Ben Schwartz is excited. Whether it is playing the scene stealing Jean-Ralphio on Parks & Recreation, writing the remake of Soapdish, shooting his new Showtime series House of Lies, or simply talking about comedy, Ben Schwartz is excited.

When asked about his 10-year involvement with the UCB Theatre, he spoke like it was the only thing ever worth talking about. At one point, beaming, he just started naming people he felt lucky to watch there, “Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, Rachel Dratch, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel…” naming 12 performers before remembering he was being interviewed. In conversation, he’ll dart back and forth between topics, overwhelmed by his enthusiasm over working with this “genius” or that person he’s “idolized.” He’s excited.

I first met Ben two years ago when I was working in the mailroom at his talent agency. I’d tape his auditions for projects varying from Up in the Air to Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. Each time, even for serious roles, he came in with a singular purpose of making whomever he could laugh. I remember ruining a take for The Squeakquel by laughing sharply when he tagged a line about Alvin with, they “just Top Chef it up every Wednesday.” He wanted to use that one specifically because of how I ruined it. He recently explained to me, “If you don’t have fun with it, the camera and people watching know you’re not having fun. They want to hire people that are comfortable and confident and can’t wait to do it.” He didn’t get that part – sometimes he’s told he’s “too ethnic” (read: Jewish) looking – but in the two years since, this philosophy has shown to be working out for him.

I recently got to talk to Ben about his success, embracing his inner douchebag, and being excited.

This seems to be a big year for you so far; do you feel like you’ve turned a corner?

I think for writing it really has. You can’t really see it when it’s happening. I’m not very good at enjoying the moment; I’m just worried about the next one. Like, I’m writing Soapdish and this movie for Universal, and while finishing them, I’m like “Fuck, I need to think of my next movie idea.”

Last year when Undercovers came out, before it aired, people were like “This show is going to be the biggest show on television.” I was like, “Oh my god, I got my show. It’s on TV. I can’t wait. I play with guns. I get to be funny.” Then it got canceled. This Showtime show will be great because it will be my first time doing a full season of something. I get to work with Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell who are geniuses.

So I had a little bit experience on TV, but this year the writing stuff is starting to come.

Every interview I’ve seen you give you seem super enthusiastic. Is this just your natural state or are you amazed about where you are?

I’m still very excited. I’m excited I get to even do interviews. I’m excited I get to work with people like JJ [Abrams] or Rob Reiner, who is producing Soapdish. I’m still very excited by all this.

I’ve realized how fortunate it is to be doing what I’m doing, to write and work with people I’ve idolized from afar for quite some time. I think that’s the enthusiasm.

When these things come up, I get to take a second because you ask questions that I don’t think about ever. It gives you a second to really think about it and get you excited about where you are.

Have you had any “oh shit, I can’t believe this is my life” moments?

When I sat down with Rob Reiner and we started talking about movie ideas together. To riff off of Rob Reiner is a special thing.

When we shot the pilot for Undercovers, JJ Abrams directed it and there was a scene where I improvised something at the end. He didn’t call cut so I kept on going. I look up and see it was because he was crying from laughing so hard. It was an unbelievable moment for me because I idolize his work ethic and how good he is at what he does. He literally couldn’t say the word “cut” because he was crying. It was one of those holy shit moments.

I won an Emmy two years ago and when I went on stage I remember just being like “What the hell is going on?” When something big happens, it never feels real. I was holding the Emmy on stage, looking out into the crowd, there’s Steve Carell and I’m like “What!?” It didn’t make sense; it felt like watching a television show.

I remember watching that Emmy’s. I was like, “Holy shit, Ben Schwartz just won an Emmy.”

It made no sense, right? You were like, “Two minutes ago we were auditioning for The Squeakquel.”

It seems like a lot of the early stages of comedian is figuring out what’s their thing that people find funny.

You’re correct. You start to learn what you do well. I think the version of myself that I like to do is that guy from the short films I write for myself.

Do you have a sense why you’re particularly adept at this?

