Season 2 of “30 Rock” got off to a great start with its premiere episode “Seinfeld Vision.” It looks like winning the Emmy for Best Comedy hasn’t stopped Tina Fey and company from pushing their limits to produce a hit show. And, from what I can tell this season may be even funnier than the first.
“Seinfeld Vision” started off with Liz Lemon’s crew back from the off-season. Jack Donaghe has recovered from his cardiac arrest at the end of season 1 and is back in full swindler corporate overdrive. The veteran producer has been putting out several shows in Liz Lemon’s absence during the off season. Jack proclaims that this is his year, especially after the success of one show he put out “MILF Island.” He adamantly proclaims that this is his year, and tells Liz his new brainchild “Seinfeld Vision” - a project that digitally plugs comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s face on every NBC program.
While, Jack’s off to an awesome year, our beloved Liz Lemon is still in the doldrums after her season 1 breakup with Floyd. And, who wants to hear the problems of our favorite head writer? No one, of course. Jenna suffers from summer weight gain, after eating 32 slices of pizza a week while performing Mystic Pizza on Broadway. Tracy and his wife break up after the tabloids catch Tracy with a transvestite prostitute. His wife take’s Grizz, while Tracy gets Dot Com. Unfortunately, Tracy feels a void in his life without his wife at his side. So, who takes her place under the advice of Liz, none other than fan fav Kenneth.
Everyone piles their problems on to Liz’s plate the minute they see her, while no one wants to listen to Liz talk about her own summer. But, that’s why we love Liz so much. She’s the confidant we all love, and the abused abused friend we all have been.
Liz takes one step further into depression, when Cerie asks Liz to be her bridesmaid. “Now I have something old,” Cerie says proudly hugging Liz.
And, all of these antics happen before Seinfeld (playing himself) even shows up on set. “30 Rock” is really amazing in that the writers can cram so much smart comedy into 30 minutes without having the show seem cluttered. Personally, the only thing better than 30 minutes of “30 Rock” would be an hour of “30 Rock.”
When Seinfeld threatens to buy NBC, and put Jack out of business for using Jerry’s likeness, Jack is forced to find a way to negotiate with the irrate comic. This is no small feat for Jack. His only idea to solve his conflict with Jerry is to kill Seinfeld.
Meanwhile, Liz is out shopping for wedding dresses with cerie, and decides to buy a wedding dress for herself. Hey, it was on sale. Who can turn down a sale? When her writing staff catch es her trying on the dress, Liz defiantly declares she will walk around for the rest of the day in the bridal dress. Jerry sees Liz in the hallway and calls her out on the breakup. The result is an emotional outburst between the two, where Liz cries in a Seinfeld impersonation, while Jerry yells at her just being himself.
In a scene reminiscent of the “Jack-Tor” episode of season 1, where Snapple product placement is used in a running gag to promote their sponsorship, Jerry comes to an agreement with Jack on Seinfeld Vision. The agreement allows Jerry to promote his upcoming “Bee Movie” on NBC. During the scene the “Bee Movie” trailer is showing in Jack’s office and Jerry plugs “Bee Movie” directly to home viewers. One has to wonder if art immitated life in this situation and Jerry asked for product placement in exchange for appearing on “30 Rock.”
Episode 2 of season 2 is not to be missed, as we follow Lemon’s hunt for a new love interest, debacles with staff, outrageous antics with Tracy and Jack’s continued effort to shake things up at the studio.
Be sure to catch episode 2 of “30 Rock” Thursday Oct. 11 on NBC at 8:30 pm.
