Is It Me??

I'm having an identity crisis.

Now I consider myself a pretty good judge of cleverness. I certainly have to create enough of it in the course of my average day. And, when it comes to TV comedy, I'd like to think that I can appreciate what needs to appreciated. And flush what needs to be flushed.

Over the years, I have enjoyed and embraced a myriad of television sitcoms. I could laugh out loud heartily to the utter silliness of a "Green Acres" at one moment and then hit the same giggle meter listening to the Noel Coward-like verbal sparring on "Frasier." From "I Love Lucy" to "The Beverly Hillbillies" to "Mary Tyler Moore" to "Family Ties" to "Everybody Loves Raymond" to "Entourage," I think I run the gamut of funny. I'm an equal opportunity employer when it comes to good comedy. And, usually, I'm in lockstep with most of the critics and, gasp, the general population.

Which brings me to NBC's "30 Rock." This show, which debuted last season, is the current darling bastard child of all television critics at large. When it came on in September of 2006, it got reviews generally reserved for the New Testament. I watched the first two episodes.

I didn't laugh once.

It goes on, for its first season, to become TV's equivalent of Jesus in the wilderness. The prophet and savior that nobody recognizes. Despite the laudatory praise piled on by journalists across the country, lots of folks didn't watch it. That happens. Like most of the population, I didn't catch the first year-and-a-half of "Everybody Loves Raymond." But, once we all did, it caught on like Pinkberry Yogurt. I consider that show one of my top 10 favorite sitcoms of all time. It's the only TV series that I own completely on DVD from first to last episode.

Meanwhile, I am hearing all last season from friends I respect how good "30 Rock" is. Alec Baldwin appears as the funniest character to hit TV since Archie Bunker. One LA Times writer goes so far to devote 15 paragraphs to a comparison of "30 Rock" and "Mary Tyler Moore." At the end, he argues that "30 Rock" is a better show and that Tina Fey is a better actress than Mary Tyler Moore. I raised my eyebrows so high that I gave myself a migraine.

And, then last month, there are the Emmy Awards. "30 Rock" is nominated for a dozen or so. Alec Baldwin is considered a shoo-in winner for Best Actor, although I know that this will never happen. Most of my actor friends say he is widely hated in those circles. He is regarded as a "lazy" actor---one who does the barest mininum in choices and is not particularly generous with his fellow castmates. Indeed, he does not win. But, "30 Rock" is named Best Comedy. NBC pumps this new to the rafters as they barely renewed it for a second season, since it ranked 105 out of 104 shows last year.

Hmmm, thinks I. Time for a revisit. After all, according to my well-researched theory, most comedy shows don't hit their stride for the first season or two as writers learn to hit the voices of their cast. If you look at the most successful TV comedies, the ultimate creativity usually is achieved in Seasons 3 through 5. Those are the peak performance years. After that, the actors start to phone it in and the writers spend more time working on their screenplays at Starbucks. But, I digress...

I checked into "30 Rock" for its first two episodes of the second season.

I didn't laugh once.

I sat stonefaced like Buster Keaton.

Each episode was essentially four or five SNL sketches stitched together with a bare bones plot. The alleged "new" Mary Richards is an incredbily unlikeable character, played by somebody who really can't act beyond reading a Weekend Update teleprompter. As for Alec Baldwin, his performance pretty much matches his girth: bloated. Moreover, I can't really connect with the setting of the show. Who cares about the funny antics of a Lorne Michaels-like live variety show? I always thought that the early goings on of SNL with Belushi, Akyroyd, and enough drugs to stock a Walgren's would be great fodder for a feature film. As a weekly sitcom, who can identify with these folks as an extension of your family? Because, at the end of the day, all sitcoms are about a family of characters that can provoke some small semblance of recognition to our own lives.

Have I lost the ability to understand the concept of "funny" anymore? Is it an age thing? While I don't get "30 Rock," I'm certainly enjoying the first weeks of "Big Bang Theory," which clearly targets twenty-somethings as its primary audience.

I am hoping that my failure to appreciate "30 Rock" is simply no different than my dislike of certain foods like asparagus and sushi. But, there is still that nagging thought...

Is it me?

Dinner last night: German cervelat on baquette with side salad.