Everyone Dies Sometime, Kiddo – Thoughts on the ‘Breaking Bad’ Series Finale.

The following article is about last night's Breaking Bad finale. Spoilers follow.

I haven’t written about Breaking Bad before now, because my recent obsession with the show is just that: recent. I watched the pilot many years ago, and was really turned off by it. It felt clunky and overly expository. I thought that, if a show had to spend so much time proving the legitimacy of the world, than this was not a show worth getting into.

Boy, was I wrong. Over the past year, marathon viewing sessions of Breaking Bad have made me a much darker person, but they have also instilled in me a hope for television’s future. With a landscape populated with sub-par reality television and inexplicably popular CBS sitcoms, it was nice to see a show that was both a ratings hit (especially in the final, protracted season) and a critical darling. It was incredible to see a show that didn't f*ck around with the audience, that was constantly rewarding, and that didn't sacrifice character for story (with a few minor exceptions). It was great to see a series that wasn't so up its own ass that it was afraid to innovate and change, molding the narrative as it went along.  After years of Lost creators telling people that they had an endgame in mind when they totally didn't, it was nice to see a show that gladly flew by the seat of its pants when it came to breaking character and story arcs. This loose structure made it

The Office Series Finale: Some Thoughts

 A WARNING: Due to EMOTIONS, my thoughts are a little scatter-shot, 

so some of what I'm about to write might not make sense.

When Steve Carell left The Office two years ago, I was impressed with the way that the show handled his goodbye. There wasn't a lot of fanfare, there was very little crying (on-screen, that is). It was simply a wonderfully perfect episode full of honest and sweet goodbyes. I wrote then that 'the show has always succeeded in the quiet moments', and that was true once again in the series finale, which saw the return of a lot of favorite characters and the departure of even more. There were big decisions made and character revelations abounded, but it was the smaller moments that took center-stage.  

30 Rock Finale: Some Thoughts

Take a bow, Tina Fey. Take a frakking bow.

30 Rock ended its amazing run tonight, and I'm still trying to process it all. There were a lot of shout-outs to seasons past, some nods to other show finales, and some incredibly well-placed and fast-paced guest spots. Nancys Pelosi and Donovan turned up, Jenna finally showed a real emotion, and things really worked out for old Liz Lemon. I have some questions (when is Grizz & Herz coming to NBC?!), but for the most part I am very happy with how things turned out.

If I had to put into words how I feel about 30 Rock, I think it's best to quote the hit song from the Rural Juror musical: These were the best days of my...flurm.

For more thoughts on 30 Rock, check out our past articles on the show:

30 Things We'll Miss About 30 Rock

30 Rock's 100th Episode

30 Rock's Great 2nd Live Episode

That Time One Of Us Saw Tina Fey

Liz Lemon's Relationships, Ranked

Liz Lemon Wedding

TGS with Tracy Jordan: A Hellscape

Great 30 Rock Moments

Hipster Baby and 30 Rock

Jackie Jormp-Jomp and "Muffin Top"

Evaluating 30 Rock's Unaired Pilot

30 Rock's Final Week

Jack Donaghy's Many Lady Loves

Alias on 30 Rock

30 Rock's Final Week

We're currently four days away from the end of 30 Rock. The one-hour finale will air, we will cry, and then it will be over. Unlike other great comedies like Seinfeld, Cheers, or even older comedies like The Dick Van Dyke Show or The Mary Tyler Moore Show (we've got a whole Mary Tyler Moore obsession over here), it's not clear yet what the impact of 30 Rock will be. If anything, it seems like networks are hauling butt in the opposite direction, choosing to develop shows with easily digestible comedy and empty jokes with no relevance to the characters or their motivations. Despite a lot of wonderful comedies on the air right now, it seems like 'smart' comedy is quickly falling away. This season will mark the end of 30 Rock, but also the end of The Office and the possible end of countless others (Don't Trust the B, Happy Endings, Ben and Kate, etc.). More than any other show, though, 30 Rock feels and has always felt like a show created for us: for TV nerds that missed countless sporting events, mitzvahs (both bar and bat), holiday celebrations, and community events so that we could spend more time with our beloved TV boxes, who were always there with a new episode of Pete and Pete or a re-run of Alias just when we needed it. For people that count television among their loved ones and cried during the Friends finale, not because it was really that great an episode, but because it was the end of an era, dammit!

