Another background tidbit

So I'm watching the west coast version of the 30 Rock live episode... they are nailing it! But I noticed this background tidbit I had to share with you guys, mostly because I don't know why it's there...

In this scene, when Jack is sniffing paint:

See something on a paint can near the center of the screen? Let's zoom in...

Why is "Glee" written on a paint can? Any theories? It's not like its Glee's paint, because they're on different networks. At first I thought it was a jab at Glee because the label underneath said "Gross paints," but it definitely says "Gloss."

Any theories?

Emmy Noms: My Take

(image via here)

It's like my birthday! Why, you ask? No, it isn't my birthday.... but the Emmy nominations were just announced! I'm not crazy enough to wake up at 8:30 just to watch Joel McHale and Sofia Vergara announce them live, but it was the first thing I did when I got up.

And how did things pan out for my favorite shows? Not too badly! Here are some of my personal highlights and lowlights:

YAY: 30 Rock and Modern Family got the Best Comedy nod!

BOO: So did The Office, Glee, Nurse Jackie, and Curb. I guess I can't complain about Curb because I've heard it's very funny, but seriously, Emmy people? Parks and Recreations was deemed by many a critic to be the best of the NBC Thursday line-up this year. And while I disagree in favor of 30 Rock, P&R > The Office this year. And what about Community? Sure, it wasn't stellar this season, but it was better than Glee, which is a clever and innovative show, but not nearly as funny as it needs to be to get a Comedy nod.

YAY: Alec Baldwin was nominated!

BOO: No Joel McHale? No Community love AT ALL? Especially when you evil Emmy producers had him announce the nominees next to Sofia, who was nominated herself and had her show nominated! It was incredibly awkward near the end of the announcements where the big producer guy told Sofia she got a nom and then turned to Joel and was like "I'm sorry you didn't get nominated, but you've very talented blahblahblah." Joel, if you need a hug, I'm here for you.

YAY: Chris Colfer, Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet, and Jesse Tyler Fergueson got Supporting Actor nominations! Gotta love all the Modern Fam love!

BOO: No Nick Offerman for the stellar Ron Swanson? Or Aziz Ansari for the lovable doofus Tom Haverford? Or, speaking of lovable doofuses, Chris Pratt for Andy? Danny Pudi for the best character ever, Abed? Danny Glover for the consistently funny Troy? Jack McBrayer for Kenneth the page? Ah, screw it-- there were too many potential nominees this year.

YAY: I can't complain about the Supporting Actress choices-- especially Jane Lynch, Jane Krakowski, Kristin Wiig, Julie Bowen, and Sofia Vergara.

BOO: Wait, yes I can-- no Aubrey Plaza for the dead-pan yet poignant performance as April this year? WTF?

YAY: Can I get a "Hell yea" for the Guest Actor noms? Burt Hummel, Bryan Ryan, Drew Baird, Frank Dunphy and (especially) Devin Banks? HELL YEA!

BOO: I don't care about that Nurse Jackie guy... I would gladly replace him with John Oliver AKA Professor Duncan. Ah well, you can't win 'em all. EDIT: Wait. Just realized something. No Michael Sheen as Wesley Snipes?!?! What the what? He was better than Jon Hamm/Drew Baird! Wow, that's really upsetting.

YAY: Guest actress noms-- yay for Elaine Stritch, Tina Fey, Betty White, and Kristen Chenoweth!

BOO: No Elizabeth Banks for Avery Jessup? I guess I can't really complain about Julianne Moore-- that Boston accent murdered her chances.

YAY: Did you know Psych got nominated?!?! I know, I can't believe it! Granted, it was for Oustanding Music Compositon for a Series.... but hey, baby steps!

So there's my take on the nominees this year. Overall, a solid list with some glaring oversights (P&R and Community). Leave your opinions below!

Sex sex sex blog post sex

So today was an ultra-lazy day; I didn't even go outside! To detract from my slovenly feelings, I shall tell you an analogy I came up with today:

Television is like food-- in many, many ways. But the analogy of the day (or AOTD, if you will) is this:

Television programs are like food-- you watch/eat the best/yummiest when you have a wide variety of options, but when you're bored/starving and all you can find is junk, you take what you can get.

