30 Rock began its fifth season tonight, and it once again proved itself to be the perfect example of what a modern television sitcom should be.
Special guest stars, pregnancies, and being on the air for almost a hundred episodes are things that would normally be traps for any television show, but this show has managed to keep its best and smartest weapon all these years:
Tina Fey.
Tonight's premiere featured what 30 Rock fans have come to expect from the multiple Emmy winner (and, let's face it, NBC's only shining star at the moment).
It's like intellectual soul food that still manages to be silly and downright absurd at times.
Within a single half hour, the show managed to coin a new catchphrase "the Fabian technique," seamlessly work in a fantastic comedic performance by Matt Damon as Liz's boyfriend, give Alec Baldwin a hilarious scene where he tries to seduce a gay interior decorator, and pull off two subplots involving Tracy Morgan's character seeing Kenneth the Page everywhere (even though he was fired at the end of last season) and Jane Krawkowski's character become a hard-nosed producer.
Admittedly, Morgan's subplots always seem to be the hardest to swallow, but even at their worst, they're funnier than just about everything on any other sitcom airing right now.
When 30 Rock first premiered, nobody thought it would last. Many called it "that other show about SNL" referring to the flashy "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"--the Aaron Sorkin dramedy that was supposed to eclipse little old 30 Rock.
Well, Studio 60 fizzled, and 30 Rock is still going strong. It's nice to see the funniest show on television be overseen by a woman when women in comedy are still constantly said to be less funny than their male counterparts.
Tina Fey and her little show that could have been compared to everybody and everything from The Mary Tyler Moore Show to--oh never mind, what's better than being compared to The Mary Tyler Moore Show?
It's an apt comparison with one exception.
Even Mary Tyler Moore wasn't writing her own material.
Tina Fey is still a force to be reckoned with after nearly one hundred episodes, and something tells me she's only just getting started.
Special guest stars, pregnancies, and being on the air for almost a hundred episodes are things that would normally be traps for any television show, but this show has managed to keep its best and smartest weapon all these years:
Tina Fey.
Tonight's premiere featured what 30 Rock fans have come to expect from the multiple Emmy winner (and, let's face it, NBC's only shining star at the moment).
It's like intellectual soul food that still manages to be silly and downright absurd at times.
Within a single half hour, the show managed to coin a new catchphrase "the Fabian technique," seamlessly work in a fantastic comedic performance by Matt Damon as Liz's boyfriend, give Alec Baldwin a hilarious scene where he tries to seduce a gay interior decorator, and pull off two subplots involving Tracy Morgan's character seeing Kenneth the Page everywhere (even though he was fired at the end of last season) and Jane Krawkowski's character become a hard-nosed producer.
Admittedly, Morgan's subplots always seem to be the hardest to swallow, but even at their worst, they're funnier than just about everything on any other sitcom airing right now.
When 30 Rock first premiered, nobody thought it would last. Many called it "that other show about SNL" referring to the flashy "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"--the Aaron Sorkin dramedy that was supposed to eclipse little old 30 Rock.
Well, Studio 60 fizzled, and 30 Rock is still going strong. It's nice to see the funniest show on television be overseen by a woman when women in comedy are still constantly said to be less funny than their male counterparts.
Tina Fey and her little show that could have been compared to everybody and everything from The Mary Tyler Moore Show to--oh never mind, what's better than being compared to The Mary Tyler Moore Show?
It's an apt comparison with one exception.
Even Mary Tyler Moore wasn't writing her own material.
Tina Fey is still a force to be reckoned with after nearly one hundred episodes, and something tells me she's only just getting started.
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