Since it was the debut of 30 Rock that first inspired this blog, it seems only right to post about its end. Before 30 Rock and Liz Lemon, I never knew there were other women out there like me, who loved Star Wars and ham, who often didn't know which part of the dress was "front" and who would much rather stay home and watch "Mad Men" than go to any weird parties where people talked to each other. What a relief to discover I was not alone.
And then to find out that this show was not just a great piece of news for my self-esteem but also ridiculously inventive, brilliant and breathtakingly funny -- well, how fabulous was that?
I will admit with shame that I skipped a season or two somewhere during 30 Rock's run, when it seemed that the humor had become less clever and inventive and more cold and mean...and not funny. Which was kind of a deal breaker. Call me old fashioned but I like my humor funny.
So I've been quietly compiling this last season on my DVR, wondering if I should even jump back into the pool. But then the reviews for the finale started coming in and fueled by nostalgia, I got up at 5 a.m., put on my earphones and watched it in the bathroom where my sleeping son wouldn't sense me playing with what he has clearly decided is his iPhone. (This is how I watch TV now. It takes me six days to watch a whole Castle between brushing my teeth and flossing.)
All of this is my long, out of practice way of saying the 30 Rock finale was perfect in every way imaginable. There was a Brian Williams joke. Great Tracy Jordan jokes. Pitch perfect satirical tear-down of mommy message boards. Lutz finally got his revenge (Blimpies!), Kenneth proved his immortality and even Jenna was funny, as she finally experienced heartbreak with the removal of her dressing room mirror. But best of all, there was my dear Jack Donaghy's shipboard confession of platonic love -- a speech that managed to be poetic, beautiful, charming and still include the phrase "scale bone mountain." Everything I had loved about 30 Rock was perfectly encapsulated in that one short scene.
I will miss you, 30 Rock. But I promise you this -- I will use the word "hogcock" in a sentence (out loud and not just in my head) at least once this year. It's the least I can do for a show that gave me so much.
2 comments:
Yes, the last episode was perfect. But I had major issues with the adoption storyline that went through the last season. For the three or four weeks leading up to the finale, I put off watching because I knew each episode would make me mad.
Dunno if you really have a take on it since you haven't been watching, but my post about it is here:
http://fashionablylatetotheparty.blogspot.com/2013/01/liz-lemon-and-magic-adoption-agency.html
Hi Jen, I've only seen two episodes this season -- the finale and the one right before it -- but I read your blog post and I agree completely that TV glosses over how extraordinarily difficult adoption is. As someone who just spent two years going through the process, I know how emotionally draining it can be. Stuff like that does get to me sometimes -- like on Modern Family, for example. Love that show but every once in a while I think to myself, shouldn't you guys be addressing attachment issues? But like you said in your post, I can understand why they don't discuss the difficult stuff -- too much detail, too much background, too much education would have to go into it. I would love to see a show really address the process someday, both the hard parts and the great joy.
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