# I am astonished at how bad "30 Rock" is **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-astonished-at-how-bad-30-rock-is/598734 "2011-10-05T23:48:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-astonished-at-how-bad-30-rock-is/598734/41 "2011-10-06T23:46:12Z")
The Sandwich Day episode won me over and is still my favorite episode, but I don’t love-love the show and don’t fret if I miss an episode. It’s often amusing and sometimes really funny… other times, it’s just on. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-astonished-at-how-bad-30-rock-is/598734/42 "2011-10-07T07:19:19Z")
I think the last season (5?) seemed really lackluster and that the actors involved weren’t too into it anymore. But the show has delivered plenty of laugh-out-loud moments for me - Baldwin is a star! ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-astonished-at-how-bad-30-rock-is/598734/43 "2011-10-07T13:03:54Z")
I think the show’s hilarious. Obviously, humor is very subjective. “2 And 1/2 men” is massively popular, and to me it’s the unfunniest piece of shit to ever be broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-astonished-at-how-bad-30-rock-is/598734/44 "2011-10-07T13:28:35Z")
This thread is very reassuring. I thought I was the only one who didn’t like this show. Just not funny to me. As said above, humor is very subjective, but with all the critical praise, I expectec something better. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-astonished-at-how-bad-30-rock-is/598734/45 "2011-10-07T13:50:43Z")
I like it sometimes and love a couple of episodes. I hate that it has pushed the Daily Show and Colbert out of their timeslots at 7-8pm EST on Comedy Central. My favorite episodes are the one where Jack plays poker with Kenneth and the one where Jack does an impression of Tracy’s father for the therapy session. Most of the times, it’s just whacky for the sake of being whacky. ---
**Author:** ![ScatteredFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@ScatteredFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScatteredFrog)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-astonished-at-how-bad-30-rock-is/598734/46 "2011-10-07T14:53:48Z")
Love it or hate it, one thing that is fresh about _30 Rock_: it’s not another one of those damn living-room-with-a-couch sitcoms, know what I mean? ---
**Author:** ![vislor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vislor/32/5933_2.png) [@vislor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vislor)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-astonished-at-how-bad-30-rock-is/598734/47 "2011-10-07T16:21:17Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > THANK YOU!! Studio 60 was brilliantly written and acted, a drama about a sketch-comedy show. Which is probably why so many knuckle-draggers complained “It’s not funny enough!” It’s not a sitcom, geniuses. _sigh_ I miss Studio 60. > > 30 Rock, OTOH, I gave about six episodes before I turned it off in disgust. Unappealing characters and just plain dumb. _Why_ does Alec Baldwin have to be unrelentingly stupid in order to be funny? Why does Tina Fey have to be so pathetic? Jane Krakowski, a smoking-hot funny woman, annoyed the hell out of me! Tracy Morgan made me want to scoop out my eyes with rusty grapefruit spoons! > > _This_ is Emmy-winning comedy?!? This is the case for me. I thought Studio 60 was brilliant and when I finally watched the first four episodes of 30 Rock, which everyone said was better of the two, I didn’t see it. It wasn’t funny to me. Or maybe I should say it didn’t work for me. I get that TV is subjective, so I get that my favorite shows won’t necessarily be popular enough to last very long. It happened with Firefly, Joan of Arcadia, Strange Luck, Kindred, and many, many others. The reason Studio 60 gets to me is that a lot of “insiders”, such as writers, were saying that Studio 60 wasn’t like real life and the show didn’t depict anything like they had worked on. That annoyed me because I don’t complain when they get computers wrong (I’m a programmer) but now they are saying it’s not real? Really? But, it happened and there is usually something else new that I like on TV. Eventually. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-astonished-at-how-bad-30-rock-is/598734/48 "2011-10-07T16:26:23Z")
> [@ScatteredFrog](#): > > Love it or hate it, one thing that is fresh about _30 Rock_: it’s not another one of those damn living-room-with-a-couch sitcoms, know what I mean? Ha ha! And everyone’s house has the same damn architect! From right to left: Front door, living room, stairs behind couch in living room, kitchen. Nobody’s house has a foyer? I guess foyers don’t film well on a set? ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-astonished-at-how-bad-30-rock-is/598734/49 "2011-10-07T19:06:20Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > THANK YOU!! Studio 60 was brilliantly written and acted, a drama about a sketch-comedy show. Which is probably why so many knuckle-draggers complained “It’s not funny enough!” It’s not a sitcom, geniuses. _sigh_ I miss Studio 60. It really bugs me when people insult people who disagree with their tastes. I loved **SportsNight** and **The West Wing** , and still think that the pilot episode of **Studio 60** was one of the best single episodes of any show I’ve ever seen. But much as I wanted to like that show, it was pompous and self-important and just not all that entertaining. I also really wanted to love **30 Rock** , saw the pilot episode, thought “well that was terrible”, gave up on it, and was lured back in a season and a half or so later, watched it all on DVD, and have been a big fan ever since. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-astonished-at-how-bad-30-rock-is/598734/50 "2011-10-07T19:54:50Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I loved **SportsNight** and **The West Wing** , and still think that the pilot episode of **Studio 60** was one of the best single episodes of any show I’ve ever seen. But much as I wanted to like that show, it was pompous and self-important and just not all that entertaining. Not to mention maudlin, cliched and just plain boring. After Judd Hirsch’s monologue in the pilot, it was a rapid descent downhill. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-astonished-at-how-bad-30-rock-is/598734.md?page=2)