[Televisionary]

There was one thing I was looking forward to this week more than anything. (Yes, even more than being just two scripts away from reading every single drama pilot this development season, which feels pretty damn good.) That thing was, of course, the return of original episodes of brilliant comedy 30 Rock to the airwaves. I felt very worried as the familiar musical strains began last night's episode ("MILF Island"); would the episode live up to my high expectations after all of this time or would I be disappointed after I built up this moment for so many months now? I'm happy to see that the answer to the latter question is a resounding NO. I thought that "MILF Island" was textbook 30 Rock : slick, sly, and filled to the brim with throwaway lines, ongoing jokes, and surreal, brainy humor. What other series would offer up such a deliciously apt send up of slipping NBC quality standards with the meta show-within-a-show MILF Island ? The return of an in-joke at

I'm hopelessly obsessed with 30 Rock to the point that I want to, in the words of 30 Rock 's Tracy Jordan, take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant . So I was thrilled to catch up with the series' creator/writer/star Tina Fey about what to expect when 30 Rock returns to NBC with new episodes on April 10th... and what to expect when Liz Lemon is, er, expecting. First off, Fey hopes the audience doesn't exhibit any angst or ill-will now that the strike is finally over. "Hopefully, people just want to see shows they love back on the air," she said. And don't look for the WGA strike to pop up on 30 Rock anytime soon. "[The strike] did not happen in their world... it was a big enough pain in real life." Fey revealed that the writers had plans for a strike-themed episode in works before the real-life WGA strike that derailed production this season, a storyline which still may turn up "down the road" but won't be necessarily

Was it just me or was Tina Fey the perfect vehicle to welcome back scripted television to the airwaves? Fey's winning turn as host this weekend on Saturday Night Live , the sketch comedy series on which she served as its first female head writer, was hilarious, inspired, and completely appropriate, after the long, dark months of the WGA strike. (It also earned SNL its highest overnight ratings in two years, scoring a 6.1/15 share.) From the opening moments--in which she referred to the lack of any hard feelings amongst the crew for the writers strike (and then had to duck several times from a boom being dropped on her head)--to an unexpected cameo from Steve Martin, advising her that she had to stop being a writer and start being a performer (complete with a lesson on the comedy rule of three), Fey proved why 30 Rock is such a critical success: she's funny, sexy, and not afraid to poke fun at herself, even when it means getting bitchslapped by Martin on stage. But it was her

It's official: the WGA strike, which began November 5th, has finally come to a close, following a member vote overwhelmingly in favor of ending the strike (92.5% to be precise) and getting back to work during the official ten-day ratification process. You can literally hear the sound of relief echoing through Hollywood today as writers return to their keyboards to try to pound out as many scripts as possible in time to salvage the 2007-08 season. "Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work," said WGA West President Patric Verrone in a statement. "This was not a strike we wanted, but one we had to conduct in order to win jurisdiction and establish appropriate residuals for writing in new media and on the Internet. Those advances now give us a foothold in the digital age. Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as TV migrates to the Internet and platforms for new media are developed." So w

For anyone looking to see just what television would look like, minus the writers, one need only take a peek at last night's episode of 30 Rock (the woefully untitled "Episode 210"), which proved that there's a reason why comedy scripts go through multiple revisions and polishing, as well as on-set rewriting. For a series that zings with enough pop culture references, tongue-in-cheek throwaway lines, and rewind-that moments to fill a week's worth of network programming, last night's 30 Rock was leaden, dull, and--most criminally--just unfunny. It's sad too because the script had the bare bones of three enticing plots--Jack tries to make a deal with the Germans to buy a television network but blows it by spending time with his Democratic Congresswoman lover; Liz, acting on Jack's advice, tries to buy real estate; and Kenneth becomes addicted to caffeine, throwing the carefully ordered world of TGS into chaos--which, if polished, could have been hyste

If after watching last night's episode of 30 Rock , you're still unclear about how much rewriting goes into polishing TV scripts before shooting, there's no saving you. I had been looking forward to 30 Rock all week long as the comedy has become a shining beacon of hope in a primetime schedule getting more crowded by the day with reality series as the WGA strike goes on. While I thought the episode might be a little bittersweet--it being the penultimate 30 Rock until the WGA and the AMPTP can end their conflict--I wasn't prepared for how lackluster an entry into the 30 Rock canon it would be. And it's sad because this week's installment (the untitled episode 209) had a set-up and plotline that could have been hysterical and absolutely brilliant... if only the writers had been able to rewrite the script. Instead, it was a mostly flat episode that gave me only a few chuckles, a rare feat for the indomitable 30 Rock , which typically has me roaring with laughter

