When the first season ended, a lot of people were quick to point out 30 Rock was quality television comedy, in the same league as The Office (both versions) and Arrested Development. The second season premiere shows just how awesomely brilliant the series can get, as well as pinpointing its most obvious artistic inspiration: Seinfeld, aka the greatest sitcom of all time (or, if you prefer, the show about nothing), whose sitcom-within-the- sitcom story arc back in 1992-1993 (the only time it actually won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series) turned out to be a perfect blueprint for Tina Fey's self-referential humor.
Picking up three months after Hiatus, SeinfeldVision sees everyone return to work after the summer: Liz has broken up with Floyd, Tracy is in trouble with the missus and appoints Kenneth as his "office wife", Jenna has gained a lot of weight after starring in Mystic Pizza - The Musical (she had to eat a lot of pizzas every night) and Jack, having suffered a heart attack the last time we saw him, is on top form again, proud of his fill-in summer programs (the best, apparently, being MILF Island; don't ask). Now he has concocted his most ingenious plan yet: SeinfeldVision. Basically, it means he will use digital technology to insert Jerry Seinfeld, NBC's comedic icon, in all of the network's current programs. Cue montage of the comedian popping up in Law & Order: SVU and Heroes. Naturally, the real Jerry isn't too happy to find out.
As always, Fey's dialogue is top notch. Two moments stand out: her continuous denial about her feelings for Floyd (when on the phone with his new girlfriend: "Who's this? I'm your worst nightmare, is who I is!"), which leads to her wearing a wedding dress for most of the episode, and Tracy's ambiguous relationship with Kenneth, which gets weirder once the latter starts looking funny whenever Seinfeld's around (Tracy's comment: "You used to look at me like that. What, I'm not big enough a star for you?"). And of course, Baldwin is as funny as he will ever be.
But the thing that will really make comedy fans salivate is inevitably Jerry: absent from TV screens since 1998, his comeback is a touching and hilarious reminder of how freaking smart and original the Seinfeld series was and still is. Okay, some detractors have criticized his guest appearance saying it was little more than a gratuitous ad for his "proper" on-screen return, Bee Movie, which was released not very long after this episode originally aired. Yes, there is one moment of blatant self-promotion - he mentions the movie, looks into the camera and says: "In theaters November 2" - but what the hell: he's the guy who raised the bar for small-screen comedy. I say he can afford to pull off a stunt like that (it's also less silly than what he did at the Cannes Film Festival earlier the same year). His presence is a treat for fans and newcomers alike, a lesson in edgy sitcom acting. End of story.
By the way, Jack's idea isn't entirely bad: given Jerry's passion for all things Superman, having him in Heroes could be interesting.
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