TVSquad

Yeah, everyone is going to be voting in the David Cook vs. David Archuleta American Idol final, but there's another contest going on and your vote is needed.

As we've been talking about recently, Redeye in Chicago is having their annual Best Character on Television poll, and it's down to the final four. After weeks of voting, the matchups are Sir Guy of Gisborne (Robin Hood) vs. Michael Scott (The Office) and Benjamin Linus (Lost) vs. Liz Lemon (30 Rock). Right now, Sir Guy is destroying Michael Scott (looks like Scott is going to fail at this too). In fact, I'm surprised that Sir Guy has such a rabid following.

As for Linus vs. Lemon, that's a lot closer, but it looks like Linus is going to win, which will set up a big finale where Linus goes up against Sir Guy. I have to vote for Linus, but I think it's going to be a battle. Voting for this round ends Tuesday at 2pm.

(S02E15) "I'm just gonna be a kick-ass single mom. Like Erin Brokovich, or Sarah Connor." - Liz

30 Rock fans looking for laughs, plot twists, and a cliffhanger in the finale are probably happy. You got all that, plus a guest star (more than one, actually) that I didn't even know was going to be in the episode. And if you're one of the people who was wondering "what the heck does the episode title 'Cooter' even mean?," well, he's the secret to that (and Tina Fey has been using the term for a while now).

But some 30 Rock fans - I would go out on a limb and say most of you - weren't happy to find out who the father of Liz's maybe-baby might be.

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.

(S02E14) "This smells like hill people milk!" - Kenneth, during the drinking contest

Is it just me or was the first part of tonight's 30 Rock a little ... lacking in something? It just seemed to me to be off a little bit, from the change in the opening (no opening scene before the credits, just straight to the credits then the start of the show immediately following) to the lack of really laugh out loud lines (except for Jonathan's singing "I Will Remember You" to Jack and making him a bizarre collage), it seemed to be rather pedestrian, for a 30 Rock episode anyway. Maybe it was because there weren't too many Jack/Liz scenes.

But then halfway through is picked up and got better.

(S02E13) "That was so easy, like taking candy...from one of those guys who gives out candy at gay nightclubs."

Sorry this review is a little late this week. 30 Rock is one of those shows that I have to watch once, take notes, then watch again quickly so I can make sure I didn't miss any good lines. And this episode, like all 30 Rock episodes, had a lot of great lines.

But if there's anything that I took away from this episode, it's this: the porn video game that Tracy invented better be revisited in a later episode, or sold in the NBC online store with the mugs and t-shirts.

(S02E10) "I've become one of them. I've been Sodomized!" - Kenneth, explaining how the 21st century Sodom (NYC) has changed him.

OK, so I was wrong. In my review of the previous episode, I mentioned that it was the last one finished before the strike. But this episode is the last episode finished before the strike. No, seriously, it is! I was bummed out after I realized the previous episode was the last (I thought). Now I have to be bummed out all over again.

But it was a good episode to go into the hiatus with, if that makes things better.

(S02E08) "I got a squeezer from an Indian girl on a bunk bed, so I think I got the whole Harvard experience." - Frank

This episode has two plots we haven't seen much of this season: a solid plot involving the writing staff and a return to the whole Tracy/Jenna battle that was a main part of the first season. And that's good to see, since it was tilting to all Liz/Jack stuff or guest star plots. Not that this episode didn't have a lot of Liz and Jack and guest stars (the return of Edie Falco and a really bizarre cameo from political strategist James Carville), but 30 Rock has always shown a knack for balancing all of the plots really nicely. And for once I was glad to see Kenneth for the most part take a little breather.

Oh, and if you're wondering, I'm doing this review Cajun Style.

(S02E07) "Where did you two meet, an Amber Alert?" - Jack, to Liz

On a night when almost everything else I watch is a repeat, it's great - comforting even - to see that there's a new 30 Rock. It's truly one of the very few shows that I look forward to so much that I actually get slightly bummed out when it's a repeat. It has become "that sitcom from the woman who used to be on Saturday Night Live and will probably be canceled" to a new classic. It's monumentally funny and is still running on all cylinders. It's the best comedy on TV right now. And that's my review. The end.

