'30 Rock - Season Three'
(Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, et al / 3-Disc DVD / NR / 2009 / Universal Studios)
Overview: Primetime Emmy®, Golden Globe® and SAG® Award winner (and show creator) Tina Fey and Primetime Emmy®, Golden Globe® and SAG® Award winner Alec Baldwin star as corporate executive Jack Donaghy and TV writer Liz Lemon (reverse respectively). Together, Jack and Liz manage the workplace chaos with no help from Liz’s loose-cannon stars Tracy Jordan and Jenna Maroney (Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski) and hapless NBC page Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer).
DVD Verdict: There is so much to love about 30 ROCK but incredibly the best part is the funniest comedic actor working in tv today, Alec Baldwin. There were a few hints that he might have this comedic ability: his stints guesting on SNL as host and his semi comedic turn as the dim witted con in MIAMI BLUES.
Nevertheless, one is hard pressed to reconcile his comedic portrayal as the head of NBC with the actor who opened GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS with the historic "closing is for closers" soliloquy. For three seasons though I have laughed and laughed as his character has only expanded and gotten funnier. This is especially amazing considering he is sharing screen time with some of SNL's biggest alumni.
Tina Fey does a fabulous writing job and is excellent as everyone's hard pressed straight woman Liz Lemon. Fey plays the head writer of a tv show which is just like SNL. She stands between her staff of writers and comedians and the head of programming, Jack, played by Baldwin. Her writers and comedians are to a person barely sane on a daily basis.
The other three supporting characters are Tracy and Jenna as competing comedic costars on Lemon's show and Kenneth, a page at NBC, who as a hick from the sticks is a foil for everyone else's urbanity. I think Tracy and Jenna were originally intended to be bigger than Jack/Baldwin on the show but Baldwin had little trouble upstaging them in short order. All three spin around him and Liz Lemon and as supporting characters they are excellent. I've seen all three seasons . For me it replaced the huge gap left by the end of FRASIER and SEINFELD. [CI] This is a Widescreen presentation (1.78:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:
Deleted Scenes
Commentary: Features audio commentary by Tina Fey, Jon Hamm, Alan Alda, Jack McBrayer, Jane Krakowski and more.
Behind-The-Scenes With The Muppets
1-900-OKFACE
Season Finale Table Read
Making Of: “He Needs A Kidney”
Photo Gallery
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