30 Rock - A One Time Special

[Small Man Big Horse]

So this extended advert for the new Peacock streaming service airs on Thursday, which is partially fantastic as it'll be great to see everyone again, and partially incredibly annoying as it's not a proper episode. Still, the first teaser trailer suggests it should still be worth watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSIna8hr9p8&feature=emb_logo and the bits which are ads for new Peacock shows can be fast forwarded on my brand new vhs video recorder.

[Moribunderast]

I'll give it a go. Hopefully it's better than the mildly painful Parks and Rec. special. It does look to have actual jokes in it, which helps.

I've been re-watching 30 Rock (along with Always Sunny, Community and The Office US - comfort food for COVID times) and it remains my favourite sitcom of all-time, probably tied with Larry Sanders. The sheer number of jokes and the rhythm with which they flow is so special. Every time Kenneth starts a story about his home town or Tracy begins an anecdote I'm already laughing because I know the second half of the line will be insane and unexpected. My housemate and I near-choked the other day when Tracy exclaimed: "I feel like Oscar the Grouch today. And not just 'cause I woke up in a garbage can this morning startling someone named Gordon!"

With Great News and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt both done, I'm hungry for more of that style of gag so a 30 Rock Special will be most welcome, providing it's not a bizarre PSA like the Parks and Rec. thing!

[Noodle Lizard]

I too have recently rewatched 30 Rock, and agree that it's about as good as that kind of sitcom can get. The gag rate is astonishingly impressive, and I still pick up on new things despite having watched it through at least three times. It ended at exactly the right time, and probably has one of the solidest final seasons of any American sitcom, so any attempt to add on to that (especially a "quarantine special", which have been largely rubbish) does concern me a bit.

My guess is that it'll have a few good lines/gags, but ultimately something we wish hadn't happened.

[olliebean]

At least it's not another Zoom special.

[Small Man Big Horse]

At least it's not another Zoom special.

It wasn't far off unfortunately. I liked...some of it? I was prepared for it to be part infomercial too so it wasn't the really clumsy (and at times frankly embarrassing) links to the adverts either, just that they underused certain characters (Pete, Frank, Toofer, Vivica) and didn't have that much funny material for Jenna or Tracy. Still, it was nice to see everyone again, and there were some funny moments, with the best bits for me being Kenneth's 1920's Murder Mystery party that only Grizz attended, the opening with Liz and the mask-less man, Jack's iphone40 gag, Liz's giant sandwich and a good few other one liners. I just wish I hadn't found myself getting bored 40 minutes in, and that towards the end the cringe factor wasn't so high.

[Old Gold Tooth]

30 Rock is one of my favourite sitcoms so I'll give this a go, but as many others have said the show absolutely nailed its end, so knocking out something that will feel forced and substandard (as it sounds like this does) does feel a bit of a shame.

[olliebean]

It wasn't far off unfortunately.

Yeah, I haven't watched it yet but skipped through the download to make sure it was what it said it was, as it seems to have the wrong series/episode label (wtf is S07E00 supposed to be?), and spotted rather more Zooming than I'd like to have seen.

[Old Gold Tooth]

Might have just be because I've had a foul weekend and was hoping this would take my mind off things, but I disliked that quite a bit.

There were a few decent Liz and Jack interactions but it mostly felt forced, and it was a bit sad to see these characters shilling so unashamedly for NBC. I know, they always sort-of have shilled for NBC - but at least during the show's run they weren't afraid to bite the corporate hand that fed them, sometimes quite savagely (Lemon/Fey miming pulling a pube from her mouth after having to promote some product was a good'un).

This time it all rang hollow to me, and seemed at best a pointless reunion made because it could be done, not because it was worthwhile. But going in I didn't realise it was a long infomercial with a few scripted scenes so I should have tempered my expectations. And my shitty mood almost certainly didn't help.

Also I'm not used to American adverts, but blimey they're not subtle are they? Genuinely thought the first lot were parodies until it dawned on me "Peacock" was a real thing!

