TVSquad

(S02E09) "That's not a Christmas tree. It's a way to lure tourists into the basement for $20 salads." - Kenneth, about the Rockefeller Center tree

I'm a sucker for Christmas episodes. The plots, the lessons learned, the music. And it doesn't matter if it's a corny, traditional type of holiday episode or a modern, irreverent look at the holiday. This 30 Rock episode is more the latter, but it doesn't mean that there isn't some crazy traditional aspects to it too. These characters - even the ones who get on each others nerves - care about each other in their own way. When Jenna sings "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and you see a montage of people arguing and Guatemalan kids destroying their Christmas gifts, that's a nice mix of the old and the odd, and the capper of having Jack and his pain in the ass mom wish each other a Merry Christmas just fits so perfectly.

But let's back up from that ending. It's Christmas, and the theme is family, whether it's Liz's straight-laced family (Buck Henry, Anita Gillette, and Andy Richter) coming to visit or Jack's nasty mom (Elaine Stitch - she escaped a Florida hurricane by convincing Jet Blue to honor her Amtrak ticket). I think we all have issues with our families when it comes to spending the holidays with them, and watching Jack's mom constantly dig into him and Liz's family trying to keep the fact that her brother Mitch is actually 40 and not 17 and then blowing up at her for not having grandkids (thanks to Jack's mom needling)...well, it makes you realize that hey, maybe all families are like this and things aren't that bad.

Other things to love about this episode:

- the staff going crazy after Kenneth's and Reverend Gary's forced group meeting, becoming a mob obsessed with the true meaning of Christmas and wanting to cut down the Rockefeller Tree. You gotta hand it to a show that makes fun of their own network's iconic symbol of Christmas.

- Frank apologizing to everyone in advance for how he's going to act at the office party, and forgiving them for leaving him passed out near the elevator, lying "in his own gravy."

- Tracy having to wear an ankle bracelet because of his drinking. Any resemblance to Tracy Morgan's real-life problems are completely, um, coincidental.

- .Com calling Liz "Beth." That's a really cute throwaway line.

- The funny American Express Christmas commercial where Pete explains to Kenneth that not everyone in the office celebrates Christmas. For example, Jenna celebrates "The Secret." (Note to Jerry Seinfeld: this is how you do really funny promotional commercials.)

- Liz's dad telling Jack he looks like an Arrow shirt model (and later Jack admitting to Liz that, yes, he does indeed look like an Arrow shirt model).

- Kenneth admitting that he was addicted to Coke in his Wall Street days.

- The hardly noticeable line at the very end, where Liz's dad tells Mitch that he's going to take him to a cathouse and the brother saying "I don't like cats!"

- I still get a kick out of the fact that NBC is owned by the Sheinhardt Wig Company.

At the start of the episode, Liz comes into Jack's office to wish him a Merry Christmas before they all leave for the break. I don't know if this was a subtle reference to the strike or not (probably not) but it was the first thing I thought of, since this was the last new episode we're going to see for a while. But let's not even think of that over the holidays, OK?

(Note: according to four different sources, the title of this episode is "Episode 209," though the imdb has the title as "Ludachristmas." No idea which is the real deal, since NBC.com itself has a third title, "Ludachristmas Party." Though I'm not sure if that's supposed to be the episode title or just a description of the episode.)