30 Rock

The good: A great cameo by one Jimmy Fallon, and one Betty White. Plus, the jokes were a bit funnier and it was refreshing to see Frank get some screen time.



The bad: The show still fails to reach the levels it did during the last three seasons in terms of humor, in terms of storylines and just overall episode enjoyment. The show seems content on trying to be edgy and make bizarre cultural references, but they are not Family Guy in that regard and the jokes are not as smart as they were on Frasier either.



In short, 30 Rock needs to find its identity and fast.

This episoed had a bit of a risky premise: "Stone Mountain" takes us off-set and straight outta New York, as Liz visits Stone Mountain, GA to scout out new talent. Going on location is always a bit of a gamble for a sitcom, especially one that's running a workplace jawn. They put a cute lampshade on it with the "We're going to Stone Mountain!" "...after these messages?" gag, but it turned into a string of Liz Lemon fart jokes capped off by a Jack-underestimates-middle-America ending that landed with a thud. Even an altogether too kind appearance by Jeff Dunham couldn't salvage much of the main plot this time around, which had too few good jokes and too much padding. Maybe if it had featured Dunham being decapitated instead of his dummy.



The B plot initially seemed to me as if it was going to go astray as well; at first it didn't seem like it knew what it was going to be, mutating from Jenna trying to bribe the writers into giving her good material to the writers trying to prank Jenna into leaving her alone to the writers trying to suck up to Jenna in order to go to a gay Halloween party. Once it finally arrived there, though, there were some great laughs, especially since it featured the return of Sacha, one of Jenna's gay entourage. It took a while to get going, but even in the exposition-heavy early goings, it featured the terrific gag of Jenna staring down Kenneth and daring him to challenge her assertion that she's too young to remember the Brady Bunch.



The C plot -- yes, there was a C plot, which is what 30 Rock has been giving us lately instead of character development -- involved Tracy getting paranoid, following the death of a famous clog dancer/HuffPo blogger and the fat guy they based Pac-Man on, that he would be the next digit in the 'death comes in threes' tradition. In attempt to ward off his own demise, he starts plotting the death of everyone even remotely famous he encounters; this leads to some fun scenes with Betty White, but they're going to play pretty tasteles when Betty finally kicks the bucket. Or, I guess, when Tracy Morgan ODs on sizzurp. This episode pretty much exactly mirrored the reasons I have worried 30 Rock is slding into a rut: character development sacrificed for a hit-and-miss series of wacky gags, solid plots taking a back seat to celebrity cameos, and too many subplots getting in the way of making an overarching story that's more solid. It wasn't a terrible episode -- there were some swell laugh-lines, and Jenna had a little bit more to do than usual -- but this is a show that should be giving us more every week than "wasn't a terrible episode". It ended with Tracy shirtless, and that's never a bad thing, but three episodes in, the show needs to give us something fast to get rid of the worst-season-ever stink that's starting to gather.

Jimmy Fallon and Betty White are two shining stars in what is otherwise a disappointing episode. Not that it's all bad, just not what I've come to expect from such a high quality show. I suppose not every episode can be outstanding, and I guess that helps us appreciatate true genius when we see it. Which is often when it come to this show. Tiny Fey is one of the most talented writers - not to mention comedic actresses out there these days. One hiccup will not deter this viewer from following this show religiously after three dynomite seasons do far. 30 Rock has had a bit of a rocky (no pun intended) start this year, but I have no doubt that the show will settle down and start doing what it does best - making it's veiwership laugh their socks off!

I seriously wonder why more people watch The Office than this show. Its weird, either you watch Grey's Anatomy or watch NBC for an whole hour; beats me.



Ok network scheduling stuff aside, this in general was a fine installment. Focusing on 3 different storylines, Fey has succeeded in piecing together a good half hour of television. I thought the best part was Jimmy Fallon's cameo, and when Tracy asks him if he is a celebrity. Well, Tracy might actually be ironically true -being a late night talk show host on NBC doesn't give you that stature. That aside, the show did not spare Sarah Palin's concept of the 'Real America'. I know a lot of shows love to take a jab at the southern states. Being from that part of the country, I find it a little hard to swallow this unreal stereotype portrayal.



Good episode, btw..

The was truely the funniest one of the season as Alec Baldwin steals the show, stealing every scene from the brilliant Tina Fey. Jimmy Fallon also chimes in with a cameo that is funnier than anything done on his show so far. The other story arcs were funny but Liz and Jack's was simply hilarious.



This week the search for the new cast member goes to Stone Mountain, Kenneth's home town to find a true middle american person. Jack wants to get swept up by the simple america whereas Liz believes that all america is the same and that going to Georgia will not bring about the new cast member. Like I said in the intro it seems that Jack gets all the great lines with more than just a few belly laughs.



Meanwhile back at 30 Rock, Tracey is worried when two celebs die and he fears he may die through the rule of threes. He bumps into Jimmy Fallon who also fears the rule of threes which is another really funny scene.



Jenna is also worried but only because she wants to keep the writers on side so that she can still get good skits when the new cast member arrives. She decides to befriend Frank, Twofor and Lutz much to thier disgust. But when they realise that all the hot chicks go to gay halloween parties they need to use Jenna for her gay friends. When both parties realize that they are being used they strike a deal so that all parties can walk away happy.