I can’t watch Parks & Rec, or The Office, but I don’t really think of 30 Rock as cringe humor. It’s more absurdist, I think. It goes further so that the cringe doesn’t set in. YMMV, I guess.
The wheels kinda came off in the last, or last couple, seasons, but there were a lot of laughs before then.
The live episodes were classic. I don’t know if I’ll ever find another single word funnier than, “BANJO!”
I never watched TBBT, but I think Scrubs and 30 Rock are similar in being workplace comedies that create this believable, if absurd, world that the characters live in.
To me, cringe humor is when someone does something horribly embarrassing or insulting, and nobody says anything - like in the Office, or any other British sitcom. In 30 Rock, whenever someone (usually Tracy or Jenna) does something horribly embarrassing or insulting, someone else (usually Liz) ALWAYS says something. Cringe doesn’t mean embarrassing people, it means embarrassing people who then just sit there and take it. The moment someone says “Stop that!” or the equivalent, it stops being cringy.
I’m half way through season 2, and even though I adore Tina Fey, I’m starting to tire of Liz’s perpetual spineless nice girl sad sack character. I hope it picks up with 5 and a half seasons to go.
As far as I can tell this is a show that you either like or won’t watch. I don’t mean people who won’t watch it hate it, but like I once said, it’s never held me. I watch an episode and forget about it, don’t care if I see another one. Don’t know why others don’t watch, but I do get that impression that it’s basically disinterest, not that the show is bad or offensive.
It was mostly meh for me. Alex Baldwin’s character made me laugh once in a while but most episodes left me with a wry smile at their high point. Perhaps I’m not the target audience.
Yeah, “meh”, sums up my reaction as well. Amusing at times (especially, "Jenna’ and “Jack”), but mostly forgettable. So far, the Seinfeld episode was the one I enjoyed the most.
Another “meh.” We enjoyed the first season enough, tho weren’t in love w/ it. Made it into somewhere into S2 or 3. Then got sidetracked and never went back. Even when we finished some other show and were trying to decide what to watch next, we discussed 30R the first couple of times, but not any more.
It’s a complete mystery to me - for all the love that it gets I simply cannot see it. I watched a couple of episodes when it first aired and thought it was awful. Later, after continually hearing how great it was I tried again. I still thought it was awful. Finally, years later, folks on the Dope mentioned specific “best ever” episodes certain to amuse me. But they didn’t. I have probably watched a couple of hours in total with barely a chuckle.
I think there’s moments when it starts to shine. Dr Spacemen holds the initial absurdity which leaks out to the other characters over the seasons. I think Jenna, once she goes completely insane, is one of the shows real treasures. But she’s normal for at least the first season. The writing staff get their moments much more than just the “Ludtz falls over again” every episode. Grizz and Dotcom gets a fleshed out. Kenneth gets to shine too, and there’s even inference in there that he’s several hundred years old.
I tended to suffer Tracy more than enjoy him, despite him having some really good lines, he never seemed to deliver them well for me.
It uses the guest stars well, with them being either Jack or Lemons latest other half.
My favourite line is when the writers get software to talk like Jack on their laptop.