Are All Those Guest Stars Saving '30 Rock' or Killing It? An Inquiry in Two Parts

Turning to big name outsiders is often the last refuge of the desperate show. In the case of NBC's "30 Rock," though, might it make perfect sense? Our Joshua Alston and Sarah Ball discuss:

Joshua Alston

It makes perfect sense that "30 Rock" would bring in a cavalcade of guest stars. After all, its an expensive show that is critically ballyhooed but woefully underwatched. In the same way that Tina Fey and her team have written Snapple and SoyJoy into their universe in an effort to defray production costs, they've been equally willing to bring in any guest star that might attract a few extra eyeballs. And when you have cachet that "30 Rock" has amassed, and the power to ask for and get just about any guest star you want, why not act like its sweeps month all year round? In theory, I get it.

In practice, though, it has led to an uneven season of the show for two reasons. First, an overreliance on guest stars polarizes the audience. Instead of talking about the show's whip-smart dialogue or absurd visual gags, the conversation shifts to how the guest star du jour is performing, and no one ever agrees. I loved Steve Martin's appearance, others hated it. I thought Jennifer Aniston was a distracting bore when she showed up, but I know people who swear she was fantastic. My dear colleague Sarah loves Salma Hayek's role, while I could take her or leave her. The prevalence of such debates in my discussion of the show with friends suggests that the guest stars have a little more power in shaping the perception of the show than they should have.

Having high-profile guest stars makes it impossible for "30 Rock" to serve its underworked regular ensemble, a problem the show has had since before it started bringing in so many guests. Does anyone remember a character named Pete Hornberger? He was played by Scott Adsit? Balding guy? Sometimes I feel like I made him up, considering how little I see him anymore. Even Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) and Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) have ridden the bench more than they should, and when they are utilized, its often in hit-or-miss B-stories.

Its not just that guest stars absorb screen time, its that they have to be integrated in some logical way, which seems to always be a new love interest for Liz Lemon (Fey) or her boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin.) Granted, Liz and Jack's delicate relationship is the nexus of the show, but because of all the guest stars, there's too much attention on their personal lives rather than their professional ones. "30 Rock" used to be a workplace comedy, one different than what we've seen before because of its setting, and it's hard to believe they've burned out all their work-related stories, the ones that find logical uses for the people actually in the show's cast.

At the very least, "30 Rock" should consider bringing guests in a way that connects different people, like Morgan or Krakowski, to the action. Near the end of "Gavin Volure," the episode dominated by Steve Martin, Tracy says to Liz "Everything worked out with Jenna's dad visiting." "What?" Liz replies, confused. "Oh," says Tracy, winking at the audience about Krakowski's complete absence that week, "you weren't really around for any of that." Next time, could the rest of us be around for it?

Sarah Ball 



Hate on the guest stars if you want, but Salma Hayek has single-handedly, double-breastedly restored the wonderfully kooky rhythm of “30 Rock.”

I’m so attached to her brilliant and reliably fantastic guest appearance as Alec Baldwin’s Puerto Rican nurse of a love interest that I’m already stocking up on Häagen-Dazs and Dewar’s for when she leaves. And I'm not alone: the Valentine's Day episode starring Hayek had a 20 percent bounce in viewers, overall and in the demo, taking it to 7.6 million.  

I’ll cede that it’s a bit slippery to say a guest appearance has served to undo damage done by, er, other guest appearances.  But here's where Joshua and I agree: that early-season slew of one-off, ill-conceived roles for big, aud-drawing names nearly drove a stake through the feeble show’s heart.  Oprah! Steve Martin! Jennifer Aniston!  Deeply, deeply average showings, all of them, and Aniston’s was just bizarre. Thank God for Sarah Palin and the awards season, in that order, or we’d be writing about “30 Rock” in the past tense.

But "30 Rock" has always been more variety hour than bonafide situational comedy--it's a show about a show where mega-stars share a stage with screwballs.  So to write off all the celebrity drop-ins makes little sense -- they're part of the show's fabric. And Hayek's Elisa is really great. She's more believable and engaging than any of Jack’s prior love interests—less absurdist by a mile than the skeletally-challenged Phoebe (Emily Mortimer)—and sexist Jack is just better with a gal to condescend to.  And she brings a whole new dimension to the show’s famously pitch-perfect racial satire.  The white-black jokes were getting a little tired—lest we forget, Jane Krakowski appeared in black face and a plastic 'fro singing “Ease On Down the Road” this very season.  That’s scraping the bottom of the barrel if we’ve ever seen it.  But Hayek as Baldwin’s mate begets all kinds of hilarious new jinks, the primary target being (of course) Baldwin.  His character existed to blast stuff white people like long before the blog, but the old-white-man buffoonery (“I held a baby with earrings,” "[The dessert] is covered in shaved black, white and clear truffles") is at a new peak.  May it never end as long as we can enjoy exchanges like this one:

Jack: Elisa and I have enough obstacles--our work schedules, our cultures, her adorably broken English.
Elisa: MetroCards are a real thing, Jack. You use them on the subway.