It’s funny, some of them are douches but in Undercovers I played the exact opposite, I was a big nerd, For House of Lies I play an arrogant guy but its more real than being a douche. I’m not Daniel Day Lewis by any means; you see me on stage or on TV, it’s never me but it’s always a caricature of a version of me. That is the way I can play it most truthfully.

I don’t think I’m an asshole or a douchebag but Jean-Ralphio is a FUCKING DOUCHEBAG so in my head I’m like, “What is douchiest way to do this?” Every time I play that character I’m like “What is the douchiest way to get my point across in this sentence?” And it’s fucking fun.

Then the Jean-Ralphio character is similar to this I thing I did on ESPN. The douchey guy, I am getting pretty good at doing that.

ESPN’s Conversations with Ben Schwartz- Jordan Farmar and Matt Kemp from Ben Schwartz on Vimeo.

It seems like you’re having a lot of fun, especially when it’s you and Aziz.

When it’s just me and anyone of those characters, it’s the best. But with Aziz it’s so easy because those characters are so like-minded. We can go on for fucking hours talking about Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, literally, and really care about those movies.

If you were allowed to write any feature for you to star in, I don’t need a logline but do you have a sense of what that would be?

Well, right now there are some companies that are optioning some old scripts for me to star in that I wrote. So it’s kind of happening a little bit.

But if tomorrow you were like “Sony wants a totally new pitch and it’s for you to write and star in, what do you want to do?” It would definitely be a comedy but it’ll be a dark comedy. I think that’s what I want to write right now. All my ideas are skewing towards darker but really comedic, with real characters in absurd scenarios.

Do you have anything else to say to the Jewish public?

I want to make sure that everyone’s eating their Hamantaschen.

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For the NBC Thursday Line-up, there is definitely chaff in the midst of wheat, especially considering that none of the shows are especially well watched when compared to the Modern Familys and Glees of the world. So here is a preview of where the shows stand right now (from most bleak to the positively rosy)

Perfect Couples

Despite promise, Perfect Couples days – nay seconds are numbered. After six episodes it has developed so little traction that Ralph Nader is already working on a class action suit. At the end of the day, it was a multi-camera, laugh track dependent comedy in a single-camera’s body. Friends has held up surprisingly well over time but even it benefited from the rhythm and space filling of canned laughter. To make matters worse, Perfect Couples is in the perfect(!) timeslot for NBC to air Steve Carrel starring reruns of The Office before the eventual Carrel-less new episodes later in the season.

Outsourced

The former breakout (nominally watched for any other network) hit of NBC’s Fall season has struggled mightily at 10:30. In addition to its difficult airtime, Outsourced is slotted as not only the sixth of six comedies but also the fourth workplace sitcom in a row. If laugh fatigue were a thing, five million people would have it by the time this loveable bunch of Indians (and unlovable bunch white people) beam onto their TV screens. They also are not doing themselves any favors with how aggressively unfunny the not funny parts are. It has finally developed a consistent joke infrastructure but far too often it uses lowbrow as a crutch. Last night might have been a series best – the mustached Ragiv as a tying women to a train track villain was one of the night’s stand out bits – yet it still had a share of hard-to-watch jokes. That being said, NBC does not hate the show as much as many of the early critics did. The hope was probably to have it build a consistent enough audience, in which they could move it to another night. Alas, it seems they are left to choose between it and the critically lauded Community.

Community

Yep, as laughable as it may seem, Community might get canceled to make room for Outsourced. Regardless of how praised it is, Community is not a well-watched show and its ambition is seemingly very costly. If you give the NBC executives the credit in understanding that it is a revolutionary show then you must assume that they understand that it might be too challenging for a broad audience. Take last night’s brilliant episode, which somehow took the mockumentary in a completely new direction. Previously, a comedy would either spoof the format (Spinal Tap) or use it as unacknowledged plot device (the American Office). Instead, Community – as they do – completely worked within the vocabulary of the format, played it straight, and effectively had fun with actual documentaries and those shows pretending to be one. This is pretty heady stuff for an 8:00pm time slot. Still, it is this ambition that will likely (hopefully) save Community. NBC’s new boss, Kabletown Comcast, has vowed to be a friend of the artist and Community is undeniably art. Wishful thinking or not, this show deserves to be on the air and we think it will be this time next year.

Parks & Recreation

The show is as secure as it has ever been. It is getting solid numbers thus far and the forced hiatus provided the necessary catalyst for a more impassioned fan base. Simply, Parks & Recreation is operating at the highest and most consistent level of any comedy on television. It might not be as ground-breaking as Community but it exist as the day’s platonic ideal of a situation comedy, putting out 30 minutes of beautiful paced, honestly felt, painful funny television every week. More pragmatically, NBC would not have brought the show back at all this season if it did not think it was worthy. So unless, P&R takes a completely unlikely turn for the worse, it will be fine. Though, it is probably too early to get excited about the idea of a complete season after this split-up nonsense.

The Office

Other than the crossing of the F’s and dotting of the I’s, The Office is as secure as any on the network. Unlike the rest of this ragtime bunch, people actually watch The Office and this season reminded the fans and doubting-critics alike why. The funniest season in years is likely in response to the renewed urgency that came from Steve Carrel’s impending departure yet this quality of output appears likely to continue as for the first time in six years the show has something to prove. We are decidedly on the Pro-Michael Scott leaving side and are hopeful for where the show will go next year.

30 Rock

It has spent so many years on the cancellation bubble that it is nice that it was the first picked-up for next year. This is likely due to some sort of Hollywood power play, however, we like to think it is because of some unspoken Philadelphia loyalty on behalf of Kabletown Comcast. Even more likely, is that Tina Fey is a national treasure and 30 Rock has been an unstoppable force of jokes for five seasons. With each passing season the stakes have escalated, and last night showed Liz Lemon at her most Lemony. With a cat named Emily Dickenson and a fanny pack in tow, Liz appeared to finally have given up. Only to be saved by a man that was precisely trained to bed her and her friends. It was quite possibly the most sentimental episode in the show’s run and we ate it up. Maybe, this is the direction 30 Rock will look to steer heading into next year, Alec Baldwin’s last as the incomparable Jack Donaghy. Last night’s episode was the best of the night, so we hope so.

So as the night’s winner, here is a clip from last night’s 30 Rock

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In the first act of this week’s This American Life, the worthy-of-infatuation Ira Glass examines a rift that has emerged among the writing staff of The Onion. He goes on to suggest that the conflict stems from,  “a problem that comes up in any creative project that lasts even a few years; you don’t want to become a parody of yourself, you don’t want to keep repeating the same things over and over. Yet, there are some things you do a lot of that are just built into the DNA of what you make.” For comedic entities, like The Onion or powerhouse sitcoms, being on the wrong side of self-parody results in hard to watch staleness. When someone proposes that The Office or 30 Rock is not as good as it used to be, this is often what they are really suggesting. Though both of these shows are definitely guilty of being too much like themselves*, last night’s episodes suggest that all hope is not lost.

30 Rock has not necessarily been bad it just has been missing its usual spark.  The jokes hit with less frequency and when they do they are not nearly as sharp. There are few things as water spittingly hilarious as a classic Jack and Liz rat-at-tat cold open yet after almost 100 of them, it is hard for them not to appear repetitive. Somehow though, last night was different and maybe it was because the episode slyly shifted the stakes.

We have a feeling that Jack having a baby (though Avery would prefer 100% of the credit) might be the best possible thing for the show moving forward. Sometimes characters, like real life people, have to grow up; think seasons 7-10 of Friends compared to the early years. Jack now has a Canadian-American daughter that he vows to treat like a human baby and an EGOTed Tracy appears to making steps to becoming a more socially-responsible crazy person, so maybe the show too will find a way to be more mature. Ok, so a drastic move to become more grown up is likely not on the horizon, at least not until Alec Baldwin departs, and that is a great thing because that is not its DNA. Still, it is these little adjustments that are completely essential for the 30 Rock’s longevity.