[ajsmith2]

they underused certain characters (Pete, Frank, Toofer

Not surprised by this, as I always felt these 3 got kind of demoted during the run of the show from A list to B list characters. I know Pete and Frank got their own stories now and then, but they were mainly B stories that didn't drive the main thrust of the show, and in general it seemed to me that they were largely reduced to walking punchline guys as the show went on. And did Toofer ever get his own story? I recall one where he got an affirmative action promotion or something, but IIRC he was more the object than the subject of that plot.

[Mister Six]

Toofer was only a couple of steps above an extra, and Pete was practically absent from a couple of the middle seasons despite appearing in the intro of every episode (and being one of the show's best characters). The only story I recall Toofer getting was one where he was at loggerheads with Tracey over something (I think Tracey doesn't think Toofer is properly black, and Toofer thinks Tracey is an embarrassment to black people) until they realise that their argument would make a good sketch. Almost certainly a season one plot, before they realise they could just ignore Toofer altogether.

Frank usually got a couple of lines an episode and got a couple of arc plots, including the odd one about falling in love with the teacher who sexually abused him as a kid(!), but yeah - they were underused. I think it was season four in particular that just seemed to be Liz/Jack/Tracey/Jenna (feat. Kenneth) every episode.

At least they did better than Josh though. Poor Josh.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I can't believe no one complained about the lack of Katrina Bowden despite her being in 99 of the episodes, you're all sexist monsters. That or she was so bland no one remembered her, I know I'd forgotten her for a good while, apparently she's now a soap actress and has appeared in 159 episodes of The Bold And The Beautiful, which can't be good career-wise.

[Mister Six]

Nah, how could I forget her? ("Cerie, you need to wear a bra." "Oh, no, they just do this."). But she was never really more than a one-note occasional joke character. Toofer was actually supposed to be a real human being and Frank and Pete are both in the intro, so you'd expect them to get more play than they actually did.

Those daytime soaps still get good figures (no pun intended) and run forever, so honestly it's probably a step up for her in exposure, job security and being given things to do compared to 30 Rock.

[McChesney Duntz]

It would seem that Dotcom was never forgiven for appearing in that wretched Sarah Palin 30 Rock "parody" a few years ago.

[Virgo76]

What DID happen to Josh? He seemed to get a very raw deal there.

[Moribunderast]

Hoo boy, this was very, very shit and disappointing. I didn't expect a classic 30 Rock episode, by any means, but the shilling was painful and not couched in enough self-deprecation to make it bearable in any way. Some of the lines were nice but the COVID filming restrictions make it virtually impossible to create the very special rhythm that kept 30 Rock blazing along. I very quickly went from being happy to see the characters again to being sad this special even existed.

Ah well, back to my 30 Rock re-watch. Up to S6 now which features some incredible episodes, including the one I just watched where Tracy thinks Liz is his father because she uses old pomade designed for African-Americans in the 70s.

[ajsmith2]

What DID happen to Josh? He seemed to get a very raw deal there.

AFAIR, after being serially underused in the first 3 seasons (I think he had just one plot of his own in season one: something to do with Elizabeth Taylor?) at the beginning of season 4 he complains of being ignored and quits, then 'refuses to unquit', so then they hold auditions for a replacement at which he (having somehow managed to pack in a miserable post show career in the meantime in which he ended up doing gay porn) auditions and but is bizzarely rejected (a bit like losing your own lookalike contest I guess) and that's the end of him. Not sure if the actor himself was sacked against his will or if he quit. The character who they got to fill his place was equally surplus to requirements as well.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Nah, how could I forget her? ("Cerie, you need to wear a bra." "Oh, no, they just do this."). But she was never really more than a one-note occasional joke character. Toofer was actually supposed to be a real human being and Frank and Pete are both in the intro, so you'd expect them to get more play than they actually did.

Those daytime soaps still get good figures (no pun intended) and run forever, so honestly it's probably a step up for her in exposure, job security and being given things to do compared to 30 Rock.

Oh I know, I was just being facetious, and you're not wrong about anything that you say about her, which is a shame as her comic timing wasn't actually too bad.