Thursday Night Funnies

Last night's episodes of The Office and 30 Rock weren't laugh-out-loud hilarious for me, but both of them had their moments, and the more I think about both of them, the more I like them.

In The Office, Michael goes on a trip to Winnipeg. I'd read an article a few months back that Carell, Helms, and Nunez were going to be travelling to Winnipeg to film the episode in Canada, but after seeing the episode, I doubt that happened. All scenes were shot inside buildings, and we didn't get to see the wide snowy city streets. I've only been to Winnipeg once, and the people were absolutely lovely, but flying in, the city looks like Las Vegas without the lights -- a town stuck in the middle of nowhere. The Simpsons parodied Winnipeg (and Canada) to great hilarity a few years back, so I was looking forward to lots of in-jokes about Canada. They didn't happen.

That said, Andy travelling as Michael's translator was priceless (I particularly loved him ordering the drinks at the bar: "Beer me dos Long Island Iced Teas, s'il vous plait") and Michael referring to "Ca-Nah-dah" as a foreign country was awesome, but the jokes sort of ended there (not to mention -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- I think Scranton would actually be slightly further than 2 hours from Winnipeg: it's a 2-hour flight from Toronto, and Scranton is further away than that). But I nitpick.

Oscar and Andy made a very funny team, especially Andy declaring himself Oscar's WMFL. AWESOME.

The best part of the episode for me was Michael trying to come to terms with his break-up with Amy. He sadly fumbles with Concierge Marie and discovers she can't make up for what he's lost. The end of the episode, where he's on the phone telling the guy how mean he is and hanging up on him, was sad and amazingly handled by Steve Carell.

Of course, there were other great things in the episode. Ryan and Kelly making out and Ryan forcing her to break up with Darryl. When he realized Darryl didn't give a crap about Kelly, Kelly suddenly didn't look quite so hot in his eyes. His line, "I've realized that I can't do better than Kelly," is HILARIOUS, especially with the "aw" look she gives him in return. Ha! I read something a couple of days ago that said B.J. Novak will be taking leave from the show because he's been cast in Quentin Tarantino's new flick, "Inglourious Basterds," (and yes, I know that spelling is wonky but apparently that's how it's spelled). The article wasn't sure if Novak was leaving permanently, but he did sound like he was putting the character of Ryan to bed permanently, and would only return as a writer. I guess we'll see what happens.

And, of course, that ending: Pam and Jim reunited. What will her life be like knowing that her dream of becoming a graphic designer will never amount to anything and she'll only ever be a receptionist? Here's hoping that her return is a good thing for her, and not just a temporary happiness.

By the way, to all the viewers of Mad Men, did you notice the guy last week who was telling Pam to stay in NY was Harry? My husband called it, and then wasn't sure, and we both stared at him and realized if you slicked his hair back and put the glasses on him, it's totally him (I googled it and he was right).

30 Rock didn't have any laughs like last week's scene of Jenna dancing and singing "Ease on Down the Road" in blackface, which was shocking and hilarious all at once, though Jack wearing that hat that made him look like Tom Petty as the Mad Hatter in that "Don't Come Around Here No More" video was HYSTERICAL and had me in stitches for a long time. And as a kid, I too loved Night Court, though Harry hasn't aged as well as Markie Post. My favourite moment of all of that was how Ken punched the air with his fist and then held it like that, exactly how episodes of Night Court would end (only it was because the image had been stilled, not because the character held it). That was priceless.

What did you think? I haven't been talking much about other episodes of past weeks, but they've been great too. Have you all been enjoying this season of The Office and 30 Rock so far?