'30 Rock' returns with rollicking, savvy satire
If you want to see why NBC's "30 Rock" keeps winning Emmys as TV's best comedy, tune in the premiere of Season Four tonight.
It's so fast and funny compared to most network sitcoms, it almost makes your head spin. And best of all, it is steeped in genuine satirical insight about the economic hard times with which many of us are trying to cope -- whether or not the Dow and the White House say things are getting better.
Creator and star Tina Fey wrote the epsiode, and she has become a master of tight, lean and wildly comic writing. The premise of the episode is laid out within 20 seconds as Jack (Alec Baldwin) gathers the staff of "TGS," the NBC show within the NBC show, at a restaurant to announce that the program has lost touch with Heartland America. They are ordered to re-connect with the audience, or else.
For Liz (Fey) and Pete (Scott Adsit), that means finding new talent that will play in flyover country. But, of course, they can't let anyone on the staff know they are looking for new talent, or everyone will freak out.
Jenna responds to the dictate (Jane Krakowski) by deciding to "go country" -- an idea Jack loves.
"Do you know that song, 'Are You ready for Some Football?' Jack asks her excitedely when she says she wants to record a country-western song.
"Do I know it?" she replies. "That's what my phone plays when Ray Lewis calls me."
Hello, Baltimore.
Meanwhile, Tracy (Tracy Morgan) wanders the streets of Manhattan trying to reconnect with his "roots" to no avail -- until he comes upon a group of bucket drummers.
And where are the bucket drummers? Outside 30 Rock headquarters, drumming for a picket line organized by Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) after Jack cut all overtime for NBC pages as part of a widespread downsizing driven by the recession.
The recession is driving all the madness, and Fey's genius is in turning our economic fear and anxieties into such a comedy romp.
Did I mention that Steve Buscemi guest stars? He plays a character brought in by Jack to bust Kenneth's strike -- and he brings just the right mix of sleaze and smiles to the role.
Comments
anything with steve buscemi has got to be great.
Yes, and he has some fun with the role -- including a blond wig. No spoilers here. Z
Posted by: stevie ray | October 15, 2009 12:08 PM
Never watched, but am willing to try it. I really liked Tina Fey on SNL and her version of Sarah Palin. I hope I am not lost since I have not watched the previous seasons.
Modern Family was good last night.
Posted by: Sherry T. | October 15, 2009 1:02 PM
Will it play in Peoria, or Possum Belly Gulch, Tennessee, for that matter? Sounds like it just might, yawl !
Even though the current dire state of economic affairs for many in middle-America is really no 'laughing-matter', and a ton of folks out in both the boonies and the hurting big cities of this nation (and middling ones, as well) are struggling each day to just barely get by, I believe sometimes relevant, reflective-of-the-times humor, even a mere half-hour of sitcom yucks, can momentarily lighten the viewers' 'load', and lift their spirits, allowing them to recognize the funny, or perhaps the ironic side of tough times.Perhaps see a bit of a silver lining in those ominous, threatening clouds. It's hard to feel sorry for ourselves when we're laughing, or smiling w/ a knowing grin on our face.
Writer/ producer Tina Fey, for one, has become a master-crafter of today's evolving sitcom-writing genre w/ her often brilliant, prescient, and drop-dead, genuinely funny "30 Rock" material. (Too bad more of the U.S. T.V. viewing audience fails to see it that way w/ respect to "30 Rock". Hence the perennial mediocre ratings. Yet despite the disappointing viewership, the critical praise keeps flowing. Kind of like a "Hill Street Blues", or "Thirty Something" of old; where positive critical reviews trumped ratings numbers, and the networks took a risk and kept them on the air.Go figure.)
Tonight's episode sounds like a winner. I love the simple premise in which Fey invents a comic scenario where the tone and target-demo of their show would dramatically shift to a more grassroots, working-class, "Heartland-America" audience. Brilliant!
The notion of Jenna "going country" and wanting to record a country-and-western song w/ Jack (Alec Baldwin) solidly in her corner for support, is priceless. With her tousled blond tresses and over-the-top, extroverted, slightly ditzy, personality, you could see the countrified Jenna character as a cross between say Carrie Underwood, and a more 'mature' Taylor Swift, but likely w/ far less natural musical talent. And the far-out idea of the prissy, proper, Kenneth organizing a strike and picket-line brigade outside the NBC headquarters in response to cutting studio pages' overtime hours as an NBC cost-cutting ploy, whilst nut-job Tracy's out searching for his NY City "roots" finding he and a motley gang of street-smart "bucket drummers" joining in on Kenneth's protest demonstration, is such a hilarious, verging on surreal, satirical scenario. Just what the "30 Rock" viewer might expect these days from the fertile, slightly off-center comedic brain of one, Tina Fey.
