The goofiness of the NBC sitcom "30 Rock" can essentially be summed up by a question posed in its fifth season premiere: "Would you rather be with the person you love forever, but you always have to wear a shirt made out of their pubes, or be alone for the rest of your life but you get to wear whatever you want?"
Lightning−fast wit and slightly off−kilter humor have characterized "30 Rock" since its pilot aired in 2006. After a so−so fourth season, the show has picked up again with a strong fifth season premiere.
The last season left off with Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), head writer of the sketch−comedy show "TGS with Tracy Jordan," meeting a seemingly perfect man, Carol (Matt Damon). Meanwhile, Liz's boss, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), discovered that Avery (Elizabeth Banks), his ambitious news anchor girlfriend, was pregnant.
The season premiere began with the characters' return to "TGS" after summer vacation. Jack and Avery are back from a blissful month−long holiday on Paul Allen's yacht. Avery is Jack's dream woman, with Jack affectionately describing her as "a young Bo Derek stuffed with a Barry Goldwater." Avery's relationship with Jack is compelling and amusing, as both characters are extremely competitive: In the season premiere, a minor dispute over interior decorating leads Jack to employ the Fabian strategy — a ploy thought up by Roman general and politician Fabius Maximus — yet he still finds himself thwarted.
Similarly, Liz seems to have discovered her perfect man in Carol, announcing to Jack that she finally has her "dude stuff" in order. Nevertheless, a recurring weakness throughout the run of "30 Rock" has been the predictability of Liz's love life. Liz's boyfriends always appear perfect at the beginning but wind up being hopelessly flawed and often crazy. Damon's Carol is no exception. He proves to be overly sensitive and emotional, sobbing in front of Liz and forcing her to be the "outer spoon" when they are canoodling. It appears that Damon's time on "30 Rock" will likely be coming to an untimely end. As Carol leaves, however, Liz tells himb "See you October 14th," suggesting that Damon will appear in the live episode of "30 Rock" scheduled for that date.
The new subplots vary in their levels of success. The best involves the narcissistic and ruthless star of "TGS," Jenna Maroney, played by the pitch−perfect Jane Krakowski. As part of her contract, Jenna gets a producers credit when the show reaches its fifth season. Despite Liz's concern, Jack describes it as a "vanity credit," a cheap way to make someone feel important, like "executive producer Ashton Kutcher or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."
A less successful subplot involves the dimwitted star of TGS, Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), who has a hallucination of the recently fired pageboy, Kenneth (Jack McBrayer). Tracy discovers that Kenneth is now working for CBS, sorting the audience of the "Late Show with David Letterman" according to level of attractiveness. Despite his brief appearance in this episode, it is highly unlikely that Kenneth, a reliably hilarious character, will stay out of the picture for too long.
"30 Rock" has raised concerns of having passed its sell−by date after the show's lackluster fourth season. Fortunately, the opening storylines of the fifth season have proven that the program is a valuable asset in NBC's strong Thursday lineup. Baldwin and Fey continue to be a dynamic comedy team, and whatever "30 Rock" may be lacking in a cohesive plot and character development is made up for with a wealth of quotable one−liners in every episode.
