I thought 30 Rock had only just returned after the strike, but it turned out that was episode 12, and the last I saw was episode 9 so I had some catching up to do. 30 Rock has been great all the way through; it seems that they have finally captured the mix of situational comedy and off the wall insanity that several TV shows have been trying to capture for some time. Also the more I watch it the more I love Liz Lemon/Tina Fey. I think she may be my perfect woman.
30 Rock makes me laugh the way that both Friends and Frasier did in their prime. Most of the big laugh out loud moments seem to come from Kenneth, who is one of the truly genius comic creations. Though knowing how American sitcoms normally end up I’m sure it’s just of matter of time before he becomes so over exaggerated that it’s not funny anymore.
Alec Baldwin apparently has a reputation for being difficult to work with, but his performances in 30 Rock have been nothing but outstanding. It’s one of those shows where you wonder how close some of the actors are to the characters they play. I hope Tina Fey is just like Liz Lemon, and I can’t help but suspect that Tracy Morgan and Tracy Jordan might be a little too close to comfort. However I can’t imagine any real person being like Kenneth, which just makes Jack McBrayer’s performance all the more impressive.
This episode was as strong as any of the other ones I’ve seen, it’s not many shows that can break spontaneously and just make things funnier rather than over sentimentalising it. I wonder how big a team Tina Fey has writing it with her and how much direct impact she takes, because my opinion of her is constantly rising and it’d be nice to know she’s not as perfect as she seems. She did write Mean Girls as well though, which I also loved, so I’m starting to think she can do no wrong. The fact that she’s also been so successful in what is still quite a heavily male dominated industry, and that she also apparently an out feminist (which is a bigger deal in the US than here) is just one more reason to bask in the glow of her awesomeness.