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Am I the only person in America who used to adore 30 Rock but now finds it unbearably awful? Like an unfunny gag machine stuck in high gear.

Do you think it's gotten worse, or do you just now realize how awful it's always been? Fey is an insufferably untalented person.

It's always been inconsistent, I've always thought Tracy Morgan was horribly miscast (as himself), and the majority of the characters have long been superfluous, but I do think it's actually gotten worse. Maybe it's just that the novelty has worn off and I'm no longer capable of overlooking its flaws.

Donald Brown, that is an insane statement. But I do agree that since the Season 4 premiere, the show has been on a quick downward skid. Too many guest stars, too few new ideas. Seasons 1-3 were some of the best in sitcom history, though.

I actually think it's gotten worse. I've barely been able to make it through an entire episode this season, and I've probably spent too much time wondering why, but here are my thoughts anyway. Making Jack's love interest exactly like him rather than a foil was a terrible choice. Plus, Elizabeth Banks is just awful; she has no comedic skills whatsoever. Kenneth stopped being funny a long time ago, yet he gets an increasing amount of screen time. The same could probably be said for Jenna, although I think Krakowski is a better comedic performer. The writers (as in the TGS writers) are barely on the show anymore. And Liz has basically become a cartoon. She was the most grounded and relatable character on the show, but now her eccentricities and insecurities have been exaggerated so much that she's just another Jenna or Tracy.

EDIT: Oddly enough, I've never had much of problem with Tracy Morgan. I think Mfunk will understand when I say that I have a soft spot for him thanks to his completely anarchic interviews on the Stern Show.

I didn't start watching until two seasons ago, but based on what I've seen I think it's formula and characters aren't suited for a six/seven season-long series. The characters are largely there just to deliver punch-lines and it's basically a mish-mash of irreverent jokes with a storyline wedged in, the storylines are really just superfluous except to give the series a sense of coherence. And yet despite all this I still find it funny as hell, even after finding a lot of flaws with it it's one of the few series I can watch and consistently laugh out loud. I really have to see the first seasons though.

Murdoch wrote:And yet despite all this I still find it funny as hell, even after finding a lot of flaws with it it's one of the few series I can watch and consistently laugh out loud. I really have to see the first seasons though.

Wow Murdoch, if you're driven to laugh out loud by 30 Rock lately, then you are in for an overwhelming dose of hilarity when you get to the earlier seasons. Mfunk is right, the first two seasons...maybe the third as well... are the stuff of sitcom legend. Back in the era of the "rurr jurr" & Tracy Jordan's Meat Machine, when guest stars were pitch-perfectly cast, even the weakest episode was more exceptional than what has been airing recently. I can't not watch 30 Rock, but to do so now I've had to wrench my expectations into a much lower bracket.

I'm jealous that you've yet to discover the first few seasons.

I've loved Tracy Morgan since his SNL days (I can probably pinpoint the first moment I realized he was one of my favorite comedic performers - the first time I saw an "Astronaut Jones" sketch), and am the wrong person to ask about whether he's worn out his welcome. His plotlines, even if they're weak, tend to be the only things left on 30 Rock that can make me laugh. I used to love the segments with the writers, etc, but they're now few and far between. Judah Friedlander is totally wasted by that show.

And yes, the Stern Show interviews! Amazing. I don't mean this in a racial way at all, but he's a lot like Beetlejuice when he comes onto the show. Sometimes he's in a very solemn and demure mood, almost like he's depressed or sad, but sometimes he's off-the-wall manic and constantly barrages Howard with hilarious proclamations.

LQ wrote:

Murdoch wrote:And yet despite all this I still find it funny as hell, even after finding a lot of flaws with it it's one of the few series I can watch and consistently laugh out loud. I really have to see the first seasons though.

Wow Murdoch, if you're driven to laugh out loud by 30 Rock lately, then you are in for an overwhelming dose of hilarity when you get to the earlier seasons. Mfunk is right, the first two seasons...maybe the third as well... are the stuff of sitcom legend. Back in the era of the "rurr jurr" & Tracy Jordan's Meat Machine, when guest stars were pitch-perfectly cast, even the weakest episode was more exceptional than what has been airing recently. I can't not watch 30 Rock, but to do so now I've had to wrench my expectations into a much lower bracket.

I'm jealous that you've yet to discover the first few seasons.

I've been meaning to watch the first seasons, my kevyip just keeps piling up and I never can get around to it. I'm sure I'll start it though after I finish with Deadwood, and after such a recommendation I'm eagerly looking forward to it!

I'm so behind on my viewings that I only just finished season three of 30 Rock (one day I will be all caught up with the Thursday shows-- one day) last week, but my theory behind the show has always been that the jokes miss as often as they hit, many of the storylines and gags are borrowed wholesale from other sitcoms, the bathroom humor gets old, but, when it works, it works amazingly well-- this is a show that appears far more quotable than it is because the good lines are so good. Now I'm anxious about starting Season Four once I cycle through Parks and Recreation season two and season five of the Office, though...

If you made it through Season Four of The Office, anything will seem bearable.

You know what, I heard that from everyone and when I finally watched it, I thought it was just as good as it'd ever been. BUT WHAT DO I KNOW

Maybe it seemed lousier at the time because of the heightened expectations, but the writers allowed every single character to become a self-aware parody of themselves, especially once perfectly-used supporting characters like Angela and Jan (who particularly went off the deep end). I know a lot of women in the professional world like Season Two [probably the most consistently excellent season of a TV comedy ever, by the way] Jan, and absolutely nobody in or out of the professional world like Season Four Jan. Yikes.

I must admit that 30 Rock is at times more miss than hit lately (and I was one of its biggest fans the first 3 1/2 seasons or so). In last week's episode, for instance, there wasn't even anything about the concept of the B-story (Jenna and Danny sharing a dressing room, which somehow makes them spontaneously act like a bickering married couple with guess who acting as the boychild in between them) that was remotely funny. Though most of the Liz and Jack stuff still really works for me (such as Liz's Mrs. Donaghy press conference).

Also, perhaps I'm just becoming a prude, but I don't find the word "penis" inherently funny. And every time I hear it (at least once per episode now) is just another twist of the knife in my side about the legitimately hilarious "penis" episode of Newsradio remaining censored to this day.

EDIT: The Office didn't become legitimately awful until Season 6 I'd say. It is perhaps telling that they recently had an episode dedicated to how great a show Glee is. This all of course just goes to support my longstanding theory that it is impossible for a comedy show to stay great for more than four seasons.

I think you're a little bit too demanding. Seinfeld didn't start to go downhill until Larry David left, you are actually the first person that I've heard [who enjoyed the show at some point in its run] that would bail on it so early. I could cite specific examples of classic episodes, but nearly every Season 6 and 7 episode falls into that category.

Discussion of the removal of certain episodes from streaming for "blackface" moved here

Buscemi reprised his highly memed appearance in the show as his Halloween costume this year

domino harvey wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 7:07 am Buscemi reprised his highly memed appearance in the show as his Halloween costume this year

Elvis Costello was also there. I'm not sure of Costello has a home here or just visits Buscemi, but they've done Halloween together before (even trick or treating together in 2015).