So how does this relate to my day today? Well, dear readers, all of my TV shows are over. Re-runs just aren't doing it for me right now. So, I noshed on some junk TV.

Enter The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

I had given up this show (much like I gave up Gossip Girl) early last season. Those one-hour dramedies are just too much work for their small entertainment value. And while TSLOTAT (I used this abbreviation while emailing my cousin, and for some reason it irked her. But she doesn't read my blog, and I find it convenient. So take that, cousin!) probably falls under the "So Bad it's Good" category, sometimes it's "So Bad it's-- Actually, No, it's Just Really, Really Bad."

But, frankly, I had seen some clips of it on The Soup recently, and I started to kinda miss those sex-obsessed nut jobs. I missed creepily-devoted Ben, faux-bad-boy Ricky, whiny-biatch Amy, why-does-Jack-even-like-her Madison, why-does-Madison-even-like-him Jack, wow-you-look-like-Ashley-Tisdale-but-you-still-are-boring-as-hell Grace, OMG-you-make-my-mom-look-sane-you-are-so-nosy parents, and frustratingly-emotionless Amy's Sister (who is so void of emotion that I don't even remember her name, despite having watched an episode a mere 3 hours ago). I missed the conversations that went thusly:

Ben: I want to have sex with you.

Amy: I had sex, and I got pregnant. No.

Ben: Ok, fine.

Amy: Does that mean you're going to go off and have sex with other girls?

Ben: Well if you won't have sex with me, what else am I supposed to do?

Amy: You could not have sex.

Ben: Sex sex sex sex sex sex pregnant sex birth control sex sex!

Amy: Sex sex friends sex sex sex school sex sex WHINE sex sex I'M A TEENAGE MOTHER GODDAMIT sex!

Amy's Dad: Sex?

Ben: Sex, Amy's Dad. Sex sex sex love sex sex sex condoms sex sex oral sex sex sex.

John, Amy's 1-year-old son: Sex!

So I head on over to Wikipedia's episode list to get a brief synopsis of what's up in that little town where no one learns anything at school and parents act like teenagers. Apparently, a lot. I watched some of the last episodes of the last season, and the first two episodes of this new season, and now I'm caught up.

I feel like I sold out. I'm sorry, 30 Rock. I've lowered my standards so dramatically since you left me.

Surprise!

So I'm watching the 30 Rock season 3 episode "Cutbacks," and what little background gag do I see?

Let's zoom in a little, shall we?

It's the Dwight bobble-head in Kenneth's apartment! How funny is that? Makes sense too, because Kenneth is a TV nut!

Found any fun background gags in your favorite show recently?

Coincidence? ...Maybe

Did this NBC Thursday night comedy line-up remind anyone else of Arrested Development? Here are the clues-

- We got a visit from Starla the Business Model (and Quincy-lover) and the un-named Blue Man Group assistant (Andy Samberg) via Parks and Recreation.

- Community gave us none other than BUSTER BLUTH! Acting just a bit Buster-y.

- On 30 Rock, Kenneth gave us this gem:

"My cousin in Atlanta is a business model. She holds up staplers for catalogs."

Remind you of anyone? Oh, I don't know, maybe Gob's "Oh, I have a business model" mess up? If only Devon had been at Geiss's funeral, then it would've been a perfect storm of Arrested Development memories!

Anyone think this was on purpose? Any other moments that reminded you of the beloved Bluths? Comment!

Liz's New Boy Toy?

So last night's episode of 30 Rock, featuring all of Liz's exes, got me thinking: Who should guest star as Liz's new beau? She's got to get one sooner or later, right?

And then it hit me.

The perfect guy.

Funny.

Handsome.

Quirky.

Age-appropriate (one year older than Tina).

Want to guess?

Hint: It has to do with one of my recent obsessions.

Any ideas?

Give up?

Ok, here it is:

Jason Bateman.

BAM!

He's hilarious but can also play the straight man. His character can be very Floyd-esque (or they could just bring back Floyd for good... no complaints there).

Ooh! But his character has a secret: he's Devon Banks's brother! TWIST! And a chance to see Bateman and Arnett as brothers on screen... which all Arrested Development fans know creates a burst of comedic amazingness.

