By Sumaiya Hashmi
| Life & Style
| Reviews
| October 29, 2009
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NBC’s “30 Rock” is proving how much it deserved its five Emmys, three Golden Globes, and three Screen Actors Guild awards from last season. The fourth season starts off as strong as ever with all the comedy and quirkiness we’ve come to expect. The show has always done well with critics despite disproportionately low ratings, but these ratings have been steadily increasing with each new season. The first episode dives right in by addressing the economic situation at TGS—the fictional late night comedy show around which the show is based—but there are just too many plot lines. Virtually every character has his or her own story. This makes it hard to keep track of—let alone become invested in— each character’s narrative. At the same time, the multiple story lines are a good way to introduce new viewers to all the characters and their idiosyncrasies. The first episode really allows naive page Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer) to shine as he butts heads with Jack (Alec Baldwin) and leads the pages in a strike. But we see little of Kenneth in episode two; the second episode has a more focused, concise plot following the fallout of Liz Lemon’s “Dealbreakers” book, which essentially makes all the men at 30 Rock hate her. Liz (Tina Fey) is self-deprecating as always while playing the “look-at-the-idiots-I-have-to-work-with” role to perfection. Liz and TGS producer Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit) are brilliant when they collaborate, and it’s nice to see them in so many scenes together again. In episode one, the two have to secretly scout for a new actor, and their confrontation with the rest of the crew makes for some bitingly hilarious dialogue. The show demonstrates a remarkable awareness of itself and of the audience’s experience. There is the ongoing gag of forgetting about Josh-the-actor who, believe it or not, has been around since season one. The aptly-named first episode “Season 4” cleverly begins with Jack addressing the camera, and there are jabs at the television industry as well as at popular culture. The TGS actors try to connect with the common man. For Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), this means running around in public asking things like, “Do you have change for a $10,000 bill?” and, “Do you want to hold hands with a black millionaire?” Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski)’s approach is to “go country.” As always, the satire is biting and the issues are current and spot-on. Much of the plot centers around the national economic crisis as it affects TGS, and the second episode focuses heavily on government bailouts. Jack throws jabs at “Comrade Obama,” who “by the way is Kenyan and smokes cigarettes.” Even Malia and Sasha are mentioned, along with “the real America,” which Liz claims is a misnomer. In the pop culture field, Liz drops a Michael Jackson reference. (“Too soon,” says Tracy.) The show’s approach is similar to that of past seasons because there is really no reason to fix what isn’t broken. At the same time, there does seem to be a greater effort to stay current and to avoid taking itself too seriously as a show. The characters never truly change or develop; Tracy’s attempt at reconnecting with the common man fails, and Jenna stays as annoyingly self-absorbed as ever. It’s hard to mind how static the characters are, however, because it is for exactly these quirks that we love them. Season four is off to a promising start, keeping the same “30 Rock” formula that’s proven so successful in the past. And it only gets funnier with each new episode. You can catch "30 Rock" Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. on NBC.
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