30 Rock is the most underwatched show on TV. It will disappear at the end of this season, as all comedies that I truly love do. Sports Night did.

This year Sports Night’s creator Aaron Sorkin and Tina Fey faced off on the same network with shows that were set behind the scenes of a weekly live comedy show. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip came out of the gate strong, but quickly withered—perhaps a victim of unrealistically high expectations. 30 Rock is the little show that could, and the only show that I schedule TV around.

(Ok. Not really…it can be downloaded after all.)

Here’s why.

Tina Fey said this:

I would really like to try to live in the world of the characters we’ve created for a little bit. We had a lot of great guest stars last year, but I also feel like there’s a lot we could explore with the characters that we have. And I’d like to leave a little breathing room in the show, to let viewers keep up a little. I feel like sometimes it was a little too dense, the shows last year. In a way, [it was] the thing that made Arrested Development so great, but I wonder if it will help new viewers come to the show if it’s a little less packed.

The fact that a show this carefully planned and structured can be so consistently funny provides the clearest demonstration of Mrs. Fey’s talent ever. 30 Rocks’ weakest episodes have been more entertaining to watch than years worth of Everybody Loves Raymond or Tool Time, both hugely popular but tragically mediocre.

If this show doesn’t get through to a third season, I will have lost what little faith I have in television to produce quality entertainment.

My apologies to Joss Whedon, by the way, who does write beautiful work but not comedies. Joss and Tina have both written two of the best movies I’ve seen in the last while—the thrilling Serenity and Mean Girls, the movie that launched Lindsay Lohan’s career in rehab.

Posted by skooter at 5:20 AM This entry is filed under Entertainment.
This entry is tagged: 30 Rock, Joss Whedon, Serenity, Television, Tina Fey, Writing