30 Rock (TV Series) (DVD)

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"Jack the Writer" – The writing staff is unnerved when Jack decides to sit in on their meetings. Funniest part of the episode is Jack coming up with lame catchphrases like, "Nuts to you, McGillicuty!" or "Beep! Beep! Ribby, ribby."

"Jack-Tor" – Jack wants Liz to work GE products into the show and winds up being worked into a sketch.

"Jack Meets Dennis" – Much to the chagrin of her staff, Liz is getting back together with her ex-boyfriend, the last beeper salesman in New York.

"Tracy Does Conan" – Jenna gets bumped from Conan O´Brien for Tracy who´s feeling the bizarre effects from some new medication.

"The Break-Up" – Liz finally decides to break up with Dennis, but has a rough time in the singles scene.

-Disc 2-
"The Baby Show" – Liz wonders if she can have a family and a professional career at the same time when she goes baby crazy. Josh´s impressions of everyone get him into trouble with Jack and Tracy.

"The Rural Juror" – Liz is reluctant to tell Jenna her true feelings about her debut film and Tracy promotes his own meat cooking machine.

"The Head and the Hair" – Liz and Jenna try to date a pair of NBC employees, Jack works as a page with Kenneth for a day, and Tracy gets the writers to do his autobiography.

"Black Tie" – Isabella Rossellini, Will Forte, and a hilarious Paul Reubens guest-star as Jack takes Liz to a gala event for the Austrian royal family.

"Up All Night" – It´s Valentine´s Day and the staff has to work all night as Jack celebrates the finalization of his divorce.

"The ´C´ Word" – Liz gets upset when someone calls her the ´C´ word and Jack regrets inviting Tracy to an exclusive country club.

"Hard Ball" – Jenna brings down the heat with several unintended remarks about the troops and Jack gleefully gets ready to renegotiate everyone´s contracts.

"The Source Awards" – Wayne Brady plays a man Liz dates who claims she´s dumping him because of his race and Tracy feuds with a powerful record producer (guest-star LL Cool J).

-Disc 3-
"The Fighting Irish" – Liz has a tough time with layoffs and Jack is reunited with his crazy family. Nathan Lane and Molly Shannon guest-star as his siblings. The fist names gag had me rolling.

"Fireworks" – Jack worries about a rival, hotshot exec (played by Will Arnett), Liz accidentally follows Flower Guy to an AA meeting, and Tracy gets slapped with a paternity suit which leads to him discovering he´s part white.

"Corporate Crush" – Liz finally gets together with Floyd, the Flower Guy, and Jack takes an odd interest in him. Much to Liz´s exasperation, the feeling is mutual.

"Cleveland" – Liz gets to see a whole new side of life when she goes on a trip to Cleveland with Floyd.

"Hiatus" – Tracy has disappeared, Floyd has moved to Cleveland, and Jack has a heart attack just as he´s getting ready to marry a gold digger. It all leads to more problems for Liz as she prepares for the show´s season finale.

VIDEO:
The video is presented in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The show looks great on DVD, far above broadcast quality. The picture is sharp and clean with the colors all strong.

AUDIO:
The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0. The show relies mainly on dialogue and every line comes in clearly. The show features an upbeat jazz score done by Fey´s husband, Jeff Richmond.

EXTRAS:
All the extras can be found on the Disc 3. Included are commentary tracks on all 5 episodes. There´s Tracy Morgan on "The Fighting Irish", Tina Fey on "Fireworks", Executive Producer Lorne Michaels and his son, Henry, on "Corporate Crush", Jack McBrayer on "Cleveland", and Alec Baldwin on "Hiatus." The commentaries are what you´d find on most DVDs. Most of the time the participants are simply describing what´s on screen or saying, "That´s great." They´ll chime in with a brief couple of sentences and there are a lot of silent gaps.

The rest of the extras are; The Wrap Party, a 13-minute reel of outtakes; An Evening with Kenneth are five shorts with Kenneth the page hosting his own talk show; Behind-the-Scenes features two short backstage tours. The first is hosted by Judah Friedlander and the second by Jack McBrayer and Lonny Ross. Makin´ It Happen is a collection of the 10-second internet sitcom, one of the shows-within-the-show. Finally, there´s a collection of deleted scenes.

FILM VALUE:
"30 Rock" was being developed concurrently with the much-anticipated new series from Aaron Sorkin, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." Both were about the backstage happenings of a sketch comedy series with the latter being an hour-long drama. Both shows were picked up by NBC, but only "30 Rock" will return for a second season. While "Studio 60" received mixed reviews, "30 Rock" met with overwhelming critical praise. Tina Fey and her crew bring a unique perspective to the traditional sitcom setting. What´s great is that the characters aren´t all just one-joke caricatures, there are layers hinted at and plenty of room to grow as the series advances.

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