On the other hand, The Office’s devastatingly good showing last night and generally great season as a whole, exemplifies how beneficial increased stakes can be on a show operating on autopilot. Michael Scott has acted like an idiot in about 140 of the show’s 142 episodes but rarely as enjoyably as last night’s fool in love. The writer’s brilliantly used his powers of cringe induction for good opposed to evil. The scene in which each grossed-out staff member tempers their complaint about Hol-chael’s PDA by noting how happy they are for them was flawless. This story line also succeeded in helping to bring Michael and Holly closer together in a way that avoided feeling predictable regardless of a certain looming cast departure.

This is reminiscent of the one thing The Office probably did better than any sitcom in the last 20 years, executed a will-they-won’t-they arc that was fresh and surprising despite its inevitability. A night focused on each show’s romantic proclivities furthered The Office’s case. Parks & Recreation and Community might be the two new comedic standard bearers but neither has successfully executed a fulfilling romantic arc, instead both tend to focus on the relationship of the group.

With Steve Carell leaving it appears that the writers have been conscious to tell the story through the eyes of the rest of the group as well as its protagonist, giving the ensemble a chance get the big laughs. This reveals another benefit of The Office shake-up, the show is beginning to shift towards the less worn out characters. There is no better example than last night’s subversive cold open that showcased Craig Robinson finely-tuned deadpan and ability to shed a single tear (seriously, if there is not a “Daryl For New Boss” Facebook group already, god help me).

Carell is undeniably a transcendent talent but this season thus far has proved an Office with out him might be a great thing. The show seems capable of maintaining what stylistically makes The Office The Office while also exploring new and different types of stories and characters. Hell, regardless of the public radio reported conflict, The Onion is more popular than ever, operating in its 23^rd year. Maybe 20+ seasons of The Office is a bit much but with this new sense of purpose we are committed to at least seven more.

So as the night’s winner, here is a clip from last nights The Office.

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In last night’s installment of NBC’s epic Thursday night comedy lineup each show shared a common objective: to ground the viewer in the location and setting of each series and to offer an idea about the world around the central cast.  Twice that world meant, actor Charlie Koontz who was an unknown, like 161 Twitter followers unknown, until last night when he made appearances on both Perfect Couples and Community. Koontz as Leon in Perfect Couples, mustered about three lines, but that still places him as the series’ most active supporting character. It’s understandable to focus sharply on the three couples but unless the writers start fleshing out their version of Portland, the show will start feeling stagnant. Outsourced is still yet to create a reoccurring character outside of the mains but with episodes like last night’s they have succeeded in exploring locations outside the office. Most notably, this episode featured the most compelling cut-away shots of the series thus far.

For the line-up’s elder statesmen, The Office and 30 Rock, worlds are mostly set but each show is still trying to approach them in new ways. Scranton has never been a big star of The Office but last night the stable town was a perfect backdrop for a romcom-style courtship, which ended in its own version of a rooftop kiss between Michael and Holly. 30 Rock’s facsimile of the Art Deco office building/skating rink on the corner of 50^th st. and 6^th ave. is still packed with its oddly Jew-lacking (link — http://www.jewcy.com/arts-and-culture/30-rock-a-show-about-new-york-media-without-many-jews) bunch of buffoons but last night showed that Kabletown’s takeover was going to shake it around a little (maybe too little). Overall, both these shows have successful created a thorough articulated setting.

What makes the night’s best shows, Community and Parks & Rec, standout is the desire to instead create a Simpsonian universe that feels both genuine and lived-in.  For Community they are just starting to build the mythology of Greendale.  The writers have periodically offered glimpses into the ridiculous with Starburns, Leonard, and the dean but last night focused on a character with real pain and emotion. Played by Koontz, Fat (until Jeff can find a fatter Neil) Neil’s hyper-realistic characterization is the type of device the show has deftly been using to ground itself while having episodes exist completely outside the realm of possibility.