So get on it, 30 Rock writers!

Any other suggestions for Liz's new BF? Tell me in the comments!

30 Rock 4.10 Recap

30 Rock, Season 4, Episode 10, Black Light Attack!

Tongue girth! Quidditch! Black lights! Gossip Girl! Such were the topics discussed on this odd, crazy, ridiculous Thursday half hour that is 30 Rock!

Realer than dying of old age at 41:

- I love how they're acknowledging that Danny's not really a real actor-- hence his characters, Robot Lorenzo Llamas, Robot Ryan Seacrest, and David Hassel-bot. Plus 4.

- I don't watch Seinfeld, but even I knew Lutz was wearing the Bro!

See? Plus 3.

- This is my 3rd time watching this episode, and I just now noticed that when Toofer is talking about Quidditch, Frank is drinking a... tub? of beer. This show gets better and better with each watch! Plus 2.

- "Skankovitch" just replaced "non-pillow" as my new favorite 30 Rock insult. Plus 2.

- For some reason, I love men imitating women in high voices (especially Shawn from Psych), so Jack's imitation of "the new girl" gets a plus 1.

- Another thing I totally missed the first time? Pete's "Oh, I love that show!" after Jenna mentions her audition for Gossip Girl. Oh, Pete. Plus 1.

- Jack's face as he realizes Danny's secret rendezvous it with Liz... plus 4.

- Tartine and Wainwright are two of the alleged Gossip Girl names. Just the right combination of weird and preppy! Plus 3.

- "What did he do to the back of your knees?" Plus 3.

- "I threw them in the deep end of the pool... to help with their fear of sharks."

1. What did Tracy do so as to incite a fear of sharks in not one but both of his children?

2. Does Tracy have sharks in his pool? I bet he does.

3. Plus 4.

- The callback to CHiP's Larry Wilcox (when Danny wears the uniform and wig), Liz's first crush. Perfect. Plus 5.

- Liz's happy whistling is... bad. Loud and not in tune. Which just makes it more hilarious. Plus 3.

- Don't know if that high-pitched/low-pitched youth/adult tone thing is legit, but either way, Jenna's reaction to it makes it worth the lie. Plus 1.

- "Well I had a porterhouse for two, alone, I am very angry and sleepy." Nice subtle joke in an otherwise crazy episode. Plus 1.

- "She has really thin lips but she makes up for it with tongue girth." The perfect combination of OMGLOL and Ew. Plus 5.

- Liz named her mustache Tom Selleck. Plus 4.

- Tracy thinking Liz is the "nice man" coming to take Sue is funny... but not at all funny enough to make up for the unfunny Tracy/Sue plot this week. Still, plus 1.

- Jack and Liz's fake love story line has been done before (at the ball to make Bianca jealous, in Jack's office to make Kathy Geiss jealous), but I love it every time (not because I'm a Lack shipper. Ew). Plus 6.

- Gossip Girl would SO make someone die of old age at 41. Because after that they get, like, boring, you know? Plus 4.

- P.S. Did anyone else notice that Jenna's character's deathbed is a living room couch? I could totally see a lame TV show doing that, just so they don't have to build another set for the bedroom. Plus 2.

- Oh, Tina Fey. You will embarrass yourself by dancing like a nerd and letting thousands of people watch it, and that is one of the many reasons I love you. Plus 2.

Total: 61

Faker than Jack's attraction to Liz:

- To answer your question, Toofer: Because if they didn't, it would just be a two-person game, and that's no fun. Or else there would be over a dozen people smacking into each other, trying to grab the Snitch. Duh. Minus 1.

- Ok... is it just me or does that neon yellow drink in Liz's cup look... gooey... like a smoothie mixed with highlighter ink. Ew. Minus 2.

- Is it weird that I kinda like the idea of Danny and Jenna together? Denna? Janny? Either way, it's better than Diz... or Lanny (more on that later). Minus 3.

- Danny came onto Liz?! No.... just no. Although the other way sounds almost equally weird. Minus 5.

