I think 30 Rock is the funniest show on TV. At least, I did until this season. I was disappointed with the premiere and found each new episode worse than the previous one, to the point last week I was fastforwarding through the second chunk of commercials and I thought, “You know, I really don’t care what nutty adventures Jack and Liz have visiting Kenneth’s hometown” and switched over to The Office. This leads to the question: how much patience do you show a show before it’s time to move on?

There are a handful of programs I stayed with until the bitter end. These include:

-The Sopranos

-Seinfeld

-Cheers

-The A-Team

On the other hand, there are shows I once found amazing and gradually found…less so. I’d number among them:

-Northern Exposure

-Malcolm in the Middle

-Law & Order

-The Simpsons

The Simpsons is a unique case, because I believe at its peak it was the best show ever and I used to watch reruns so frequently I probably saw more of it than I caught of the rest of TV combined, so even if the writing hadn’t gone from “perfection itself” to “we’re worth a look, if nothing else is on; seriously though, flip around a bit first” I might have had to move on at some point to avoid becoming completely sedentary.

I’m undecided where to put 30 Rock. During its more dream sequence-tastic years The Sopranos could be a test of endurance, but I never really considered leaving. Likewise, even after they added the Amy Amanda Allen reporter character, I knew I couldn’t turn my back on Hannibal, Murdock, Face, and above all B.A. Baracus. That said, there came a point where, with Jerry Orbach gone, even A.D.A. Jack McCoy ceased to hold my interest. I plan to give 30 Rock at least another week, in the hope it will remain an addiction and not just become another broken TV habit.

__ appears each Wednesday.

About Sean Cunningham

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