No, just kidding. There's more...

(S02E06) "We Parcells are neither wealthy nor circumcised, but we are proud!" - Kenneth, trying to find money to replace Jack's missing pants

This show is less than a half hour long but I have a harder time reviewing it than I do two-hour season finales. How do you review a show that has 25 awesome one liners and a bunch of great comedy bits and scenes without simply repeating everything that just happened to people who have already seen the episode? How do you even pick one funny quote from those 25 lines and put it at the top of the review? The one above might be the funniest, it might not be, who knows. It just stands out to me.

(S02E05) "Saving The Environment While Maintaining Profitability." - Greenzo's slogan for NBC's Green Week

I really don't know how I feel about all of these guest stars this season. On the one hand, they've all worked. It was natural to have Jerry Seinfeld on the season opener (even if he was on just to plug that damn movie) because he was an old NBC star. Carrie Fisher worked because she wasn't hyping anything and is a great character actress. And now in this episode we have both David Schwimmer and Al Gore. They were OK too, mostly because the show around them was so strong, but I can really see this show tipping too far over the line with needless celeb cameos. I really hope that doesn't happen.

(S02E03) "I could never pay an English-speaking woman that little - they'd starve!" - Jack, about his household staff

This year many of us here at TV Squad have been featuring our favorite quotes at the start of each review. Most of the time it's pretty easy to pick out the best line (on a show like Bionic Woman they stand out), but it's not the easiest thing to do on a comedy like 30 Rock. There's always at least six laugh out loud lines and about 5 lines that aren't hysterical but are bizarrely clever. That was true of tonight's episode too, and I hope you agree the above comment was one of the better ones.

(S02E02) "Hey Banks, what are you doing in town...drawn to the phallic nature of our skyline?"

OK everyone, before we even start the review, head on over to the NBC store and order your "Me Want Food!" T-shirts! It's the new phrase everyone will be talking about tomorrow morning at your office. The offices that watch 30 Rock, that is.

I saw the little ad at the bottom of the screen and I had no idea what the hell it was until the writing guys said it as Jenna's new catch phrase. I'm usually annoyed by those little ads but this one didn't bother me.

Tonight at 8:30 brings us the season premiere of NBC's 30 Rock (or should I say NBC's Emmy Winner for Best Comedy 30 Rock!). We'll have a review later tonight, but I found out that after the show airs, stars Tina Fey and Jack McBrayer (Kenneth) are going to have a live blog at NBC's site, and if you head on over there now you can post a question for the duo. Who knows, maybe they'll answer it.

There are already over 100 comments on the blog, so many of the questions that you might want to ask could have already been asked, but hey, take a chance. Come up with something imaginative involving meteorology, or maybe ask Tina Fey what her favorite lunch meat is. Or maybe you can take the route taken by one of the viewers who posted a comment, who asks Tina if she can get the cast of the old syndicated sitcom Small Wonder (remember, about the girl robot?) on the show. Ahem.

First the apology, then the early look.

Dear Tina,

I've always liked 30 Rock, but I've never loved it. Maybe it was because my concentration was on Studio 60 or maybe it was because I wasn't in the right frame of mind when I watched the pilot. Or maybe I just didn't try to get into it because Thursday nights are really jam-packed (would it upset you to tell you that I watch Ugly Betty too?). I just never gave the show a chance to grow on me, though I did enjoy Alec Baldwin's performance as Jack.

There are very few television shows that I want to own on DVD, but this is one of them. Season one of 30 Rock is coming out on DVD on September 4th.

The 3-disc package includes all 21 episodes, commentary by Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, deleted scenes, bloopers, and behind-the-scenes featurettes. For some reason, NBC has also made the first season available as two individual packages with the first 16 episodes in one package and the last five episodes plus extras in the second package.