Ah, awards season is upon us, but I can't seem to muster the same enthusiasm this year, what with the strike still going on and no sign of resolution anywhere to turn to. Still, it's a little bit of comfort to know that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, in handing out their nominations, did decide to include some of my favorite series this year around, including Pushing Daisies, Big Love, 30 Rock, and Damages. So thanks to the HFPA for recognizing creative genius and innovative television. My hat is off to you! So which series and actors got nominated and which ones got left out in the cold? Below is a list of the TV award categories and their nominations, along with my reactions to the major categories. BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA: BIG LOVE (HBO) DAMAGES (FX NETWORKS) GREY’S ANATOMY (ABC) HOUSE (FOX) MAD MEN (AMC) THE TUDORS (SHOWTIME) While I loves me some Big Love (and I am absolutely pickled that the HBO polygamy drama has gotten some much-deserved recognit

Oh, 30 Rock , I can always depend on you to lighten the mood any day and you didn't disappoint last night, with another delightfully over the top installment ("Secrets and Lies") that deftly juggled half a dozen or so plotlines while advancing the subplot about Jack and C.C.'s illicit affair. With everything going on right now in Hollywood, it's easy to fall into a bit of a doom and gloom (albeit with some cautious optimism as talks between the WGA and AMPTP continue) but 30 Rock is always a beacon of hope in a schedule slowly being filled with more and more reality television. (Um, Baby Borrowers anyone? Didn't think so.) What did I love about last night's episode? Liz catching Jack and C.C. passionately kissing in his office only to have him introduce to Liz as a business colleague named "Lakisha Gutierrez-Arafat," a moniker that will live on forever in infamy; Jack sending Jonathan to a "non-existent Italian bakery in Queens" as a

I think it's safe to say that, until 30 Rock came along, a comedy hasn't managed to perfectly capture my absurd sense of humor, love for Tivo-friendly sight gags, and tendency to fall madly in love with non-sequiturs since Arrested Development . And to think that the Emmy winner for Best Comedy was nearly canceled during its freshman season after just a handful of episodes. Where would we be today without the comedic genius that is 30 Rock ? Thursday nights can become a bit of a drag when it's populated by nothing but repeats. Fortunately, 30 Rock was there to lift my spirits last night with a hysterical brand new episode ("Cougars") by co-executive producer John Riggi that ranks up there with some of the series' very best and had me rolling on the floor with laughter. This week's installment juggled several storylines flawlessly, including Liz's doomed affair with much-younger-man Jamie, Tracy's war with Jack over an underdog little league team

I am feeling really melancholy this morning after watching last night's episodes of The Office and 30 Rock , especially given that The Office 's lukewarm offering was the last episode of the NBC comedy that we'll see... until after the WGA strike is resolved. Last night's installment of The Office ("The Deposition"), written by supervising producer Lester Lewis, was shockingly low-key in comparison to recent episodes, which had Michael driving a car into a lake, kidnapping a pizza delivery boy , and attempting to flee Scranton on a cargo train . But it wasn't the restrained tone that bothered me (in fact, we don't need the histronics of Season Four's one-hour episodes in order to find the funny), but it was so far understated that the entire episode seemed strangely static. I've been calling for a return to more office-based humor and less field trips (unless they're organic like "Booze Cruise" or, hell, even "Branch Wars&q

Oh, Jackie D., you are killing me. Last night's episode of 30 Rock ("Rosemary's Baby") made me count my lucky stars that Alec Baldwin didn't follow through earlier this year on his threat not to return for 30 Rock 's sophomore season. That would have been truly heartbreaking, especially after witnessing his star turn last night, virtually channeling Tracy's "parents" during a therapy session, complete with racial stereotypes and bizarre off-kilter tangents like the Jordans' Latina neighbor. I thought that this entire exchange was absolutely hilarious and had me rolling on the floor, even if this morning I remembered that Tracy allegedly grew up in foster care with two dudes and a girl with a messed up hand. I'll just pretend that I didn't recall that bizarre fact from somewhere in the depths of my television-obsessed brain. It was a scene that truly captured all of Baldwin's skills as a gifted comedian and allowed him to truly, t

I don't know about you, but I've already ordered my "Me Want Food" t-shirt from the NBC store. Last night's episode of 30 Rock ("Jack Gets in the Game") was, in my opinion, one of the strongest of the series and has officially pushed the zany comedy into the realm of Arrested Development : deftly plotted and intricately layered, with so many jokes piled atop of jokes that it requires several viewings in order to catch them all. While at its heart, 30 Rock is a workplace comedy, it's left that narrow pigeonhole behind to become a witty example of how intelligent and taut humor can work (and flourish) on television... and exist in harmony with hilarious throwaways like the Thriller -inspired Werewolf Bar Mitzvah music video that would have done the AD crew proud. I want Will Arnett to appear on this series whenever possible. His gay exec Devin is hilarious, manipulative, and has an inexplicable weakness for Kenneth the Page, but he claims to have b

