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- NBC
- Oct 15, 2009
- NBC
- Oct 15, 2009
Summary Dealing with life in a studio at NBC's 30 Rockefeller Plaza (the title is a shortening of that), the show centers around Liz Lemon, played by Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey, who's the head writer of The Girlie Show. When her old boss dies and a new boss comes in (Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy), demanding the addition of a volatile former ...
Created By: Tina Fey
- NBC
- Oct 15, 2009
- NBC
- Oct 15, 2009
Summary Dealing with life in a studio at NBC's 30 Rockefeller Plaza (the title is a shortening of that), the show centers around Liz Lemon, played by Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey, who's the head writer of The Girlie Show. When her old boss dies and a new boss comes in (Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy), demanding the addition of a volatile former ...
Created By: Tina Fey
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7 Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 Critic Reviews
73
76% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
24% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 Critic Reviews
73
76% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
24% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Welcome back, 30 Rock. Even in a season of wonderful sitcoms--trend story alert!--you get it done.
Its frequent, gleeful skewering of NBC is just icing on the cake--and tonight's episode has a lot of icing.
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 73 User Ratings
8.3
96% Positive
70 Ratings
70 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
4% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 73 User Ratings
8.3
96% Positive
70 Ratings
70 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
4% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
With all those Emmys, viewers expect a lot, and two episodes in, 30 Rock is prepared to deliver, serving up the self-conscious, fast-moving, quick-witted comedy it has all but trademarked.
As funny as this scattershot sitcom can be, the problem remains that show business (and in particular, GE's business) is a topic of limited long-haul mass appeal.
Hilarity is supposed to ensue, but having had some laugh-out-loud experiences already this season with ABC's "Modern Family" and NBC's own "Community," I may just be less disposed to find even an outrageous parody of NBC's troubles amusing.
It feels, at times, like the episodes are trying too hard to be self-referential, with lots of jokes at the expense of NBC and General Electric, and with Baldwin seeming to address the audience directly at the start of the premiere.
Those jokes are supposed to establish Liz’s geek cred, but they mostly serve as speed bumps in the show’s otherwise fast and clever banter.
I have been a fan of 30 Rock since the very first season (The season 2 episode 'MILF Island' is possibly the finest half-hour of sit-com ever written) and, despite hearing comments that the show was losing its way, found season 4 just as enjoyable as any other season.
Season 4 gets into its stride from the very first episode with Liz Lemon being tasked to find a new cast member whilst also dealing with the pressure of shooting the pilot of her own 'Dealbreaker' talk show. As the series progresses we see an increased focus on the love lives of Liz and Jack with the episodes featuring Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon) being particular favourites of mine.
As ever the entire cast have the funny moments but the real stars continue to be Tina Fey as Liz Lemon and Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy who have one of the funniest relationships in TV history. If you are a fan of shows such as 'My Name is Earl' or 'Peep Show' this is must see comedy.
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SEASON 4
While the show's fourth season was still funnier than 99% of the rest of the comedies on television, it was the first time it suffered from inconsistency and actual unfunny episodes ("Khonani," I'm looking at you). Its highest highs though, namely "Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001," were still the funniest on television.
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SEASON 4
Every show has its missteps. The Office had season 6. Seinfeld had that uh, finale. Even Arrested Development started to feel a bit tired by the 3rd season. And now, it's 30 Rock's turn. Don't get me wrong, it still has a lot of laugh out loud moments and is mostly pretty solid, but the show starts to show strains by the latter half. It's not "season 6 of The Office" bad (man, getting through those episodes was... brutal) it gets better by the end (especially when Elizabeth Banks and Matt Damon step into frame, but overall it is a disappointing season. Thankfully the show returned to greatness with its fifth season.
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SEASON 4
