As with every new year of television, the weakest shows that cost the most money are often cancelled after airing a handful of episodes. For example:  this season, we’ve already seen The Playboy Club get shuttered, among others. TV shows are often about the ensemble, and most of their casts need time to work together to see how their chemistry develops over longer stretches of time. With comedies, that energy and chemistry is pivotal, and with so many shows put together through high-concepts or based around a name talent, everyone needs to find their footing. With that in mind, here are five shows that started rocky, and became brilliant.

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This week’s episode of “30 Rock” brings in two very special guests from the world of politics. Ok, to be fair, one of those “guests” is merely an actor impersonating a famed political figure, but the performance is so frighteningly spot-on that we’d be safe in pretending that it was the real thing. Sadly, the other guest didn’t quite deliver the goods, but that doesn’t ruin the episode by a long shot. Take a look at our review to see how we felt…

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“30 Rock” is so attractive to fans of comedy because the writing is extremely sharp, reminding viewers that what goes on behind the camera is just as important as what goes on in front of it. Luckily, this week, both elements were pretty strong, and while there were a few missteps along the way, it generally made for a good half hour of entertainment.

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Well, fans of excellent television might have a reason or two to lament 2012 (aside from it being the end of the world, according to all the billboards I’ve been seeing lately)—according to Alec Baldwin, the next season of 30 Rock will be (brace yourselves) the last!

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Tiny Fey covers a lot of ground in her new book, Bossypants (“Why is this book called Bossypants? One, because the name Two and a Half Men was already taken”), from discussing sexism and ageism in Hollywood, to her hit TV show 30 Rock, to getting advice from Oprah Winfrey.  But the most interesting sections seem to deal with The One They Call Palin.

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“30 Rock” is the best kind of sitcom: one that lets us know that the writers are just as important as the actors. As we slowly (and thankfully) say goodbye to laugh tracks on our TV shows, it’s up to the writing staff to deliver comedy that is actually funny. Last night’s episode was another one that harped on this fact, but dammit, it’s difficult to harp on it enough.

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Well it looks like Matt Damon is officially out of the picture on “30 Rock.” It’s a shame, since he did a great job in the role he was given, but we all knew that this day was coming. This week’s episode lets us mourn the loss vicariously through Liz, who takes yet another romantic failure rather harshly.

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“30 Rock” may not be as consistently entertaining as “Arrested Development” was, but it fills the gap that show left by providing viewers with a source of strong comedic writing. While this season has been somewhat uneven, last night’s episode was a well-rounded example of high-quality humor that did what it is meant to do: keep us interested for half an hour.

Read our review to get our full thoughts…

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“30 Rock” hasn’t been as consistently entertaining this season as it has in the past, and most of the episodes feel unbalanced. Some jokes are fantastic, others are predictable, and others are just simply not funny. It’s still good comedy television, but “30 Rock” is usually great comedy television, and it hasn’t lived up to its previous four seasons thus far. Sadly, the same can be said about last night’s episode, which was at times hilarious and insightful, and at other times dull and disappointing. Read our review to find out why…

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