder if I have my own Tyler Durden-type character doing things when I think I am asleep. For some reason, my ridiculous dreams make psychological thriller film more believable and I sometimes feel that a movie inside my head would be much more interesting that a sitcom about my life where I am seen in the third person (although if you want to make my life a sitcom, I would not be opposed).

Movies that fall into this genre include Fight Club, A Beautiful Mind, and The Sixth Sense. Those are three of my favorite movies and they share similar traits. The use of first person or stream of consciousness narrative is an effective way to set the mood for a psychological thriller. Showing what the protagonist sees easily fools viewers and makes them believe that what they see is real and not a delusion. Flashbacks to previous experiences can also be a good way to shed light and give clues before revealing the huge twist ending. I was reminded of all of them when I saw Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island. The most recent addition to the psychological thriller genre strikes gold once again. Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Kinsley are brilliant in this movie. I will not say anymore about Shutter Island except that it is a must see movie. If you want a movie that will make you think, this is one to see.

Monday Morning Peyton: Priceless

Peyton Manning just missed an opportunity of a lifetime. He had the chance to cross the threshold that separates Hall of Fame caliber quarterbacks. There are those quarterbacks who hold all the major records, people like Brett Favre and Dan Marino, and there are those who win multiple championships, people like Otto Graham, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Tom Brady, Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman, John Elway, and Joe Montana, and Peyton Manning had the chance to be both. Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints had different ideas though.

Don't worry, I'm not just talking about football. If that does not interest you, I will also be discussing the halftime show and the commercials.

It was great to see Drew Brees, the Saints QB who is five inches shorter than his Indianapolis counterpart and has spent most of his career overshadowed by other talent around the NFL. It was great to see the city of New Orleans with something to cheer about. After Hurricane Katrina and forty-four mostly forgettable years of Saints football, there is finally something to celebrate on Bourbon Street before Mardi Gras. Manning had a great season, one of the best in history, but his only critical mistake was in the biggest game of the year at the most crucial time. Tracey Porter's interception showed the world that even Peyton Manning, the four time MVP, considered by many to be the greatest QB in football history, is human.

Now, back to the other stuff.

The Who in the halftime show:

I know that they have been trying to get older musicians because they are more tame and family friendly ever since the Janet Jackson incident, but this is starting to get bad. Sixty-Five year old men should not be the headline event in the halftime show. Since Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake in 2004, they have had Paul McCartney (pretty good), The Rolling Stones (pretty bad), Prince (can't remember), Tom Petty (the Pats were in the Super Bowl so I ate during halftime and didn't see it), Bruce Springsteen (awesome), and The Who last night. For the most part, these older guys can't really bring a whole lot of excitement to the event especially when the games themselves this past decade have been better than usual. A lot of the people who listen to classic rock will be watching the game anyway. The NFL could appeal to a larger audience if they got more relevant musicians. They had an Arcade Fire song in the NFL Network commercials last night. I think Arcade Fire would be a really cool halftime show. The Who came across as old and tired. Their best concerts are a few decades behind them. It is time for something new.

Commercials:

I really liked the McDonalds commercial with Lebron James and Dwight Howard. The best part was when Larry Bird came in at the end. It was a great tribute to a classic commercial that starred Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. I had no idea that today's NBA stars were too ignorant to know who Larry Legend is. It's a shame.

The Budweiser human bridge commercial was great. They always do good work on Super Bowl Sunday. The Bud Light ads on the desert island and the asteroid lab were also funny.

It was great to see the Griswolds going on vacation again.

The Super Bowl shuffle remake was a bit of a disappointment. It just isn't the same without Walter Payton and Mike Singletary. Ditka's cameo was good but they, like The Who, just looked old and tired.

The Etrade babies are starting to get boring.

