NBC Thursday Comedies - Week 14

30 Rock is nearly done and The Office is breaking down the forth wall.  Also, stick around to the end for a guest star appearance of 1600 Penn.

30 Rock - "A Goon's Deed in a Weary World"
They did a Willy Wonka parody!  I'm actually a little surprised they haven't done one sooner.  The Charlie stand in got some good time in, but I wish they could have done more with the other kids.  Ultimately Jack makes the only choice that makes sense for who to head up the network, Kenneth.  He did say in the first season that they'd all be working for Kenneth in five years, he was only off by two.  Now Kenneth gets to be a head honcho in this ruth-filled business he loves so much.  TGS with Tracey Jordan is now no more, but it was a fun last ditch effort to save it.  Everything having to do with the douchey CEO was amazing and spot on, and Lutz not even being able to get things right in other people's dreams was probably my favorite moment.  In the end, Liz gets to meet her kids who are little versions of Tracey and Jenna, really the only way that could go.

Parks and Recreation - "Women in Garbage"
A fun low-key outing.  Nothing close to the scale of last week's parties, just these characters we love going through their lives.  The funniest of this week's plots goes to Ron and Ann.  I like it when they pair those two together and yet it hardly ever happens.  Ron's declaration of loving nothing and running out of the room was amazing, as was him sitting on the floor with red shoes.  The Tom, Ben, and Andy plot had the great set piece of them losing horribly to the kids, but also ended with Tom realizing that basketball players all look super stylish in their press conferences.  Leslie, April, and Chris take on the lack of women in the government and that even lets the writers use a little bit of topical humor.  The fact that no one sends a women to the conference about women echoes the real world instances of panels about women reproductive rights not having any women.  Leslie and April being garbagewomen gave us some great moments for each character.  Leslie tying to sneak up on the refrigerator to move it and April's glee at discovering things in the trash about a girl she hates.  Not a monumental episode, but a lot of little things that adds up to very good.

The Office - "Customer Loyalty"
Now this is The Office at top notch.  Great character work all around this week, but especially Jim and Pam.  This is not some trumped up sitcom argument, but a real human conflict that a husband and wife would have.  It's what this show can do when it's at its best.  Pam's emotions at the very end of the episode were so raw and so well played by Jenna Fisher.  John Krasinski was equally as good on the other side.  The breaking of the forth wall is something they can get away with because it's the final season, and I like the idea of it.  That was barely anything though, and I reserve judgment on it until if or when we see more of this Brian boom mic guy.  Dwight not liking people leaving Dunder-Mifflin and, more importantly, him, falls perfectly in line with his character.  Dwight puts everything into his job because he actually likes doing it and finds it hard to believe people would want to leave.  Darryl watching the Youtube clip of Dwight being hit by the milkshake over and over again was a nice capper to the episode.  On the Erin and Pete front, we get more vintage Jim and Pam, and like I said before, I'm okay with that.  Only this time things get to be more wacky because Erin is a much less grounded person than Pam.

1600 Penn
The ads for this show were terrible, but it's an NBC Thursday comedy, so I gave it a chance.  I have not been disappointing.  It's not a great show, but I've been enjoying it more and more each episode.  The best part of the show by far is Josh Gad as Skip, the bumbling son with a huge heart.  He brings such wide eyed enthusiasm to everything he does that it's a treat to watch and usually leads to some good comedy.  Martha MacIsaac (that other girl from Superbad) is the unwed pregnant first daughter who acts as a nice foil to the insaneness of Skip.  Bill Pullman and Jenna Elfman get to play the parents, except she's only a step-mom and he's the President of the United States.  Putting sitcom style plots into the setting of the White House gives a different angle to what would feel more hackneyed in a suburban setting.  The only real complaint so far is they haven't figured out what to do with two youngest children, they've been completely absent for the past two episodes.  If this show keeps improving I think I may add it full time once 30 Rock finishes and Community (hooray!) comes back.