- The "Madonna"-face Liz makes... kinda weak. Try harder at pretending to creepily cling to youth. Minus 2.

- Everything about the Lanny/Diz fling just... doesn't work. Why would Danny go after Liz? Is Liz really attracted to Danny? It just doesn't work for me at all-- even for a fling! Minus 20.

- Wait a second... a power struggle over a guy Liz is "dating" and Jack is friends with? It's Floyd all over again! Minus 3, because in most comparisons between Danny and Floyd, Floyd would win.

- "Scrumpnugget"? WTF? Not funny, just... stupid. Minus 2.

- The whole entourage= family, Tracy= father, Sue= teenage daughter thing is way overdone. Minus 14.

- Just realized that the description for this episode on Hulu says: "Danny reveals to Jack he's having secret make-out sessions with a TGS writer." I know we discover pretty early that it's LL, but if you're watching this episode for the first time, you assume it's a girl (because I don't think 30 Rock would commit to the gay thing, especially for such a main character), and the only girl writers are Liz and Sue. And if you've heard or seen anything about the episode, you know that Sue already has a plot line. So, secret's out. Minus 4.

Total: 56

So despite some major plot line no-no's, 30 Rock prevailed yet again this week, thanks to their always abundant stash of one-liners.

30 Rock 4.09 Recap

It's been awhile... I've been lazy... but it's all worth it, because here comes a nice juicy recap of a hilarious episode! (And 3 more to come after this one!)

30 Rock, Season 4, episode 9, "Klaus and Greta"

Jenna "dates" James Franco. Jack leaves a drunk voicemail. Liz outs her cousin. Happy 30 Rock New Year, everyone!

Realer than Liz leaving Cerie drunken messages:

- "Does chewing on a sponge trick your brain's hunger center? Yes!" You learn something new every day. Plus 3

- "Make sure his manager doesn't screw her."

"Too late! Oh wait, which way did you mean that?" I love you, Jenna. Plus 2.

- The protests to the switch-screen after TJ says he thinks he got Angie pregnant... perfection. Plus 5.

- Liz is "a frequent leaver of drunk messages" Plus 4 for the callback to "Episode 210" and her night of drunken co-op board calls.

- "I've lemoned this situation with Nancy!" Yay, new 30 Rock word!

Lemon (v.): to mess up irrevocably. Plus 5.

- James Franco kinda weirds me out. At first this was going to be a minus, but I realized he's supposed to weird me out. So plus 2.

- Liz's cousin is hot. Plus 4, because we ladies (ok, we teens. I guess he's kind of young for most viewers) haven't had such eye candy on 30 Rock since Jon Hamm left.

- "Nope, that's a serial killer, just get a cab." Living in NY allows people to say that so matter-of-fact-ly. Plus 1.

- Jonathan vs. Kenneth. I sense some very comedic potential in this possible rivalry. Plus 2.

- Kenneth vs. Computer. An even more epic rivalry. Plus 4.

- Poor Jenna. She is just a walking tragedy, isn't she? No points, just pity.

- Liz has a cardigan with "fuzzy buttons" that she's "afraid to wear." Which makes sense because I'm afraid to see it. BOOM! Roasted. Plus 2.

- "Sir, I don't mean to swear, but I am irritated right now." Kenneth, I love you. Plus 3.

- I'm not a fan of Nancy, but I am a fan of how lovesick Jack is. So sweet! Plus 6.

- Someone needs to make some more official rules for the "Today Show Drinking Game." It sounds fun! Plus 4.

- I swear to God, right before Liz asked Jenna "Why are you wearing a man's shirt and no pants?" I thought, "Why is Jenna wearing a Liz-like shirt?" She does wear a lot of plaid... plus 2.

- Kenneth is seen drinking a juice box. Plus 1.

- The code spells Klaus!! Did not see that one coming. Seriously, good twist! Plus 3.

- "You should buy a leather jacket!" The enthusiasm with which Kenneth says this sentence is overwhelming and perfectly Kenneth. Plus 2.

- "You're being such a non-pillow right now!" = my new favorite insult. Plus 3.

- When Jack's on the call, Kenneth takes Cerie's hand, a la the same way he did with Jonathan earlier on. Cerie doesn't take her hand away right away! Is anyone else a Cenneth/Kerie shipper? They'd be so cute together... plus 3.

