NBC's Thursday comedies: 'Earl,' '30 Rock,' 'The Office,' 'Scrubs'
Posted: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 6:01 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
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TV
Say what you will about its new shows, NBC has a pretty decent Thursday-night comedy lineup these days. Actors and producers from "My Name is Earl," "30 Rock," "The Office" and "Scrubs" spoke to the critics' conference Monday about where their shows have been and what's in store. Because the four shows shared one panel. the discussion was naturally disjointed, and no show had a huge amount of time nor was willing to go into revealing detail about future plots. But here are snippets of some of the more interesting tidbits shared.
'MY NAME IS EARL'
'Earl' creator Greg Garcia discussed the last season ended, with Earl landing behind bars. Don't look for a quick release on a technicality for the mustachioed hero. Garcia promised Earl will remain in prison for a while.
The show won't be written into a corner, though. Said Garcia: "Fortunately, Earl has a past where he knows a lot of people in prison," noting that some of the people on Earl's list may even be in the same facility, so he could possibly clear off some of the list that way.
How might Earl change in prison? Garcia joked to star Jason Lee that "there's a couple scripts I haven't shown him yet," but allowed that "he enjoys some of it." He also noted that there may be ways for the show to get out of prison without Earl getting out, via flashback episodes and the like.
'30 ROCK'
Executive producer and star Tina Fey was asked if, at the beginning of last season, whatshe would have thought were the chances that "30 Rock" would survive the year while the other "SNL"-based new show, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," would get canceled. Without saying a thing about the Aaron Sorkin show, Fey said "I have a nasty "SNL" competitive streak in me, so I'm going to say 150 percent."
She also allowed that her Liz Lemon character was based partly on her own "SNL" experiences (which...duh) as well as those of the other women writers she worked with there. Joked Fey: "The biggest difference is that my character is not married, and also apparently her jugs were bigger." She also noted that she's now happier spending hours working on a scene where her character is pretending to write an "SNL"-type sketch than she would be spending that same amount of time actually writing one.
As mentioned in the NBC executive session, Jerry Seinfeld will be appearing on the "30 Rock" premiere. Fey said that she thought her show had used famous guest stars well and hadn't resorted to stunt casting, but that she was looking forward to Seinfeld's appearance and hoped that, through his appearance, "regular America might find out we have a show."
When asked about DVD commentaries, Tina Fey humorously shared that she'd listened to co-star Tracy Morgan's contributions, and "for the first fifteen minutes, there's no evidence he's watching the show."
'THE OFFICE'
Of the four NBC Thursday comedies, "The Office" is easily my favorite. Executive producer Greg Daniels and star John Krasinski (Jim Halpert) were on the panel, and had a little fun with that show's big online presence and tech-savvy audience. When Daniels noted that online spoilers were a big problem, Krasinski humorously butted in with "That's my bad, by the way. I needed a little extra cash, (I'm online) dishing the secrets."
The Jim-Pam romance of course was discussed. One critic noted that last year's promos for the show tended to hype the "Jam" lovin' even if it meant ignoring the show's humor, and Daniels agreed. He noted that the Jim-Pam romance actually has "more impact when it's not carrying the weight" (of being the show's main thread) and claimed that "(the romance) has always been the B-plot," to which Krasinski pulled mock outrage and pretended to storm out.
I'm a Jim-Pam fan myself -- it's hard not to be -- but it's also hard to read some of the online fan forums that dismiss any "Office" episode or plot that doesn't revolve around the two as a fairy-tale. The show has a lot more going for it than just one couple's fate.
The panel was also asked how they would handle NBC's newly announced "green week" in November, which might seem a tough fit for comedies. Krasinski was quick to joke "Well, we're screwed. We're a PAPER company."
And fans should mark their calendars now: The third season of "The Office" DVDs will be out Sept. 4, complete with the same style of humorous commentaries as past DVD sets.
'SCRUBS'
Executive producer Bill Lawrence said there was no desire to make the J.D.-Elliot romance an eternal push-pull relationship. It's not "Sam and Diane, it's not 'Cheers,' " he said. "We're not that show." He also shared that fans are fairly evenly divided on whether they want the two together when the series comes to an end after this season, saying he'd seen the violent reaction of fans to the ambiguous "Sopranos" finale and hoped to resolve the show in a way that satisfied both pro-J.D.-Elliot fans and those who aren't buying the couple.
Star Zach Braff said it was actually "really cool" to be working on what's been announced as the show's final season, saying he felt the news that this was their last season had invigorated and excited the cast and crew. Said Braff: "I think to go in for the final 18 (episodes) with knowing it's
we're going out with a bang, we're going out with the way Bill wants to end the show."
Despite critical acclaim, the Thursday shows have not always done well in the ratings. When asked about plans to boost those numbers, Lawrence noted "you can either make the show that you've been making all along and hope that the people that like it stick with it, or claim that the Nielsens are fraudulent, which they are..."
