30 Rock's oven

'30 Rock' is my favorite show of the new season. My wife has been recording a bunch of new stuff, slowly filtering through it ('The Nine' just got cancelled by us)... but I've only got time to squeeze in Adult Swim's newest (which is terribly difficult), 'Lost', and one comedy... I've been trying to follow others, like the walk-n-talk latest from Sorkin, but really wanted a nice 30-min. comedy that DIDN'T conflict with 'Lost.'

So 30 Rock is the winner, and not just because, like every erudite male within 1,000 miles of a coastline, I have a crush on Tina Fey. No, 30 is a fantastic blend of comic book, 60's sitcom, and witty inside joke. Many shows, Sorkin's included, have tried this matter. I happened to like the one Jay Mohr was in a few years ago, but average viewers find it too Hollywood. Tina and her team have done a great job of balancing the writing, and creating a stable of wonderful characters. Having a top-notch cast doesn't hurt, either. Tracy Morgan is one of my favorites.

Anyway, Adjab pointed out there was an odd sort of product placement in the premiere. The foil, Alec Baldwin, makes a big deal of this oven he's created-- one that uses 3 types of heat to cook. When I first watched, I thought it was a joke. Microwaves in an oven? Would that cause fires with metal baking pans? But apparently some markets then got a commercial for the Trivecta... I just looked, and the damn thing is called Trivection, it's a tech, not really a particular oven. Hell, they even have a tiny plug for 30 Rock on their Triveciton page! Wow. I'd heard this was coming, embedding ads within a show, but wow.

And you know what? I'm OK with this. Years ago I would have probably been incensed. But this was well-done, almost tongue-in-cheek. It is a cool technology, and GE knows that 30's audience skews college-educated and upwardly-mobile. Let's face it, this IS the future. Google, and everyone else, are poised to really start monetizing all these internet video deals. If that means more targeted ads for things I might use, I'm OK with that too.

Or perhaps it doesn't seem so bad when Tina does it? Anyway, this little scene sets up a lot of the action, but it gets much better once Tracy shows up.