Seinfeld Spot May Backfire for 30 Rock

Seinfeld played Seinfeld once again in an irony-drenched cameo on "30 Rock" last night: In order to boost ratings, a fictional NBC exec decides to digitally insert Jerry into all prime-time shows. The kicker is that the self-parodic comic may not liven things up anymore, the New York Observer's Jake Brooks writes—and heretofore-fab "30 Rock" might be done for.

Seinfeld "perfected the sitcom and ruined it in the process," Brooks writes, and "30 Rock" had gained a following of its own by thumbing its nose at Seinfeldian convention. Comedy has moved on without Seinfeld—whose cameo comes as he's promoting the animated "Bee Movie"—and Brooks lands a couple more jabs while wondering if the same fate awaits "30 Rock." (More 30 Rock stories.)