TVSquad

The fall season has begun and we have a ton of new and returning shows to watch again. It's great to have The Office and The Mentalist and 60 Minutes and The Simpsons back with new episodes, but I still feel a huge void in my TV-watching pleasure. And it's not because Lost and Chuck won't be back until next year.

I'm talking about 30 Rock. While all of the other NBC Thursday night comedies (Weekend Update Thursday, Parks and Recreation, Community, and The Office) have returned, 30 Rock won't be back until October 15. Not sure why that is, but Thursday nights just aren't the same without it. I even saw a promo for NBC's Thursday night lineup and how the show were back, and they included 30 Rock in the montage. That was just painful.

(S03E09) "Did you know that Janis Joplin speed walked everywhere and was scared of toilets?" - Frank, editing Joplin's Wikipedia page

OK, so I learned three things from tonight's episode. One, Jack revealed how he left the Bush administration at the end of last season (that gay bomb really did take effect), I never want to see Jenna and Frank make out again, and I'm never going to try any drink with the word "schlong" in it, even if it was inspired by 30 Rock.

I liked this episode, though it's the second week in a row where one of the plots was way too over the top for me. And I'm not even talking about Frank almost tricking Jenna into eating a live cat.

(S02E09) "That's not a Christmas tree. It's a way to lure tourists into the basement for $20 salads." - Kenneth, about the Rockefeller Center tree

I'm a sucker for Christmas episodes. The plots, the lessons learned, the music. And it doesn't matter if it's a corny, traditional type of holiday episode or a modern, irreverent look at the holiday. This 30 Rock episode is more the latter, but it doesn't mean that there isn't some crazy traditional aspects to it too. These characters - even the ones who get on each others nerves - care about each other in their own way. When Jenna sings "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and you see a montage of people arguing and Guatemalan kids destroying their Christmas gifts, that's a nice mix of the old and the odd, and the capper of having Jack and his pain in the ass mom wish each other a Merry Christmas just fits so perfectly.

First of all, I didn't even realize that tonight was the season finale of 30 Rock (or the first day of May sweeps, for that matter). It's hard to keep track of this new world where various shows end their seasons in various months.

Anyway, show star Tina Fey is going to live blog the season finale at NBC.com. It starts at 9:30pm Eastern. You can go to the site now and leave questions for Fey and she'll answer some of them.

Now, I wonder if Baldwin asking to get out of his contract (in fact, he doesn't want to do television anymore, period) was timed this week for the season finale. Does Baldwin have a contract beyond this season? I would assume so, since NBC has said they are not going to let him out his contract. Maybe Baldwin should do the blog with Fey. Imagine the questions he'd get.

Update: As reader Ender mentions in the comments, the show starts at 9pm, so maybe this isn't going to be a live blog "during the show" but immediately following the show.