Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! This week, I’m continuing my coverage of 30 Rock (2006-2013, NBC), which is currently available, as of this writing, on DVD and streaming.

30 Rock stars TINA FEY as Liz Lemon, TRACY MORGAN as Tracy Jordan, JANE KRAKOWSKI as Jenna Maroney, JACK McBRAYER as Kenneth Parcell, and ALEC BALDWIN as Jack Donaghy. With SCOTT ADSIT and JUDAH FRIEDLANDER.

With the main characters well-established after a fast-moving first season that refined their comedic depictions both as individuals and as pieces within an ensemble, 30 Rock goes into its confident second season able to focus elsewhere — accelerating a bolder, more imaginative, and ultimately more situationally-validating comic sensibility reflective of the show’s SNL heritage, thereby allowing it a firmer command on its identity in full. While the series’ emotional core — Liz and Jack’s friendship — gets reinforced effortlessly throughout the year’s episodic and long-form plots as a premised anchor, and every lead is afforded weekly moments of uproarious hahas in accordance with their known personas, the writing itself has also become faster, more topical, and more parodic of the media landscape at large — again, more in keeping with SNL and the idea-driven sketch comedy style warranted both by the premise and those explicit ties embedded within its DNA. This makes the proceedings fresher and funnier — no other sitcom can boast this ethos — and with support from a sturdy design that now knows how to best uphold its situation comedy, I think Two is indeed 30 Rock’s best season as a sitcom. Oh, yes, there’s still much more room ahead for the series to get even bolder, funnier, and more unique as it further embraces its SNL roots (and Three, specifically, is a compelling alternative for favorite), but the inherent novelty of premise naturally dwindles hereafter, and the episodic results will grow more hit-and-miss as the show takes on more of SNL’s abandon, rendering this the most consistently situation-backed year. In fact, there’s been such an elevation in the average, baseline quality between 30 Rock’s formative first year and its self-actualized second (truncated only by the 2007-2008 writer’s strike) that I can honestly say every entry here, even the ones I knew I wouldn’t include on my list, is stronger and works better than a few that did make my list last week. That’s how much the show has improved, and how strong this season is overall. And while not all episodes in Two are an “A+” classic, they’re all at least a “B,” with something about them to recommend, and accordingly, I can confidently say, after being debatable in Season One, by Two it’s clear that 30 Rock has overtaken its finest competition (namely, The Office) to become the best sitcom on TV, as this peak-quality collection indicates.

 

01) Episode 22: “SeinfeldVision” (Aired: 10/04/07)

Jack has the idea to digitally insert Jerry Seinfeld into all new NBC programming.

Written by Tina Fey | Directed by Don Scardino

30 Rock’s ascension into its total identity — and the leveling up that’s occurred since Season One — is immediately palpable in Two’s confident, jokey, fast-paced premiere, which evidences an increased idea-driven sensibility reminiscent of Saturday Night Live, a key aspect of this series’ DNA. In particular, Season Two ratchets up 30 Rock’s reputation for parodying television and the media landscape at large — not just SNL — and that’s abundantly clear in this opener predicated on the winking guest appearance of Jerry Seinfeld as himself, as Jack has the idea of digitally inserting the famed star of NBC’s cash cow Seinfeld into all its new programming. It’s a wild and wacky proposal that mocks the TV business, along with the celebrity of Seinfeld, and what he represents within the sitcom genre specifically. This is exactly the kind of storytelling that 30 Rock is made to offer — not only because of its backstage TV-about-TV premise, but also because of its explicit ties to a cultural institution known for its starry guests and topical, parodic humor. There’s a lot more of this in Season Two than there was before, and it’s one major way that 30 Rock reveals its new self-actualization. Oh, and I also appreciate this debut for how it masterfully re-cements to new viewers Liz as the ensemble’s anchoring mess and the Liz/Jack bond as the emotional core of this well-built, and now, brilliantly used, situation.

02) Episode 25: “Rosemary’s Baby” (Aired: 10/25/07)

Liz hires one of her former TV comedy writer icons and then comes to regret it.

