The show 30 Rock first caught my attention a couple of years ago
when I began seeing the rather epic American Express commercial
demonstrating the zaniness of a typical day for harried head writer Liz
Lemon. I thought the ads were hilarious, though it wasn’t until the
season three finale that I finally watched an episode. A guest
appearance from Clay Aiken was what drew me into Kidney Now!, but I was happy to sit through the episode, what with its hilarious spoof of We Are the World
and its outrageous premise involving a character played by Alan Alda
and a situation that reminded me very much of the pathetic backstory of LOST’s John Locke. Pretty funny stuff.
I’ve only caught the show sporadically since then, but after I revived
my dormant Netflix account and my brother discovered that several
seasons of the series were available for instant viewing, he suggested
we watch it from the beginning. I agreed, and we’ve been chortling over
it ever since.
Tina Fey stars as Liz, a sharp-witted,
perpetually frazzled sketch comedy writer who oversees a show on NBC.
Her world turns upside-down when Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) is made her
boss and begins demanding major changes to her series. One of his first
suggestions is to bring eccentric movie star Tracy Jordan (Tracy
Morgan) on board. Much of the first season involves the struggles of the
rest of the cast and crew to accept the changes that come with Tracy’s
presence. Though he is both smarter and more ethical than anyone would
guess at first glance, Tracy remains a loose cannon, so it’s never quite
clear what he’s going to do next, especially since he has a difficult
time keeping his ego in check.
Like Fey, Morgan was a familiar sight to us thanks to Saturday Night Live, where his zany antics often cracked us up, especially during the sketches in which he played the bizarre host of Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet. Baldwin, too, has been on SNL many times, though as a host rather than a regular, and other SNL
alums turn up periodically, most notably Chris Parnell as the dubious
Dr. Spaceman, who attends to the medical and psychiatric needs of Tracy
and others, and Rachel Dratch in a variety of minor roles. It’s fun to
guess where she might turn up next, as her appearances are extremely
random. Also showing up in a slightly more serious role is Jason
Sudeikis, a potential love interest for Liz.
Of all the major
characters on the show, Liz seems the most normal, though she certainly
has her share of issues. Still, she seems much more well-adjusted than
folks like anti-social geek Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander) or
attention-grabbing Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski), the actress who is
most threatened by Tracy’s arrival. My favorite character is Kenneth
Parcell (Jack McBrayer), an enthusiastic intern with a perpetually
enormous smile. His naivety and determination to go above and beyond the
call of duty in all situations makes me think of company clerk Radar,
my favorite M*A*S*H character, and he and Tracy are the two characters who most consistently make me laugh.
30 Rock
is a madcap sort of show that is frequently self-referential, poking
fun at a lot of the elements that go into making a television show. It’s
one of these series where things frequently go extravagantly wrong;
pratfalls are plentiful, as are miscommunications and outright
disasters. At the same time, we get to see bits and pieces of the
show-within-a-show, as well as bits of movies, music videos and other
shows, and these are generally very funny. I especially like the
original songs, which tend to be written on extremely odd topics. For
instance, the first season features Tracy’s nonsensical Werewolf Bar Mitzvah and Jenna’s provocative Muffin Top.
As with most contemporary prime time comedies, 30 Rock
can be a bit crude, but most of the humor derives from these very odd
characters all working closely together to try to produce a coherent
show. Nathan and I breezed right through the first season and are
chuckling heartily over the second, so if you’re looking for a comedy
that’s just plain silly, give the show a whirl.
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