30 Rock ends on a high note
One of my favorite shows of all time, 30 Rock, ended last week with one of the best finales I’ve ever watched. It was sad to see such a great show end, and too bad that it never found a bigger audience because it was truly a great series.
It’s a weird era for television because the best shows in TV aren’t necessarily the most watched shows on TV. Seinfeld, Cheers, The Simpsons, Bob Newhart, etc… all had high viewership and were high quality programming. Now the best shows rarely last very long, and it’s a miracle that 30 Rock made it as long as it did. Other good shows, like Fox’s The Mindy Project, are in danger of being cancelled while shows like Two and a Half Men continue to bring in strong ratings. NBC’s Parks and Recreation is another example of a stellar show that is ending this season.
30 Rock featured one of the best casts in recent memory, with Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey consistantly bringing the laughs. Alec Baldwins career has taken many unexpected turns, but he’s ended up as one of the best comedic actors around. The supporting cast was also as good as I’ve seen. I loved Tracy Morgan, Jack McBrayer as Kenneth the page, and the underrated but always funny Scott Asdit as Pete.
The finale was perfect. It was, in many ways, like just another 30 Rock episode (something Seinfeld might have tried), but also very sentimental without overdoing it. All of the characters were fit in, and the epilogue at the end was great.
It’s too bad 30 Rock wasn’t able to find a bigger audience, but at least it went out on a high note.