Song Lyric of the Day:
Boys becoming men / Men becoming wolves
Tracy Jordan / “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah”
1:15PM.
One of the TV shows I’m enjoying the most this season (and which, as of last night, I’m caught up on) is NBC‘s deservedly Emmy-winning comedy, 30 Rock. As someone who has (1) been a Tina Fey fan since first seeing her on Saturday Night Live and (2) a somewhat offbeat sense of humor, this show is right up my alley. Filled with brilliantly absurd bits of comedy, 30 Rock has firmly secured its place in my heart, in the same spot left empty since Arrested Development‘s cancellation (you can catch repeats on G4).
Set behind the scenes at a New York City-based late-night sketch comedy show (sound familiar?), Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon is the show’s head writer and primarily sane voice of reason, dealing with her crazy boss Jack Donaghy (a phenomenal Alec Baldwin) and crazy stars Tracy Jordan (the uninhibited Tracy Morgan) and chronically insecure Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski). Add to the mix the golly-shucks Kenneth the Page (an underrated Jack McBrayer), and you’ve got a terrific primary cast in one of the few comedies (at least, I think) on the air today that is genuinely funny.
From something as simple as a framed movie poster hanging on the wall in Tracy’s dressing room (for his movie Fat Bitch — tagline: She’s Off the Leash) to the revelation of Jack’s secret cookie jar collection to an in-show product promo about not having an in-show product promo (Diet Snapple) to Tracy’s personal demons making him hallucinate a Blue Man to Kenneth vocalizing the Seinfeld theme music to European countries that only rich people know about to an avenging Elizabeth Taylor (“WHITE DIAMONDS!!!”), the show revels in the absurd. If only I had the time to get into all of Jack’s classic, instantly quotable lines (“Businesswoman? I don’t think that’s a word.”)
I’d already been a casual viewer of 30 Rock its first season; if I could catch it, I’d watch. And I enjoyed the occasional repeat here and there. But, really, what truly cemented 30 Rock as weekly appointment TV for me this season was the hysterical — and very unexpected — snippet of a Tracy Jordan music video for the song “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.” It wasn’t so much the video itself (which is very funny and very short), it’s that within the context of the scene it was hilarious. It’s been a long time since I laughed until I cried, but this scene did just that to me the other night. And any show that can make me laugh like that is worth making the time to watch.
*(Aside to Tina Fey: I read that your family is being cast for the show. Just letting you know I’m available.)
