30 Rock

[Mobius]

Is anyone here a fan? I just watched all 7 seasons over a few weeks and loved it. I just finished the last episode and now I'm sad it's over

[Noodle Lizard]

It's great. Endlessly rewatchable too, so don't worry too much about it being over. The gag rate is incredibly high, and it's every bit as dense as Arrested Development in terms of recurring jokes and character development. A lot of the best jokes just fly by, or become a lot funnier once you realise what relaatively obscure thing they're referencing (for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-bvHlb2Fe8).

Easily in my Top 10 sitcoms; for a show that ran as long as it did, it really never hits much of a slump. There are a few dud episodes, but I don't recall entire seasons being weak - perhaps the first, where they were clearly getting their foot in the door more conventionally before unleashing some of the more surreal elements that made it what it is. Kenneth is one of the best sitcom characters ever, I think - there's so much going on with that one.

[Dr Rock]

Easily in my Top 10 sitcoms

Same here. And so many jokes a minute, so many brilliant characters. Ever been shown on BBC? Didn't think so.

[amateur]

Good show imo.

The porn video game/Amadeus section is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

[JamesTC]

Here comes the funcooker.


Rewatched the show last month as I bought it on Blu-ray. The Region A version is actually Region Free and is quite cheap (I think I paid £35 including shipping and import fees for the set).

[Mobius]

Yeah I don't think there was a weak point. The last series was hilarious. I loved all of the main cast. All of Lemon's boyfriends were brilliant. Just a great show, Baldwin is fantastic.

They basically call Harvey Weinstein a rapist numerous times, and the show predates his downfall by quite a bit doesn't it? I know people were aware he was a creep but I was surprised by how explicit they were.

[Magnum Valentino]

Anyone else think Liz is the least likeable and generally worst of the main cast?

I'll go one better to add that Jack and Jenna are two of the best sitcom characters ever. A pair of actors in totally unstoppably perfect form.

Favourite line is Tracy saying he was in a film called "A Blaffair To Rememblack" which is probably the best laboured pun of all time (after Nate the Snake of course).

[Brundle-Fly]

Anyone else think Liz is the least likeable and generally worst of the main cast?

None of the characters are 'likeable' though, except perhaps Kenneth. Liz is essential. You need a central character in an ensemble cast sit-com like this to drive the thing. Jerry Seinfeld, Frasier Crane, Ted McCrilly, Edmund Blackadder spring to mind. They're not as immediate as the crazy caricatures around them so are often the fans' least favourite character, but without a 'Lemon', to me, these sit-coms would be too anarchic.

I call Mike from The Young Ones to the witness stand.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Yeah it's great.

Would I be right in saying it wasn't really well recognised in the UK? I don't think it got a terrestrial run and one of my only pals who was aware of it knew it from having it on in the background on Sky.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

It was on Channel 5 in the UK, at least for the first couple of series. I'm not sure if they showed the entire run, as I started torrenting it during the second.

I absolutely loved it to begin with, but I did feel my enthusiasm start to wane around the 5th series or so. I might give it a rewatch, having recently finished all of Malcolm in the Middle.

[Neomod]

It was on Channel 5 in the UK, at least for the first couple of series. I'm not sure if they showed the entire run, as I started torrenting it during the second.

I absolutely loved it to begin with, but I did feel my enthusiasm start to wane around the 5th series or so. I might give it a rewatch, having recently finished all of Malcolm in the Middle.

I noticed that in the later seasons storylines would focus more on Jack and Liz with fewer ensemble episodes, to it's (slight) detriment. Still one of my favourite shows.

Must be awkward when you have to replace one of your best friends in such a significant role but it was a smart move. Jane Krakowski is perfect as Jenna. 

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I certainly have a tough time imagining Rachel Dratch playing Jenna as effectively.

Was it a deliberate bit of irony/commentary that The Girly Show[nb]I assume it was a coincidence that it shared its title with the '90s British ladette show[/nb] starred more men than women?

[Magnum Valentino]

Wasn't it fronted by two women and written by one of those when it started out? If anything the commentary being made is on the drafting in of a bigger star to save a floundering show even if it means completely negating what made the show unique in the first place.

[BeardFaceMan]

I enjoyed this show, but the music drove me fucking insane. It actually started to spoil my enjoyment of the show by the end, so much so it's put me off doing a rewatch. And seeing as it's Tina Fey's husband doing all the music that's put me off any project of hers (although I did try some Kimmy Schmidt and found it crap, not just for the music).

[Small Man Big Horse]

It was on Channel 5 in the UK, at least for the first couple of series. I'm not sure if they showed the entire run, as I started torrenting it during the second.

I absolutely loved it to begin with, but I did feel my enthusiasm start to wane around the 5th series or so. I might give it a rewatch, having recently finished all of Malcolm in the Middle.

I loved it from start to finish but you're not alone when it comes to struggling with the fifth season, I've read that opinion a good few times over the years, and some people really don't like the final two seasons and especially Kristen Schaal's character. Though they are of course completely wrong to have such thoughts.