Still, last night’s best show, Parks & Recreation proudly displayed Pawnee, Indiana, possibly the most realized town in live-action television comedy history. As the show often does it started with a micro-problem – a hapless divorced dad’s (played by Will Forte in a role that is potentially funnier than his turn on 30 Rock) desire to get the Twilight book series included in Pawnee time capsule in order to impress his daughter, quickly explodes it into a town-wide issue. Last night’s hysterical town hall was a display of the absurdity and heart upon which Parks & Rec thrives, or as Griff from Boy Meets World put it, “They’re weirdoes who care.”

Three episodes in, Parks & Recreation is firing on every possible cylinder to a point where it currently stands as the best television show of 2011 thus far. There is its Murderer’s Row of an ensemble cast and the deft political satire but what set last night’s episode apart was Pawnee. With the book on Friday Night Lights and Dillon, TX set to close next week, maybe Parks & Recreation will ascend as the dominate vision of small town America a decade into a new millennium.

So as the night’s winner, here is a clip from last nights Parks & Recreation:

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Two weeks in, it appears that along with the departure of Steve Carell, the most exciting narrative of the NBC Thursday Spring season will be the epic battle each week between Parks & Recreation and Community for funniest show on television. Last night, P&R won by showing how hilarious it is to have Ron Swanson giddy as a school child, Andy run into a car, and many of the rest of the cast flu-ridden (leading Leslie to ask the night’s most resonate question, “Was I wearing a tiara when I came in here? Because if you happen upon it, will you have Lady Pennyface retrieve it and send it post hence?”).

Last night, the story might be that Perfect Couples was better than 30 Rock.  It feels as crazy to write as it probably does to read, but Perfect Couples was simply a more enjoyable 30 minutes of situationally comedic television.  We have undoubtedly loved 30 Rock for all of its six season but six seasons is still a long time and sometimes you have an episode that plainly is meh.

After two episodes, Perfect Couples is not as easily dismissed as it first appeared.  The premise – focusing each episode on a theme of marriage and having it play out differently over three different types of couples – has proven fertile for both necessary conflict and comedy.  In this way it is most reminiscent of Modern Family in that instead of avoiding clichés it embraces them in earnest and tries to put its own spin on it.  Perfect Couples stands as the one in show in this lineup that’s not trying to reinvent the wheel.

That is not to say Perfect Couples lacks ambition; it has shown itself to be packed with some bold flourishes.  With its quick cuts and frenzied score, it is easily the most frantically paced show of the night, which has successfully heightened the show’s farcical underpinning.  What has been really fun is that the stories are not told completely linearly; they use 30 Rockian cutaways not for absurdist diversions but to offer glimpses at where these couples started out and foreshadow future plot developments (like a not at all depressing Blue Valentine).  In last night’s episode, for example, this device was used to great effect to tell the surprising and ridiculous story of how Rex proposed to Leigh.

Not that the show is without kinks. Fundamentally, the writing and acting is grotesquely uneven.  There are three couples – the normal one, the crazy one (as Vance put it, “I’m big, she drinks from a jar, I really think this can work”), and the one that for some reason features Olivia Munn – yet they all do not contribute equally to the laugh creation.  The crazy one brings a lion’s share of the funny, the normal one operates as the necessary straight men, and the last one mostly exists as graveyard of failed punch lines.  As is often the case with young shows, the scripts were likely written before the cast was set, so one would hope that with time the characters will really start reflecting the actor’s voices.  If it gets enough episodes for this happen, Perfect Couples will grow into a decidedly good TV show.

Will it ever be one of the greats?  Probably not, but if <s>Kabletown’s</s> Comcast’s NBC decides to stick with this three-hour comedy racket, it might come to offer a nice relief from the high-wire cleverness of its line-up mates.  Meaning that Perfect Couples might be one of the best shows of any given night, but likely not operate at Parks and Recreation and Community’s current level.