Written by Jack Burditt | Directed by Michael Engler

Carrie Fisher makes a terrific guest turn in this episode as a former TV scribe whom Liz regards as an icon — most notably for her political humor on Laugh-In, which doesn’t translate as well to the present-day writers’ room and the overly corporate nature of current network television. It’s, seemingly, another opportunity for 30 Rock to mock the industry, but in a way that’s also winkingly referential (à la SNL) about its own history. However, the series is embracing more comic abandon in Two, and so Fisher’s Rosemary isn’t here for noble social commentary — no, she’s here to deliver big laughs as a drunk loon, while also granting Liz an opportunity for self-reflection via a negative role model whose fate is a warning. The surprising boldness in that comedic notion, coupled with its specific personalization for Liz, is 30 Rock in a nutshell: idea-driven lunacy attached to sturdy elements of the situation, like character. Meanwhile, there’s hilarious stuff in the subplots as well, as Kenneth competes with another page (Paul Scheer) in TV trivia — it’s perfect for his character and a reflection of the series’ SNL-like “TV about TV” reverence — and I must also mention one hysterical scene where Jack pretends to be Tracy’s father in a therapy session. It’s a lot of hilarity for one highly memorable half hour.

03) Episode 27: “Somebody To Love” (Aired: 11/15/07)

Jack begins secretly dating a Democrat congresswoman.

Written by Tina Fey & Kay Cannon | Directed by Beth McCarthy

One of the primary story arcs here in Season Two is Jack’s romance with C.C., a Democrat congresswoman — his political opposite who’s also leading a campaign against his company. She’s played by the prestigious Edie Falco, another bit of great casting (like Isabella Rossellini) because she matches Alec Baldwin’s self-serious gravitas while also having that spark of quirk that makes it all comical. This, her debut, is easily C.C.’s best entry, as the show calls in some delicious media-on-media parody when Jack watches a made-for-TV movie about his new secret paramour (in which she’s played by SNL’s Kristen Wiig). Then, more self-referential TV-about-TV fun comes in the atypical subplot, where Liz suspects her neighbor (SNL‘s Fred Armisen) of being a terrorist… not realizing that he’s just applying to be a contestant on The Amazing Race — an idea-driven notion that nevertheless reflects Liz’s awkward, often-wrong character and with a deliberate tie-in to television that thematically fits the show, bolstered by casting that’s, of course, very situationally appropriate as well. In general though, if this isn’t the flashiest sample of the series on this list, it’s ultimately one of the funniest — with a brisk charm, many meta gags, and an overall understanding of what 30 Rock is at its best.

04) Episode 32: “MILF Island” (Aired: 04/10/08)

Liz lies to avoid taking responsibility for a faux pas that hurt Jack’s feelings.

Written by Tina Fey & Matt Hubbard | Directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan

My choice for this year’s Most Valuable Episode (MVE), “MILF Island” enjoys the audacious actualization of a running gag introduced in the season premiere, as clips from the “finale” of a new reality TV show that Jack previously mentioned are now watched by the characters and shown throughout the half hour. From what we can tell, MILF Island is a campy version of Survivor (perhaps the most important reality TV show of the 21st century, sparking a boom) but with “milfs” as contestants — and its jokey application here is not merely an outrageous bit of industry satire, it’s more acutely, a wink and a nod to the proliferation of this increasingly crass genre, which was further blossoming as a result of the 2007-2008 WGA strike. Yes, this installment was 30 Rock’s first original broadcast in three months, and tuning its natural SNL-backed capacity for parody in this direction — using continuity from the premiere, no less — was absolutely brilliant. It’s also ingeniously interwoven into the plot thematically as well, for the deception necessary to win the MILF Island game mirrors Liz’s dishonesty when she lies to Jack about being the source of a disparaging anonymous comment that’s printed about him in the press. That’s a fun story with earned emotional stakes because Liz and Jack’s relationship is the series’ established emotional core — and so pairing it with a goofy idea-driven gag like MILF Island is, again, 30 Rock in a nutshell: a cake of traditional situational elements, on top of which sits SNL-like frosting. No other selection in Season Two is quite as laugh-out-loud bold or quite as perfectly designed to represent the series at its most ideal. (In fact, the only thing that keeps it from total 30 Rock perfection is the absence of Jenna — I wish she was here!)

