Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #242 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-03-17
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 448 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. Remember Arrested Development? Smartest, funniest show on television. A critics' darling. An Emmy-winner for Best Comedy Series. But no one watched, and it was cancelled. Will history repeat itself with 30 Rock? It's the smartest, funniest show on television. A critics' darling. An Emmy-winner for Best Comedy Series. And it finished its inaugural season in 137th place! Hopefully, people will discover all that they missed with this Season 1 set and 30 Rock will, better late than never, find the audience it so richly deserves. A behind-the-scenes workplace comedy in the grand tradition of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show, 30 Rock stars comedy geek goddess Tina Fey as Liz Lemmon, who juggles her hapless personal life with her chaotic career as the producer and head writer of an SNL-ish sketch comedy show. She has a new boss, cunning and ruthless GE executive Jack Donaghy (Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award-winner Alec Baldwin), who insists on being her mentor, and a new star, medicated, loose-cannon comedian Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), who steals the spotlight from the show's flighty star, Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski).

Briskly paced and perfectly cast, 30 Rock rewards viewers with brilliant dialogue (when Liz asks Jack why he is dressed in a tuxedo with no formal event to attend, he coolly responds, "It's after six; what am I, a farmer?") and fresh characters you haven't seen on a hundred other sitcoms. Jack McBrayer is the series' scene-stealing breakout star as NBC page Kenneth, a sweet and innocent "rube." The ensemble's seemingly spontaneous byplay invites repeat viewings to catch jokes and sly bits of business you might have missed (in "Tracy Does Conan," listen for the initial confusion over how to pronounce Tracy's less-than-ethical physician, Dr. Spaceman, or, in "The Hair and the Head," watch for the Katie Couric slur on the wall of what is purported to be NBC anchor Brian Williams' trashed office). In a season full of gems (including "Black Tie," featuring Paul Reubens as severely inbred royalty), there are only a couple of comparative clunkers, but the pleasure of this ensemble's company more than compensates. 30 Rock is highly recommended for people like Kenneth who just love television so much. And by the hammer of Thor, watch season 2! --Donald Liebenson

Synopsis
Art imitates life in this smart comedy starring Saturday Night Live alums Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, and frequent host Alec Baldwin. In addition to writing and executive producing 30 Rock, Fey plays Liz Lemon, the head writer on a variety series called 'The Girlie Show'. But the new Vice President of East Coast Television, Jack Donaghy (Baldwin), decides to shake up the show, adding eccentric actor Tracy Jordan (Morgan) to the cast and changing the name. A critical hit, 30 Rock garnered a Golden Globe win for Fey in its first series for its brand of comedy that ably straddles intelligence and silliness. This sitcom also features Jane Krakowski ( Ally McBeal), Scott Adsit (Kicking and Screaming), and Judah Friedlander. But with such a deep bench of talent, the show's secret weapon is Kenneth, played by Jack McBrayer (Arrested Development), whose naivete is a hilarious contrast to the rest of the characters. This release features the first series in its entirety.

Customer Reviews

Funny on many levels
One of the pleasures of Xmas is the time to get off the beaten track and I have been catching up with the multiple episodes of the first series of this show on late night Channel 5. I was interested because I had seen Fey's Palin impersonations and also read about her in a late 2008 Vanity Fair.
The quality of the writing (all Fey per the credits) is fantastic - one example from "The C*** Word" episode - Fey to fellow worker "He just called me a word that rhymes with the title of your favourite Todd Rundgren album!" Fellow worker "What rhymes with Hermit of Mink Hollow?"
A great talent!

Very Funny
One of the funniest tv shows i've seen in a long time. It is designed to be one of those shows you can watch again and again! Great fun!

Sporadically amusing, the critics are wrong, the public is right.
There seems to be some hand-wringing going on about this one - how can such a gem get such critical acclaim, yet be so cold-shouldered by the public?

I think the answer is relatively simple - the show isn't all that funny. There are some brilliant moments in it, admittedly, but you have to sit through a lot of dross to experience them.

Also, many people are put off by the idea of well paid Hollywood bigshots, like Baldwin, satirising the very media world they are so much a part of. They portray themselves as critical outsiders subverting the system, but make a very nice living by being very much part of it.

So yes, it's relatively painless, but the reason the show is relatively unknown and unwatched is pretty clear - it's just not worth watching for very long.