Robert Carlock
The Evolution of Ted Danson, Mr. Mayor of Television
If it feels like Ted Danson has always been on our television screens, well, it’s because that’s more or less true. He’s been around since at least the mid-1970s, cropping up in one long-running sitcom after another, buoying that with everything from prestige dramas to procedurals to a brief stint as a movie star in the ’90s (Three Men and a Baby, anyone?) He’s one of the hardest-working, and most ubiquitous, people in show business, cultivating a very specific persona that has itself morphed and changed as Danson’s hair has turned from brown to gray. Now, fresh off a four-year stint on the critically-acclaimed The Good Place, Danson finds himself as yet another bumbling man of power in a crisp suit, although a bit less openly demonic this time: Mayor Neil Bremer on NBC’s latest show, ...
Nerds! The 30 Rock Reunion Special Is Now Streaming in Full: Watch
Attention 30 Rock lovers — and sorry if that word bums you out unless it’s between the words ‘meat’ and ‘pizza’ — but the 30 Rock reunion special has finally arrived. If you want to go to there, you can watch it now on the NBC website. Unlike other recent reunions, such as Parks and Recreation’s fundraiser for Feeding America, 30 Rock: A One-Time Special is in service of NBC’s corporate overlords. Granted, as Jack Donaghy once said, every television show exists “to fill time between car commercials.” But here, the products being sold are NBC and its new streaming service Peacock, and half the commercials are seamlessly integrated into the reunion itself. But the special’s writers Tina Fey and Robert Carlock are also mocking their own willingness to shill, so it fits into the trad...
