NBC Brings Us Holemdy Cheer

Holemdy= Holiday Comedy. I made that up myself. Thanks.

Warning: this is full of spoilers and obnoxiously long

You know, with all the conjecture and criticism surrounding NBC and its Comcast-bought future (may I direct you here and here for more information), last night’s Thursday Night Line-Up reminded me that despite low ratings and a lack of juggernaut TV like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, NBC has some of the best writers, best actors, and best stories on TV.

Last night’s holiday episodes of Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, and (to a lesser extent) 30 Rock delivered superb episodes in what have been consistently strong seasons. The Office and 30 Rock usually deliver great holiday episodes (Benihana Christmas, anyone?), so it’s nice to see the fledgling Community and Parks do the same.

Here are some something things I thought about them.

Pilot Review: FlashForward

ABC just premiered their biggest SciFi drama since LOST. A prime 8:00 Thursday slot, the show features some pretty heavy hitters- Shakespeare in Love’s Joe Fiennes stars alongside John Cho (Harold or Sulu, depending on your preference), Broadway megastar Brian O’Bryne, Dominic Monagahan (Charlie from LOST), Sonya Walger (Penny from LOST….ABC doesn’t stray too far from the genre actors they know, apparently). The premise of the show kicks in about minute 6, when everyone IN THE ENTIRE WORLD blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. Then it turns out, they didn’t blackout, but had some sort of collective vision of the same hour six months from when the blackout occurs. It’s a very interesting plot, and incredibly unique, especially for network standards. I’m certainly all for shows based on crazy apocalyptic events, but this one left me a little underwhelmed. Let’s explore, shall we?

Jaceface’s List of TV Show Pros and Cons, Flashforward edition.

In Anticipation

It’s Thursday! That means tonight we have the best half hour of comedy (30 Rock) and a half hour of the used-to-be-best comedy on TV! (that would be the Office).

We at OurNamesRhyme will forever love The Office, despite how far it’s fallen from its Season 2 glory (when they actually stayed in The Office and didn’t kick off the best new character they’ve introduced in a season). Discounting the hilarity that was the post-Superbowl episode, this season has been undeniably sub-par.

Though there have been some choice moments… Creed admitting to dating Squeaky Fromme, anyone?

So what do we do when something we love begins to devolve into a shell of its former self? We YouTube it, of course! So watch this, and remember a time before The Office devoted an entire episode to Hilary Swank…