Is this the time to wallow in our suffering, crying "LIZ LEMON!" to the heavens and a vengeful god? Perhaps, but it's also a time for reflection, for soaking in the joy that the show brought us. Regardless of the strength of 30 Rock's final episode this Thursday, there's no denying the brilliant seven seasons that have come before it, nor the momentous final season that we have seen, gifted to us by Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, and all the other amazing people behind and in front of the camera.  We've followed Liz from the lettuce-hating creator of The Girlie Show to the woman that she is now: slightly more put-together, married with two children, still a hater of all things green and leafy, and the showrunner of the (just cancelled) TGS with Tracy Jordan. We've watched Jack wrestle with the contradictory nature of his conservative values and those of the hippie, 'feminista' employee that he loves so much. We've watched Liz and Jack Donaghy's relationship grow from antagonistic to friendly to pseudo-sexual to way-too-enmeshed to whatever they are now. We've seen Jenna go from a fame-loving nincompoop to a brilliant psychopath, hellbent on being famous no matter what the cost. We've been confused as Tracy Jordan does whatever it is Tracy Jordan does (WWTJD? IDK). We've enjoyed Kenneth as he used kindness to be continually fired and demoted, until he finally got the Head of Television for President of NBC title that was his all along (he loves TV so, so much). We've been simultaneously creeped out and overjoyed by the antics of Pete, Toofer, Frank, and Lutz, and we've stared too long at Cerie when we were supposed to be watching something else in the scene. We've cried with Jonathan, we've laughed with Colleen, and we've been shamed repeatedly by Jack's ex-wife Avery. We've even fantasized about astronaut Mike Dexter and considered settling with Wesley Snipes.

Now, more than ever, it's time to look back at the brilliance. We've spent many Thursdays enjoying 30 Rock, and we've spent the last few Thursdays looking at our favorite moments from the show. This week on Tableau Your Mind will be no different. We'll be checking in with old flames, favorite episodes, and missed moments. We'll be looking at Jack's relationships, 30 Rock's indelible mark on product placement, and so much more. Unless we're too busy crying - then we'll just be posting YouTube videos.

Jackie Jormp-Jomp [30 Rock]

Let's all sit back and enjoy Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney as Janis Joplin Jackie Jormp-Jomp (née Janie Jimplin).  If you recall, Jenna starred in Sheinhardt Wigs' movie about Janis Joplin, but they couldn't get the life rights nor the song rights, so a lot of amazing things happened.

Like Yoplait Yogurt, it is so good.
Like Greek Yogurt, it is good for you.
Like Dannon Yogurt with fruit on the bottom, it is also so incredibly depressing:

skip to second 46 on this one:

Liz Lemon is Married! [30 Rock]

BIG OL' SPOILER ALERT

Jack Couldn't Be Happier

It's official! Liz Lemon and Criss Chros are married, and the ceremony was just as weird and magical as we hoped it would be. It started out shakily, with Liz's fears of becoming a bridezilla fueling a self-fulfilling prophecy. Eventually, though, Liz pulled it together with the help of the two men in her life, found the perfect way to be pro-woman, and showcased her love of Star Wars. By dressing up as Princess Leia, she walked down the aisle in something

30 Rock Thursday Rock!

It’s difficult to put into words how much we love 30 Rock. The greatest showing of our affection is that the show was the subject on of our senior thesis papers in college. And while “30 Rock and Its Big Mirror” is pretty much unreadable today, it is a perfect example of our devotion and ridiculous attachment to this show. How else could you explain the use of the completely nonsensical sentence “30 Rock represents the future of post-broadcast, neo-network television by firmly rooting itself in the present”? That’s stalker-level lunacy, people.

