Sunday, April 29, 2007

30 Rock Rocks


The NBC sitcom 30 Rock just finished its 21-episode, first season on Thursday. Good news is that it'll be back for a second season. The troubling news is that it's been in third place and, sometimes, fourth -- behind CSI, Grey's Anatomy and (gasp) Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Along with The Office (yes, the American version), it's the best written comedy on TV right now. So how can you as a non-Nielsen household show 30 Rock some love? Watch the episodes for free (with limited commercial sponsorship) here. Or even better, buy episodes -- or the whole season -- at iTunes. (NBC will be watching both of those numbers.) If you haven't seen the show, the clip above does a great job of explaining the premise.

Some episodes that were real highlights this season include: Blind Date, Jack the Writer, Up All Night, Hard Ball, The Fighting Irish and Fireworks. And just a note on the music written by Jeff Richmond, who happens to be married to Tina Fey. It's the perfect acccompaniment for the show's shenanigans in and around Rockefeller Center. For fans of Kenneth the Page, here's a video interview with Jack McBrayer on The Sound of Young America. Oh, and keep your fingers crossed that Alec Baldwin comes back next season.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Nora & Conan


You may have seen Nora, the piano-playing cat on YouTube. (One clip has had more than 3 million views.) Well, Nora made a "guest" appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien this week, as shown in the clip above. The sketch didn't go exactly as planned. Herding cats -- or getting them to play the piano -- is never easy, but it can be funny.