American Idol’s Bleep-Filled Shockfest. I kind of hate the American Idol results shows—they almost always feel like 57 minutes of filler before 3 minutes of actual tension and results. But last night’s show was different from start to finish, including a performance from my favoritey favorites, Sugarland. I could’ve had a great night just talking about Jennifer Nettles’s pants. But then with the extremely surprising announcement that Casey Abrams, long considered a front-runner (EW picked him to win the whole shebang), had been eliminated, the evening just went insane. From Randy Jackson stopping Casey mid-song to announce that the judges were saving him to Casey’s bleep-riddled relief, that was just GOOD TELEVISION. I make a point not to talk about reality television on this blog, but I’m not sure anyone could have scripted that five minutes any better.

Michael’s Proposal to Holly on The Office. God, that was so well-done. The show set that episode up to play out absolutely tragically. The somber moments about Holly’s family peppered throughout the episode (especially her poignant conversation with Phyllis about caring for aging parents) weighted the half-hour so heavily that it seemed Michael would completely botch the proposal by not picking up on his girlfriend’s pain and would end up ruining their relationship forever. Contributing to this set-up were the rumors we’d heard that Amy Ryan would (or wouldn’t or would or wouldn’t or would) be in one or any of Steve Carell’s final episodes. I felt a sad kind of fear throughout the episode, which was so nicely resolved by the sweet, realistic, dare I say beautiful final scene. He didn’t screw it up! She said YES! (Actually, she said, “Your wife becoming be will I.” Classic.) And the tension was broken with the announcement we’ve all known was coming—Michael is leaving. On his own terms, for the right reasons, the result of one good decision. Perfection.

Aaron Sorkin on 30 Rock. Oh, holy crackers. A walk-and-talk between Aaron Sorkin and Liz Lemon is something I did not know I needed before last night.

“You know my work,” he tells Liz. “I’m Aaron Sorkin—The West Wing, A Few Good Men, The Social Network…”

“Studio 60,” she interjects.

“Shut up.”

This one’s staying on the DVR.

Fox Renews Fringe! There was dancing. There was a celebratory shot of whiskey. There was a scream so loud I’m sure my neighbors thought my apartment was being burgled. I’m surprised, relieved, and so so so so so happy. I have a feeling the rest of the season is going to be pretty dark, and while I’m really excited, it would have killed me if this series had ended on a bleak note. It would have killed me if this series had ended at all. For Fox to make such a vote of confidence in the series (Kevin Reilly says it’s “truly hit a creative stride and has distinguished itself as one of television’s most original programs.”) just pleases me beyond explanation. The climb up the ranks of Twitter’s trending topics was the icing on a really joyful cupcake. Next step? Spending the summer politely convincing people to watch it.

This doesn’t even get into how great Parks and Recreation was, or how better-than-mediocre Grey’s Anatomy managed to be last night. Now I’m tired, and my throat hurts from all the screaming. Not bad for a random Friday morning in March.

every mom's dream // nbc promotional photo

30 Rock is apparently looking for a girl to play young Jenna in a flashback, and the casting call cracks me up:

[10YR OLD JENNA] female; Should play 10yrs old; Should resemble JENNA (Jane Krakowski) in appearance and personality.

“Should resemble Jenna in appearance and personality.”  Seriously?  You want a child who resembles Jenna in personality?  First of all, no one wants to meet a child like that.  And second of all, isn’t acting all about pretending you have a different personality?

Anyway, it amused me.

james franco is definitely an upgrade. // nbc promotional photo

Word on the street–and by the street, I mean Michael Ausiello’s column–is that James Franco is guesting on 30 Rock later this season.  Ausiello’s reporting that Franco will play himself and will be participating in a fake relationship with Jenna orchestrated by their agents.

First thought: Hilarious.

Second thought: Will there be a joke about how James Franco’s gotten so desperate for publicity that he’ll get in fake relationships and guest-star on General Hospital?  Because, I mean, it’s really not that big of a leap, and, frankly, there’s way too much humor there for them not to use it.

oh, kenneth // nbc promotional photo

As someone who grew up in Metro Atlanta, I’ve always been a little confused about why 30 Rock chose Stone Mountain of all places to represent Kenneth the Page’s hometown.  Stone Mountain is an outer suburb of Atlanta, is 69% African-American in population, and isn’t nearly the funniest-sounding town in the state of Georgia.

From how they’ve always depicted Kenneth–and how they depicted his hometown in the episode “Stone Mountain” last week–it doesn’t really make any sense why they chose Stone Mountain.

According to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article (thanks, Claire!), a former writer for 30 Rock was a Stone Mountain native and suggested the town as Kenneth’s birthplace.  The article says, “His bosses like that name because it sounded hick and Kenneth is kind of hick.”

Research, people!  Take a quick look at a map of Georgia and find towns like Snellville, Suwanee, and Lumpkin.  Willacoochee, Milledgeville, Zebulon.  Any of these both sound way more and are way more country than Stone Mountain.

The AJC quoted the mayor of Stone Mountain as saying, “It was kind of harmless. It was so disconnected from reality, it doesn’t really matter.” The mayor also noted that 30 Rock isn’t exactly his cup of tea.

Which is awfully ironic considering that the whole point of “Stone Mountain” was demonstrating the real or perceived differences between Jack and Liz’s world and “Real America.”  And the fact that (A) 30 Rock is disliked by a man who represents the town they misrepresented and (B) the writers couldn’t even make an informed decision about where to make Kenneth from brings the episode full circle by showing, in a very meta way, that there is a disconnect between the two Americas.

It almost makes you wonder if they did it on purpose.

oh, liz // nbc promotional photo

I’m extremely grateful 30 Rock is back this week, since Jim and Pam’s honeymoon absence would have otherwise rendered NBC Thursday a sad, sad night.  Luckily, though, it’s the return of, seriously, the funniest show on television.  (Let’s get this straight–I may not have much to say about them, but 30 Rock is the funniest show on television and Friday Night Lights is the best show on television.  I am very clear on these points.)

Fresh off its third Emmy win for Best Comedy, 30 Rock starts the season with pretty much business as usual.  Nothing about the show or the characters has fundamentally changed since it premiered three years ago, which is part of the reason why I rarely have anything exciting to say about it.  But it’s also part of the reason why the show is so great–it just consistently works.

In celebration of its return, I suggest you purchase this Glarkware shirt, which celebrates one of Liz Lemon’s most endearingly bizarre habits: