“30 Rock” Live Episode: My Take
“30 Rock”‘s roots in “Saturday Night Live” were showing a little too much for my taste with last night’s live episode. For the first few minutes, it was fun to hear the audience hoot and holler as if they were watching Roller Derby. But then the ugliness of the video (like a bad soap opera) took over my eyeballs; and the spectacle of actors (especially Kenneth) mugging even more than usual for the camera got to be too much. I most enjoyed Jane Krakowski, the only member of the cast who knew how to underplay for a live audience in order to get her laughs. (Must be her live-theater background.) The pop-up cameos were a kick, especially Julia-Louis Dreyfus. The normally admirable Matt Damon, in his recurring role as Tina Fey’s (or, rather, my cousin Liz Lemon’s) boyfriend, looked shockingly pudgy. Is he putting on weight again for a movie?
