(S04E01) "We'll trick those race-car loving wide-loads into watching your lefty homoerotic propaganda hour yet!" - Jack

One of the many, many reasons 30 Rock is one of my favorite shows is because it's well aware of its own world. For example, one of the running jokes tonight was about Josh (Lonny Ross). I spent most of the last two seasons wondering where Josh was. He'd make a cameo here and there, but he's been pretty much missing since the first season. Liz and Jack talked about this tonight when Jack revealed that TGS needed a new cast member and Liz wondered about Josh's popularity on the show. Jack said "Oh, that's right, Josh. I forgot about that guy. You think that's a good sign?"

For the record, Josh was indeed in this episode, for a few seconds. He quit and then attempted to tip over the table when he found out a new person was coming on to the show.

On the heels of the Saturday Night Live stage show, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York hosted a live reading by the cast of 30 Rock, with ticket proceeds going to show staffers who are out of work due to the writers strike.

According to accounts of the show -- most notably, from Rachel Sklar at the Huffington Post and Dan Hopper at the Best Week Ever blog -- every major member of the cast, including Alec Baldwin, was at the reading. An upcoming episode was read for the audience, and Tina Fey asked that the audience members not divulge the plot of that episode because "this show is like Heroes and we don't want to ruin it for everyone else."

(S02E01) Seinfeld: "What if I just buy NBC and turn it into the biggest Lane Bryant in midtown?"
Jack: "Ha! You're going to buy NBC? Oh, right, like you have $4 million just lying around..."

The above bit of dialogue is one of the many reasons I love this show. They could have gone for the easy joke, which would have been to play off of the vast wealth that Jerry Seinfeld has and just say a figure like $4 billion or $20 billion or whatever real amount it would take to buy NBC. But they go one step further, cleverly saying $4 million, thereby insulting NBC, the very network this show runs on. That's great stuff. No wonder NBC renewed this show. Besides being a new classic, then get to look self-deprecating while having what amounts to a half hour infomercial for the network every Thursday night!

While Joel was covering the New Amsterdam premiere at the New York Television Festival on Thursday night, I decided to check out NBC's Comedy Short Cuts showcase. According to a press release, seven cast members (including Tracy Morgan) from 30 Rock were scheduled to appear at the event. It was also noted on the press release that "All Talent Subject to Change."

And change it did. Tracy was a no show unable to attend due to scheduling changes (as were Judah Friedlander, Scott Adsit, and Jack McBrayer). But Lonny Ross, Katrina Bowden, and Keith Powell were present and seemed happy to pose for a TV Squad photo. So now they're my favorites. (But don't worry guys, I still love all of you).

The "30 Rockers" were on hand not only to create a photo-op for NBC and the NYTVF, but to introduce eight independent short comedy films made by culturally diverse production teams and casts. NBC Universal produces this showcase in order to uncover diverse talent suitable for future development deals.