Tina Fey is an unstoppable force (even though she lost the Best Actress Emmy this week). The woman was behind a newfound surge for Saturday Night Live a number of years ago, then moved onto the silver screen and got an Oscar nomination for her screenplay of Mean Girls, and 30 Rock continues to be a critic's darling.

And while this writer has never really met a Tina Fey product he didn’t like, I can say with confidence that 30 Rock is her best work yet. Well, let me change that… 30 Rock is the best thing she’s ever been in charge of. There are Tina Fey skits from her days as head writer at SNL that are some of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, but her stamp on both the jokey humor and overall feel of 30 Rock is what gives the show its razor-sharp sheen.

And in true Tina Fey humbleness, she refuses to be the standout performer at the center of the 30 Rock universe. She created the show, she writes it, she produces it; her name is all over the credits. But she seems just as willing to create a springboard for the success of her cast mates as she is to create a great vehicle for herself.

Look at Alec Baldwin. Who would have thought that this seasoned, accomplished actor would find the best role of his career on a television show produced by SNL mastermind Lorne Michaels? And zany, left-field comic Tracey Morgan is able to be both a full-tilt dumbass and a perfect loose cannon to Baldwin’s reserved ship captain.

For those who have somehow resisted the Tina Fey tractor beam, 30 Rock is a simple, straightforward comedy about the behind-the-scenes mania involved with getting a weekly, live, comedy program on the air. (30 Rockefeller Center is where Saturday Night Live and other NBC programs are filmed or taped or broadcasted live.) Fey plays Liz Lemon, a neurotic yet boldly driven head writer who has to simultaneously corral the rampant and constant oddities of her show’s big star (Morgan) as well as assuring the head honcho of the network (Baldwin) that everything is peachy keen.

And this third season showcases the series hitting a helluva stride. Salma Hayek's supporting turn as Baldwin's mother's nurse is hysterical, Elaine Stritch's return gig as Hayek's patient is absolutely essential - their piano duet at the end of this season's Christmas episode is clasic - and it goes without saying that if you can stomach the implications of it, the Tracy Morgan Japanese sex doll offers a fantastically adult TV humor. All the while, though, the real MVP is Fey, who is able to both offer the show an exceptional sense of self yet simultaneously turn in extraordinary comic performances week after week. Various cast members sometimes have better story arcs than she does, but Tina's a class act: Everything she does on 30 Rock - well, it kicks ass.

And even though 30 Rock continues to underwhelm in the ratings game, it just won its third consecutive Best Comedy Emmy - I don't want to jinx it, but it just might be around for a while. And wouldn't that be nice...