So what's gonna happen this season? I don't know if this show merits different threads for one with and without spoilers, so I'll just black it out for now. According to Entertainment Weekly, here's some things we can expect this season:

Seinfeld arrives in the first episode as himself to settle a beef with Jack, and several previous standout guests are slated to return (Will Arnnett, Dean Winters as Liz's beeper salesman ex, and Chris Parnell as Dr. Spaceman). Liz will struggle with being single again after her breakup with Floyd. Tracy will try to win back his wife ("in a Kobe Bryant kind of way", Fey says) after he's caught by paparazzi with a transsexual prostitute. Jenna will battle weight issues (complete with fat suit for Krakowski) after spending her summer scarfing four slices a day on stage in Mystic Pizza: The Musical. And Kenneth may get a new love interest, and appear in clothing other than his page uniform.

NBCUMV has the description for the first two eps of S2 up:

Ep 1:
Seinfeld Vision

The gang at "30 Rock" returns from their summer hiatus. Liz's (Tina Fey) excitement to be back and see Jack (Alec Baldwin) is quickly squashed when he tells her that despite what she thinks, she is not over Floyd. Jack also tells her about his plan for SeinfeldVision, which entails using NBC-owned footage from Seinfeld's show and inserting him into NBC's current shows. Jerry Seinfeld (Guest Star Jerry Seinfeld) shows up at Jack's office upset about SeinfeldVision. Meanwhile, Jenna (Jane Krakowski) has gained weight over the summer after doing the musical, "Mystic Pizza: The Musical!" and Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) becomes Tracy's (Tracy Morgan) office wife when Tracy's wife kicks him out. Jerry Seinfeld guest stars; Lonny Ross, Judah Friedlander, Scott Adsit, Keith Powell, Katrina Bowden and Maulik Pancholy also star.

Ep 2:
Jack Gets In The Game

On the heels of Jack (Alec Baldwin) realizing that GE head, Don Geiss (Guest Star Rip Torn) may be retiring, Jack's nemesis, Devin, (Guest Star Will Arnett) returns engaged to Don's daughter. Always up for good competition, Jack shows up at a dinner where Devin and Don are and is invited to Don's house that weekend. However, when Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) accidentally lets it slip that Jack recently had a heart attack, Devin feels he can knock Jack out of the race. Meanwhile, Liz (Tina Fey) tries to get her life in order after Jack and Jenna (Jane Krakowski) lay into her about getting it together. Jenna starts to enjoy the fame her fat is bringing her. Kenneth plots to get Tracy (Tracy Morgan) and his wife Angie (Guest Star Sherri Shepherd) back together. Will Arnett, Chris Parnell, Sherri Shepherd and Rip Torn guest star; Judah Friedlander and Kevin Brown also star.

Doesn't really sound like Liz is doing too much in the first couple of episodes. I think Jack's character is one of the best on tv, but I hope they don't end up making the show all about him.

Another completely awesome thread title!

Question - is this thread speculation only and the other thread spoilers only (no discussion)? I'm just asking because I wonder if we should take the spoilers over to the spoiler thread so people can talk about them without the black bars.

Until it is decided, my comments on the blacked out bits:

It sounds like at first we're going to get a lot of Liz trying to get her life in shape while Jack works the corporate game. It sounds like Liz isn't doing a lot, but I'll guess that she's the thread that is going to tie everything together in the episode. She usually seems to play that role on the show.

I love the idea of Kenneth's as Tracy's office wife, but I do wonder exactly what Tracy is going to ask of him.

And I wonder if now that Jenna has gained some weight if Frank will suddenly start being nice to her. We all know that he likes his ladies with some meat on their bones and I wonder if he'll change his attitude towards Jenna now that she's "hot."

Maybe the other thread can be just spoilers and this one speculation with spoilers?

This entry has an interesting nugget in the third to last paragraph (Sept 25):



Will we lose Jack? And Six Sigma? And Sheinhardt Wigs? And "TGS with Tracy Jordan"? We need to talk to Jon Stewart's dad pronto!

What?

In the 30 Rock world as depicted in Hard Ball, GE's parent corporation, the Sheinhardt Wig Company, is chaired by Morty Sheinhardt, who is Jon Stewart's father. Pay attention! ;-)

Thanks Inquisitionist! I was confused because Jon Stewart's actual father is a physics professor at the college I attended.

Ah, would that be Donald Leibowitz at the College of New Jersey? :-)

Back to speculation: I'd love to see Jason Sudeikis again, but my sense is that Liz's relationship with the Floydster is played out. Any thoughts about the direction(s) Liz's love-life will take this season?

Aside from hapless? Aside from her annual Dennis relapse (will it be her birthday or Halo 3 that gets those two crazy kids together again)? Oddly, I draw a blank with Liz -- the 30R writers are much better than me on that. My thoughts tend toward pairing Jenna and Pete up with people (but not each other -- dear lord, not each other).

Oh, Shelwood. Come on. That would be hilarious. And oh, so, so, wrong. But, mainly hilarious.

I'd love to get a glimpse of Cerie's fiancee this season. In my head he's even more of a doucebag than Dennis, but we do know that he's super romantic. So, I don't know.

After being fairly underwhelmed by last night's season premiere of The Office, I'm really hoping that 30 Rock roars back with an episode that says, "Yeah, suck it! This is why we won the Emmy!"