- Oh Liz Lemon. You never fail to amaze me with your ridiculousness. Question: Is having a three-way with a celebrity and a pillow an all-time low or all-time high? Either way, plus 5.

Total: 66

Faker than Jenna and James's relationship:

- That Blossom reference went right over my head so minus 1.

- On New Years Jonathan met his birth parents... I kind of want to feel bad because Jack doesn't care about poor Jonathan... but I don't really care either. Minus 2.

- Kumiko reminds me of my Wii nemesis, Fumiko. Have you ever played tennis against her? That Mii is a b*tch. Minus 1.

- Liz's hot cousin only served to remind me that all hot guys are gay... minus 3.

- Did Kenneth really step through that coat hanger? That must've been fake... right? Minus 2.

- "And it gets even better. I just had a burrito." Surprisingly, I didn't find this random TJ quip funny. It wasn't ridiculous enough. Minus 2.

- "Having ice-cold diarrhea from drinking Jamba Juice..." Ew. Just... ew. And how? Minus 4.

- Super-religious Kenneth has seen or read The Da Vinci Code? Minus 6.

- I understand that Liz is protective of her cousin, but why is she trying to bore him to death with "making nachos and seeing who can fall asleep the earliest?" Minus 5.

- Of course I looked up to see if Kenneth was right when he said typing in "Nancy's Secrets" into Google gives you "a store that sells wig extensions." He wasn't. These guys noticed also. Minus 6.

- Kenneth deleted the message. He has a backbone? Minus 1.

- Tracy's odd "Is every woman someone's daughter?"realization just didn't work for me. Minus 3.

- Liz's mom-esque speech to Randy reminds me... what happened to the whole adoption plot line? That was dropped like Ugly Betty. (That's both a dig at UB's plot holes and it's recent cancellation. Which I'm sad about, but I couldn't resist the joke.) Minus 5.

Total: 41

This was, no contest, a very real, very funny episode of 30 Rock. The next recap should be up in a day or two!

Deal of the Day!

So this week was a double-30 Rock-- yippee! Unfortunately, I'm kind of overwhelmed with schoolwork, so the recaps wont be out until this weekend. I know, I know, try to contain your tears.

To tide you over, here's my latest home decor steal, straight from one of my favorite home decor haunts, Crate and Barrel! They're having MAJOR sales right now, and not just on holiday stuff! Check out this pillow I got, for... drumroll.... $10!

Isn't is gooorgeous? It's not just stripes, it's flaps of felt. It looks so much better in person. Right now it's plopped on a hideous section of a couch that's acting as an armchair... and has a gaping hole in the cushion. So the pro/con (depending on the way you look at it) of this pillow is it makes me want a new armchair! Maybe something purple... or blue...

Anyways, grab this pillow for yourself here and check back here in a few days for not one but two 30 Rock recaps!

30 Rock 4.08 Recap

30 Rock, Season 4, episode 8: "Secret Santa"

Jack breaks out his Boston accent... and his high school crush. Liz's hair scares me... and so does her "singing." Pete continues his long journey that will ultimately end in insanity. The writers make up a religion.

'Twas a fine 30 Rock, indeed. Role the recap!

Realer than Liz Lemon gifting someone "Cheese of the Month":

- Nipple slip+ jigsaw puzzle= acceptable gift. Only in Jenna's world... plus 2.

- Requiring execs to get Youface pages to humble-ize them during this economic frenzy. Sounds like something PR would try. Plus 1.

- Apparently all of Liz's high school boyfriends are now gay... this was going to be fake-- because really, how many boyfriends could LL have in high school?-- but if her gay ex's are also the ex's who attended clown college... plus 4.

- "Bath salts in a coffee mug" is LL's go-to gift. Probably because that's what she would want herself. Plus 3.

- The way Jack says to Cerie, "Would you get us some pens?" Brilliant. Plus 5.

- Off-topic, but I'm in love with Cerie's sweater-dress from Topshop. Plus 4.

