TVSquad

(S01E17) We learned many important things from 30 Rock this evening.

1. When you have to break bad news to someone, fake them out with something cute or distracting first. Whoa, holy crap, what's that? A baby panda sneezing!

2. Name your fists. St. Michael and St. Patrick. Tip O'Neill and Bobby Sands. Bono and Sandra O'Connor. Whatever works.

3. Catholicism, while it comes with the confession thing, also comes with crushing, crushing guilt. You could be eating tacos alone in a park, and boom, there's the guilt. As someone raised by an Irish Catholic family with more than one priest in its ranks and educated at Catholic schools, let me personally confirm that one. I feel guilty right now... for no apparent reason. It's just there - always crushing.

This episode didn't reach the farcical highs of "Black Tie." It was more standard sitcom fare than goofy bliss, but it wasn't bad. How wrong can you go cataloging Tracy's possible religious options, meeting Jack's family and seeing Liz embrace her role as the decider?

Ken Jennings recently conducted an interview with himself on his blog about his appearances on the first episodes of NBC's new game show, 1 Vs. 100, and offered a gentle critique of the show and how it could be made better. Apparently, being a member of the studio "Mob" isn't the most pleasant experience in the world. Folks aren't even allowed to sit down, though they do have a nice piece of plywood they can sorta lean against. By the end of a long day of shooting, many people actually got up and left. Jennings also said it's too easy for a contestant to build up a lot of money with the early, easy questions and just take off, which doesn't exactly make for compelling television. Jennings doesn't completely write the show off, but he does see a lot of room for improvement.

Given his penchant for trivia and his personable style, I wonder if we'll ever see a game show in the future hosted by Ken Jennings. I don't know what it would consist of, but I do know it should end with a boxing match against a kangaroo. That's the essential element missing from game shows these days.