30 Rock
30 Rock is the savvier, more sophisticated college roommate to South Park. Although 30 Rock wasn’t above taking things to the gutter, they often stopped just short of the lewd or filthy. However, they were not afraid to introduce non-sequiturs, random bits, or the occasional running gag to land a joke, and this is a direct lineage to the structure of South Park.
Based on the backstage antics of Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock tells Liz Lemon’s story. She is the head writer for the sketch-comedy, The Girlie Show. Shenanigans ensue when she is forced to hire the unstable movie star, Tracy Jordan, to join the cast. This sends the neurotic leading lady (and Liz’s best friend) Jenna Maroney into a spiral, leaving Liz to juggle all the egos around her while trying to live her own life, such as it is.
Like its distant predecessor, 30 Rock often took on political themes and stories, but was never, ever preachy about it. It was democratic in its mockery, lampooning both conservative and liberal ideologies.
The show was so popular for it’s bi-partisan snark that famous folks from both sides of the aisle regularly turned up. Condoleeza Rice appeared as an old girlfriend of Jack’s, whom he dumped via text message. And Al Gore made a cameo appearances in two episodes. While it spread the teasing around, it stayed consistently smart, relevant and accessible to audiences of all sorts.
Best of: “Tracy Does Conan” (season 1, episode 7), and “My Whole Life is Thunder” (season 7, episode 8)