30 Rock's Better Than A Laugh Track Soundtrack

It's not like 30 Rock hasn't received metric tons of praise and whole goobers of awards, so my affection for it isn't noteworthy. However what I haven't heard praised about the show is how well it uses music as a substitute for a laugh track.

Most of the credit here goes to Jeff Richmond who is, no coincidence at all, the husband of star/creator/guiding light Tina Fey, the sole composer of all the show's music and one of the producers. Unlike most music on sitcoms, which is usually used only as a bumper before and after commercials, 30 Rock's soundtrack plays almost constantly under the on-screen action and wryly comments on the actions with sly musical riffs. Ultimately it provides the mood that would usually (and intrusively) be supplied by a normal sitcom's laugh track. It's hard to even think of another sitcom that has ever used as much original music as 30 Rock. And none have used it so effectively.

Here's a one minute clip from the episode "Sandwich Day" that conclusively proves my point. This should stop any debate here that, since no one is likely to ever read this, never had a chance of starting.