Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, Scott Adsit, Judah Friedlander, Keith Powell, Katrina Bowden, Lonny Ross, Maulik Pancholy, Kevin Brown
Created & written by Tina Fey
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £34.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 448 minutes
Directed by Don Scardino, Gail Mancuso & others
The alleged death of the sitcom is, as we all know, a lie. Yes, the traditional studio-based, 4-camera sitcom may be on the wane, but the half-hour TV comedy is alive and well — and for proof you need look no further than My Name Is Earl, The Office, Weeds, Arrested Development, Scrubs ... and the brilliant 30 Rock.
The creator, writer, producer and star is Tina Fey, who cut her TV teeth on Saturday Night Live. Which bodes well for 30 Rock, because the show itself is all about an SNL-like sketch comedy show — they always say to write what you know, and Fey has certainly done that here. She plays Liz Lemon, the producer and head writer of NBC's The Girlie Show, a which stars Jenna Maroney (Krakowski). When the network boss dies and is replaced by corporate suit Jack Donaghy (Baldwin), Donaghy decides that although it rates pretty well, it should be appealing to a wider demographic. So he brings in much loved but crazy (nay, clinically insane) movie star Tracy Jordan (Morgan) to the cast and changes the name of the show. Of course, it's left to Liz to placate the rest of the rather miffed cast.
While it's set behind-the-scenes and often feels a little like The Larry Sanders Show, 30 Rock is more of a workplace comedy, more like The Office or Taxi, or even the classic Mary Tyler Moore Show. What really comes across in this first season is a consistent quality and very strong characters. In fact, the characters are so well written and well cast that they emerge fully formed in the pilot. All members of the ensemble put in lovely performances, but the surprising standout is Alec Baldwin — who ever knew that he could be this funny? So great performances, high production values, a New York location, an irreverent sense of humour and loads of laughs. What are you waiting for? Go buy this now — but make sure you get the Region 1 version. For an explanation, see below.
EXTRAS None at all, which is very surprising indeed considering the swag of extras featured on the Region 1 edition of this box set: commentary tracks on 5 episodes; The Wrap Party, a 13-minute reel of outtakes; An Evening with Kenneth, which is five shorts with Kenneth the page hosting his own talk show; two short backstage tours; and deleted scenes. Shame on Playback and Universal for not including these on the Region 2 version.