30 Rock:
The Complete Series
review by Bobby Blakey
There are so many great TV shows out there it is really hard to keep up with all of them. Despite being a fan of the cast for whatever reason I never got into the series 30 Rock starring Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Alec Baldwin, Jack McBrayer, and Jane Krakowski. That has now changed thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment has brought a new release of the complete series home.
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30 Rock follows quirky TV writer Liz Lemon and conservative company executive Jack Donaghy who are bound together by chaos, charisma and employment contracts! Together Jack and Liz preside over the everyday mayhem at a late-night variety show with no help from Liz’s loose cannon stars Tracy Jordan and Jenna Maroney or hapless NBC page Kenneth Parcell. Diving into a popular series is always a hard thing as there are expectations due to what you might have heard during its run.
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Going in I somehow avoided a lot about this show other than the cast so didn’t have those usual expectations. The first season was a bit hit and miss for me with tons of laughs and fun characters, but as they were trying to find their place I was trying to find my direction with how I felt about it as well. This quickly shifted as the first season came to a close and into season two and came to terms with the hilarious fun of it all.
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Like most shows like this as it moved through each season all of the characters got more and more of their own arcs and the bigger laughs to go with it. I loved this show as a whole and kind of like that I am just getting into it now for varying reasons. I didn’t expect so much over the top silliness but it helped to elevate each episode to something more than it might have been otherwise. It was clearly a respected show from the sheer amount of guest stars and cameos through each season, with each bigger than the next. I’m not even going to mention any as it was just too fun seeing them show up unexpectedly.
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I was a bit worried if a toned down TV Tracey Morgan was going to work, but they pushed it to the line to keep him doing his thing like only he can and bring the laughs nonstop. The rest of the cast are all great as well with Alec Baldwin surprising me the most. Of course now we see more of his lighthearted side on SNL with his Trump impression, but I always saw him as a more dramatic actor so seeing him here is refreshing and he kills it. Tina Fey no doubt holds this show together and part of her brilliance is her willingness to poke fun at herself which she does a lot here. Both McBrayer and Krakowski offer up the over the top stupidity in the stories and characters that make this whole group come together in their own hilarious way.
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I was surprised how much this show just kept getting better each season. Of course I am bummed there is no more episodes to dive into at the moment, but at least we have these seven seasons to revisit anytime we want. In addition to all 138 episodes of the series this collection offers up bonus content including commentaries, bloopers, table reads, shorts, songs, featurettes and so much more. Grab your copy of 30 Rock: The Complete Series available now on Blu-ray and DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment.