NBC’s Thursday comedies were full of surprises – Things That Didn’t Suck This Week

Thursday night was pretty awkward for me, as I mentioned in my Community review, but there was still plenty of the comedy that I’ve come to depend on. However, there were a few things that made me laugh that I definitely was not expecting.

Vanessa Minnillo on 30 Rock

Let’s be honest: at this point, Vanessa Minnillo is primarily known for being engaged to Nick Lachay. Whether you know her from this or her stint on MTV, the point is, you don’t know her for her acting or her comedy. Usually when someone like this guest stars on a show like 30 Rock, he or she is maybe amusing, but always the weakest link of the episode.

However, Minnillo was genuinely funny as the racially-ambiguous news anchor Carmen Chao. She handled the dialog and fit right into the rest of the cast. Her scene with Liz and Avery in the baby store was probably my favorite of the entire episode.

I love the law of verbal traps.

Perfect Couples … in general

Honestly, based on the horrendous promos that led up to this show, I had very low expectations for Perfect Couples. While it’s certainly not edging out Community or Parks and Rec at the top of my list, it’s certainly no Outsourced.

This week was the third episode, and they’ve been getting incrementally better. Most of it is your standard sitcom tropes, but every episode, there’s usually something that sneaks up on me. This week, it was Rex and Lee’s Pulp Fiction homage.

After their crazy night of partying, I was groaning through the cliche, “We’re too old to party like this,” nonsense with the artfully messed up hair and sleeping on the wrong side of the bed. Because it was so bad, it just made Rex and Leigh’s dancing that much funnier. It’s also because I find Rex’s raging alcoholism and Leigh’s acceptance of it bizarrely amusing.

Clacked by Kona Gallagher
on Feb 06, 2011 @ 14:03 EST5EDT