(S02E14) "This smells like hill people milk!" - Kenneth, during the drinking contest
Is it just me or was the first part of tonight's 30 Rock a little ... lacking in something? It just seemed to me to be off a little bit, from the change in the opening (no opening scene before the credits, just straight to the credits then the start of the show immediately following) to the lack of really laugh out loud lines (except for Jonathan's singing "I Will Remember You" to Jack and making him a bizarre collage), it seemed to be rather pedestrian, for a 30 Rock episode anyway. Maybe it was because there weren't too many Jack/Liz scenes.
But then halfway through is picked up and got better.
Don Geiss is still in a coma (an easy gig for Rip Torn, eh?), and Jack is freaking out about what's going to happen to him. He loses his nice office (I questioned this plot development last week, but I guess Banks just wanted Jack out of the office) and has to work on the 12th floor, where weird things happen and weird workers circulate. It's interesting to see Alec Baldwin in a panic and frustrated, since Jack is always the cool one in control. I wasn't expecting Jack to be named the new Head of Homeland Security Crisis and Weather Management Division. I hope this isn't a disastrous plot twist. We need Jack at NBC.
Meanwhile, Floyd pops back into Liz's life after his cheap airline strands him in NYC. He wants to crash at her apartment, but she isn't sure what crash means this time and still wonders who that girl was who answered the phone many months ago at Floyd's place. Floyd meets Liz at the studio, and the gang helps her out making her look sexy with the help of a big studio fan. (Side note: my roommate doesn't think Tina Fey is sexy at all. He's high.) This plot has a satisfying conclusion actually. If Jason Sudeikis can't be on the show full-time, it's good to see that he and Liz left on great terms and its leaves the door wide, wide open for the two to get together later. I was worried they'd find some wacky way to get Floyd out of the picture, like have him become a priest or become insane or realize he likes guys or some other twist that would get him out of the way so Liz could date more guys. She can date guys, of course, but it's good to see that Floyd could be a part of her future.
It's also Sandwich Day at the studio, when Teamsters bring magical sandwiches to the office workers but don't tell anyone where they get them. The team eats Liz's sandwich and she freaks out ("Get me a sandwich or I'll cut you so bad you'll have a chin...you'll all have chins!"). They get the sandwich, but it takes winning a drinking contest with Brian Dennehy and his buddies. At first it looks like Jena has to drink alone, but then the team rallies around her when Tracy's Hollywood Sock (his ankle monitor) shorts and Kenneth realizes that drinking booze isn't against his beliefs after all.
Some good lines:
- "A drinking contest? What am I, 12 and at my boyfriend's frat party?" - Jena
- "You used Ghostbusters for evil!" - Liz, about Floyd's lie
- "I even tried to catch a snowflake on the tip of my tongue but apparently that's some sort of signal in Chelsea." - Jack, on how he spent his day
- "Wow, snow in May...thank you unpredictable global warming weather patterns!" - Tina
- "Hillary Clinton is President, sir!" - Jack, trying to shock Geiss out of his coma
Next week: Liz might be pregnant?!? How did that happen? (OK, OK, you know what I mean.)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-02-2008 @ 1:30AM
Diego M said...
i think last weeks episode spoiled us. it was just so awesome and hilarious it couldn't be topped easily.
it was missing randomness and flashbacks i guess.
i liked the episode but it was more like a set up for a big finale!
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5-02-2008 @ 2:18AM
Jojee said...
I thought it was lacking too...except the scenes with Baldwin. He is gold.
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5-02-2008 @ 3:31AM
PNK said...
I completely agree with you about your roommate. Red dress - wow.
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5-02-2008 @ 4:03AM
lucyfan62 said...
I had to rewind "WHERE'S MY MACARONI AND CHEESE?" three times, it was so funny!
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5-02-2008 @ 7:41AM
tozmervo said...
I don't know, I thought this ep was right on! Lots of LOL moments.
"And behind this trap door, some more orcs! That'll really piss off Samir."
"We're still gonna make popcorn, just no more airplanes"
And I mean, comeon. Who wasn't turned on by Tina Fey downing that entire sandwich?
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5-02-2008 @ 8:08AM
keithnl said...
