It can be tricky doing a review for a series like "30 Rock" because the quality of the show fluctuates so much between season to season, and even episode to episode. I mainly base my 7/10 on what are the odds you'd pick a funny episode if you put all episodes on shuffle. In that situation, chances are, you'd land on a pretty funny episode.
I'm not sure if it had something to do with the writers' strike of the time, but the series had a major slog of bad episodes towards the end of season 4, and onward to season 5. Season 5 managed to have some funny gems in there, helped by some funny cameos giving the series some much needed support.
Characters would make out of character decisions for the sake of a joke, and some of the running storylines of the series grew very stale and repetitive. The show also became very political during this stretch. To some, I'm sure that's fine, but if you're like me, and go to TV for some escapism, then these episodes fell flat. And I guess I'm fine with being political, as long as the jokes are still funny. But often these political episodes would just have unfunny jokes.
But when the series is good, it is laugh out loud funny. There would be moments where you would laugh so hard that you would have to pause or rewind the show to catch what the next joke was.
The series used a lot of topical jokes of the time. So references to "Hairspray", "The Bee Movie", "Halo 3" and Mitt Romney may make the show a bit dated going back to it. But I think it adds to the charm, and makes the show a real time capsule for ~2007.
The series, uses a lot of 4th wall breaking jokes, and a good number of cut-away gags. So if that type of humor isn't for you, then the show won't seem all that funny.
Much like the show, this review was a bit all over the place, but in the end I enjoyed it.
I'm not sure if it had something to do with the writers' strike of the time, but the series had a major slog of bad episodes towards the end of season 4, and onward to season 5. Season 5 managed to have some funny gems in there, helped by some funny cameos giving the series some much needed support.
Characters would make out of character decisions for the sake of a joke, and some of the running storylines of the series grew very stale and repetitive. The show also became very political during this stretch. To some, I'm sure that's fine, but if you're like me, and go to TV for some escapism, then these episodes fell flat. And I guess I'm fine with being political, as long as the jokes are still funny. But often these political episodes would just have unfunny jokes.
But when the series is good, it is laugh out loud funny. There would be moments where you would laugh so hard that you would have to pause or rewind the show to catch what the next joke was.
The series used a lot of topical jokes of the time. So references to "Hairspray", "The Bee Movie", "Halo 3" and Mitt Romney may make the show a bit dated going back to it. But I think it adds to the charm, and makes the show a real time capsule for ~2007.
The series, uses a lot of 4th wall breaking jokes, and a good number of cut-away gags. So if that type of humor isn't for you, then the show won't seem all that funny.
Much like the show, this review was a bit all over the place, but in the end I enjoyed it.