Amazon Prime already had one of the best lineups of TV shows you can stream, and it got even better at the beginning of August.
That’s when Prime Video added all seven seasons of 30 Rock, a wildly satirical sitcom that ran on NBC from 2006 to 2013.
Tina Fey created and starred in the series, and 30 Rock is widely recognized as one of the best TV comedies of its era.
Now it’s time to share the reasons why 30 Rock is Watch With Us‘ pick for the one Amazon Prime Video show that you need to watch in August.
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Tina Fey Channeled Herself Into Liz Lemon
Fey spent nearly a decade at Saturday Night Live as both a writer and a performer before creating 30 Rock. For this series, Fey drew on her SNL experience and satirized it. She also cast herself in the lead as Liz Lemon, the head writer of a weekly comedy sketch show and the most relatively normal person around.
The entire series was a showcase for Fey’s comedic talent, both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. She put a lot of herself into Liz, and that went a long way towards making the character feel more relatable and real. Liz had some eccentricities and ridiculously funny moments of her own, but she also kept the series grounded. Without Fey’s presence, this show would have been overshadowed by the strong personalities of the other cast members.
The Supporting Cast Is Fantastic Together
30 Rock may have revolved around Liz, but she wasn’t the only star on the show. This series had an unusually large ensemble that grew to 14 main cast members over time. Alec Baldwin had a particularly great role as Jack Donaghy, Liz’s conservative boss at the network. Jack was every bad network executive personified into a single person, and yet even he had some redeeming qualities. He seemed to genuinely care about Liz by the end of the show, and Jack had various romantic relationships as well.
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Fey’s SNL costar Tracy Morgan also broke out on this series as Tracy Jordan, the out-of-control star of Liz’s comedy show. Morgan has a gift for making Tracy into an oblivious idiot who is hilarious to watch. Jane Krakowski was also terrific as Tracy’s costar, Jenna Maroney, an arrogant actress who thinks the world revolves around her. Jack McBrayer had great moments in every episode as NBC’s endlessly naive page, Kenneth Ellen Parcell. These performers elevated 30 Rock into one of the best comedies on TV, and the rest of the supporting cast were also great comedic actors.
The Writing Is Sharp and Hilarious
30 Rock stood out from other network comedies with its incredibly funny and witty scripts. Fey and her collaborators didn’t lose a step across the show’s seven-season run. That attracted a lot of high-profile guest stars to the series, including Jim Carrey, Matt Damon, Jerry Seinfeld, Jennifer Aniston, Jon Hamm and many more.
One of the brilliant aspects of the series is that it didn’t just spoof SNL. 30 Rock expanded its comedic reach to take on reality shows, other NBC series and even movies. It’s one of the best send-ups of the entire entertainment industry that we’ve ever seen. The 20th anniversary of 30 Rock is just around the corner, and the series remains a comedic masterpiece.
30 Rock is streaming on Prime Video.