Though it's only Fey produced I'd recommend Girls5Eva to all 30 Rock fans, it has the same manic energy and gag rate along with a strong supporting cast of unusual characters, the wildly successful thread I started about the series can be found here: https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,88030.0.html

[Brundle-Fly]

My favourite opening to any TV season ever was S4.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I loved it from start to finish but you're not alone when it comes to struggling with the fifth season, I've read that opinion a good few times over the years, and some people really don't like the final two seasons and especially Kristen Schaal's character. Though they are of course completely wrong to have such thoughts.

It wasn't that I disliked it, as such - I kept watching it all the way to the end - but it didn't feel fresh any more. It's so long since I watched it, I couldn't say whether there was any decline in the show itself. I think I started watching Parks and Recreation around the same time, which usurped 30 Rock in my affections.

[McChesney Duntz]

Some bumps and ruffles here and there in seasons 4 and 5, but otherwise ace from start to finish. Their second live episode (East Coast version) is one of my favorite half-hours of anything anywhere, though you might never know it since it's been pulled from all streaming services because people are apparently morons who need their hands held and can't distinguish a rather blatant satire of racism on TV from actual racism on TV. Bah.

[DrGreggles]

Watched the whole run, and thoroughly enjoyed it overall.
My enthusiasm dipped during the later seasons, but it was still superb.

[veletision]

It's great.

[Bobloblawslawbomb]

Also fair to say it had one of the strongest final seasons of any sitcom that I can remember. Smaller order of 12 episodes, every one a classic.

[Gulftastic]

Jack versus Kaylee is my favourite TV rivalry. His glee at besting his teen nemesis is always fun.

'Quiet, chalkhands. A real man is talking.'

[Echo Valley 2-6809]

It's great.

Pardon my ignorance but what's your ace avatar from?

[veletision]

It's from legendary Irish give money away show "Winning Streak"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE09xC8LEhs

[Echo Valley 2-6809]

It's from legendary Irish give money away show "Winning Streak"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE09xC8LEhs

Haha thanks. First I thought it was a sneeze, second I thought it might be from a comedy show because the sheepish and then accusing look to camera is too good.

[dissolute ocelot]

I've watched quite a bit. It definitely has some great stuff - the interplay between Jack and Liz is wonderful, and Kenneth is an ostensibly one-note character who manages to be consistently funny. I occasionally have problems with Jenna and Tracy just for being so unrealistically obnoxious and hateful, but still they often manage to be very amusing and off the wall, and when they're not being unremittingly awful can be great characters. I could do without some of the Liz-centric episodes: some of the stuff with her boyfriends was funny, but generally less funny than the stuff at the show. Probably though the mix of storylines is one of the reasons for its success and longevity.

I definitely preferred The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt though, which I think was more consistent and went that step further into flights of wonderfully absurd humour, while always keeping it grounded in emotional terms with Kimmy's journey and past. (And again Jane Krakowski is the most tiresome and limited of the characters.)

[Mister Six]

Yeah I don't think there was a weak point.

There was a season - four, maybe? - where they just kind of forgot about Pete and the other writers despite two of them being in the opening credits, and every episode was almost entirely focused on some combination of Jenna, Tracey and/or Kenneth (with the requisite Liz/Jack subplot) and that one was a bit weaker, I thought. But weak by 30 Rock standards is still light years ahead of most other comedies. It's not just the density of jokes , but how ingenious so many of them are. It really took delight in setting up a zig only to pull a zag at the least predictable moment.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I've watched quite a bit. It definitely has some great stuff - the interplay between Jack and Liz is wonderful, and Kenneth is an ostensibly one-note character who manages to be consistently funny. I occasionally have problems with Jenna and Tracy just for being so unrealistically obnoxious and hateful, but still they often manage to be very amusing and off the wall, and when they're not being unremittingly awful can be great characters. I could do without some of the Liz-centric episodes: some of the stuff with her boyfriends was funny, but generally less funny than the stuff at the show. Probably though the mix of storylines is one of the reasons for its success and longevity.

I definitely preferred The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt though, which I think was more consistent and went that step further into flights of wonderfully absurd humour, while always keeping it grounded in emotional terms with Kimmy's journey and past. (And again Jane Krakowski is the most tiresome and limited of the characters.)

I quite like how they relaunched Ryan O'Reily from Oz's career though, even if he was an intentionally unlikable character.

[Fry]

One of the best sitcoms ever. Classic Simpsons, Peep Show tier. I absolutely adore it. It contains my absolute favourite joke from any sitcom (werewolf bar mitzvah).

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

"I don't believe in one-way streets. Not in relationships and not when I'm driving."

Jack versus Kaylee is my favourite TV rivalry. His glee at besting his teen nemesis is always fun.

'Quiet, chalkhands. A real man is talking.'

Tracy's son was fantastic as well, as I recall.