"I'm the new Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming." - Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy
30 Rock: Season 1 DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
In the 2006-2007 NBC premiered not one but two series that centered on the behind-the-scenes goings-on at Saturday Night Live-esque sketch comedy shows, both named for the fictitious shows' filming locations: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, created by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing), and 30 Rock, from SNL alum Tina Fey. Was there enough room on the TV schedule for both shows? As it turns out, no. Studio 60 was about as funny as a root canal and not quite as dramatically interesting. The newly-released 30 Rock: Season 1 proves that Fey's creation is a funny, unmissable workplace comedy.
Fey stars as Liz Lemon, the head writer of NBC's The Girlie Show, a live variety series starring Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski). The show gets decent ratings, but when Liz's network boss dies and is replaced by bottom-line oriented Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), Donaghy decides that it could do better. Even though Jack knows nothing about TV programming-he is best known for creating G.E.'s Trivection Oven-he deems that the show can be fixed by adding down-and-out movie star Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) to the cast. Sure, Tracy is a little crazy-he was arrested for sleeping on Ted Danson's roof, ran around in traffic wearing only his underpants and waving a gun, and bit Dakota Fanning on the face-but he'll bring in a much needed change in demographics. Liz protests, but it's a done deal. Soon the show is even renamed TGS with Tracy Jordan.
Liz tries to smooth the feathers of the cast and crew, perturbed that there is an attention-hogging newcomer in their midst. Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit) is the show's even-keeled producer. Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander) is a mouth-breathing writer who best expresses himself through trucker hats embossed with ironic sayings. His writing partner is Twofer (Keith Powell), so nicknamed because he's both "a black guy and a Harvard graduate." Josh Girard (Lonny Ross) is a tousle-headed writer/performer in the Jimmy Fallon mode. Cerie (Katrina Bowden) is the often inappropriately dressed writers' room assistant. Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer) is a TV loving innocent who is part of the NBC page program. When Liz only succeeds at creating strife, Tracy decides to invite everyone to a yacht party. Things go well until the harbor police reveal that it isn't actually Tracy's yacht.
In some ways, the series is reminiscent of The Larry Sanders Show (Rip Torn even makes a few guest appearances), but it is not as overly concerned with the entertainment industry. Instead, the series focuses on workplace comedy in the tradition of The Office and 9 to 5.
The series quality is so consistent that it is difficult to pick standout episodes. A few are extremely memorable, however. In "Jack-tor," an untalented Jack is cast in a sketch while Liz begins to think that Tracy is illiterate. In "Tracy Does Conan," Tracy's meds go out of whack just before a scheduled appearance on Conan, causing him to see a strange blue creature. In "The Rural Juror," Jenna stars in an impossible to pronounce movie. In "Black Tie," Liz, Jack, and Jenna attend the birthday party of an inbred European prince (Paul Reubens) where Liz rumbles with Jack's ex-wife (Isabella Rossellini). In "The 'C' Word," Liz overhears the writers referring to her as...well...something not quite nice, and Jack's attempt to impress his boss at a charity golf tournament by inviting Tracy backfires. In "Fireworks," Jack proposes the most ridiculous NBC special ever and uses Kenneth to get information on an aggressive West Coast exec (Arrested Development's Will Arnett). In "Cleveland," Liz and her new boyfriend fall in love with the greatest vacation spot in the U.S.-Cleveland.
The series features strong characters and equally strong performances. Baldwin's Jack is brilliantly funny and deadpan. He's always the smartest idiot in the room. Morgan is trenchant as the Martin Lawrence-inspired Tracy. McBrayer is brilliant as hayseed page Kenneth.
The one exception is SNL vet Rachel Dratch. Originally cast in the Jenna role, Dratch was relegated to sporadic appearances when NBC decided to take the role in a different direction. She plays a variety of characters throughout the season, including Elizabeth Taylor and Barbara Walters. This conceit doesn't really fit in with the rest of the series, and Dratch flounders whenever she's on screen.
The twenty-one episodes that make up season one are divided onto three discs. The discs are housed in a foldout case featuring publicity and production stills. One panel of the foldout case lists the title and brief plot synopses of each episode. The case slides into a cardboard sleeve.
The DVD menus are simple and easy to navigate. Viewers can play all episodes or choose an individual one. Unfortunately, the episodes are not divided into chapter stops.
