My Fellow Blackmericans

This is going to sound ridiculous.

I know that.

I know you are going to read this and think, "wow, 42 Inch Television has lost his mind."

And you know what? Maybe you're right.

The best written character on 30 Rock isn't Alec Baldwin's caustically Republican Jack Donaghy. It isn't Tracy Morgan's batty Tracy Jordan. It isn't even Tina Fey's unbelievably and adorably funny Liz Lemon.

No, it's Dean Winters' Dennis Duffy.

As Liz Lemon's ne'er-do-well ex-boyfriend, Winters plays the most douchey and realistic New Yorker that I've ever seen put on television. It's a total triumph of writing and acting. The Queens trash that Winters plays is so preposterously perfect that I guarantee people watching 30 Rock outside of New York (all three of them), wouldn't believe a guy like this could even exist. But he does. I've seen him. You've seen him. And that's what makes it all the more funny.

In tonight's episode, entitled "Subway Hero," Winters was a tour-de-force. As the title would suggest, Dennis becomes a New York celebrity by saving someones life on the subway platform (shades of Wesley Autrey and his 15 minutes of fame last spring.) This allowed for plenty of highlights. My personal favorites:

1.) While accepting a bronze medallion from Mayor Bloomberg (whom Dennis hilariously called "Mayor Bloomberger"), Dennis actually interrupted himself to shout "Stern rules! Bababooey!" Seriously, that might be the funniest thing ever. I realize Howard Stern was a huge national radio star, but if there is something more quintessentially New York than the "Stern rules! Bababooey!" prank call, I've never seen it. Plus, the idea that he was basically prank calling himself is just too funny for words.

2.) The face/point-to-the-camera Dennis makes whenever someone takes a picture of him. Pursed lips. Cocky eyes. It's perfect. There are dozens of idiots who have those exact pictures of themselves adorning their MySpace pages all around the Five Boroughs.

3.) Dennis' "band" singing Sugar Ray's "Fly."

4.) Dennis saying that the only thing going through his mind when he was saving the person's life was Derek Jeter, and following it up with "do you think you're better than me?" This is only something a delusional Mets fan would say or think.

5.) The constant gay jokes and references.

6.) Dennis' entire wardrobe, a total affront to all his gay jokes and references.

7.) The fact that Dennis was so happy that a "white stripper" offered to give him a "a squeezer."

8.) The harmonica rich music cue that played anytime Dennis was on screen, a mix of cheesy Bruce Springsteen and cheesy Bon Jovi.

It was a priceless episode. Dennis. Tracy, shilling for the Republican party and telling African American's to not vote, because they could better spend their time playing three games of pool. Tim Conway, playing an old actor who used to work at NBC, calling the writers room, the "Jew room." And on and on. I cannot tell you how many times I laughed out loud. Any trepidation that I had after last week's 30 Rock has been completely alleviated. This is the type of episode I've come to expect from the show. This is also the type of episode that I imagine few people outside of New York would even find remotely funny. Is there a way to just keep this show going here, once it gets predictably canceled by NBC after its third season?

It's a good thing 30 Rock was on-point tonight. Because The Office wasn't. Can't these shows get on the same page? Tonight's episode of The Office felt totally contrived and completely unoriginal. Yes, I've seen this episode before. It was a lot funnier when Rickey Gervais tried to get a date in the Christmas Special of the BBC version. I laughed and cringed with Michael, as he made a total ass of himself time and again. And I even felt anger towards him as he looked like the biggest dick imaginable by the end of the episode. But it all just felt too familiar and too Gervais. After four seasons, The Office shouldn't be ripping off episodes from it's BBC parent. It's a fine line: I want The Office to keep the tone of the original but not necessarily the exact same plots. That's what made the first season so underwhelming.

Meanwhile, Jim and Pam went from foreshadowing a break-up for the entire fourth season to being possibly engaged before the season is finished? Who's-a-what? Did anyone else think that was beyond ridiculous? It just felt thrown together and rushed. I love Jim and Pam together as much as the next person, but this seems like a plot turn that screams "jump-the-shark." And I realize the writers are in a tough spot: if they get engaged and we're doing wedding planning episodes of The Office, it's boring. While, if Pam bolts after Jim proposes, then well we're doing the whole Ross/Rachel thing, and it sucks. Either way the show is kinda screwed.

But Jim already proposing? As Dennis would say, that's just "gay."