Did anyone else notice that the last airport announcement? Did they say the flight was "blurg" or "blurging", I thought sure they did, but maybe I was hearing things?
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5-02-2008 @ 11:50AM
Karen said...
No you weren't hearing things. That's exactly what they said.
Interesting note for detail geeks: the Closed Captioning has always spelled Liz's expletive "blerg," but the airplane was "blurghing."
5-02-2008 @ 8:29AM
ac said...
You forgot my favorite line
Floyd: I'm like the Cleavland version of Michael Clayton.
Liz: Well I hope your car explodes!
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5-02-2008 @ 9:53AM
Brent said...
"No Nut Food"
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5-02-2008 @ 9:55AM
Zamir said...
this was great episode and they said my name in that flashback scene when liz was in college playing D&D "That will really Piss off Zamir"
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5-02-2008 @ 10:44AM
Bob said...
great episode!
two things: Tina Fey is the sexiest woman on tv right now, no question. second, the jokes about IKEA and Cleveland are actually very true, and maybe only us Clevelanders got it. Cleveland has been trying to get an IKEA store for years, and actually had a location all set to go when they built it in Cincinnati instead. so for us here in Ohio, that joke was extra funny. :-)
oh, and Tina Fey is hot. did i say that yet?
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5-02-2008 @ 11:45AM
Cincinnati Mike said...
Off topic, but...
Whenever I hear IKEA, I think of the Futurama jab:
"Wow, those Swedes sure know how to give you ALMOST all the parts you need!"
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5-02-2008 @ 5:31PM
Dan said...
Love the Futurama reference! "My Supercollider super-exploded"...
30 Rock is just so much better than anything else on TV that even the less good episodes are great. I loved the Michael Clayton line, the whole scene with Liz being made to look all sexy (and she did look great), everything about the sandwiches was great and I loved the ending with Jack being hired by Homeland Security. It's just a little strange that there'd be two coma storylines out of four Thursday night NBC shows and neither would be in the show about a hospital...
5-02-2008 @ 11:55AM
James said...
Kenneth: "It's against my beliefs! Like gambling and freeway driving."
Tracy: "And I can't drink! I still got my Hollywood sock on!"
Episode was great, if not as good as last week's, but last week's episode was perfection. I'm glad they gave some resolution to the Floyd story, I was wondering about that. Oh and although I'm not as ga-ga about Tina Fey as you guys, she can clean up nicely. Red dress = crazy hot.
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5-02-2008 @ 3:33PM
Pete said...
Tina Fey stuffing that entire sandwich in her mouth is the sexiest thing I've seen on tv in a long time.
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5-02-2008 @ 3:42PM
Peter said...
I can't believe what I'm reading! First of all, I didn't think last week's was that funny. Second, I think last night's was proooobably my favorite 30 Rock episode so far in the series. Maybe it was the delirium set off from cramming for my chemistry final, but I couldn't stop laughing!
The scene were Jonathan gives Jack the going-away poster (FRIENDS 4EVA!!!) is now competing with when Liz realizes she's dating her 3rd for my favorite 30 Rock moment. I watched it about six times.
Jonathan- "I made this for you."
Jack- "Uhh...No. No, no, you didn't."
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5-02-2008 @ 3:59PM
fro said...
a) Tina Fey is sexy.
b) This show reminds me how much I miss Arrested Development
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5-02-2008 @ 6:17PM
segsig said...
Is 3.4/5 an all new low? and a huge loss from the lead-in!
From zap2it.com:
"At 9 p.m., "CSI" grabbed the night's biggest audience with an 11.0/17. "Grey's Anatomy" posted a 10.2/16 for ABC (and led the hour among adults 18-49). "Don't Forget the Lyrics" kept FOX in front of "The Office," 4.7/7, and "30 Rock," 3.4/5, on NBC. "Supernatural" delivered a 1.6/3 for The CW."
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5-05-2008 @ 1:21PM
Barry said...
Did anyone else get a bit of a "Pretzel Day" vibe from The Office when they started talking about "Sandwich Day"?
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5-05-2008 @ 3:18PM
Craig said...
My favorite quote was the one about Detroit.
"There was a tornado in Detroit yesterday. It put out three fires!"
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