"In some ways, 30 Rock will always be living in the shadow of what it accomplished in 2007, when it..."

“In some ways, 30 Rock will always be living in the shadow of what it accomplished in 2007, when it ended its first season and began its second (which was interrupted by that year’s writers’ strike). The 22 episodes aired in that calendar year make up as good a stretch of TV comedy as the American system will ever turn out, and if the show never quite matches them, well, what could have? Yes, the show probably feels less fresh now than it did then, but it’s seven years old. What’s most remarkable about 30 Rock is how it sped things up and seemed to change TV comedy, even while remaining connected to TV’s past, how it has found a way to pile joke on top of joke without losing itself, how it always course-corrects when it needs to, sometimes at the last minute. At its best—and at its worst—30 Rock is dedicated to having as many cakes as it can cram into a half-hour, then eating them too.”

- Todd VanDerWerff (The A.V. Club)