As far as I'm concerned, 30 Rock has retaken its mantle as the best show on TV comma marries your mom, and this after the admittedly uneven beginning to this season (which prompted some people to issue reports of its demise).
During "Black Light Attack!" I was actually holding in laughter because I was afraid of missing the next zing (I think this was when Dannyjack was describing to Jack his liaison with a TGS cohort), so by the time the show went to commercials, I was seizing with laughter.
A-a-and the Blossom joke that opened "Klaus and Greta"... I know that it's oen of those jokes that rely on an unhealthy knowledge of pop culture, but honestly, it both warmed my heart and cracked me up. (I will also overshare with you all and admit that I peed a little during Kenneth's difficulties with a desktop computer.)
Clearly, there's no rationalizing what we find funny -- to a large degree, we either laugh or we don't -- which is why, in my opinion, Alyssa overthinks her flagging interest in the show: "Perhaps the biggest problem for 30 Rock is that the narrative conflicts established in its first season have largely been resolved." (Apologies for the delayed response.) The sitcom, in my ideal world, is a far more formalist genre than drama, and consequently, describing the dramaturgical failings of a sitcom feels misplaced, especially when the sitcom in question is the most absurdist and cartoonish thing on broadcast television. Fundamentally, dramatic conflict or character psychology (another complaint I've come across, cough cough AV Club cough) shouldn't be the animating forces behind the appeal of 30 Rock. (Though the more serially inclined shows like The Office and Parks & Recreation are challenging the generic convention, and which is why I don't watch them.) The one and only measure of sitcoms should be its funny.
Indie rating: Kraftwerk - "Klingklang"
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