In addition to the great cast, headed by Tina Fey, 30 Rock is graced with a talented group of writers, headed by Tina Fey. Fey and her writers expertly create situations of highbrow comedy, melodrama, clever wordplay, and downright silliness that raises the show to levels of humor paralleled only by the likes of Arrested Development and a select few other shows. In what other show are we going to hear a word like "Churchillian" (an adjective form of Churchill) being applied to a ragtag baseball team from the wrong side of the tracks?Some of the best and wackiest gags are cutaway scenes, sort of similar to those found on Family Guy. However, unlike the bits on FG, the ones used on 30 Rock are actually funny (ok, I have a bias against Family Guy; I will try not to descend into a rant) because the cutaways are either relevant to the plot and/or do not exceed 30 seconds in length. Furthermore, the events of the cutaways become canon, rather than being impossible events used for a cheap and quick laugh (sorry, I will calm down). For example, the Werewolf Bar Mitzvah music video was cut to when Tracy found the gold record among a pile of stuff. Later in the series, we heard the song at a party. Another great cutaway is this one (setup- Liz and Pete are discussing Tracy's upcoming appearance on the Conan O'Brien Show, and Pete reminisces about Tracy's previous appearance):
Genius.
The drama on the show is also a great source of humor. Or I guess I should refer to it as the continuing plot threads, since the show is never too dramatic (Freaks and Geeks and Scrubs, on the other hand, have actual drama mixed in with comedy). But Liz and Jack's respective searches for love are incredible. Liz's various failures early in the first season are reminiscent of classic sitcoms, wherein the relationship ends within the course of the episode for various reasons, including but not limited to one love interest being related to her (distantly), and the other being a lesbian (oh that Jack...). However, she does have a few long term relationship arcs that span a few episodes. The funniest (though at times annoying) one so far is Dennis, a man who she had dated before the series began (and was something of a cautionary tale), and suddenly reappears in Liz's life, causing Liz and Jenna quite a few headaches. Dennis is the last beeper salesman in Manhattan, is obsessed with hockey, and a bit racist. However, he always seems to find a way to keep his hold on Liz's heart (it usually involves food).
Jack, meanwhile, for all of his remarks about Liz's inability to hold down a man, doesn't seem to have much luck himself. Throughout the first season, he has a string of high-profile girlfriends who the audience never sees (these include Condelezza Rice, Beyonce Knowles, and Maureen Dowd). He is also in the process of divorcing his wife, Bianca, played by Isabella Rossellini (who has a line that may only be funny because she says it; they co-own an Arby's franchise, and when Jack demands that he retain it in the divorce, she exclaims, "Dammit Johnny, you know I love my big beef 'n' cheddar!"). His two on-screen relationships don't go so well; the first turns out to be a gold digger, while the second is a member of an organization Jack detests: the Democratic Party.
Some of the best stuff, though, is the self-referential humor. Like Arrested Development (if you couldn't tell, AD is more than just a show for me, it's a way of life... or not), there are some jokes that make light of behind-the-scenes events, and with an NBC show about the behind-the-scenes events of an NBC show, the possibilities are endless. The best example is the Snapple gag I referenced in the previous post. I don't want to give it away, but let's just say it has to do with product placement on shows (two shows I love, 24 and Heroes, have almost laughable levels of placement; possibly the best example was on Heroes when Claire Bennett excitedly yelled, "I get the Rogue?!" when her dad gave her a new car for no reason at all; what the hell is a Rogue?!). Another good example is when Tracy Morgan was forced to wear an ankle monitor, and soon after, Tracy Jordan shows up to the set of TGS sporting a brand new monitor. Finally, as part of NBC's "Green Week", wherein every prime time show had to have some sort of pro-environmental message, the crew of 30 Rock were able to get Al Freakin' Gore
to show up and deliver a speech sending that idea up (personally, I thought that 30 Rock did the best job with this mandate; it was the only show that I saw that was able to stay true to itself while seamlessly integrating the message into the story).Sadly, 30 Rock isn't nearly as popular as it should be. Like Arrested Development, the critics love the show, and it has a very devoted fan base, but said base is rather small (another similarity is that both shows won the Outstanding Comedy Emmy for their first seasons). I think that it has been doing better this year, but I'm not sure. If you've never seen this show, you have no idea what you've been missing.
Up next: It's going to be epic...
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