NBC’s racking up the season finales pretty early this year, and last night we bid a temporary farewell to the first (and by the grace of god not the last) season of 30 Rock. As much as I enjoyed the pilot, I’d written the show off once it moved to Thursdays. There wasn’t enough room on my DVR for The OC, Grey’s Anatomy and 30 Rock. But then The OC ended, Grey’s went from bad to unwatchable and I read a short piece in Entertainment Weekly that couldn’t have enticed me more; they compared 30 Rock to The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Praise doesn’t get much higher, especially from a publication that holds MTM in enough regard to award Mary’s iconic hat toss as the second greatest moment in television history.
As much as NBC trying to capitalize on this comparison (evidence below), Tina Fey doesn’t begin to approach comedic execution of Mary Tyler Moore, but she has created a ridiculously funny show that’s really hit its stride in recent episodes. And in just one example of life imitating art, so has TGS With Tracy Jordan – the fictional program run by Tina’s Liz Lemon on 30 Rock. Poor Jane Krakowski, who replaced poor Rachel Dratch, is desperately underused on 30 Rock as the desperately underused star of the previously titled The Girlie Show. I’m not sure if it’s an oversight, a joke or they’re just trying to dump her, but she’s been increasingly absent. As for Tracy Morgan, his on-camera antics as Tracy Jordan so resemble his real life that I wonder if he’s ever read the script. He might not even be aware that he’s on TV.
Despite it’s renewal, all is not well for the show. Last night marked the end of Emily Mortimer’s three-episode turn as Phoebe, and while she may not have been an integral part of the show, I’m not sure I want to watch a 30 Rock without constant references to Avian Bone Syndrome. Alec Baldwin’s very recent (and very public) emotional breakdown presents a more immediate problem for the show. If he were to be released from his contract, as he’s apparently trying to be, would 30 Rock survive without him? Definitely not. Liz and Jack might not be Mary and Lou, but they’re just as codependent.