(S03E03) "What if Heroes had this new hero whose power was close-up magic?" - Harry AndersonHoly crap, how did we miss the news that the cast of Night Court was going to be on tonight's episode of 30 Rock? Maybe all of the talk about Jennifer Aniston being a guest on the show (and Oprah and Steve Martin in the coming weeks) overshadowed that news, or maybe they didn't think it was big enough news to announce. But God I think it's even bigger news! Hey, Aniston is fine, but let me repeat: this episode features a reunion of the cast of Night Court! One NBC sitcom classic meets another.
And the reason they're on the show is even better...
It's funny, when I saw the title of the episode I thought it was some sly reference to Aniston being on the show, she being from Friends but the wacky people behind 30 Rock picked a random NBC comedy for no reason. But to actually have Harry Anderson (who doesn't even act much anymore since moving to New Orleans and now North Carolina), Markie Post, and Charles Robinson? Excellent! And it's not just a cameo like you might think. They're one of the major plots in the show (after the Aniston is stalking Jack plot) as Tracy gets the cast together so Kenneth can finally have a good final episode of Night Court. I mean, how freakin' great is that for a plot? TV shows never do anything like that.
Nice explanation as to why John Larroquette isn't on the show too (no word on Richard Moll). I also like how they tie in the real change of intern outfits at NBC into the episode, something I've been hoping they'd do. Funny how this leads to a Night Court reunion (30 Rock and The Simpsons are the best at taking plots to really unpredictable places).
Not sure I buy Jack being completely crazy for Aniston. Jack is always the calm, resourceful, strong one, but he falls for all of her nutty exploits just to have sex with her. OK, maybe I do understand it.
Some more great quotes from this episode:
"Birds always attack me when I wear it." - Jenna, on Claire's homemade jewelry
"What's wrong Ken? You have wife eyes!" - Tracy
"It's like an owl without a graduation cap. Heart-breaking." - Tracy
"Court at night? I'm already laughing!" - Tracy, to Kenneth
"You're infringing on Warner Bros property!" - Liz, about filming another episode of Night Court
"I wish you had told me that an hour ago." - Jack, after Liz tells him not to sleep with Claire
"Hey, that idiot werewolf paid for my hair reduction." - Jenna, about her Night Court guest spot as a were-lawyer
"Jack was just giving me directions to...the F train." - Claire, to Liz, about...well, you know
"She's crazy, like 'grab a cop's gun' crazy." - Jack, about Claire
"Sexy birthday party. Thank God." - Jack, after Liz asked him if Claire did "sexy birthday party" or "mannequin come to life."
"I'm giving America what it wants. A reunion of Friends...from Night Court." - Kenneth
"This is the worse than the real finale!" - Kenneth, after trouble on the Night Court set
Maybe now the show can also film a final ep for Benson.
30 Rock' Show & Cast Photos
Actress Tina Fey arrives at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre on September 21, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.
Dan MacMedan/WireImage.com
Actor Alec Baldwin attends HBO
FilmMagic Inc/FilmMagic.com
Actors Alec Baldwin and Jane Krakowski attend HBO
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com
Actors Alec Baldwin and Jane Krakowski attend HBO
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com
Actresses Tina Fey(L) and Amy Poehler attend the Governors Ball for the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on September 21, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.
Mathew Imaging/WireImage.com
Writer-actress Tina Fey leaves HBO
Mark Sullivan/WireImage.com
Actress Tina Fey and TV Host Stephen Colbert attend the Governors Ball for the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on September 21, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.
Mathew Imaging/WireImage.com
Actor Alec Baldwin attends the Governors Ball for the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on September 21, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.
Mathew Imaging/WireImage.com
Actress Tina Fey arrives at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards Governor
Jason Merritt/FilmMagic.com
Actresses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler arrives at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards Governor
Jason Merritt/FilmMagic.com
Gareth David-Lloyd of Torchwood: The TV Squad Interview 
Seven greatest hand cannons in TV history
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-13-2008 @ 11:24PM
Joel Keller said...
From the title format ("The One With...") to Tracy's statement of a "reunion of Friends... from Night Court!" you can tell that Tina and her crew are skewering the constant rumors of a Friends reunion, and having Aniston on the show made it even more of an inside joke.
I thought the Night Court part was better than the Aniston part. It's almost as if the Aniston part was the B plot until she got cast in the role.
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11-13-2008 @ 11:35PM
Bob Sassone said...