The commercial that really bothered me was the ad for the Late Show with Dave Letterman. It just seemed forced and awkward (I get that that is what they were going for but it didn't make me want to watch the show) to see Leno and Letterman on the same couch with Oprah keeping the peace. It didn't help either of them. I do not understand why Jay Leno agreed to be in the commercial. Oprah seemed like the only one who has any sense of empathy or humanity anymore. Clearly, these two old talk show hosts only care about themselves and "their" network rivalry. They think that everything is about them just because of the Tonight Show replacement controversy 17 years ago. It is unfortunate that a classy guy like Conan O'Brien is off the air and America still has to see these tired old timers battling it out for a few more years. What do I know? I guess I am not the typical viewer seeing as all my favorite shows are on 4th place NBC.

All in all, Super Bowl XLIV was a good night of football surrounded by an okay night of ads and a bad night of music. It will be interesting to see what the next Super Bowl will bring.

Change we need, change we want, change we think we need...

Bob Dylan said it best nearly fifty years ago when he said that the times they were a changin', but sometimes the change is misguided or unnecessary. In this case, a major change in Washington will involve more standing in the doorway and blocking up the hall. When Massachusetts voters elected Scott Brown in a special election to replace the prolific Edward Kennedy in the United States Senate, they did just that. Kennedy was an advocate for health care reform which has become a major issue in congress since his death. since the sixties, he had been a vehicle for change in America. Brown, on the other hand, is a major change in the state as he is the first Republican senator from Massachusetts in thirty years and people across the state are excited for the change they want.

Sorry to get all political. I don't particularly enjoy doing this, but I must ask the question: what is the point of celebrating change when it is really just a guy who drives a truck and supports the ideals that transformed the United States from the undisputed global superpower to a bitter global bully with a failing economy and tarnished integrity in their foreign policy? Just a year ago, we were celebrating the inauguration of Barack Obama and his mission get America back on track and now people expect everything to be all fixed after just one year in office? Bush/Cheney (whoever was calling the shots...I'm not really sure) messed up so badly for eight years, that progress could not fix it in one year no matter how good the new president is. Anyway, people got so impatient with things not getting fixed right away that they just elected more of the same to impede further progress.

Again, sorry for the politics. Now that that is out of my system, on to the changing world of entertainment. For generations, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) has been the leader in late night entertainment. From Johnny Carson, to Leno, to Conan, to Belushi, Aykroyd, and all the other legendary cast members of SNL, NBC had always been the channel to watch when nothing else is open and you can't fall asleep. This past week, however, NBC decided that they should make a change by reverting back to more of the same to try and improve ratings. Jay Leno will be coming back to the Tonight Show because his prime time talk show could not compete with boring doctor/cop/lawyer shows that air on other networks at that hour (I'm sorry, but i actually enjoyed having Leno on at 10. It was refreshing for me because I do not really care for doctor/cop/lawyer type shows. I watch TV to laugh. If I wanted drama and suspense, there are movies that can provide it in much better quality and less predictability. Whatever. I guess I am not the typical viewer.) As a result, my boy Conan O'Brien (we redheads need to stick together) is getting kicked out of a show and a contract that NBC promised him five years ago. The network is siting that the Tonight Show dropped in ratings to Dave Letterman's show but if Letterman didn't cheat on his wife and make a big deal about it, that may not have happened.

Both of these issues are inferior in relevance compared to the disaster that occurred in Haiti. In the long run, one senate seat and one late night talk show on a dying medium of entertainment is not as big of a deal as the thousands upon thousands of deaths and injuries in that poor country. People need to act quickly to help get relief to these people before it is too late.

Whether it is the change we need like relief in Haiti, the change we want like a Republican senator from Massachusetts, or the change we think we want like vintage car collectors with big chins cracking wise late at night just like the old days, the times are and will change. Mr. Dylan was right about that one. Sometimes it is out of our control, like earthquakes. Sometimes votes and TV ratings make the difference. Just remember that for every "necessary" change that we decide on, somewhere, somehow, a redhead is getting the short end of the stick as a result.