NEW YORK — Tina Fey makes a whirlwind entrance as late-night writer Liz Lemon, who's deflecting barbs from her (fake) staff about the coffee-fetching "boy toy" she's taken up with.

But the hot date isn't the only friend of Liz and her "30 Rock" crew. In a bid to boost ratings, the show is upping its guest-star quotient — last week's second-season opener featured Jerry Seinfeld (in case you missed it, the episode featured an NBC promotional stunt called Seinfeldvision.)

Later this season, look for another Thursday mainstay — "Friends' " David Schwimmer — to return too, playing an out-of-work actor who becomes NBC's environmental mascot. In other episodes, Al Gore, Meredith Vieira and Jackie Mason appear as themselves; Carrie Fisher is a TV writer Liz admires; Steve Buscemi is a private investigator hired by her boss, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin); and, in her first post-"Sopranos" TV role, Edie Falco pops up as Jack's romantic foil in a three-episode arc.

"She plays a Democratic congresswoman from New Hampshire," Fey says. "They meet at a party and don't realize quite who the other one is and make a connection before they realize they're on opposite sides."

In a bold parody of NBC parent GE's own troubles, "there's a scandal involving the parent company dumping chemicals in the river and turning people in the town orange."

Will Arnett returns as Jack's corporate rival. And Elaine Stritch, who won an Emmy last month as best comedy guest star, is expected to return in a Christmas episode as Jack's blustery mom.

It's all part of the fact-or-fiction world of "30 Rock," the smart, Emmy-winning satire that centers on behind-the-scenes byplay at "The Girlie Show," a fictional version of "Saturday Night Live," the former home of Fey and co-star Tracy Morgan and current lair of producer Lorne Michaels.

The parade of celebrities is a bit of "old-school stunting," acknowledges NBC Universal Television co-chairman Ben Silverman, who personally engineered the appearances by Seinfeld and Falco. Though "it can feel weird to overdo," "Rock" is "set inside a world that has interesting characters coming in and out of it anyway."

Seinfeld does manage to plug his upcoming "Bee Movie," but Fey says he was just plain "giggly" to act with Baldwin; both grew up in Massapequa, N.Y., and Seinfeld knew Baldwin's father, a high school football coach. "I think that's how we get a lot of these great guest stars: They want to come be in scenes with Alec," she says.

Baldwin's Donaghy has a big new office, modeled after NBC's executive suite and built in a studio vacated by "The Sopranos." After ailing late last season, he's now angling to replace his own boss, Don Geiss (Rip Torn), who announces plans to retire.

"I wanted Jack to return from his heart attack last spring more gung-ho than ever," Fey says.

Yet "Rock" is moving further away from glimpses of its show-within-the-show, recognizing that insider showbiz series have proved a tough sell with viewers. (Exhibit A: last season's failed NBC drama "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.")

"I always wanted it to be about relationships in the office," Fey says. "Our goal is to try to be like 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show,' where it's not about doing the news."