30 Rock

Last night's first scene of 30 Rock shows why this show is so well known for its originality. Jack is giving a presentation to the NBC employees about the upcoming merger with Kabletown and says they are a good company "even if they are from Philadelphia." Liz (also from Philly) takes offense and all of a sudden it's like an Eagles-Patriots game with Liz throwing snowballs at Jack and defending the greatness of Philly (Philly rules! Cheesesteak, Bobby Clark, Will Smith. Your town sucks!) and Jack returning fire with a battery and the high points of Boston (Boston Tea Party, Boston Cream Pie, Boston Rob Mariano!). Of course they all laugh when someone tries to defend LA (Michael Bay, Freeway, Legoland!). It's this off-centered quirkiness that endears the show to you and compels you to come back every week.

In tonight's episode we watch as a sex scandal unfolds for Tracy Jordan. No, he didn't sleep with a stripper, he talks about that every week. It's not that he slept with his kid's nanny or groupies or anyone else. For Tracy, that would all be acceptable and wouldn't be cause for alarm. The scandal that Tracy has to deal with is that he actually loves his wife and has never been unfaithful! All of his well-publicized sexual exploits were staged! Worst of all the media has gotten a hold of damning voicemails where Tracy calls his wife and asks her what to pick up from Bed, Bath and Beyond and how he can't wait to get home and be alone with her.

Such a great way to turn the typical celebrity scandal on its head and let us see what someone would do if he has to have an affair or his endorsements will leave him. He tries to seduce Liz but she's not having it. ("That's not going to happen for many reasons. Reason 1: I'm conscious. Reason 2: You smell like Icy-Hot. Reason 3:...") Liz is able to convince him that he should be thankful for the loving and devoted family he has and stop trying to cheat on them. (Liz:"You know what I have? A Sims family that keeps getting murdered") The interaction between Liz and the cast of crazies she is surrounded by is so great!

The funniest bit of the night? Jack creates porn for women. I's basically a channel of hot guys that will listen while women talk and say things like "I understand, That's so true, She's obviously jealous of you, You look pretty" for 24.95 a month. Operators are standing by! That was so good I had to interrupt whatever horrible reality show my wife was watching and show her. In fact I could see that really taking off with husbands buying it for their wives!

This show is so good, so well written and has confirmed my long-standing thesis that Tina Fey is a genius and deserves whatever awards and accolades her industry could throw at her.