zwolanerd

30 Rock’s last episode airs tonight and I’m bummed out. I should be happy for the time I’ve had with it, of course, and it will always be around in syndication and on disc and all, but it’s not the same as looking forward to a new episode every week. I’m not ashamed to say I’ll miss it.

If there were such things, Liz Lemon would be the patron saint of this site: pop culture is such a big part of her life that references and quotes spill out of her almost accidentally at times, but she’s still a (mostly) functioning human being, boss, and friend. She is the Ascendant Nerd and her problems are because she’s a human, not because she’s a nerd. Yes, her nerdery often puts her at odds with non-nerds, but in real ways, not just “lol nerds are losers” ways that have been so often seen in television and movies. Never is she so intent on living out some nerd fantasy that it interferes with her real-life issues of running a show, trying to find love, and adopting children. Rather, she uses her nerd knowledge to get the better hand in a situation or try to get out of jury duty. Her nerdery is integrated rather than being a thing on its own, and that’s where most of us are.  I’ll miss having that representation.

I was initially thinking about doing a piece on guest stars that have showed up, but it got too complicated – I liked pretty much everybody that showed up, aside from one character who I shan’t dwell on because ugggggggggggggh (and it’s not Greenzo – even though the character was meh, David Schwimmer did a great job portraying him, and I say that as a guy who lists Ross in the bottom half of my Friends list). The overwhelming majority of the them were truly funny, and if I were a celeb I would’ve begged to get on the show for even a little bit, and I would’ve brought the crew donuts the day I filmed.  You missed out, 30 Rock crew!

The show was never supposed to last seven seasons. It never got the ratings it deserved (much like many other wonderful shows over the years), and it’s hard to say why it didn’t get cancelled some years. I’m guessing the phrase “critical darling” showed up a lot in those discussions. Whoever it is I need to thank for letting it stay on the air this long, thank you. I’ll always wish it got the nine seasons Seinfeld did, but I’m not going to gripe about seven.

Thanks for everything, 30 Rock.

Tags: 30 Rock

Written by: Mark