So as the night’s winner, here is a clip from last nights Parks & Recreation

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Though sometimes the shows on NBC’s Thursday night comedy line-up are surprisingly not Jewfilled – with Annie, played by the day’s preeminent female Ashkenazi sexy symbol, Alison Brie, as the only explicitly Jewish lead character – most operate in the uber-intelligent realm of American comedy that Jews did the brunt of the work defining.  As hard as it is to accept that Tina Fey and/or Liz Lemon is not a chosen person, solace can be taken in that likely a large amount of the folks on the other side of the camera make sure the night is semitically represented.  This is why we feel we are the one’s best prepared to tackle the enormity of the line-up each week.

When NBC announced this November it was moving to a six-show/three hours of comedy Thursday line-up many were incredulous as the concept is mostly unheard of on basic cable and none of the shows are particularly well watched.  For example, the line-ups most popular show, The Office, still gets beat in the ratings each week by the comedy black hole known as Sh*t My Dad Says.  What separates the night from the rest of the network’s parade of unwatched inanity is that many of these show are good, like really good, like standard-bearers for the American sitcom good.

Still, we understand there is a lot to catch-up on, so here is a refresher on where each show stands before the start of the spring season:

Community 8:00pm

After a great freshman outing, Community’s second season has made a persuasive argument for why it is the not only the best comedy but quite possibly the best show on television.  Each week it seems to redefine the rules of what is possible on a sitcom.  Beyond its ability to undertake the attention grabbing, high-concept episodes, what has made the show so special is the honesty and depth of it characterization.  “Cooperative Calligraphy”, better known as the “Bottle Episode”, was a masterpiece of character-based situation comedy.  It exhibited that the show is able to pull-off its fantasy/reality blurring arcs because how grounded and human the characters and their relationships are.  This season has focused on each member of the study group coming to terms with the person they have become; from Troy accepting his inner-nerd to Annie reconciling her uptight high school self with her burgeoning physical confidence to Britta and Jeff’s subversion of the will-they-won’t-they cliché by pushing the audience to root for won’t.  If it continues on the same roll as its first half, Season two of Community has potential to be something truly great.

Perfect Couples 8:30pm

Perfect Couples is the sole new kid on line-up, and though it might not seem to be a “perfect” fit yet it is not exactly a sore thumb on the six-fingered hand metaphor. Created by two comedy-writing journeymen with credits ranging from Friends and 30 Rock to Joey, and starring Olivia Munn who continues to build a career around being consistently inexplicably cast, it does not come with the pedigree of the night’s heavy hitters.  It is still a single camera format and, if the first episode posted on Hulu late last year is any indication, there does seem to be a desire to really explore various perspectives on common marital themes. If Modern Family is The Office of the classic family ilk of sitcom, NBC appears to be trying to make Perfect Couples the 30-something relationship version.  It is not there yet but the first episode showed a good deal of promise, especially with the Vance and Amy couple that was responsible for 100% of the laughs.

The Office 9:00pm

With nothing at stake, The Office’s decline was undeniable as the show started to flounder as the Jim and Pam arc approached its resolution. Then before the start of season seven it was announced Steve Carell was leaving the show, giving the series a new sense of purpose.  Smartly, the writers have focused as much on Michael leaving as establishing the heir to the regional paper/printer throne.  If there is a frontrunner, it is Darryl, who due to a hilarious and nuanced performance by Craig Robinson, has evolved from a tertiary character to one of the most complex of the series. The season so far has been its most consistent and rewarding one in years and with the looming Michael swan song arc, we can expect a lot highlights to come.

Parks & Recreation 9:30pm

The first episode of Parks & Recreation second season kicked off with Leslie accidentally marrying two gay penguins and effectively creating a town-wide controversy. The hilarious episode sent a clear message that P&R was a different, more ambitious show then what they showed in its underwhelming first season.  At first the comeback comedy of the year, it evolved into the hands down funniest 30 minutes on TV. Last season ominously ended with the government shutting down indefinitely, leaving the loveable bunch at the Parks Department left unsure if they will ever get to fill a pit again.  On a positive note this shut down came from the hands of two state auditors, who played by Adam Scott (Boy Meets World/Party Down) and Rob Lowe (a million handsome fellow roles) are welcome additions to the already strongest comedic ensemble working today.

