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.

Community: Great show? Or the greatest show?

Season 1 of NBC's new sitcom Community has delivered big time and has exceeded my expectations. Regardless of the ratings (which don't really mean much anymore because people watch Hulu so much) Community has failed to disappoint me in every episode this season. Ever since the pilot episode, this show has gotten progressively better with each successive installment. Each week, the writers and performers seem to one-up their previously set standard of excellence and hilarity and has bolstered an already strong and intelligent Thursday night lineup of NBC which includes The Office, 30 Rock, and Parks and Recreation.

Some people I have talked to dismissed the show after its pilot episode because it was "insulting to community college students", but I have to disagree on this one. Community may be a comedy, but community college is not the joke. That is like saying that The Office is insulting to people who have desk jobs or that Cheers is insulting to people who go to bars or that Everybody Loves Raymond (or any other family sitcom for that matter) is insulting to families. Community is really about how students interact and how friendships are made. This show could just as easily take place in a high school or a four year college but the community college allows for a wider range of characters who come from more walks of life than just a bunch of kids from the same town or in the same age group.

The key to the success of any television sitcom or drama is the development of characters. Midway through the first season, I already feel like I now the characters and I am a part of their community.

There is the selfish arrogant ex-lawyer Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) who become more caring and empathetic as the season goes on once he finally makes real friends. There is Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs), a twenty-something looking for direction in her life after dropping out of high school to "impress Radiohead" and serving in the Peace Corps. Britta and Jeff become one of the closer friendships within the study group and are looked up to by the others for being more sophisticated.

My personal favorite character on the show is Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi). Abed appears to be quiet and socially awkward but also has profound insight into human behavior and interaction patterns. An aspiring filmmaker, Abed makes movies about his friends at Greendale Community College that predict the future base on his observations of them. Abed compares nearly every situation in the show to references to pop-culture. Abed's best friend in the group is Troy Barnes (Donald Glover). Troy was a high school jock who lost his football scholarship when he dislocated both his shoulders doing a keg flip. He and Abed first became friends when they paired up on a Spanish project. Now they film videos together at the end of every episode often remaking famous pop culture duos like Ernie and Bert. Troy refers to Abed as his "other half".

Another character, Annie "Adderall" Edison (Alison Brie), had a crush on Troy in high school but has not been able to get him to notice her. She lost her college scholarship when she overdosed on pills and had to go to rehab. Annie is innocent and naive compared to the other characters. She also seems to be the most book smart of them all.

Shirley Bennett (Nicole Yvette Brown) and Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase) are the two oldest members of the study group. Shirley is a recently divorced mother who is taking business classes. She is a devout Christian and tends to judge others based on her religious convictions. Although she seems caring and sweet most of the time, she has fits of rage and is a habitual gossiper. Pierce is a successful businessman in his sixties who has been married and divorced seven times. He started his own moist towelette company and is at Greendale to make friends and pursue popularity. He has difficulty achieving this because of his confusion towards youth culture and his clumsiness. This role basically sums up Chevy Chase's acting career and brilliantly puts the other characters into perspective.

To top it all off, perhaps the craziest character on the show is the eccentric Spanish teacher Senor Ben Chang (Ken Jeong). Chang, a self-proclaimed "Spanish genius" and refers to himself as "El Tigre" (The Tiger). He often belittles his students and pulls outrageous stunts to prove his points. On one occasion he goes out partying with Jeff to get over a bad breakup and in another episode, he joins Abed, Troy, Shirley and Pierce for "bad movie night" in Abed's dorm. Arrogant, angry, and egotistical, Chang often makes fun of other faculty to their faces, especially the Dean.

I hope this overview encourages you to watch what is currently the funniest show on television. Community is on Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern Time on NBC or anytime the next day on Hulu.com. I do not work for NBC or the General Electric Corporation, I am just suggesting a show that I thoroughly enjoy without any sort of business agenda of financial motive. Enjoy!