- I googled Larry Wilcox, and... well, plus 3 and look for yourself:

- LL is disgusted when she types in You-face instead of Youface and gets some weird site... and yet she keeps looking for a good 5 seconds. Plus 3, because everyone keeps looking at gross stuff out of curiosity.

- Frank's hat says "PG-25." Plus 5.

- Plus 2 for this exchange I missed during my first two viewings:

Kenneth: A picture of President Obama for the Muslims.

Tracy: I'm going to let that one slide.

- "Oh Meatball of Verduke, you bring me such peace/pizza/meatball." Sounds legit. Plus 2.

- "New guy is as good at singing as Tracy Jordan is at everything." Plus 2 for the quote and plus 1 for Tracy also calling Danny "New Guy" (see the 3rd "faker").

- "I'm sorry, are you being sarcastic? Canadians have a hard time recognizing it because we don't have a big Jewish population." Plus 4.

- I love Danny singing. I love Danny in general. More of him, please! Plus 6.

- Plus 5 for the best explanation of why Catholics don't eat meat on Fridays ever.

- Status: Weirdsies. Plus 2.

- "Can't I just enjoy this while it lasts?" "Hey. That's what I said when that hotdog vendor passed out, but you made me get help." Plus 4 for that exchange that made me LOL and plus 2 for the subtle suggestion that Jack and Liz hang out together.

- Danny "got" sarcasm pretty quickly! Plus 1.

- Only in 30 Rock world would calling in a bomb threat to Penn station be a great Christmas present. Plus 4.

Total: 65

Faker than Danny's bad singing:

- Pete's midlife crisis involves skinny jeans. Minus 3 just for the image that puts in my head.

- Wait... Cerie is writing stuff down for Liz... what is Cerie's job, anyway? Minus 2 for never explaining it.

- "New Guy," as Pete calls him, hasn't been on TGS the past two weeks. You'd think the writers would welcome this new blood, which would allow them to do a sketch or two not devoted to Jenna playing a blonde bimbo or Tracy playing a crazy black man-- or Oprah. Minus 6.

- The whole Kenneth-is-Godzilla thing when he steps on the mini Christmas scene. Minus 4 because it was too cliché (although I did enjoy the random Asian guy).

- Am I the only one who thinks Secret Santa is kind of fun? Yes? Ok, never mind.

- When presented with Jack's high school play poster, LL ponders, "I thought you had stage fright." So did we. Hmm.... minus 4 for never explaining that.

- Not only does Tracy realize that Verdukianism isn't a real holiday on his own, but he also comes up with an idea to try and reveal its fakeness? Wait, since when did Tracy become smart? Minus 10.

- I wanted to see Tracy play Josh Groban. Minus 1.

- I really don't like Nancy. Or her accent. Minus 14.

- "Gentle flossing performed by a blonde virgin." Ew. I know it's supposed to be funny, but why would anyone want someone other than a dentist with gloves to floss their teeth? Minus 4.

- Trying to decide if Jenna's Christmas story was real or not... either way, minus 2 because it was getting a bit too pathetic/sad and not funny enough.

- I hope Nancy's sons are late into their teens; she keeps leaving them alone in NYC! Minus 2.

Total: 52

Overall, a solidly real-- and hilarious-- episode. The next new episode airs January 14th-- can't wait!

A New Feature!

I've decided to add a new feature on my blog! Seeing as now it's kind of... well... featureless. It's based on the amazing Daily Intel's Gossip Girl recaps (see here for the latest). Because those recaps were seriously the only reason I stayed with Gossip Girl for so long... so I thought I'd bring some love to my fellow TV fans! But what show will I be featuring?

30 ROCK!

It took me a while to decide on a show, but I chose 30 Rock for many reasons:

1. I won't mind watching each episode a few times

2. The characters are very specific and unique, making the reality index easy to score

3. It's only 30 minutes and has tons of one-liners, hence my attention span (and writing span) will stay intact.

Are you game? I can't wait! My first recap will be of the last episode that aired before this darn holiday break! It'll probably be up soon because I'm so darn excited!

Some random stuff

Camp is over! Yay. I have so much stuff on my mind, I feel like I'll do multiple posts a day. So buckle up and enjoy the ride! Wait, never mind, that was a stupid metaphor...

