  Jerry Seinfeld stars as himself, much to the delight of almost alarmingly lovable NBC page Kenneth (Jack McBrayer), on 30 Rock. (Supplied photo) |
"What's happened to this network?"
Those words, spoken by Jerry Seinfeld, sum up the mania within, and cleverness of, tonight's new episode of 30 Rock (A-Channel, NBC).
Seinfeld, of course, is guest-starring as himself on the Emmy Award-winning but ratings-challenged sitcom as it kicks off its sophomore season. And when Seinfeld laments the state of the fictionalized NBC in a meeting with network president Jack Donaghy (played by Alec Baldwin), it's a veiled and hilarious shot at what has occurred at the real 30 Rockefeller Plaza since the classic sitcom Seinfeld went off the air in 1998.
Anyway, the luring of Seinfeld back to Thursdays on NBC -- even if it's only for one night -- must speak to the awesome power of 30 Rock, right? At least, series creator and co-star Tina Fey could spin it that way.
"I've put some billboards up myself," Fey told Sun Media. "But we're really flattered and honoured that Jerry would want to come on the show."
Then again, it would be an even better story if Seinfeld were appearing on 30 Rock by force.
"Yeah, he's there against his will," Fey said. "He's furious about it. Amnesty International is involved."
Coincidentally, that kind of sums up the plot tonight.
Donaghy (Baldwin) realizes NBC has the rights to years of Seinfeld out-takes, and the network has digitally inserted Seinfeld into all its current shows. Donaghy thinks Seinfeld is in Europe and won't find out till it's too late, but naturally Jerry shows up to raise a little hell.
You know, our love of 30 Rock is fairly unconditional. It's smart, it's funny, it's current, and it has big-name stars as well as big-name guest-stars.
Really, the only reasons we can think of why this isn't one of the top-rated shows on television are as follows:
1) It's too TV-insider-ish, a notion that Fey outright rejects.
"A lot of people just said, 'Oh, it's a show about showbiz,' but it's really not," Fey said. "It's a show about these people and their relationships, and people thought I was lying in the beginning. The Mary Tyler Moore Show was set in a newsroom, but they didn't talk about the news all the time."
2) People just don't like sitcoms, which certainly would be a sad state of affairs.
"I feel like there's something about the tone of (30 Rock) that feels very fresh and funny," Seinfeld said recently. "What I look for is that comedic tone that just hits right.
"When you're making a show, you try to just find that feel, that vibe, that universe that's just silly and fun to be in. This show seems to have that."
Not that Seinfeld would have any experience with such matters.
The star of 30 Rock actually is Baldwin. We dare you to avoid busting a gut tonight when Baldwin's character proudly rattles off his list of successful summer-replacement reality shows.
"We have to really, really juice up our chances of having a good start to the season," Baldwin said the other day, referring to 30 Rock's obvious quest to attract a wider audience. "So we got Jerry -- what's his name? Jerry -- the guy who was on the comedy with the other three people ... Jerry Seinfeld, right."
Sometimes it's tough to tell where Alec Baldwin ends and Jack Donaghy begins.
So to get back to Jerry's basic question, what's happened to this network?
Well, NBC has another super sitcom on its hands, that's what. And remember, it took Jerry Seinfeld a few years to build up his massive audience, too.
