STUDIO: NBC
PREMIERE: April 10th & 17th, 2008
STARRING: Tina Fey, Jane Krakowski, Tracy Morgan, Jack McBrayer, Judah Friedlander, Scott Ansit, and Alec Baldwin
CREATED BY: Tina Fey

It's been THREE months since we had a new 30 Rock. It's no wonder February and March felt so long. Somehow, it's different when your favorite sitcom goes away during the months of barbecues and baseball games, but a winter break is just cruel. It actually had 30 Rock fans going back to the old episodes. I'd be stunned if DVD sales and rentals of season one weren't higher than expected because of the strike. Fear not my laugh-deprived friends, Tina Fey and the rest of the talented writing staff at 30 Rock have put down the picket signs and picked up the pens. They've also clearly been waist deep in pop culture and politics between protests, as the first two episodes post-strike are packed with references to everything from Dick Cheney to the comic strip Cathy. In fact, the two episodes that mark the return of 30 Rock are almost too stuffed with overly clever references, as if the writers need to find their groove again and regain that perfect balance they had pre-strike. Don't worry. It's not nearly as dire a situation as the first few episodes of last season - watch the first disc of season one on DVD for a textbook example or comedy writers and actors learning on the job - but there's something about these 30 Rocks that won't quite live up to expectations, even if sub-par 30 Rock is better than the best episodes of most television series currently on the air.

In the first episode, tonight's "MILF Island," the folks behind the scenes of "TGS with Tracy Jordan" are sent into a tizzy when an item in the New York Post claims that someone on the writing staff thinks Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) is an idiot. Meanwhile, the season finale of the hit show "MILF Island" is airing and Jack is trying to get Liz (Tina Fey) to be the showrunner for a series to star the winner. If you saw the premiere of season two (the one with Jerry Seinfeld), you know that the very concept of "MILF Island" is hilarious and the writers cleverly play off the cliches of reality TV in their A plot, as the staff of "TGS" form alliances and betray each other during Jack's inquisition about the Post item. More of a steady smile than a laugh-out-loud half hour, "MILF Island" won't make anyone's top ten episodes of 30 Rock but has more than enough laughs to merit watching. In fact, if you've never seen the show and are just desperate for something, anything funny on TV, you should start here. But we've already begged you to watch 30 Rock. We're not going to do it again. At least not for a few more weeks.

The second episode, "Subway Hero," is not quite as funny as the first but is conceptually fantastic, if just for the fact that it marks the return of the hilarious Dean Winters as Liz's creepy ex-boyfriend Dennis. That's right, the To Catch a Predator star and self-proclaimed Beeper King is back in Liz's life after he becomes an NYC hero for saving a man on a subway platform. Jack's always one to strike while the fifteen minutes of fame are ticking and he orders Liz to get Dennis for a guest appearance on "TGS". Will Liz and Dennis reunite in their personal lives as well? Meanwhile, Jack is trying to get celebrity support for the Republican party and he tries to convince Tracy to be the man for the "Committee to Re-Invade Vietnam." The idea of Tracy supporting the Republicans is funnier than the execution - as is most of the Dennis plotline - but you must see this episode if just for Alec Baldwin's Richard Nixon impression. The great Tim Conway also guest stars as an old employee of 30 Rock, who shares a few terrifying war stories with poor Kenneth (Jack McBrayer).

Baldwin's must-see Nixon impression is a good metaphor for both of the new episodes of 30 Rock. There's something a bit off in the writing but both contain at least a few scenes or jokes, like the Nixon impression, that you really should see. During the dark days of strike-dom, I worried that a few shows might shuffle their writers or not come back as strong as they were pre-strike. It's not that dire a situation with 30 Rock but, like the first two My Name is Earls from last week, it feels like the writers need to shake off a few cobwebs. Even if neither show is at the top of its very-clever game, it's nice to have Thursdays nearly back to normal. Let's hope they reach their peaks again before the summer break.