I agree. They spent a lot of time on the supposed B story (Night Court) and I think it was actually the better story of the ep.
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11-13-2008 @ 11:57PM
Craig said...
When did Harry Anderson turn into Edward Hermann?
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11-14-2008 @ 12:15AM
carolina said...
I loved the Jack and Esmeralda story line.It was so funny.Jennifer has that crazy gene...she and Alec played off each other very well...Hope they have Aniston on again.The Night Court story line seemd too disjointed to me...It wasn't very amusing!
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11-14-2008 @ 1:00AM
lmerlda said...
thought it was great, jennifer played the nut really well. overall great entertainment. fey is doing great.
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11-17-2008 @ 12:42PM
Frank said...
a part of me wants to say that she wasn't acting...
11-14-2008 @ 1:00AM
Doug Nelson said...
"hand reduction", not "hair reduction"
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11-14-2008 @ 3:45AM
Joseph said...
thanks for correcting him. that drove me nuts when I saw he quoted that.
11-14-2008 @ 1:01AM
Sarah said...
This was such a weird episode. Not much of the funnies, either. The two parts that had no correlation to one another. I have the feeling that someone tuning in for the first time would think that this was not funny and not worth watching again. It just didn't flow at all, which is so unusual for 30 Rock.
Night Court was a great show, and I loved seeing those actors again, but they seemed underutilized in this episode. Again, just a strange episode.
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11-14-2008 @ 1:16AM
screaminghello said...
if anyone thinks that episode wasn't hilarious then you need to stick to 2 1/2 men and the new jay mohr sitcom.
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11-14-2008 @ 1:18AM
Paul said...
Loved. This. Episode.
Between one of my favourite comedies of all-time ("30 Rock") re-uniting the cast of my favourite childhood comedy ("Night Court") and another one of my favourite comedies of all-time ("The Office") having a Winnipeg-centric plot, this was possibly the best night of comedy EVER. (For me, anyway.)
I thought this was a really funny episode, but it did feel like Story A and Story B were pretty much equals today -- which I'm fine with. I only expected one scene with the "Night Court" cast, so I was overjoyed with much more than that. Plus, having Kenneth heavily involved in an episode is always a good thing.
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11-14-2008 @ 3:20AM
Andrew said...
I'm sorry, I've tried, but I just don't find this show funny. I've watched about 5 episodes now, and I've had only a handful of laughs. Maybe I just don't get the jokes? I'm not sure...It just seems so...unrealistic. I know that's kind of silly to say about a sitcom, but on a show like The Office you can at least see some of the stuff happening in real life. I just don't think that style does anything for me.
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11-14-2008 @ 3:48AM
radwimp said...
This was a rather weird episode, but I still loved it. Liz trying to explain her hot night clubbing was probably my favourite thing ever.
Aniston plays an amazing crazy chick. I love how all their guest stars just work on this show.
The Night Court plotline was great too, even though I'm too young to have watched the original show.
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11-14-2008 @ 6:17AM
Ange said...
The Larroquette-less Night Court reunion shows that Boston Legal is one of the worst moves of his career (The other being that awful Second Sight movie). Who decided that Carl Sack was a good character? He's like Cousin Pam on Cosby Show. Obviously he couldn't get out from under Daviekins and Denny Crane's evil clutches for five minutes.
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11-15-2008 @ 2:11PM
pokermuse said...
Disagree on Larroquette. He was just on NBC's "Chuck" a few weeks ago. I doubt his gig with Boston Legal prevented his appearance on 30 Rock.
11-14-2008 @ 7:24AM
Kate said...
Tracey and Kenneth with their B-story line definitely was the best part of this episode. Jennifer Aniston did fine but come on. Night Court! Anytime Tracey and Kenneth have scenes together, they are usually always my favorite ones and tonight was like heaven for me.
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11-14-2008 @ 7:54AM
David said...
Actually, wasn't the line "you have WAIF eyes"? Like a painting of sad, adorable children?
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11-14-2008 @ 11:38AM
David said...
Hmmm... Entertainment Weekly's recap also thinks it's "wife eyes." That's interesting -- I laughed at "waif eyes" because it seemed to be appropriate to Kenneth's mood... I don't think I would have if it was clearly "wife eyes."
11-17-2008 @ 10:13AM
Unknown said...
Why would Tracy ever say waif? It was definitely wife and it was very funny as such.
11-14-2008 @ 7:58AM
Shannon said...
My favorite line, and one I hope to have the chance to use was, "She is very enthusiastic about CoCo Puffs".
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