TVSquad

In reviewing tonight's season finale of 30 Rock, Robert Bianco of USA Today took the opportunity to bemoan how the show has declined in quality since it came back from the writers' strike. Essentially, his argument centers on how the show has gotten increasingly absurd, when the show's initial attraction was how the relatively-sane Liz Lemon reacted to the insanity going on around her. Now, according to Bianco, even Liz is getting wacky, screaming for her sandwich in "Sandwich Day," for instance, or getting entangled in one romantic situation after another. According to Bianco, the show is "ditching plot and character in a desperate, scattershot search for laughs, as if its new goal were to become a live-action version of Family Guy."

Hm. Sometimes a critic picks up on subtle changes in a show others can't, at least not until it's too late and the show they loved is irreparably damaged. That might be the case here. But right now, I'm not quite seeing what Bianco is complaining about.

I thought it was just me.

I've tried to get into Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip like I did with Aaron Sorkin's two other network creations . . . The West Wing and Sports Night. I wanted to like Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford in their roles as the saviors of a long-running, comedy sketch show. I really did. But, there's just something missing; a last piece of the puzzle that would make this show very enjoyable. However, I thought I was the only one who felt that way.

Fortunately, I'm not. Not only do many of you feel the same way, but we also have Robert Bianco, USA Today's television critic, in our court as well.