Broken Frontier

People like to be entertained. And where else is there to turn other than the giant box in your home? Americans have plopped down in front of their televisions to escape their boring lives for years now. Not just for news and sports, but to laugh. Because of that, we witnessed the birth of the sitcom. Over the years, the sitcom has evolved into less of a ‘once a week entertainment’, to having 10 shows to choose from at any given time. Some shows are just ridiculous while others often shine light on our culture. Every now and then a show comes along that turns television on its ear. Sitcoms have been a dying breed for years now. Television viewers are giving up the laugh tracks and bad acting of yesterday in search of something more substantial. This new breed of shows has given us brilliant sitcoms such as The Office and Scrubs. But the cream of the crop when it comes to this new class of shows has to be 30 Rock.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, 30 Rock is the story of Liz Lemon, played Tina Fey, as she struggles to keep a variety television show under control at NBC Studios, located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The show was created by Tina Fey and inspired by her days on Saturday Night Live. Aside from the motley crew of relatively unknown actors, Fey is also joined by Tracy Morgan and Alec Baldwin. The show and its actors have won a laundry list of accolades including Golden Globes and Emmys, the most recent being a Golden Globe for Tina Fey and a Screen Actor’s Guild Award for both Alec Baldwin and Fey.

Now I know what many of you are thinking, "Alec Baldwin? Meh. I’ve never been too impressed." And I can honestly tell you I feel the same way. Never been a fan of the guy. However, he was born to play this role in 30 Rock. He is without a doubt the best actor in any sitcom on TV today. He deserves any awards they throw at him. His roles as Jack Donaghy, "Vice President of East Coast Television" (formerly "Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming") is one of the best written characters on any given channel.

But all the hype and awards aside, let’s get down to the brass tacks of this show: it’s brilliant. It is consistently the funniest show on television. Clever writing, the occasional guest appearance, and sharp wit are some of the many reasons this show has been so critically acclaimed.

The other thing that readers of a comic book website might find appealing is that Tina Fey is a big nerd. Nearly ever single episode has at least one Star Wars reference. There must be a YouTube clip with all of them strung together, and if there isn’t, there should be. But it’s not just that the writers have a soft spot for Star Wars, you can expect any kind of pop culture references from popular bands to Harry Potter.

Sadly with the Writers Strike going on there has been a dearth of new 30 Rock episodes. But the first season is available on DVD. But if you’re anything like me you’ve been taking this new show hiatus to catch up on all the shows you’ve been meaning to watch.

Don’t give up on TV just yet. Hit that NetFlix queue or swing by Best Buy on the way home and pick up 30 Rock. You know you want to. That annoying guy at work keeps telling you how great it is! The sitcom isn’t exactly alive and well, but as long as shows like 30 Rock are around, it hasn’t died just yet.