30 Rock: “Argus” (4.19)

The first two seasons of 30 Rock is some of my favorite comedy ever written, right up there with golden-age Simpsons and Arrested Development in terms of audacity and sheer joke-writing prowess. Something about the way its world of TGS spun frantically around Liz Lemon without ever giving her or the audience more than a second to react to the various plots being juggled and crises that needed immediate help. This somewhat out-of-control nature was a lot of what gave the show its unique flavor—a frantic pacing that’s perfectly fits the creation of a weekly live show, which helped make for some of television’s densest 22-minutes.
In the third season this pace occasionally faltered, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The show was trying out new episode structures and along with this went much of the sheer energy and rapid-fire nature that characterized early 30 Rock. Some of these episodes succeeded wonderfully, but just as many didn’t and this continued into the fourth season, which has also tried a lot of new ideas for the show, but in general has slowed down and stepped away from its previous urgency. The show has evolved, but that also meant losing some of what made it so special in the first place.
“Argus” is an episode that takes us back to the show’s roots. Here we have three basic problems: Grizz needs to figure out the best man for his wedding, Jack needs to deal with his personal issues over the death of his mentor and Jenna has a new, possibly insane boyfriend whose particular brand of insanity needs to be addressed. The cast is divided neatly amongst these different dilemmas, but Liz is the swirling center of this maelstrom and skips between the three plots and dealing with each in turn.