It's weird when you watch a show from the beginning and then it suddenly goes into syndication and you get to re-see Chandler's original floppy haircut and how young and pudgy Michael Cera used to be. After a while, when a show's been in syndication for a while, you become accustomed to every possible version of the show. But at the beginning it's kind of jarring. How young the youngest kid in a sitcom family used to be, how '90s they used to dress. It's also weird working in TV now and knowing how much work goes into just the pilot, so much more analysis and worry and rounds of notes than any episode after that. So re-seeing a pilot is a different experience for me now.
Some thoughts on how 30 Rock has changed since this first ep:
-It's way more realistic, way less out there. It actually seems like a semi-serious critique of the TV business. Which makes it all the more surprising that it managed to stand out past Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which at the time looked like it was going to crush 30 Rock and be the next big show.
-The voice of the show seems completely different. There's none of those flash-tos, which seem like they came out of improv's revolving doors (down to the way those scenes are edited). It feels more like a mainstream sitcom.
- Jack doesn't have any quippy jabs that perfectly convey his point of view. He's just kind of an anonymous boss.
-Tracy is way more likable. Crazy but not the level of crazy he is now. He doesn't say weird babylike things.
-The set and concept of the show seem more like SNL.
-Tina Fey wears less makeup. Also Tracy seems way thinner.
Personally, I like 30 Rock a lot, and I guess the show has found its voice in its creation of an absurdist world where anything could and does happen and Margaret Cho plays Kim Jong Il. But I also miss some of the realness of that first season. The characters seemed more real and worth rooting for. There must be a way to have both.
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