Just as your disappointment fades over last fall’s new shows (Standoff), here come the midseason premieres to re-stoke your excitement: Rob Corddry’s The Winner, a new season of Extras, and the now-with-more-suitcase-nukes-than-ever return of 24. But wait—24 is already exhibiting dangerous levels of ludicrousness, thus inching it closer to backlash. Better perhaps to embrace 30 Rock, which everyone thinks is funnier than they expected—except those who think it’s not as good as they’ve heard. (See our own reviewer.) As for pleasant surprises, Democratic senator Jim Webb had a must-see-TV moment, stealing the president’s State of the Union bounce with a fiery post-speech rebuke.

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• Archive: “Television”
• Articles by Adam Sternbergh
• Table of Contents: Feb 5, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!