30 Rock - Season 4

Yes, that is a picture of Tina Fey and James Franco hugging an anime body pillow.

Of the four shows NBC has in its Thursday comedy lineup, 30 Rock is currently the weakest, although that's less of a knock on it than a testament to the quality of the others. Still, it's inaccurate to say it's as good as it's ever been, and it's really about time that it stops dominating all the nominations and awards for TV comedy. It's funny! But it's not that funny. Rather than building humor naturally into the plot they just sort of fire jokes out of a shotgun haphazardly the whole time. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn't. The show's famous for its casting of celebrities in bit roles, but it's clearly more of a stunt than a good creative decision. What's the point of having Buzz Aldrin on if the man clearly can't act? He says his lines with the stiffness of a board. And it's rough when they take a great actress like Julianne Moore and saddle her with an accent that just kills me every time I hear it. Matt Damon was funny in the finale though I can't see how he's going to have the time to make the character worthwhile.

The season was mostly about Alec Baldwin having to choose between two women, only one of whom is actually appealing on the show, and Fey wrestling with whether she should keep looking for the perfect man or settle for something less before she gets too old. They add a new cast member to TGS, although it seems like they forgot about him most of the time. Tracy and Jenna continue to provide aggravation for Liz while providing some of the better, if more obvious laughs. The show kind of seems like it has less of a purpose to its existence than the other NBC comedies, but that's okay as long as it's mostly funny. As long as it keeps getting awards and about six million viewers per episode, it will probably stick around a while.