30 ROCK - THE COMPLETE SERIES (2007-2013)

30 ROCK - THE COMPLETE SERIES (2007-2013) 

Label: Mill Creek Entertainment
Region Code: A
Rating: TV-14
Duration: 49 Hours, 34 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional
English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Directors: Don Scardino, Beth McCarthy-Miller, John Riggi
Cast: Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Alec Baldwin, Jack McBrayer, Jane Krakowski, Scott Adsit, Judah Friedlander, Katrina Bowden

NBC's 30 Rock was easily one of the funniest sitcoms on TV during it's seven-year on the network, the brain-child of very funny-lady Tina Fey who based the show about the behind-the-scenes antics of a live sketch comedy program on her own experiences working on the long-running sketch-comedy TV show Saturday Night Live, the title of the show being the address of the building where SNL was shot, and where the fictional show is set.

Tina Fey (Bridesmaids) plays the shows the head writer and show-runner for the sketch comedy show called 'TGS with Tracy Jordan' starring her ditsy blonde best friend Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski, National Lampoon's Vacation) and new co-star Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan, Cop Out), who is a total nut-job. She also has a love-hate relationship with her network executive boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin, Beetlejuice), the pair are always trading barbs, as he shakes things up for all the wrong reasons, making her job that much more unnecessarily difficult. The supporting cast of regulars are fantastic as well, we have the hapless Southern network page Kenneth (Jack McBrayer, Late Night with Conan O'Brien), the sarcastic staff writer Frank (Judah Friedlander, Feast) and the typically helpful producer Pete (Scott Adsit, Uncle Nick), i's a fun core of characters The show is smartly written and the comic timing of the cast is top-notch. Obviously the years of working on SNL gave Fey a biting insight to the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of a live sketch comedy program and it really comes across, all of it coming together to earn the series a total sixteen Emmy awards.

Throughout the series we were treated to a wonderful array of guest actors, from movie stars like Michael Keaton (Batman), James Marsden (X-men), and James Franco (Pineapple Express), to a bunch of hilarious SNL alum, including Chris Parnell, Jason Sudeikis and Rachel Dratch, and even political figures like Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi and Condoleezza Rice, plus some great musical guests, ranging from the Beastie Boys to Norah Jones.

The show kept is fresh for a good seven seasons, calling it quits before it got to be old hat, and that's a good thing I think, it's rare to see a comedy show go out while it's still on top, in this case not so much a ratings juggernaut (it never was), but as a funny show that was still killing it at the very end.

Audio/Video: 30 Rock - The Complete Series arrives on Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment in the original 1.78:1 widescreen broadcast aspect ratio in 1080p HD, with all 138-episodes spread across 20-Blu-ray discs. I'd been re-watching the series on Amazon streaming lately, but that stopped when this set arrived. The series looks fantastic on disc, with excellent color saturation and fine detail throughout. The earlier season don't look quite as good as the later seasons, but overall the whole series looks fantastic in HD. The audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles, everything is clean and well-balanced, the music cues sound great and add a lot to the show. 

All the extras are ported over from the previous Universal DVD releases, there's nothing new, but the existing extras are plentiful. This has to be the most stacked set MCE have ever released to date with deleted scenes and select audio commentaries for the whole series, plus a wealth of featurettes including behind-the-scenes goodies, character explorations, West Coast versions of the live episodes, table reads and a lot more, this sucker is heavy on the extras.

The 20-disc set arrives in a pair of oversidzed keepcases housing 10-discs each, which sit inside a somewhat flimsy but attractive looking slipbox. All 20-discs feature the episode and extras printed on the disc, each disc containing 6-7 episodes of the show.   

Special Features:
Season 1:
- Deleted Scenes
- Select Audio Commentaries
- The Wrap Party
- An Evening with Kenneth
- Behind-the-Scenes
- Makin' It Happen
Season 2:
- Deleted Scenes
- Select Audio Commentaries
"Cooter" Table Read
- 30 Rock Live at UCB Theater
- Tina Hosts SNL
- Academy of Television Arts & Science Presents: An evening with 30 Rock
Season 3:
- Deleted Scenes
- Select Audio Commentaries
- Behind-the-Scenes with The Muppets
- 1-900-OKFACE
- "Kidney Now!" Table Read
- The Making of "Kidney Now!"
- Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery
- Alec Baldwin;s SNL Monologue
- Tracy Jordan's Rant
- Award Acceptance Speeches
Season 4:
- Deleted Scenes
- Select Audio Commentaries
- Behind-the-Scenes "The Moms"
- Behind-the-Scenes "I Do Do"
- Tennis Night In America
- Food Networks Ace of Cakes
- 30 Rock (and Roll)
- Photo Gallery
Season 5:
- Live Show west Coast Version
- Behind-the-Scenes "Live Show"
- Deleted Scenes
- Select Audio Commentaries
- Jack Donaghy Executive Superhero
- Jenna's Obituary Song
Season 6:
- Deleted Scenes
- Select Audio Commentaries
- Live from Studio 6H (West Coast Version)
- Behind-the-Scenes of "Live from Studio 6H"
- Cheyenne Jackson & Jane Krakowski
- "Live from Studio 6H Warm Up
Season 7:
- Deleted Scenes
- Select Audio Commentaries
- The Donaghy Files
- Tina Fey Studio Tour

Mill Creek Entertainment's 30 Rock - The Complete Series on Blu-ray looks and sounds terrific, it's got a ton of extras and would make for some great viewing while you're on lock-down during these strange times. This is a show that in my opinion will be remembered as one of the funniest TV series of all time, and is easily on my top 10 list of favorite comedy television programs.