First up, Conan O’Brien in one of the funniest ads of the year. It brings up a good point though, Conan never does ads. So why would he do one this year? Could it be because NBC wants him to get some more exposure before he takes over The Tonight Show this fall?

Next up is Monsters vs. Aliens appearing in the Sobe commercial. This one makes a little more sense, since Sobe sponsored the 3D trailer event for Monsters vs. Aliens just seconds before. All in all though, the characters seemed a bit out of place in an already weird commercial.

Alec Baldwin of 30 Rock introduces the American public to Hulu. Hulu is part owned by NBC, so this could be considered a house ad. But it isn’t a subsidiary, so it stands to reason they produced their own commercial. And who better to play a television executive then a man who already plays a television executive on TV. At one point he’s actually watching his own show.

Finally MacGruber is an SNL skit turned Pepsi commercial. This one seemed most curious, since Pepsi already had a series of commercials that were stylistically different geared towards their brand “refresh”. Watching this (hilarious) commercial almost makes me wonder in NBC threw in the SNL guys for an extra ad sale.

I was told to post something to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Seinfeld’s last episode (continuing a TV theme week on my site I guess), so I decided to see what people were writing about it. Ironically the finale was the first episode I ever saw and I started watching the reruns in syndication thereafter. Hearing writers trying to describe and analyze something you love makes me sick, so here are some lines taken out of context I wish I hadn’t read:

• “Another reason the show has held up as long as it has, I think, is the variety and quality of the sets.” Daivd Noonan, Newsweek
• “Perhaps the shallow nature of the characters and the nihilism inherent in the show, which led to its label “a show about nothing”, turned British audiences off.” Dan Worth, The Guardian
• “Seinfeld” was that rare series that was more than just a TV show. Why? It’s hard to say.” Amanda Cuda, Connecticut Post
• “There’s a reason that the great sitcoms—”The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “M*A*S*H” and “Taxi,” to name a few—still work. They’re not just about being funny; they’re about people who grow enough in a week, and over time, to keep them interesting. They have depth. Jerry and George have issues. That can be amusing, even occasionally hilarious. But after a while, it all has started to sound like a whole lotta yadda yadda yadda.” Marc Peyser, Newsweek
• [Headline] Final episode of ‘Seinfeld’ reveals great circle of life. John Gottcent, Evansville Courier Press

Simply put: Seinfeld is still great, TV critics are still not.

Its wrong to compare Stars Hallow to Washington Depot simply based on their appearance. Stars Hollow is actually a Warner Bros. backlot set that was built decades earlier for films like The Music Man. So it was not meant to look like Washington Depot. Still when I arrived in the town center there were all the familiar elements: a town hall, churches, small businesses, and a central lawn. One iconic piece that did appear to be missing was a gazzebo. In comparison to the Warners’ orderly “Midwestern town” set, Washington Depot has a slightly more rambling feel set on the side of a hill. The buildings were also smaller than their television counterparts – none of the businesses were built more than a story high. Washington Depot also seems much more remote than Stars Hollow. Although it was only 20 miles away, I drove almost an hour through rural areas on winding roads to get there.

When I originally hatched my plan, I thought I would go through the town with my videocamera asking to locals about the show and whether they thought their town could be Stars Hollow. I realized that would be pretty annoying though, so instead I decided I would just try to take in as much as I could on my own. I started out with lunch at a local cafe called Marty’s. Not quite a Luke’s diner, this was more of an upscale cafe with a lot of interior design going on. There were bookshelves, dining room tables, and I ate my turkey club in a armchair at a coffee table. The food was pretty good though and the people were very friendly. Afterwards I took a walk around the shopping area and there were plenty of Stars Hollow staples: a bookstore, a antique furniture shop, a post office, a small market, and a hardware supply store. I stopped in at a gift shop called Fancy That! in search of the perfect Mother’s Day gift (still looking). After seeing most of the local fair and getting lost driving around a few times, I decided to head back.

I think the biggest thing difference that struck me about Washington Depot was it seemed higher class than Stars Hollow. I could not envision a teenage mother like Loralai Gilmore fitting in here easily and eventually owning a home. Most of the homes looked quite large and expensive and the stores were a little pricier. I did see an inn that may have been the model for the Dragonfly on the show, but it looked a little fancier than the TV bed and breakfast. Rory would not have had to gone far for a prep school education, there was a boarding school called The Gunnery right in the center of town. A couple students from there were actually getting some coffee when I was at Marty’s. Washington Depot definitely makes a model small town with just about everything you would really need and none of the excess of suburbia.

I’m not sure how I would make out in a place like Washington Depot. If I thought Bristol was boring, I imagine I would feel even more shut in in Washington Depot. If you’re looking to get away from it all though, its a very nice area. Still it was a fun to explore a little part of the state I knew nothing about and be able to tell people about it.