30 Rock I Do Do (2006–2013) Online

This is a first for 30 Rock- a season has ended and Liz, Jack and Jenna are all still in relationships. They usually crumble in the end, and it's nice to see something different. The idea that they've been matched with ideal partners makes me wonder if the show will be wrapping things up in season 5. On that note, it's a possibility that this is the end of the line for Kenneth- he's at first going to be promoted to LA, but is then fired. If this is the end, he didn't get a happy ending. He might be back though, and I don't know if I'd still watch the show without him.

Generally this season finale is consistently funny with good story construction. For humour, we have Julianne Moore describing sex for Kenneth and her kids, and Kenneth turning in a gun and Pete's odd facial expression. In terms of plot, it looks like Jack got one of his girlfriends pregnant, which picks up on a previous episode, Sun Tea, where Jack realized he would like to be a father. Liz has also met an ideal love interest. Played by Matt Damon, this character is a pilot who loves TGS- although that makes me question his taste. TGS has never looked like a quality show. 30 Rock, on the other hand, is a quality show, and has been for four years now. Here's hoping for a fifth.

In my review of season 3 of 30 Rock, I made comment on the difference between The Office US and 30 Rock in regards discussions held by critics over which is the better sitcom. My opinion was that The Office was the better sitcom as it had stronger plots and characters, whereas 30 Rock was the better comedy as it seemed to be written all about the moment and the next laugh, rather than having plots that are suppose to interest and engage. In retrospect this suggests me doing a disservice to the writing of 30 Rock because it seems to say that the plots and stories are less important in this show than in The Office. This is not the case and season 4 confirms it.

Sadly it confirms it in a negative way by showing what happens when the scenarios are not right. There seems to be more plotting in here than before and the plotting seems to need a lot more feeding in terms of dialogue and scenes to keep it moving. This has two impacts on the season. Firstly it means that the viewer has to get used to not laughing every 10-20 seconds as they have done for the last three seasons because this leaves less room for the wonderful asides and one-liners that 30 Rock has always made look so effortless. Secondly it asks the viewer to come at the content of the show in a way that we have not had to do before – giving time to these plots as opposed to using them as nothing more than a vehicle for the laughs.

Since I sound quite negative let me just say that this show still had me laughing a handful of times in each 20 minute episode and that the usual quick wit and imagination in the writing is still in evidence, that this has vanished is not the problem. The problem is that it has been pushed to the side and the writers have been labouring on plots and stories to continually move forward. This is understandable but I'm not sure how they forgot that 30 Rock's strength is that the laughs are so frequent that any plot that sort of matches the imaginative wit of the dialogue will do the job – not the longer, character driven things this season brought. I don't know – too much of it just seemed forced and hard work where before this show always sparkled and fizzed like it was no bother at all. It is not the fault of the cast as actors as everyone continues to do their thing well and are excellent when the material is.

Season 4 of 30 Rock is still funny and worth seeing, but it is hard to shake the feeling that it is significantly below the standard of what has gone before. The writing feels heavy where previously it was fresh and, more importantly, the laughs come less frequently – not because some of the jokes fail, but just because there seems to be fewer of them in a sea of elaborate plots – many of which just feel silly and poorly written without the laughs to help carry them along. A shame and I hope that season 5 can turn it around.

30 Rock

With a sensational triumph of six Golden GLobes, 30 Rock is undeniably critics' choice and the buzz pays off with Fey; the creator, at the heart of it, whose vision is crystal clear and on the mark.

It is a single camera sitcom about a writer of a TV Show and the behind-the-camera chaos it goes through before it goes on air. The somewhat distorted concept isn't what the series relies upon, its ideal vacation is to reach for a mature audience with wise and not funny writing.

It is rich on technical aspects like the production design but fails completely on cinematography and background score. As mentioned earlier, the humor isn't forcibly imputed which allows the makers to visit unknown places without any restraints and communicate fluently with the viewers.

The soul of the series is certainly its huge cast who can easily charm their way out of anything but Baldwin and Fey does invest a lot in it and are flat out hilarious in it.

Layered, satirical and thought-provoking writing, ironical humor and injected with enough content to run for its twenty minutes are the high points of this brilliant sitcom. Few cameos and a knack of taking bold moves factors a lot on keeping the audience tangled in its exhilarating flashy world.

Season 04

This season has a new theme involved which is that it cracks up jokes and notions that is actually meant to be off the story line, it is often referenced to the cast or the network or any hip controversy, in addition to that it also focuses a lot on the love track.

I Do Do

This finale does go out with a bang, from your usual gags to the guest appearance; Damon can pull off a comic role, but what it lacks is the standard procedure of the series that is always been gripping.

The day of the three weddings comes and it is an appropriate ending for the 4th season. Liz goes with Wesley and ends up meeting her dream man, a pilot (Matt Damon). Jack is choosing between Nancy and Avery and it also turns out that Avery is pregnant. Jenna has a problem with her boyfriend because he now starts impersonating Cher. And Kenneth works against getting a promotion which gets him fired.

A pretty good episode that wraps up the stories of this season and lays base for the ones to come in the next one.

Lots of laughs. Especially about Jenna and also when Kenneth has his drunk speech at the end to show everyone what he really feels!.

Interesting how Jack becoming a father will go on. And the pilot Liz dates is a great ending to show the real reason she kept on running into Wesley. "I hate people too", my favorite line of them getting together.

I've watched every episode of 30 Rock and this is easily the worst. No one watches every episode of a show over 5 seasons without loving it - I think 30 Rock is very funny.

But this - labored beginning, a forced and unfunny meet-cute in the middle, and increasingly frantic toward the end as the actors tried to compensate for the paucity of the material - is just awful.

This episode even included the "joke" where the viewer is thinks he's listening to background music but, in fact, it's someone playing music just off screen. Eventually the character on screen turns and says "Will you shut up!" (or words to that effect). Too hackneyed for Blazing Saddles but OK for 30 Rock? What next "walk this way"?

What I like about 30 Rock is the way they subvert your expectations – they know what joke you're expecting so they throw in a twist. Not this time – everything was by the numbers.

And Matt Damon – really? Surely the worst, most pointless cameo since Natasha Henstridge on South Park. Watching him trying to be wacky was a bit like watching the Queen krump: entertaining in an excruciating watch-through-your-fingers sort of way.

The actors realized that the material was weak and tied to compensate with their delivery. Eventually, in sheer desperation the episode finished with Tracey doing a topless duck-walk across the screen.

Thanks for the effort guys but nothing could stop me noticing that this episode was a complete stinker.