30 Rock

I am addicted to 30 Rock. This is not the new street name of an illicit drug, nor is it something you can find in your grandmother’s medicine cabinet. You won’t have to send me to rehab for my addiction, but you might have to peel me away from my indented spot on the couch in front of the TV in my beige-colored living room. I discovered this addiction last week white flipping through the channels on a Thursday night. After learning that my guilty pleasure, “Grey’s Anatomy” wouldn’t be aired, I had to find something to watch during my designated no-studying time. Hmm, 30 Rock—the guide said it was four-stars. That should be worthy of at least a moment of my time. In that moment, I was hooked. Tracy Jordan’s hilarious behavior made me laugh out loud, and Tina Fey’s antics had me crying and holding my gut. The premise of the show is this: Tina Fey (Liz Lemon) is a writer for a variety show that strongly resembles Saturday Night Live. She’s more than a writer though—she also has to deal with the politics of the network (NBC) and the diva-like behavior of the show’s stars. 30 Rock does an especially phenomenal job of bringing social issues into the light with a comedic overtone. For example, in the episode I watched on Thursday, the Asian market crashed, sending network executives into a fury of number crunching and sheer panic. Tracy Jordan, the star of Lemon’s variety show, went on Larry King Live to promote the show. Instead, he sent the entire city into a greater state of panic by predicting the upheaval of society as we know it, encouraging residents to flee the city at their earliest convenience. Because of the sheer power of the media and celebrities especially, the city fell into a state of chaos, only to be resumed the next day when people realized that the world was not going to end. The chain of events set off by Jordan’s discussion with King were hilarious and such a true reflection on society’s tendency to believe what they see on TV. After such a great comedic break from my otherwise academic life, I can guarantee that I will be tuning in to NBC again this Thursday.

Image: www.nbc.com