tgs

I'm sure that Halloween isn't the main focus of tonight's episode of 30 Rock (Liz and Jack going to Kenneth's hometown to audition people for TGS is), but this clip flashes back to a party from last year that Frank, Lutz, and Toofer had. I'm trying to remember if 30 Rock did a Halloween show last year and if this contradicts it.

Also: are women really more loose on Halloween?

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(S04E02) "This isn't the auto industry, Pete. The auto industry was run by a bunch of out of touch white guys selling consumers a product they didn't want. We're GE damn it, and we're going to make a giant, flimsy microwave." - Jack

It's funny how Liz Lemon wrote the book titled Dealbreakers (a plot from last season they've continued this season). You can actually picture a book like that getting published. There must have been a hundred humor books like that released in the past five years, so this doesn't seem like one of those "crazy" fake books that a TV show comes out with. Actually, I'm surprised NBC hasn't actually published a book to cross-promote the show. Hey, Castle did it.

I just hope that the book that Tina Fey is writing isn't like that.

(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.

Tina Fey was on The Today Show this morning to promote the new season of 30 Rock (tonight at 9:30 on NBC), and besides showing a clip from the episode, Fey kisses someone from the morning show.

But that's OK. Meredith Vieria kisses Tracy Morgan too. What the hell is going on over at NBC?

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I can't wait until the fourth season of 30 Rock starts a week from Thursday. Here's a sneak peek/behind the scenes look, with the cast talking about a new plot, guest stars, and what it's like working on the set. I'm already laughing. (Note: it's a bit spoilerish; not necessarily the plots but some great lines you'll hear this season).

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The fall season has begun and we have a ton of new and returning shows to watch again. It's great to have The Office and The Mentalist and 60 Minutes and The Simpsons back with new episodes, but I still feel a huge void in my TV-watching pleasure. And it's not because Lost and Chuck won't be back until next year.

I'm talking about 30 Rock. While all of the other NBC Thursday night comedies (Weekend Update Thursday, Parks and Recreation, Community, and The Office) have returned, 30 Rock won't be back until October 15. Not sure why that is, but Thursday nights just aren't the same without it. I even saw a promo for NBC's Thursday night lineup and how the show were back, and they included 30 Rock in the montage. That was just painful.

I'm sure she'd say she's too old for regular television work, or that she's having too much fun guest-starring on every television show and half of the movies, but I just can't get enough of Betty White on TV. With it coming out now that Betty White has signed for a guest spot on NBC's 30 Rock, she might as well start making room on the mantle for her latest Emmy.

After all, 30 Rock gets all the nominees for guest star in a comedy (though White did get nominated for My Name Is Earl this past year). Reportedly White would play herself, which works well considering the premise of the show. 30 Rock does amazing comedy with their guest stars, and when you get someone as brilliant and talented as White, can it be anything but perfect?

Luckily, White wouldn't have to compete for that Emmy with another hot prospect for the folks at 30 Rock. After his Emmy-winning turn hosting Saturday Night Live, why wouldn't they want to nab Justin Timberlake as well?

(S03E22) "There's no such thing as bisexual. That's just something invented in the 90s so they could sell more hair products." - Liz

OK, so how long before "We Need A Kidney" is available for download from the NBC site or from iTunes? I suspect it will be up before you finish reading this review.

I was going to talk about how this episode was a little disappointing, but then I hit rewind on my DVR and watched it again and realized, wow, they actually hit all of the season finale notes rather perfectly. Not in a "we're having a baby!" or "he has amnesia!" way, but in a way that symbolized that "this is the end of the season but we're not going to go overboard" way. Some might think that having 20 big-name musical guest stars on a season finale actually is over the top, but it didn't turn out that way. This episode was quite funny.

(S03E20) "It's the biggest regret of my life, Lemon. And I once made love to Kathy Hilton." - Jack, about not confronting his dad

Oh, come on. There's no way that Liz Lemon would be that incompetent when it comes to replacing a water bottle. It was like she was a mixture of Steve Urkel and Barney Fife, dropping the bottle, getting herself soaked. I mean, she could have at least known that you take the empty jug off before you attempt to put the new one on. That whole scene was odd. It went on a lot longer and was more slapstick-oriented than most 30 Rock gags.

I've seen this promo half a dozen times and I didn't realize that NBC calls Tina Fey "Tina" and not by her character named "Liz."

Now, I'm not posting this because I think NBC made a mistake (I'm sure they actually did mean to say Tina), nor do I think it's important. I'm posting it because it illustrates how things have changed, how the lines between a character and an actor are now a lot more blurred than they used to be. Or maybe NBC just isn't secure in calling Tina by her character name because there's not much recognition, but everyone knows and loves Tina Fey so they say "Tina?" Regardless, can you imagine an X-Files promo ten years ago where they called David Duchovny's character "David" instead of "Mulder?" Or a Golden Girls promo twenty years ago where they called Bea Arthur "Bea" instead of "Dorothy?"

One of the great things about the web is that it gives us a connection to stars we didn't have before. No, I don't meaning stalking, I mean extra content from celebrities and shows that you couldn't get in 1965 or 1980 or even 1999. Almost every show has some extra features on their site (some good, some horrible and needless), including 30 Rock. You can send questions in to Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Jack McBrayer and they'll answer them. In the latest "Ask Tina" (a regular feature at NBC.com), Fey discloses who her heroes are and whether or not you'll ever see a live version of 30 Rock on television.

(S03E19) "It's not product placement, I just like it!" - Liz, wearing a Slanket

OK, can we settle this once and for all? Liz Lemon/Tina Fey is not an unattractive woman. I don't care if she's wearing a rumpled TGS sweatshirt or a casual jacket or has glasses on or has her hair tied back or if she's wearing a potato sack or even a track suit. There's no way a snooty jewelry store clerk would look at her and doubt that Alec Baldwin/Jack would marry her.

Yes, she even looks great in a Slanket. Interesting they didn't go with the Snuggie, but also great that they didn't go with the Snuggie (and kudos to Fey for the above shout-out to viewers).

(S03E18) As longtime readers of these reviews know, I like to list a lot of lines from each episode of 30 Rock. Each episode of the show has a ton of great one-liners and jokes, but there are so many that sometimes I feel like I should forget writing a traditional review and just print a damn transcript of the entire episode. It's seems like that's what I'm on the edge of doing every week anyway.

But there's more to the show than just rapid-fire comedy.

(S03E17) "Top front? Good lord, Lemon, that's your worst quadrant." - Jack, to Liz about what she gave the night before

Well, obviously, what we can learn from this episode of 30 Rock is that sexual favors can probably help save the economy. That's probably something that Suze Orman and Dave Ramsay haven't thought of yet. It seemed to work at NBC, though. It's probably not the most moral solution, but it works in our little TV world.

But I'm worried that we've lost a very funny supporting character tonight.

(S03E16) "Computer, when do I get my tang? Also I'm thirsty. Word play!" - Tracy

To put it bluntly, I think this was one of the most explosively hysterical and imaginative half hours of TV this season, and one of this show's best episodes ever. 30 Rock embodies that idea you have of what a great TV comedy can be, the one that is non-stop funny and unpredictable and wild. This episode was a bizarre combination of sex addiction apologies, surreal Muppet appearances, videos of old birthday parties, faked space travel, vomiting, and old late-night chat line commercials.

That paragraph makes it seem like it was a bizarre mess, but it all seems to make sense and come together in the TGS/NBC world.