I don’t think anyone is exactly sure what possessed NBC to launch two behind-the-scenes at “SNL” comedies in the same season but that’s exactly what they did with Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and 30 Rock.
Of the two, Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 seemed to be the surefire hit. Starring Mathew Perry, written and created by the West Wing guy, enjoying a massive budget and featuring an endless stream of high profile guest stars… what could go wrong? Meanwhile, unassuming 30 Rock was almost overlooked by NBC, bouncing around from time slot to time slot and enjoying minimal promotion on the network. Under those circumstances, Studio 60’s success seemed like a foregone conclusion. There was only one problem: the show wasn’t very funny. In fact, Studio 60 was barely more than West Wing set in a television network. Sorkin’s heavy-handed gravitas worked fine in the Oval Office but it dragged things down on the Sunset Strip. By the end of the season, Studio 60 was facing an uncertain future (put on early hiatus and rumored to be on the verge of cancellation), while 30 Rock was slotted into the Thursday night schedule leading into The Office, enjoying the full support of the network.
For those who haven’t seen the show yet, here’s the skinny: Tina Fey created 30 Rock based on her tenure as head writer at Saturday Night Live. The comedy takes place and is actually filmed in NBC’s New York headquarters and stars Fey as Liz Lemon, head writer (naturally) of a fictional sketch comedy program called The Girly Show. A thinly disguised version of SNL, The Girly Show stars Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski – Ally McBeal) and Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan – SNL). But the show within the show isn’t the focus of 30 Rock. It’s just the backdrop for the  action. The plot focuses on Liz Lemmon’s trials and tribulations as she tries to balance out her personal and professional lives, with varying degrees of success. Lemmon’s slick GE executive boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) is both a workplace foe and reluctant mentor. Tracy Jordan is a marginally fictionalized version of Tracy Morgan, giving the actor an opportunity to lampoon his own crazy behavior. Other members of the ensemble include Lemon’s writing staff: Judah Friedlander as Frank Rossitano, Keith Powell as James “Toofer” Spurlock and Lonny Ross as Josh Girand. Jack McBrayer as a hayseed NBC page named Kenneth Parcell and eighteen year old Katrina Bowden as inappropriately sexy receptionist Cerie round out the cast.
From the description, you might get the idea that 30 Rock is an insider’s show and that you’d have to have an interest in the television industry to get the jokes. That’s not the case at all. Rather, 30 Rock hangs its comedy on the workplace scenario, playing off situations that most people face every day. Liz Lemmon is an everywoman. She struggles with her boss, with her relationships and family and with keeping a crew of clearly insane people from spinning out of control. The fact that it takes place at  NBC New York is a case of “write what you know” on Fey’s part, and while there are plentyof jabs at NBC and its parent company GE, these aren’t the core of the show’s comedy.
30 Rock works because of several critical factors; first, the ensemble cast is excellent. Every member brings something unique to the table. Fey, Krakowski and Morgan are the reliable center while Alec Baldwin is the cherry on top. Baldwin is easily one of the most underrated comic geniuses of our time. He dominates every scene he’s in, but his larger than life presence never threatens to overpower the episodes. In fact, every one of the central characters seems perfectly cast and is used to his or her best potential.
The second critical factor is the writing. 30 Rock is easily one of the best-written network comedies to come along in recent years. The plots are engaging and fun, the dialogue is consistently funny, and the constant stream of asides and throwaway lines takes the whole thing over the top. The biggest laughs are often elicited by casual asides or dialogue that goes by so fast you may miss it if you aren’t paying attention:
“Sorry I’m Late. I was at a luncheon for Ann Coulter’s 60th birthday.”
“He got blood on his tote! Wait until Tupac hears about this!”
“I like challenges. I’ve summated Kilimanjaro… I’ve showered with Greta Van Susteren…”
“Now, let’s get some smoothies and go clubbing!”
 Finally, 30 Rock is unburdened by the “NBC formula” that was so prominent just a few years ago. It’s no secret that premium cable channels have been running circles around the broadcast networks recently with highly creative and successful shows like The Sopranos, Weeds and Six Feet Under. Though slow to react, NBC is finally making welcome changes in response to the challenge. 30 Rock is a single camera show, meaning it’s like a move with individual camera setups for each shot. There’s no studio audience, there’s no laugh track. It looks more like an HBO show than a prime time broadcast comedy, and rather than simply mimicking cable shows, it comes off as confident, innovative and flat out funny. Thank the gods that NBC has fewer and fewer shows with a laugh track. Adding one would have ruined 30 Rock’s subtle moments.