- I kinda want to learn how to sew. I see things like this and think "I could totally do that. I SHOULD totally do that." But alas, my lack of sewing experience (and lack of general patience) keeps me from it. Ah well. So much opportunity, so little talent.

- So my birthday was last month. I know, I know, I should've told you guys. I'm sure I would've been bombarded with gifts, right? I got some cool stuff from my parents, including 30 Rock DVDs and OMG THESE COOL THINGS.

- In less than 12 hours, the painter will be here to finally remove the hideous wallpaper  that's poisoning our otherwise-promising bathroom. And in about 3 days, we'll have a fresh coat of Behr's Monaco, a light greyish blue(or the equivalent in whatever kind of paint our painter chooses).

As you may be able to tell, this week is Home Decor week. I've since recovered from my Harry Potter High, and now I'm onto a Home Decor High (do I only get high on things that start with H? What's next, hash browns?)! So be prepared for lots of home decor posts this week (hopefully including my bathroom before and after!)

Another TV Similarity

While watching the "Succession" episode of 30 Rock, I realized something two great TV losers, Liz Lemon and Michael Scott, have in common:

They both put sugar in their scotch before drinking it (or Splenda, in Michael's case). Genius or uncouth? You be the judge.

Gotcha!

I'm way too excited about this. As per my before-bed tradition of watching an episode or 2 of 30 Rock, I was, well, watching an episode of 30 Rock. AND GUESS WHAT I FOUND?Yes, that is a split-second screencap of Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) LOOKING AT THE CAMERA! There's a flaw in Fey's acting! She's not a god after all!  It's good to know that even an actress as amazing as Tina Fey messes up (albeit barely noticeably) once in a while. Unless she was supposed to look into the camera.... oh god...

This rare moment of imperfection is located in episode 15 of season 3, called "The Bubble," if you want to watch the moment for yourself. It's pretty life-changing.

Did You Know (according to my parents)...

That TV stations pre-make obituary specials for famous people JUST IN CASE they die suddenly? I was so confused when I heard that NBC had procured  post-mortem (Latin, beeyotches!)  Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson (R.I.P. to both) tributes. And then my parents told me that they make them ahead of time.

I wonder if somewhere out there, every celebrity has an obituary tape just waiting to be popped into the TV schedule if need be. And wouldn't they have to update it pretty frequently? I wonder if that's a job in of itself... if anyone out there reading is or knows of a person who is a celebrity obituary updater, let me know. 'Cause that's one heck of a random job!

I wonder if they just have them for older celebrities or super famous ones. Like do they have one for... Hilary Duff (first name that came to mind)? I bet they're more likely to have one for Betty White. Well, now that I think of it, that's kind of obvious. Do you think they have one for semi-old celebrities, like Oprah or something? After all, she is around the same age as Michael Jackson was. 

Of course I am reminded of 30 Rock, in that episode where Jack decides that pretending Jenna's dead will up her career (and her new Jackie Jormp-Jomp movie), so they ask Pete if they can put on a memorial show for her and he says "We actually already have an obituary reel for Jenna. We put it together after she cheated on that mobster." Interesting... (and yes, I can find a TV quote fitting of ANY subject)

PS: I confess, I had to look up that latin phrase. But it sounds so good! I also had to look up if Betty White was still alive-- just in case I forgot and upset some people. And I had to look up Pete's exact quote. The internet is a wondrous thing.

I noticed something...

The majority of shows that I watch (the majority in this case being Ugly Betty, The Office, and 30 Rock) have at least this one thing in common:

At the beginning of the series, the female protagonist always has a lousy long-term boyfriend. Am I right or am I right?

Pam and (well, fiance) Roy (total dbag) from The Office

Betty and Walter (how annoying was he?) from Ugly Betty

Liz and (though they weren't together in the pilot) Dennis (what a tool!) from 30 Rock.

But the real question is WHY do writers do this? It may be to give the viewers a template of "Look how bad this guy is..." and then later, when they dump him and get a new boyfriend, "Look how far she's come!" Or maybe it's because it adds instant plot lines when a show is getting started.  

Any ideas? Sound off in the comments!