26 February 2013
GOODBYE: Fans of 30 Rock said goodbye to the series as its final episode aired at the end of January.
By Alejandro Alva, Staff Writer
The time has finally come when fans of 30 Rock must bid farewell to the ragtag group of misfits that make up the cast of the show within a show: TGS (The Girlie Show). With the seventh (and final) season ending, a bittersweet surge of emotion overwhelmed fans as the group taped the final episode of TGS. As a fan of the series, I was overjoyed, yet saddened, to see the show come to an end.
For the past seven years, I have witnessed the steady growth of each member of the cast. This is especially evident in Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), the main character who went from being a neurotic woman (who preferred Star Wars over human companionship) to a married woman with two children. Although she has undergone a change in character, she still retains the quirks that make her the nerd that we have grown to love. A perfect example of the tradeoff was Liz’s wedding to Criss Cross (James Marsden). She succumbed to societal pressures and decided to have a formal wedding. In true “Lemon” fashion, however, she took the idea of being a princess for a day to astronomical levels when she dressed up as none other than Princess Leia.
On the other hand, the only character that seems to resist any emotional growth is Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski). Throughout the entirety of the series, Maroney has remained a self-centered woman who tries to steal the spotlight from everyone, including the rough-edged president of NBC/Kabletown Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin).
Donaghy is another character who changed throughout the show. Since the pilot, he has gone from the ruthless president who threatened to cancel TGS to the soft-hearted man who gave up his position to the former page/janitor of NBC, Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBryer).
The final member of the main cast who brings the whole show together is Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan). Surprisingly, he is the character who has undergone the most change. From the opening episodes of the series to the finale, Tracy Jordan has gone from an outrageous caricature who sought to get an E.G.O.T (Emmy, Oscar, Grammy and Tony) to a maturing man who puts friends and family first.
Outside of the characters, what I will miss about 30 Rock are the witty jokes. The funniest moments of the show were those that contained meta-jokes. Since the fourth season, rumors had circulated of the show’s cancellation. So what do Lemon and the gang do? They make jokes about what they are going to do after the show meets its grim demise. In the case of Maroney, making it big involves starring in the oddly-titled film The Rural Juror. The magnificence of the jokes in 30 Rock is that they are constantly referenced in later episodes. An example of this is Donaghy’s constant effort to tank NBC by creating outrageously ridiculous pseudo-programs such as Homophones.
All of these components culminated together into a final, hour-long episode appropriately titled “The Last Lunch.” This is the episode where everything that can happen did, in fact, happen. The hour-long episode was full of cameos from former guest stars (including Selma Hayek and Julianne Moore) and contained a constant barrage of jokes regarding the end of TGS and the presidential elections. The best part of the episode had to be the final interactions between each of the characters. Whether it was Maroney’s tearful meltdown over losing her beloved mirror (followed by flashbacks that were met with somber music) or Lemon and Jordan sharing their final words moments before the final episode of TGS, I laughed (and cried). It was, however, the final exchange between Lemon and Donaghy that assured me that the gang of 30 Rock would be fine and dandy after the cameras stopped rolling. After having an existential crisis and embarking on a soul-searching journey (which was ultimately a five-minute boat ride through uncharted seas), Donaghy came to the conclusion that all he ever had was right there in New York City. This was the moment where I found myself laughing to the point of tears; it was also the moment where it sunk in that 30 Rock was gone and it was then that I began to tear up. Ultimately, the finale of 30 Rock was a sendoff to a witty show that has weathered the airwaves for seven years.
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