| 100 |
New York Daily News David Hinckley
Like the best TV comedies - from "Seinfeld" to "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and all the way back to "The Jack Benny Program" - "30 Rock" sparkles not just because its central star gets to shine, but because everyone does. |
| 88 |
People Weekly Tom Gliatto
It's the best new sitcom of the fall. [16 Oct 2006, p.39] |
| 88 |
Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman
I don't want to spoil the great lines, delivered with perfect comic acting. To me, it's bliss. |
| 80 |
LA Weekly Robert Abele
A weirdly appropriate and hilarious symbol of our times. |
| 80 |
Wall Street Journal Dorothy Rabinowitz
The standard caution is relevant -- debut episodes tend to be highly polished. All the more reason to enjoy the hilarious scenes and fine ensemble cast here. |
| 80 |
Baltimore Sun David Zurawik
One of the zaniest - and most savvy - workplace comedies in years. |
| 80 |
Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd
It's smart without either condescending to or patronizing the viewer. |
| 80 |
Miami Herald Glenn Garvin
30 Rock... is pretty darn funny, a bitterly merry comic jihad against corporate stupidity and mendaciousness. |
| 80 |
Newsday Verne Gay
A rare and almost totally unexpected triumph. |
| 75 |
New York Post Linda Stasi
OK, so I admit it, the premiere isn't all that funny, but the second episode is hilarious. |
| 75 |
Slant Magazine Brian Holcomb
The cast is perfectly matched to this material. |
| 75 |
Entertainment Weekly Ken Tucker
Baldwin's sharklike momentum pulls you through a sitcom that otherwise makes little sense. |
| 75 |
Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy
Fey's humor possesses a sly, literate snap. And like NBC's recent cool comedies, "The Office" and "My Name Is Earl," her rollicking "30 Rock" has a surplus of nutty imagination. |
| 75 |
USA Today Robert Bianco
Yet for all its laughs, 30 Rock does call to mind a kind of sketch show version of The Mary Tyler Moore Show — one in which everyone's playing Ted. That can be fun for a while, but eventually sitcom viewers tend to want to root for someone. |
| 70 |
Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart
A good, potentially great, show. |
| 70 |
Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm
There's plenty of charisma to go around on 30 Rock, and Fey will go just about anywhere for a laugh. Her absurd, yet almost believable, showbiz send-up is full of them. |
| 70 |
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
There's a lot to enjoy... But "30 Rock" is more sitcommy than most of the single-camera sitcoms on the air now, and it has none of the sharp bite of "The Larry Sanders Show." |
| 70 |
Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker
There's reason to hope, especially for Baldwin's bold performance and the cutting dialogue. |
| 70 |
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
Arguably the best comedy this fall. |
| 70 |
Time James Poniewozik
For all the show's cartooniness, its gender-conscious take on the TV business is actually more sophisticated [than Studio 60's]. |
| 70 |
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
Where "Studio 60" takes a scathing and indignant tone toward television, "30 Rock" offers a more sarcastic, less hackles-raised critique. It's also funnier and goofier. |
| 60 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland
The jokes that hit their target almost make up for the wide misses. |
| 60 |
Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall
"Write what you know" is a cardinal rule of writing, and Fey certainly knows this world better than Sorkin -- even if "The Girlie Show" is lame, I believe it exists in a way I don't with "Studio 60" -- but the history of failed behind-the-scenes sitcoms and dramas is so long and ugly that she would have been better served using a different setting altogether. |
| 60 |
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley
Nothing very funny happens on “30 Rock” until Alec Baldwin enters the room, and suddenly this new NBC sitcom comes alive. |
| 50 |
Philadelphia Daily News Ellen Gray
I want to like "30 Rock" more than I do so far, because I've always liked Fey. Yet it could be Fey - the actress, not the writer - I'm having trouble warming to. |
| 40 |
Washington Post Tom Shales
For all the rewriting and reworking, the show needs a better premise and funnier dialogue and, most of all, a more commanding performer in the starring role. |
| 40 |
San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum
When he gets a lot of air time and his worst excesses are not reined in, Morgan is the human equivalent of fingernails on a blackboard.... As a result, what could have been a rather savory dish ends up with a rather unpleasant aftertaste. |
| 40 |
Arizona Republic Bill Goodykoontz
Too often it feels like a missed opportunity, though there's always hope for improvement, more realistic in this case than most. |
| 40 |
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
Nobody does a deadpan line reading like Baldwin, and he alone is reason to check out this work in progress and hope that Fey gets the time she’ll need to make this hodge-podge live up to its potential. |
| 38 |
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
To its credit, next week's second episode is better than tonight's revamped pilot: tighter, funnier and more expansive to other cast members. |
| 30 |
Variety Brian Lowry
If "30 Rock's" going to survive, Baldwin's comedic chops will be tugging the lifeline. |