At its best, which is almost all the time, Parks & Recreation blends the heart and subtlety of The Office, the DVR-pausing joke-blitz of 30 rock, and a Simpsonian desire to explore the people and places of an absurd small town. With poor ratings, even by NBC standards, Parks & Rec was forced to ride the bench this fall.  Luckily, it seems poised to finally break this spring due to the rising star power of Aziz Ansari and its natural placement following the similar and popular Office.

30 Rock 10:00pm

30 Rock is so great that in a relatively down year the show is still can’t miss.  Famously, avoidant of too much plot and character development, this season has shown many of its leads at their most mature; Jack is engaged and a soon to be father, Tracy is nominated for a Golden Globe, Jenna has met her soulmate in the form of a Jenna Maroney impersonator, and even Liz has maintained a relationship for 12 episodes and counting.  More than anything, 30 Rock is a finely tuned joke machine that few shows can hold a candle when it is at its best.  Also, a move to 10:00pm will hopefully allow them to push the envelope even further and get out of the rut they are not really in in the first place.

Outsourced 10:30pm

The vitriol spat at Outsourced was so enthusiastic that the show ended up coming out on the other end underrated.  It is not necessarily a good show but it is also not an affront to annals of television history.  The show is also not nearly as racist as people liked to claim as it generally hovers in the same range as 30 Rock on most nights.  The highlight is the acting by many of the Indian characters, especially Ragiv who gets at least a couple laugh out loud one-liners an episode.  Also, the main will-they-won’t-they story arc is interesting because of the female’s looming arranged marriage, though it gets weighed down by the beyond bland performance of the show’s lead played by Ben Rappaport.  Most importantly for the future of the show, people actually watched Outsourced.  It was the #1 new series across all networks among the desirable 18-34 demographic, garnering better ratings than Community almost every Thursday.  Meaning, as scary as it might seem, Outsourced seems like it is here to stay.

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This week, Nerve ranked every character on 30 Rock, from funniest to least funny, and I noticed something rather strange:  there is only one obviously Jewish character, and it’s a minor one: Milton Greene played by Alan Alda.

If you have worked at any New York media company, you know that having no Jews around is about as possible as walking into a church and not seeing a cross.  Thinking I had to be wrong, I looked the cast over again to see if I made a mistake.

#30 Pete Hornberger could very well be.  Need confirmation.

#14 I weren’t sure about Lutz, but after crowd sourcing on Twitter to find out if anybody knew of any Yids on 30 Rock, we were hit with his Wikipedia page.

#11 Frank Rossitano is played by Jew Judah Friedlander, but alas, is supposed to be Italian.

#4 Leo Spaceman MIGHT be Jewish.  He’s a doctor, his name is Leo, and the ‘man’ in his surname might be the shows saving grace.

#1 Liz Lemon.  We know, we know.  EVERYBODY thinks Tina Fey is secretly Jewish.

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Soon “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” will be released on the upcoming 30 Rock soundtrack, officially placing it at the top of crappy DJs playlists to usher in manhood for many 13-year-old boys.

In the meantime, you can listen to the song streaming over at Stereogum.

The post “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” Gets Remixed. Bar Mitzvah DJs Get Psyched appeared first on Jewcy.

Little known fact about Judd Apatow: he’s a huge fan of nonsectarian humanitarian assistance and emergency relief to disadvantaged people worldwide. This would probably explain why he decided to call up friends like Sarah Silverman, Don Johnson, Sir Patrick Stewart, Tracy Morgan and Lindsay Lohan, to make a video for American Jewish World Services, because, well, that’s what AJWS is all about.

Want to learn more? AJWS is on Twitter and Facebook.

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