I hope guest-star Buscemi isn't leaning more toward the 'disturbing', demented grifter-type character he played so well in the classic film "Fargo", but, (as you've pointed out, Z.), he appears to bring more "sleaze" and light humor to his guesting role. No wood-chippers, please. (HA!)
Z., thanks for the heads-up on this one. I'm an intermittent "30 Rock" watcher over the last few seasons. I'm not totally hooked on the show, like say I was w/ both "Seinfeld" and
"Everybody Loves Raymond", but when I do catch it, I'm generally thoroughly entertained by the antics of this quirky ensemble cast, finding Baldwin's Jack and Fey's Liz characters the main reason for sticking w/ the show. Tracy Morgan's Tracy character can get a little annoying, in large doses, at times. He appears to just be playing his off-screen-self, so the role isn't entirely a stretch.(Kind of like what Burt Reynolds used to do in most of his films.) I do get a big kick out of the Kenneth character, w/ his charming naivite, and almost old-fashioned politeness, and sense of honor; so anachronistic in big-city, dog-eat-dog, survival-of-the-fittest, New York.
I particularly enjoyed that earlier run of episodes from last season, revolving around guest-star Selma Hayek, and the developing torrid, slightly bizarre romance between her demanding, passionate, self-centered South American hottie character, and the totally smitten, love-struck Jack (Baldwin). Very funny stuff.
Maybe I'll offer a little review of tonight's episode, at some point, from my Left-Coast, L.A. perspective, or maybe not. HA!
(Can you believe It actually rained out in L.A. for almost a steady day and a half.... the first appreciable, measurable precipitation, since last Spring. It was truly a long, hot summer. Enough, already, of this socalled Mediterranean, semi-dessert climate. Bring on that El Nino! )
ALEX
Posted by: ALEX MCCRAE | October 15, 2009 1:19 PM
Is Steve Buscemi playing a different character than previously? I recall he played a private investigator last year hired to discover Jack's biological father.
Glad to hear the season premiere is good; I love the show but thought a few episodes last season weren't up to Tina's standard.
Off topic - have you seen Modern Family? It's my fave of the new season.
I love Modern Family. I did a piece with Jason Winer, exec producer and director. Here is link...and no spoiler here on Buscemi....You will have to watch...It's a lot of fun and, like Modern family, flies by...Z
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-modern-family-1009,0,4936149.story
Posted by: btw | October 15, 2009 1:19 PM
30 Rock became a lot less funny for me when I realized it was a live-action version of the Muppet Show.
Posted by: Kevin | October 15, 2009 1:53 PM
Kevin,
Now I want to watch 30-Rock even more than ever. That was funny! :) Are you serious, you mean you didn't like the Muppet Show. Jim Henson was the best. I loved that show! My cousin named her son Kermit after that frog.
Posted by: Sherry T. | October 15, 2009 3:24 PM
Z,
Is 30-Rock on HBO? If that is the case we don't get HBO. I will be disappointed.
Posted by: Sherry T. | October 15, 2009 4:32 PM
Z, Disregard that question,In re-reading the article, I think the article says it is on NBC, so I will be able to watch. - Thanks.
Posted by: Sherry T. | October 15, 2009 4:50 PM
Sounds Great! This is one of my favorite shows!
Posted by: Sarah L. | October 15, 2009 9:40 PM
The Page and his paycheck was great and the strike he organized. I can relate, part-time people have no chance of getting overtime. I laughed when the boss visited him at home. Tina Fey and Alex Baldwin were great. I really like 30-Rock. So I have three new favortie shows this season, FlashForward, Modern Family, and 30-Rock. The fall season is turning out to be good afterall.
Posted by: Sherry T. | October 15, 2009 10:29 PM
ALEX,
We can give you some of our rain from Ohio if you need it. Rainy and cold here. Please give us a recap, I always enjoy your perspective on these shows. I think that I get a little tedious sometimes in my recaps, but I get way to excited about these shows. Sorry, Z. I think I went overboard on the Ken Burns, I am going to try to settle down.
Posted by: Sherry T. | October 16, 2009 7:17 AM