Werewolf Bar Mitzvah, Spooky, Scary

I wasn't a huge Tina Fey fan back in her days on 'Saturday Night Live,' but that may have just been her proximity to Jimmy Fallon and their incredible tendency to overlaugh at the jokes. SNL aside, I've become a huge Fey fan thanks to things like MEAN GIRLS (remember when we had high hopes for Lindsay Lohan?) and the amazing, incredible '30 Rock,' which is probably my favorite show on TV right now (battling it out with 'The Office', 'The Colbert Report' and 'The Daily Show' with 'Smallville' always in contention).

I always hear comparisons between '30 Rock' and 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' but I feel like the late, great 'News Radio' is closer to the blueprint for this smart, silly comedy. And, like 'News Radio', I don't know how many people are tuning in for the fun.

For those who are tuning in and howled (no pun intended) at the clip of Tracy's "Thriller"-inspired novelty hit "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah", here's a full version for your listening pleasure.

Link via Music for Robots which I just found courtesy of Mobtown Shank.

TV Chatter and Waters on 'Earl'

Starting this week, Monday will probably take over as my favorite night of TV viewing. It's pretty tough to beat the adrenaline rush triple shot of '24' (last week's nuke attack slapped the wuss right out of Jack Bauer and sucked him back into the war on everybody), 'Prison Break' (the show might be centered around Michael and Lincoln, but I'd watch a whole show of nothing but the amazing T-Bag), and 'Heroes' (simply the best show on television, network or cable, period).

But I have to hand it to NBC for finally getting back to basics with their Thursday night lineup. As recently as the start of this season their solid block of comedies -- 'My Name is Earl', 'The Office', 'Scrubs' and '30 Rock' -- were spread all over the schedule forcing me to timeshift my viewing habits to make my own comedy night. Now they've saved me the trouble by putting all of these shows back-to-back (squared) on one night.

And while 'Earl' and 'Scrubs' can be hit or miss and the latter's musical episode was far better than I anticipated, 'The Office' and '30 Rock' are in a class by themselves. Kudos to 'The Office' for integrating new characters and then figuring out a way to whittle them down over time so that we're left with the core members of the Dunder Mifflin team. (Jim's realization last night that he missed Dwight -- "Congratulations universe, you won" -- was both sweet and hysterical.)

As for '30 Rock', I'm just glad the whole world -- or at least the people who take the time to tune in each week -- are getting the chance to enjoy Alec Baldwin's brilliant turn as NBC honcho Jack Donaghy. I loved last night's episode, especially the scenes of Kenneth the page dealing with the Brian Williams aftermath, but it's Baldwin (and to an extent Tracy Morgan) who gives the show its comic zing.

Before I forget and get back to work, John Waters turned up on 'My Name is Earl' last night as a funeral home director. He's only in the show for a couple minutes but got the biggest laughs of the episode (at least in our house) thanks to delivering his lines in pure Waters fashion. You can watch the entire episode at NBC's web site. I think Waters turns up in the second segment.