05) Episode 34: “Succession” (Aired: 04/24/08)

As Don Geiss prepares to promote Jack, Jack prepares to promote Liz.

Written by Andrew Guest & John Riggi | Directed by Gail Mancuso

Another one of this year’s big arcs involves Jack’s continued bid to replace his boss Don Geiss (Rip Torn) and fight off his chief competitor, Geiss’ prospective son-in-law Devon (Will Arnett). This campy corporate intrigue takes great advantage of Alec Baldwin’s natural capabilities as a self-serious comic performer, while also providing a rich avenue for media satire that 30 Rock lives to explore — all of which is exhibited in this excursion, culminating with an extended homage to Amadeus (born from a subplot where Tracy works with Frank on a pornographic video game). The sequence climaxes with Don Geiss going into a diabetic coma before it’s official that Jack will succeed him, thus allowing Devon to swoop in and instill his fiancée as a puppet leader, banishing Jack out of power. It’s a stylistic stroke of genius that showcases 30 Rock’s capacity to offer idea-driven set pieces because of its SNL affiliations. Also, I appreciate this installment because it honors and deploys the rich mentor/mentee relationship between Jack and Liz, which is centralized as the emotional access point underneath the entire plot — providing another terrific example of how 30 Rock situates itself on traditional elements (like its leads) to help earn its ensuing foolishness. This is a unique showing, but indicative of the series en masse. (Also, Chris Parnell is especially fun as Dr. Spaceman.)

06) Episode 36: “Cooter” (Aired: 05/08/08)

Jack tries to tank his new political career while Liz has a pregnancy scare.

Written by Tina Fey | Directed by Don Scardino

Season Two ends with a busy, plot-heavy affair that isn’t the type of outing I’d typically enjoy on most shows — but 30 Rock gets away with it because 30 Rock has excuses to be idea-driven like this within its situation, given both its premise and its aesthetic ties. And indeed, this installment is a feast of jokey idea-driven gems; from the “gay bomb” that Jack works on in D.C. with Cooter (Matthew Broderick), to Tracy’s porn video game that he releases, to the acrobatic sequence that Kenneth performs in his efforts to submit a last-minute application to be a page at the forthcoming Olympics — everything here is a comical sketch-like idea woven together in a fast-paced script that exemplifies 30 Rock‘s basically extraordinary comedic nature. Additionally, there’s character concerns addressed as well, as Liz’s pregnancy scare establishes an objective for her that will persist, though sometimes on the backburner, throughout the remainder of the run. That’s a major step forward for her and the show’s understanding of how to frame its rom-com relationship storytelling for its lead. And in that regard, it’s proof that 30 Rock still has places to go narratively — with this half hour also evidencing an increasing comic boldness that further links the show, uniquely, to SNL and its full situation, setting up a Season Three that may not be always as fresh with its sitcommery, but is able to be just as funny, if not funnier. (Incidentally, Tina Fey won an Emmy for this script. She also won an Emmy this season as the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Alec Baldwin scored as well, as did the series at large as this year’s Outstanding Comedy — its second in a row.)

 

Other episodes that merit a look include: “Greenzo,” which memorably guest stars David Schwimmer as a climate activist for a media parody that also has some great, topical satire (I think I would have been more inclined to highlight it above if Schwimmer was playing a version of himself — that would tie in better to the show’s TV-about-TV premise), and “Ludachristmas,” a wonderfully fun holiday showing where we meet Liz’s parents and brother — which gives us so much additional insight into her character; it’s classic sitcommery. Those two are stronger than some of the outings I highlighted last week and will be highlighting in the weeks to come, and they deserve special citation for that reason. Again, though, I pretty much like everything else here also — Steve Buscemi and the Emmy-winning Tim Conway make notable guest appearances, and each half hour has something to recommend.

 

*** The MVE Award for the Best Episode from Season Two of 30 Rock goes to…

“MILF Island”

 

 

Come back next week for Season Three! And stay tuned tomorrow for a new Wildcard!