They were/are shooting outside today. I didn't go because there were lots of people around.

I'm there with you Inquisitionist.
My disappointment about last night Office makes me that much more excited about 30 Rock's premiere next week even though I'm not a big Seinfeld's fan. The promos were AWSE!

This article makes me hope that part of Liz's grieving process for the Floyd breakup will include mournfully gazing at her Floyd-suggested Roomba -- and possibly smashing it if she decides to do Anger once she passes the various stages like Sadness, Horniness...

(It's been more than 24 hours...)
I'm wondering how they're going to keep Cerie on if she does marry Aras. Will he dump her for an heiress while she is 8 months pregnant with little Bookcase? I doubt it can go that far, since she'd have enough money in the divorce settlement to fulfill her dream to become a handbag designer. Perhaps Aras's father will go broke shortly before the ceremony?

With the show now back, I really hope there is some sort of resolution with Tracy's Jefferson movie. I mean he seems to want to go against The Black Crusaders, so hopefully he can still make his movie. And hopefully he can do it without Grizz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZjl1yGsMho

new promo! liz has stress-related dental issues...

Oh, my god. I'm gonna have a hard time with this episode - when I'm stressed out I always have dreams where my teeth are falling out.

It appears that Tina Fey has been stealing my thoughts again...

From catnamedzane in the episode thread:
and from Shelwood in the Media thread Just got me wondering if any of these real media appearances will result in some 3 second guest star spots. All of the references to and appearances by real entertainment people, or made-up ones that resemble real ones, totally adds to the hilarious realism of the show for me.

Along those lines, Sorkin's Studio 60 made reference to the "bathrobe, cat people" who posted on the internet. Since 30 Rock has done every tv-related plotline about a gazillion times better than S60, I'd love to see a plotline where one of the characters (Twofer, Jenna, Tracey, really anybody starts posting on the TwoP board for "The Girlie Show", and gets into some sort of crazy internet battle or friendship with a viewer (played by Rachel Dratch.) And of course it would be awesome if, just briefly, there was a board on TwoP for TGS.

Oh, and the teeth clip is all sorts of awesome. I'll have to warn my friends who have teeth-dream issues like kostgard.

Maybe she'll be seeing Dr. Spaceman for this. After all he is a "pretty good dentist."

According to the NBC web-site, Dr. Spaceman (Chris Parnell) will be seen this evening, along with Don Geiss (Rip Torn), Tracy's wife (Sherri Shepherd) and of course, Devon (Will Arnett). Sounds like a good mix. But I haven't found any promo clips at the NBC site -- have any been running on TV this week?

The only promo I've seen them run this week is the one linked on this page - where Liz loses a tooth.

When Tina was on Rachael Ray's show this morning, she showed a clip about Jenna's diet. The name Spacemen came up. Also, Jenna is crazier than usual.

Thanks, Shelwood. I recorded the RR show, but the way my work schedule has been going, I probably won't watch it until after I see the actual episode!

Anyone think that the writers strike could be used as an upcoming plot point for the show? They could actually go somewhere with this since it would put Liz in an interesting position as being both a writer and management. Plus considering how much Jack loves negotiation a battle with a union would probably drive him wild.

Looks like Edie Falco will make her first appearance a week from tonight (11/15): Somebody to Love Description from TiVo:

No episode is listed for 11/22, but that's Thanksgiving, so no surprise there.

I just watched a clip of the NBC 60th Anniversary special from 1986, which has Nell Carter, Bea Arthur, Alfonso Ribeiro, and Soleil Moon Frye singing "Family" from Dreamgirls. If the strike ever ends, I hope that 30 Rock parodies this in some way. I would love to see Tracy singing a bad version of a show tune, along with other NBC stars like Zachary Quinto, Howie Mandell, and Christopher Meloni.

Oh man, that brings back the days of "Circus of the Stars"...

A Jenna Maroney/Janel Moloney confrontation would be hilarious.

And Jena Malone. That's quite a threesome.

Since they announced that Jimmy Fallon will be taking Conan's spot, when the Big Lesbian takes his dog and pony show to Burbank in a year or so... Will Tina abuse Fallon as much as she takes it to the tall, gangly red-headed kid?

Of course, by that time, American Idol will have imploded, and 30 Rock will be the #1 show in the universe.

It has come to the attention of many that Tina Fey bears a striking resemblance to Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin.
In fact there are rumors that the people at SNL are trying to get Tina to come back to do a few Palin skits. I wonder if Liz looking like Palin will be a plot point on 30Rock

Not only that, but I think it could also involve Jack having a big crush on Sarah Palin, which then only further complicates the Jack-Liz relationship.

I'm getting ancy guys. There's almost nothing on television right now to make me laugh, except of course those old "Quincy" reruns. I've been recapping old sitcom episodes to try and get in game shape but, as it turns out, not many plot twists in a "Dear John" episode.

Oooo, or have Tina play both Sarah and Liz! (Or is that shark-jumping territory?)

That would indeed be shark-jumping. But if "Sarah" was wearing a leather coat and said "Ayyyy!" then it could work as a satire of a shark jumping moment. YMMV.

I think AD already cornered the market on that when they had Henry Winkler himself skip over a dead shark on the pier.