We say this because 30 Rock is currently in its final season on NBC. Though we will forever be comforted by the many episodes we will watch in syndication, Netflix Streaming, and on DVD, we are nonetheless crestfallen. When news came of a shortened final season, it was bittersweet at best. As any fan of the show knows, 30 Rock was lucky to see a second season, and with dwindling audiences and lessening critical cache, it seemed like getting a Season 7 was a gift from God. It was a gift from Anna Howard Shaw, at the very least.

As 30 Rock draws to a close, we will be devoting each Thursday (or every Thursday that we remember to do it) to some aspect of 30 Rock that we adore. It’s called “30 Rock Thursday Rock”, and it’s real. It’s as real as an egg.

So join us on this journey, looking back at great episodes, amazing guest stars, funniest lines, and weirdest patterns. Join us for the end of 30 Rock and the beginning of our clinical depression.

Doctor Who Fall Finale Recap [Updated]

Amy, Rory, and those
damn Weeping Angels

The Ponds bade farewell in tonight's episode of Doctor Who, "The Angels Take Manhattan." This being the last episode with the Ponds and with the reappearance of the Weeping Angels, it was obviously frightening, emotional, and devastating. We don't want to spoil much, but we will share a few of our thoughts:

In their final hour, it was nice to see all of the Ponds (Amy, Rory, and Melody) back together, and Rory and Amy both had some nice moments with their daughter.

Once again, people were very keen to tell the Doctor that he shouldn't be alone. We get it, he gets antsy and murdery and lonely when he's by himself. WE GET IT!

All the talk of the Ponds' FINAL EPISODE made it very clear to

TV Review: White Collar Returns Triumphant

Neal is on the run

Oh, White Collar, we never know how much we miss you until you come back. We spend our days watching 'important' television dramas, full of 'important' characters and stories. And frankly, it's depressing. How long can we deal with Alicia Florick's marriage and Kalinda drama on The Good Wife, how much much more time can we spend with Don

Jack McBrayer and Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, Make Everyone's Day

This is amazing.

Interview: January Jones's Fat Suit

With the return of 'Fat Betty' Francis on last night's Mad Men, Tableau Your Mind sat down with January Jones's Fat Suit for a quick conversation on working with the Emmy-nominated actress, her previous vaulted career work, and what's next for her character on AMC's hit show.

Tableau: It's really an honor to sit down with you. It's been great seeing your work on Mad Men this season.
Fat Suit: Thank you, It's been a pleasure working with such amazing actors like Jon Hamm and Kiernan Shipka.

T: And January Jones?
FS: Sure, why not? You know, one thing I will say is that, usually, actresses get really hot when they're in me and tend to complain. With January, she never overheated. If anything, she got colder. I also loved the work we did in my second episode in that scene with Jessica

30 Rock: Live From Studio 6H! (Updated with West Coast Info)

30 Rock's live episode last night, "Live From Studio 6H," was pretty great and showed us so many things. Sure, the beginning was a little slow and hammy (in a bad way), but it became hilarious and hammy (as in, Jon Hamm-y) in the best way. Even with almost no plot or character progression, we learned so much! Here are just a few of the gems we uncovered:

Gossip Girl: 100 Episodes, 1 Billion Plot Twists

Serena and Blair's hair is full of secrets

Gossip Girl celebrated its 100^th episode last night, and it was not short on revelations and plot twists. But that’s what we have come to expect from a program that New York Magazine routinely calls 'The Greatest Show of Our Time.' On the day of Blair's wedding, everyone has come together to celebrate the show's momentous occasion (including Wallace Shawn!) with several looks back and a huge step forward.  It was a pretty spectacular episode, which is saying something given the somewhat lackluster episodes that preceded it. Before we delve into the best parts of the episode, we should mention that major spoilers follow, so be prepared.

ABC's 'Revenge' is So Sweet

Revenge is in the Eye of the Beholder

With so many new and returning shows vying for my attention, it took me a while to make it to Revenge, the soapy drama on ABC. Granted, there was more than just my over-packed TV schedule that kept me away. The marketing, specifically, was pretty terrible, with Emily VanCamp in some sort of thorn dress that was apparently made out of anger?  Also, while I