With 30 Rock’s second season swiftly approaching, NBC is pulling out all the stops to promote the show. The premier is slated to include a guest appearance by Jerry Seinfeld, returning to the Thursday night lineup for the first time since Seinfeld went off the air. If that’s not a vote of confidence, I don’t know what is. Though 30 Rock had low ratings last year and suffered from network neglect, it looks to be on track to find its audience this year and grow into one of the flagship NBC shows.
 Video Presentation
As a single camera show, 30 Rock has finely crafted shots and a very filmic look. The transfer here is absolutely pristine. It’s presented in anamorphic widescreen, which is a real treat for fans that watched the show in cropped, standard definition during its broadcast run. The image is crisp and clean, the colors are nicely saturated, the contrast is perfect, and I couldn’t see even a hint of edge enhancement or compression artifacts.
Audio Presentation
Obviously 30 Rock is a dialogue driven show, so don’t expect the episodes to give your home theater a workout. The 5.1 surround track is used mostly for the musical score with some sound effects spilling into the rear speakers from time to time. The defining characteristic of the audio is the clarity of the dialogue and the excellent mix of audio elements. Unlike a lot of slap-dash audio found on other TV releases, the 30 Rock tracks are a pleasure to listen to. There’s no struggling to hear the dialogue or grabbing for the remote to turn the volume down when the music gets too loud.
Extras
Commentaries by Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Loren Michaels and Jack McBrayer – Something’s off with the biggest extra on this release. On the one hand, it’s very cool that NBC included commentaries on five of the episodes. On the other, they may have wanted to coach the participants on how to deliver said commentary. To say that there are some silent stretches in most of these commentaries is an understatement. Loren Michaels’ track in particular is almost completely devoid of commentary. Tracy Morgan does a little better job but fails to offer much in the way of insight. Alec Baldwin is equally quiet, but at least he seems to be enjoying watching the show as he laughs at the jokes more than he comments on the action. Of the five, Tina Fey’s is the  most interesting to listen to. She offers a healthy amount of insight on the show’s genesis and its production. She’s engaging and funny throughout the entire track.
The oddest thing about these commentaries is that they’re not presented as alternate audio on the episodes as they appear within the season. Rather, there are duplicate versions of the five episodes on the third disc of the set, with the audio commentary as the only audio option. Why didn’t these appear as optional tracks? Could it be that NBC knew they weren’t very good and wanted to bury them on the third disc? Who knows?
Deleted Scenes – This is a small collection of trims and extended scenes. There are a few good laughs to be found in the collection but nothing that really needed to be in the episodes they were cut from.
Wrap Party Video – This is my favorite extra on the disc. It’s a video that was produced for the season wrap party, consisting of funny moments from the show and a collection of hilarious outtakes and bloopers. It looks like the cast had a blast making 30 Rock.
An Evening with Kenneth Shorts – If you haven’t seen the show, you won’t have a clue what this is about. Don’t watch it until you’ve seen the series. It’s basically the Kenneth character interviewing members of The Girly Show’s cast. Good stuff once you know what’s going on.
Behind the Scenes Featurettes – These two video segments are actually kind of mislabeled on the DVD. They’re not featurettes at all. They’re home movies made by the cast members featuring tours of the sets, some off-the-cuff interviews with other cast members and some of the crew and some silly comedy stuff thrown in for good measure.
Makin’ it Happen Shorts – This is another extra that you’re not going to get if you haven’t seen the show. Don’t even try to understand what’s going on in these until you’ve seen the episode that Will Arnett guest stars on.
 Conclusion
The rightful winner of the match-up between Studio 60 and 30 Rock, this is a finely written and staged program. As an ensemble show, it takes a few episodes to hit its stride, but once it does, it reaches thrilling heights. The only thing 30 Rock is missing at this point is a huge following, and that’s sure to come in season two. Universal gave the show excellent treatment on the DVD release by including lots of great extras, even if those audio commentaries are a little weak. If you have any interest in the show, go grab the season one DVDs today. The episodes are so packed with clever dialogue and situations that you’ll be able to watch them again and again, seeing or hearing something new each time. Highly recommended!
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