30 Rock

It's always been my contention that great comedians make some of the best dramatic actors.

Well, what we have here is the corollary to the above-stated theorum. Our good buddy, Alec Baldwin, he of the "Third place is you're fired" monologue from "Glengarry", has quietly honed his comic timing via a run of "SNL" appearances and movie roles ("State and Main")and emerged as one of the funniest actors around. His delivery has gotten so good that he's become one of those guys that's funny standing still, before he utters word one. You're laughing before you even know what the premise is. It's a hard pill to swallow, but it's gotten to the point that I don't know if I'll ever be able to watch Alec Baldwin again in a dramatic role without lapsing into hysterics before he deigns to offer a line of dialogue. "30 Rock" may put the final nail in the notable career of Alec Baldwin-"Serious Actor", but I sure ain't complaining. If for no other reason, you should be watching this show just to see him deliver a line.

And if you still want another reason, Jack McBrayer is a flat-out hoot, and Tina Fey, who wisely scrambled from the deck of "SNL" before the ship utterly submerged, is obviously having the time of her life.

"30 Rock" fits neatly into the "no laugh-track zone" that has become NBC's funniest Thursday night line-up ever.

Who better to make a show,comedy or no,about the backstage goings-on with a live,sketch comedy show,than Tina Fey,the former head writer and anchor for "Saturday Night Live"? After pitching the idea a few times to the network,Fey finally got her chance here and it is very strong!

Fey is Liz Lemon,a put-upon,single,thirty-something who heads up the writing and production of "The Girlie Show". It's tottered along just fine to this point,but when the network's hired mucky muck,an arrogant ass whose entertainment experience is almost nil and whose previous departmental supervision dealt with hardware appliances named JAck Donaghy(Alec Baldwin,relishing his ubiquity as comedic ace and character actor everyman)is hired to overlook the show's productionthe pot gets stirred. His first move is to shake up the cast of her show by bringing aboard Tracy Jordan(Tracy Morgan,who REDEFINES acting with abandon),a talented comic with alarming tendencies to emotional meltdowns and irrational behavior.

To make life just a little harder for Liz,she has to deal with:a sexually insecure blonde starlet with aging problems(Jane Krackowski)who considers Liz a friend;an oily,selfish boyfriend;writers who aren't very supportive(Judah Friedlander,Scott Adsit among them)and an unnaturally perky network page(Jack McBrayer).

I understand why NBC was more apt to put the PR rush for Aaron Sorkin's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip",but this is EASILY the better show between the two of them,not the least of which because Miss Fey's work on SNL and the decision to make this show more than bitingly ironic and preachy(as Studio 60 seems to be),comedic and yet not gimmicky. I'm rooting for this show to succeed,and for once,I feel like the network nursing this show is willing to oblige my(and I know I'm not alone feeling this)wishes.

This is one of the best show ever!!! It is very funny and gets funnier on every rewatch. Every time I rewatch I find some new joke that I missed before. This show has the highest jokes per minute rate. You may not get all the jokes at one watch.

All the characters are hilarious and they are very unique and interesting. My favourite is Kenneth.

The show may not be interesting if you watch it in the background like any other comedy show, this is a well thought out series, with jokes and punch line in every scene. You need to concentrate to appreciate and enjoy it. The show and characters will start to grow on you.

This is one of the best comedy shows of the past 30 years. Extremely well written, the shows creator draws on her time at Saturday Night Live to showcase the insanity behind productions at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Most episodes center around scrambling over some hurdle to try and deliver a live show by the end of the week, but how they intermingle and deal with the problems is where the hilarity lies.

The casting is perfect and peppered with hilarious cameos throughout the series. Every role is well acted but let us not forget how smart the writing is. I'm a sucker for comedy laced with endearing moments and 30 Rock is full of that. You have the ability to look at the characters and agree that they aren't necessarily "good" but you still care about them and see that at times they're just doing their best.

I'm rewatching the series in 2020 after having discovered it in a library almost a decade ago and WOW! Has it aged well! Or maybe it's just that the world has aged badly in intervening years.

Step into 30 Rock and inhabit a world where female wit is a force to be reckoned with; where every actor gets their 2.5 minutes of fame per episode, and every character brilliantly subverts their own stereotypes in a way that's deep but not at all serious. From the mid life crisis man in Adsit, to the self sabotaging female boss in Fey, to the rags to riches star in Morgan, the aging fame addicted starlet in Krakowski... you never get tired of seeing the layers fall away from these people. It's light, but still riveting. And it is all tied together by plot arcs that are as insane as the best SNL skits (and funnier, in many cases).

By far, though, the best thing about watching this after several years is that it is so packed with one liners and sharp, snide social commentary that you can watch it again and again and still see new angles and perspectives. There's almost too much to take in in one single viewing in any of these episodes - and that's a great thing if you're a fan of the series, which I am.

I have a feeling you will be, too.