I think that Adam Friedli nailed it when he said, "I love It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but this episode is just not nearly as strong as others from the season." Meanwhile, this is the episode of 30 Rock that knocked the trampoline episode of Community out of the running. I hate to see an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode fall off the chart, but to get into the Elite Eight you have to be one of the absolute best episodes of all season.
Tune in next time for tenth seed, 30 Rock Season Five, Episode Four, "Live Show," which aired October 14, 2010, and seventh seed, The Office Season Seven, Episode Nineteen, "Garage Sale," which aired March 24, 2011. It should be a good time.
While I thought this episode of 30 Rock would be a complete shoe-in, I also completely forgot what this episode of The Office dealt with. The short answer is The Office wins. Now for my explanation.
ReplyDeleteI still have not gotten into 30 Rock, so I usually don't try to vote when this show's involved since I don't have a great perspective of the show. But this particular episode I actually saw with Justin when he was visiting me. It was a massive surprise to us both that it was an actual live broadcasting. Sure live TV is nothing new, but due to who was involved this was a very special treat. What I did not know until I rewatched the episode(s) is that they taped two separate versions that night, one for each coast. I decided to watch both just to see if anything was different, and it FAR exceeded my expectations.
Not only were certain wordings done differently, but each version had different jokes in various sections, as well as numerous other subtle changes. Some were easy to notice, while others caused me to flip back to the same part in the other version to see if what I had just heard was actually new or if my mind was playing tricks on me. The other really cool thing about all of this was the timing differences on some of the deliveries of the jokes. The same jokes were still funny, but in some cases it was the difference between a chuckle and the desire to rewatch the delivery a few extra times. To me this was extremely interesting, because it was a concrete example of how major a role timing plays in a joke. To get the full experience, I highly recommend that you watch both the east and west versions.
And then I saw the episode of The Office. I've already written way too much, so I'll keep this short. It starts normally enough, and then goes back to some of the classic Jim and Dwight pranks that used to be so prominent earlier on in the series. Overall, there was some great humor going around that made this episode probably one of the better ones of the season already. The real zinger though was how Michael proposed to Holly. This was a long time coming, and it was worth the wait. Michael also dropped the bomb about leaving. This of course sets up for Michael leaving the show entirely.
Probably any other week, and I would have given this round to 30 Rock without even thinking. However, this episode of The Office dealt with two massive plot points for the show, one of which would change the show forever. Both episodes are top notch, but The Office was plain and simple more meaningful of an episode to its respective series. Although, I could still see this go either way depending on other opinions.
Thanks, Adam. Your thoughts will be taken into account.
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