I appreciate off-beat, intelligent and edgy comedy (the kind they hate down south), and for much of its first season, Tina Fey’s freshman comedy “30 Rock” has delivered in spades (with the frustrating exception of the two most recent episodes — but more on that later). I have watched each episode several times (via iTunes and my video iPod) and have found fresh laughter each time.
The show’s conceit is the backstage antics of the cast and crew of a network sketch comedy show, formerly “The Girly Show,” now “TGS With Tracy Jordan.” It would be very easy for such a production to degenerate into a so-so “workplace comedy” like so many that came before it. So far, that is very far from the case. Many of the situations are genuinely funny, but the success of “30 Rock” has as much to do with delivery as with Fey’s scripts.
I have been a huge fan of Fey’s since she took over the Weekend Update desk on Saturday Night Live. I loved her dead-pan delivery of the wittiest lines that particular set had seen since the departure of Dennis Miller in 1991 — he proved himself THE highlight of the glorious mid- to late-80s run of the show. Thus I greeted news of her impending move to her own show with great delight and much anticipaton.
And then? NBC moved it and I lost track of it after the first episode. For several weeks it remained one of “those shows” that I kept forgetting to watch, and kicking myself afterward. Once it landed on Thursday nights after “Scrubs,” it became a regular on my rather limited viewing schedule. I went to the iTunes Store with the intention of downloading only the episodes that I missed, and ending up buying all of them then available (episodes 1-11).
The cast is uniformly excellent, with Tracy Morgan (also late of SNL) and Alec Baldwin as the stand-outs. Morgan plays Tracy Jordan, a mentally-ill movie star brought on to “The Girly Show” to reach the key male 18-49 demographic by the new GE/NBC executive in charge of late-night television and microwave oven programing Jack Doneghy (Baldwin). I always enjoyed Morgan on SNL, but he has reached a new plateau in this role — outrageous, goofy, unbalanced, and above all hilarious. I was never a big fan of Alec Baldwin, however — although I had nothing particuarly against him either — but I cannot imagine any other actor in the Doneghy role. His timing and delivery of his lines, which bounce from mundane to loony, is perfection itself. His character is bombastic yet subtle, self-assured yet never annoying. I foresee many Emmys in Baldwin’s future.
Tiny Fey’s character Liz Lemon serves as the glue that holds the show together. I like her character, but the subtle sarcasm and razor wit she demonstrated on SNL is overshadowed (although not entirely absent) in this venue by her character’s desperate frustration at the antics of the rest of the cast.
The one complaint I have is the absence of SNL alum (and longtime Fey collaborator) Rachel Dratch from the regular cast. I appreciated Dratch on SNL, and she was originally slated to play the lead role in “30 Rock” until a pre-pilot overhaul. She has played several different cameo roles, including Liz Taylor (her best), the cat wrangler, and Barbara Walters. I hope that the writers find more for her to do in the future.
All that being said, and to my great distress, the two most recent episodes (numbers 12 and 13) were much weaker than their predecessors. Each had laughs, but something was lacking. Episode twelve featured a rediculuous (read: stupid) cameo by Paul Reubens as the last of the Habsburg line and friend of Jack Doneghy’s. I despise such “stunt-casting” on an otherwise brilliant show, and as a dedicated reader of entertainment news I know full well that such decisions are often forced on shows by a meddling network executive eager to improve ratings by pleasing morons in Mississippi with cartoonish buffoonery that drags down the rest of the show. (I went through this with my all-time favorite comedy, “Arrested Development” with the totally miscast (and washed up) Martin Short. His episode is the only “AD” episode that I have seen only once and refuse to view ever again, despite owning all the series DVDs.) I hope that such mistakes are never repeated on “30 Rock.” Tonight’s Valentine’s Day episode spared the viewer from any stunt-casting, but still felt off to me, although I cannot as yet explain why. Perhaps another viewing will illuminate some shortcoming.
To be fair, both episodes included the still-radiant Isabella Rossilini as Doneghy’s ex-wife, and she was excellent in the role.
Despite such missteps, however, I can give “30 Rock” my highest recommendation and I look forward to many years of supurb comedy.
“30 Rock” airs on NBC Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. EST
