PHOTOS: A guide to navigating workplace politics (from TV)

By Emily Christianson, Patrick Kevin Day, Todd Martens, Denise Martin, Jevon Phillips and Lora Victorio

Even the Manhattan television studio in NBC's "30 Rock" isn't immune to the recession.

Just as many Americans are facing -- or know someone who has faced -- the stress of corporate downsizing, "30 Rock" returns in its fourth season to deal with some business hardships.

Early in the season, the boss in the cushy position, in this case Jack Donaghy's Alec Baldwin, receives a huge bonus while threats of cost-cutting reverberate through 30 Rockefeller Center. Jack McBrayer's page Kenneth decides to stand up to the corporate hypocrisy, staging a mini-strike, which Times television critic Mary McNamara labels one of the "more hilarious strikes in history."

Though played for laughs, viewers live vicariously through McBrayer's character, who stood up to corporate bullying in an instance in which many would feel powerless. And thus, while set in the privileged world of showbiz, "30 Rock" has managed to find a way to still reflect the state of many American workplaces.

In fact, we can learn a lot about how to survive the daily grind via television. Shows as diverse as "The Office," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "How I Met Your Mother" are loaded with conflict. But they also teach us a little bit about resolution.

Related: '30 Rock' starts its fourth season