What's on my mind grapes? Naturally, it's tonight's second season premiere of Emmy Award-winning comedy 30 Rock , even though I am currently half a world away. Thanks to the fine folks at NBC, I was able to take an early look at 30 Rock 's season opener ("SeinfeldVision") last week and I certainly wasn't disappointed. The episode features the return of Jerry Seinfeld to the Peacock, but I have to say that his appearance, while funny, was probably the least interesting element of the episode. So what do we get to see when 30 Rock (and its fictional show-within-a-show TGS) returns from its hiatus? In addition to Seinfeld popping up at the Rockefeller Center offices of NBC (thanks to a dastardly plot of Jack's to insert the funny man into episodes of Medium and Heroes ), there's the gargantuan (literally) return of Jenna to the show after a summer spent eating pizza on stage eight times a week as part of the cast of Mystic Pizza: The Musical . Liz Le

Wow, talk about a boring Emmy Awards. I mean I had my doubts when it was announced that Ryan "I'm about as deep as my spray tan" Seacrest would be hosting, but it's FOX, so who else were they going to get to MC this bloated thing, anyway? Paula Abdul? Hardly. (Please bring Ellen DeGeneres back. Please?) Whose misguided idea was it to hold the Emmys in a circular stadium? I felt like I was watching a basketball game rather than a TV awards ceremony. Badly, badly done. It looked cheap, tacky, and possibly very fitting with the Emmys' new home on FOX. Plus, that Death Star-designed black disco ball freaked me out. Did you notice how FOX seemed to make it out of the opening Family Guy song and dance relatively unscathed? Hmm, coincidence? In any event, there were a few bright spots, like the writing award for The Office 's Greg Daniels, Helen Mirren winning for the superlative Prime Suspect: The Final Act , and Lost 's Terry O'Quinn finally receiving some

That was fast. Just a few weeks after eating her last bowl of onion rings and fading to black, The Sopranos ' Edie Falco has landed another television acting gig. NBC has announced that the Emmy Award-winner will appear in no less than three episodes of comedy (and Televisionary fave) 30 Rock this season. "We're thrilled to have such an amazing actress come join us," said 30 Rock' s creator, star, and executive producer Tina Fey. "Also, a lot of guys on our crew want The Sopranos ending explained to them." Falco, for her part, was also enthusiastic about joining the cast of the critically-acclaimed comedy series. "I have laughed out loud at this show, and I am thrilled for the opportunity to work with such great comic actors," said Falco. "I am very excited." Along with Falco's casting announcement, NBC also confirmed that Will Arnett, Rip Torn, and Sherri Shepherd will all reprise their guest roles from Season One this coming s

Looks like the Peacock has a reason to be proud. The Television Critics Association handed out its trophies this weekend, giving four key awards to NBC. I'm pleased as punch that NBC's The Office nabbed the trophy for outstanding achievement in comedy for the second year in a row. (Take that, According to Jim !) Lest you worry, 30 Rock wasn't shut out of the proceedings; 30 Rock 's Alec Baldwin picked up the award for individual achievement in comedy. On the drama side, Heroes walked away with the trophy for outstanding program of the year, while The Sopranos ' swan song racked up two: one for outstanding achievement in drama and the Heritage Award, given to programs that are felt to have a long-term impact on culture and society. Meanwhile, Michael C. Hall was awarded the individual achievement award for his work on Showtime's Dexter. In a surprise move, NBC's Friday Night Lights took home the top prize for outstanding new program, beating out a slew of

Jerry Seinfeld on 30 Rock ? Yes, you read that correctly. Jerry Seinfeld is heading back to television and I don't mean in those adorable and whimsical little Bee Movie mini-sodes that the comedian was touting at the network upfronts back in May. NBC has confirmed that Seinfeld will guest star on the second season premiere of 30 Rock (scheduled for October 4th at 8:30 pm), where he will play himself. He joins an already impressive list of guest stars for a comedy coming out of its first season, including Paul Reubens, Jason Sudeikis, Ghostface Killah, Elaine Stritch, Sean Hayes, Nathan Lane, Molly Shannon, Will Arnett, Chris Parnell, and Will Forte. "I was thrilled to be asked to guest star on NBC's hit comedy 30 Rock ," said Seinfeld in a press release issued by NBC. "I think it's going to be so refreshing for me to be playing myself in a show that has nothing to do with neurotic, dysfunctional New York characters." How pleased is 30 Rock 's harr