I hold Aaron Sorkin personally responsible for my late dicovery of '30 Rock'."That script would never have been made if the words 'by Aaron Sorkin' weren't on the title page," I thought as I stumbled to the end of 'Studio 60 On Sunset Strip'.
Even I, a struggling comedy writer with an ego in constant need of feeding, stroking and tickling under the chin, balked at the idea of sketch writers being some kind of morally superior people who, given a chance, would make the world a better place.
So when I heard of '30 Rock', I simply went with formula that if a T.V. programme about a comedy show written by Aaron Sorkin sucks, then a T.V. programme about a comedy show not written by Aaron Sorkin must suck AND blow.
But, Christ on a bike, its great. Funny, smart, and uniformly well acted. Its full of acts of utter randomness and - possibly - has something to say about modern television and celebrity. But I'm normally laughing too hard to notice.
The biggest revelation, though, is Alec Baldwin. Appalling human being he may be, but like some comedy hippo, he comes in, chews the scenery and steals every damn scene he's in. I was going to try and explain the scene below, but can't do it any justice. It has to be watched. Just watch Alec explode in a shower of comedy genius and leave the set covered in gooey joke-ectoplasm.
But it would be wrong to not mention the peerless Tina Fey, the creator and star of the show (and how many times has that sentence been written about a woman, sisters? Not many, I'll wager). Remember, Alec wouldn't be this funny without someone making him that funny.
But, Mr. Sorkin, my forgiveness is cheap. Just send me the first season of '30 Rock' and we'll be back on speaking terms.
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