Instant Reaction: ’30 Rock’
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It’s a precarious time for “30 Rock” fans.
Tonight, the NBC comedy begins its third season -– do-or-die time for the critically beloved but ratings-starved series. After three seasons and an Emmy for best comedy, poor ratings performance killed Fox’s media darling, “Arrested Development.” There was the short-lived “Andy Richter Controls the Universe” and “Undeclared.” And patience wears even thinner these days: This week, CBS newcomer “The Ex-List,” the most promising of the fall comedies, according to critics, was yanked from the schedule after just four episodes and diminishing returns.
The good news is ’30 Rock’ is better than ever. Tina Fey’s recent “Saturday Night Live”-boosting Sarah Palin impressions do not seem to have depleted her creative juices. She’s got a whole lot more where that came from.
When last we left off, comedy writer Liz (Fey) was getting over Floyd and trying desperately to adopt a baby. This season, she charges ahead toward motherhood, first tripping over the adoption agency’s evaluator, Bev (tonight’s guest star Megan Mullally).
Liz’s NBC boss Jack (Alec Baldwin), meanwhile, successfully failed his way out of Washington and returns with guns blazing, ready to take down Devon (Will Arnett), his closeted professional rival, and Kathy (Marceline Hugot), Devon’s wife and the CEO’s strange, mostly mute daughter. Devon forces him to start in the mailroom, but Jack gets a leg up -– literally -– when Kathy takes an unexpected liking to him.
Plenty of laughs ensue.
This is not the hyped-but-lukewarm season opener of last year, which was overly reliant on the power of guest star Jerry Seinfeld in a rare, unfunny cameo for the comic. Rather, the episode is a celebration of Liz’s topsy-turvy world and the kooks who populate it.
That said, the episode doesn’t exactly welcome the uninitiated. (At least “Arrested Development” opened every week with a short spiel about the family Bluth.) First-timers should know that the conflict between Jack, Devon and Kathy is more or less resolved within the half-hour. And, even if you’re not dialed in, it’s easy enough to get the idea: Kenneth is the adorable and slow NBC page, Tracy is the star of Liz’s show and outrageously misbehaved, and Jenna is the sidelined, attention-craving co-star. Etc.
But loyal fans can take comfort in knowing that Fey hasn’t blown up the show in the name of ratings –- I’ve never quite forgiven ABC for morphing the deliciously layered “Alias” into a spy-game-of-the-week procedural -- though higher ones would be nice.
Watch the episode now and then make a weekly appointment.
-- Denise Martin