by Cicely Richard

Created on: January 05, 2009   Last Updated: January 12, 2009

NBC's "30 Rock" is the best comedy TV show of 2008. Tina Fey, the show's creator, draws from her personal experience as a staff writer for Saturday Night Live. Set in a fictional sketch comedy series, the show delves into the personal and professional mishaps of the lives of the people who work at the studio. The cast of the Emmy-winning show, which includes Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, and Jack McBrayer, presents television viewers with one of the best ensemble performances of the year.

Tina Fey plays Liz Lemon, the insecure but sarcastic head writer of the sketch comedy series. She constantly has to play mother hen to the other misfits who work with her, primarily the talented, but irresponsible Tracy Jordan played by Tracy Morgan. Although she manages to get her cast together, her personal life is a mess. She falls for the wrong men and has no direction other than work in her life. Fey likely puts a lot of herself in the character because, even in her acceptance speech at the Emmy's, she gives the impression that she still can't believe how far her career has taken her.

Tina Fey may be the star of the show, but Alec Baldwin's performance as network executive Jack Donaghy really makes the show stand out. He's ambitious and constantly undermines Liz Lemon's authority over her cast members. One of the running storylines is his goal to run the studio when the elderly president dies. He adds to Liz's insecurities by giving her backhanded compliments. Likely, Baldwin was a clear front runner to play this part because of his memorable appearances on SNL.

One episode that really demonstrates Baldwin's ability to get laughs is when he and Tracy Morgan's character are in a therapist's office. The doctor is trying to explore where Tracy's volatility is coming from, so he wants Tracy and Jack to do a role-playing activity. Jack has to pretend to be Tracy's father. In the scene, he goes into this weird rant, even doing a dead-on imitation of Redd Foxx. Baldwin stole this scene. I feel that that was the episode for which he won an Emmy Award.

The only downside to "30 Rock" is that, despite the unique brand of comedy and the critical acclaim it has received, it has not had the viewership that it deserves. It is one of the few comedies left on television, a genre that seems to be slowly suffocated by the weeds that are reality shows. If it is given enough time to reach its potential, I think that there are a lot more directions that writers can explore with other supporting characters. Eventually, it would be nice to see Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski receive nominations for their performances, as well.

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