# 30 Rock - most overrated show for years? Or am I missing something? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 26, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670 "2009-05-26T13:43:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elyanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@Elyanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elyanna)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/21 "2009-05-26T17:49:09Z")
I’ve seen some of it, and I totally don’t get what’s funny about it. Same with Scrubs. But I’m just not a television person, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/22 "2009-05-26T18:03:47Z")
Personally, it is one of my favorite shows on television. I love the interaction between Fey and Baldwin, the supporting cast, and the general quirkiness of it all. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/23 "2009-05-26T18:04:43Z")
> [@kingpengvin](#): > > Is it just me or do you kinda negate your declaration of someone being the antithesis of funny by throwing this knee slapping zinger out there ? It’s just you. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/24 "2009-05-26T18:08:27Z")
Just goes to show how subjective comedy is. I love Alec Baldwin, and I think he is good on this show. But I find Tracy Morgan so unfunny and so unbelievable in the role that I cannot watch the show. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/25 "2009-05-26T18:21:14Z")
Because of a solid rec from **WordMan** awhile back I gave it a shot. I’m sorry, I really, really tried. Maybe I just caught the rare, unfunny episodes. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/26 "2009-05-26T18:21:55Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > Just goes to show how subjective comedy is. > > I love Alec Baldwin, and I think he is good on this show. But I find Tracy Morgan so unfunny and so unbelievable in the role that I cannot watch the show. I have to admit that I watch it in spite of Tracy Morgan. Although I find his character funny, and the situations he gets into funny, his acting style (or whatever that is) is quite off-putting. I’ve never seen him in anything else. Is he always like that (shouting, rather than acting)? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/27 "2009-05-26T18:27:42Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I’ve never seen [Tracy Morgan] in anything else. Is he always like that (shouting, rather than acting)? Seems to be. I’ve been a loyal listener of the Howard Stern show for 12 years now, and so far he’s the only guest annoying enough to make me turn the channel. It’s either an act that he refuses to drop or the guy is brain-damaged. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/28 "2009-05-26T18:30:47Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > The American version of The Office is the most overrated. But this one is up there. What the American version of _The Office_ doesn’t seem to get is that the original show isn’t actually a comedy; like Christopher Guest mockumentaries or Alexander Payne movies, it’s a slice of actual life, barely if at all exaggerated, which highlights just how absurd and obtuse many people actually are, and is just as often painful as it is funny. The American version is just a standard issue single camera sitcom with a pseudo-_cinéma vérité_ perspective. > [@Khadaji](#): > > I like Jack and Liz’s dynamic. The other characters are pretty tedious. Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey could sit on a bare stage riffing off of each other and carry that for at least 45 minutes at a clip. The other stuff in the show is pretty much filler. Kenneth and Tracy Morgan’s entourage are intermittently amusing, but Tracy and Jane Krakowski are boat anchors. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/29 "2009-05-26T18:44:05Z")
> [@Jester](#): > > I know people who don’t like shows hate hearing this (I know I do when it’s told to me), but I would highly recommend watching a few more episodes. _30 Rock_ is a show that works by constantly building up the eccentricities and absurdities of its characters. It’s hard to get a feel for how funnily over-the-top the characters are from just one episode, but when you watch a few of them all those little weird things just pile up and make each successive one funnier and funnier. The characters themselves don’t really change; we just see more and more of the crazy stuff that makes up their lives. And that’s the entire problem. There _are_ no characters in the show – just eccentricities and absurdities that appear at whatever random point they’re needed to get a laugh. Compare that to **Arrested Development** , where all the characters were extremely well-defined and were funny because they’d behave just as we should expect them to behave. **Thirty Rock** just does anything for a laugh, ignoring any sort of consistency of character. There are a few funny moments in each episode, I’ll grant. But the show keeps shouting at you “WATCH ME WATCH ME THIS IS FUNNY!!” **Arrested Development** knew things are funnier when the humor is understated; **Thirty Rock** never understates anything. Compare the show to **Mean Girls** and you can see that Tina Fey is better than this. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/30 "2009-05-26T18:45:42Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There are a few funny moments in each episode, I’ll grant. But the show keeps shouting at you “WATCH ME WATCH ME THIS IS FUNNY!!” **Arrested Development** knew things are funnier when the humor is understated; **Thirty Rock** never understates anything. That’s probably why I also don’t like South Park. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/31 "2009-05-26T18:51:39Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > That’s probably why I also don’t like South Park. While I’m sure there are legtimate reasons not to like South Park, this is not one of them. South Park actually understates a lot, and is more subtle than most casual viewers realize. What RealityChuck describes is a good reason not to like Family Guy. They are two very different shows. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/32 "2009-05-26T18:53:29Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > I love Alec Baldwin, and I think he is good on this show. But I find Tracy Morgan so unfunny and so unbelievable in the role that I cannot watch the show. Yup, that’s what turned me off the show when it first started. Tracy Morgan was THAT much of a force of suckitude. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/33 "2009-05-26T18:56:20Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Because of a solid rec from **WordMan** awhile back I gave it a shot. I’m sorry, I really, really tried. Maybe I just caught the rare, unfunny episodes. Oh no! And I think of you as an Arbiter of Funny™. Did you see “[Kidney Now](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPXoMQZJdA8)” expisode a couple of weeks ago?? That link is a clip to the faux music video on YouTube… Oh well, variety is the spice of life and all that… ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/34 "2009-05-26T18:57:24Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > The American version of The Office is the most overrated. That’s what I came in here to say. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/35 "2009-05-26T19:24:05Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > “Was any of it real? Beer Pong? Jazzercise? Women’s Soccer?” I couldn’t stop laughing when I heard this one. My wife didn’t think that was funny at all for some reason but she didn’t have to keep glaring at me when I was trying to enjoy the show. And for those who keep comparing this show to \*\*Arrested Development \*\*(and you know who you are, don’t you?), well, not to be mean but you are so wrong. \*\*30 Rock \*\* delivers more laughs per half-hour than any other show on today, perhaps more than is safe even - In spite of Tracy Morgan. Alec Baldwin is pitch perfect every time. To the OP … you have to like the zany, fast-paced humor. There are a lot of throw away lines, like the one above, that either hit or miss. That one hit me hard. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/36 "2009-05-26T19:31:42Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > To the OP … you have to like the zany, fast-paced humor. There are a lot of throw away lines, like the one above, that either hit or miss. That one hit me hard. See, that’s called “throwing a bunch of shit at the wall and seeing what sticks”, and it’s a lazy tactic. Most of us who recognize it don’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/37 "2009-05-26T19:38:40Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > IAnd for those who keep comparing this show to \*\*Arrested Development \*\*(and you know who you are, don’t you?), well, not to be mean but you are so wrong. Actually, I think they’re right, because I don’t like either one. Both are a big waste of time, IMO. As is the American version of _The Office_, for that matter. Oh, well. Different strokes, and all that. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/38 "2009-05-26T20:00:33Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Tina Fey is pretty much the antithesis of funny. I thought I was the only person who felt that way. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/39 "2009-05-26T20:04:28Z")
Put me in the camp that feels Tracy Morgan makes the show over-all weaker. I watch in spite of him - and cannot believe that Bruce Willis is making a movie with him. Bruce! WTF are you doing? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670/40 "2009-05-26T20:06:45Z")
“Sponsored by the committee to re-invade Vietnam” That’s funny right there. And I love Tracy Morgan, have since he was on SNL all those years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-rock-most-overrated-show-for-years-or-am-i-missing-something/497670.md?page=3)