TVSquad

(S04E04) "That's what I'm talking about, empathy. It's about as useless as the Winter Olympics. This February on NBC." - Jack

Could this be the end of the "new TGS cast member" storyline on 30 Rock this season? Will the robot guy work out well or will he turn out to be a nightmare and Liz will have to find a replacement for him? I'm curious to see if this ends the storyline and they just use robot guy as a visual joke for the rest of the season, the cast member who is always in metallic makeup and never says a word. Or maybe he'll turn out to be someone brilliant and that will mean more jealousy and paranoia for Jenna and/or Tracy. I guess we'll have to wait and see where they go with it.

But again I have to ask: WHAT ABOUT JOSH? He hasn't been a big part of 30 Rock for the past couple of seasons. Sometimes you wouldn't see him for several episodes in a row, and the show seemed to acknowledge that fans were aware of that and had Josh get upset earlier this season and quit the show in a huff. And now he's back, auditioning for the show again because he's only been able to get roles in cheapo films? I'd love to ask Tina Fey who's idea this was. Did Lonny Ross want to leave the show for other things? Did they think it would be funnier to have Josh quit and have him come back in some way here and there for the rest of the season? I feel bad for Josh.

I also feel bad for Dotcom. I thought they were going to have the plot be all of these people audition and all of them be horrible and Dotcom would turn out to be either incredible or a diamond in the rough. Then he'd get a promotion on the show and that would be the big surprise, causing some competition with Grizz and maybe even Tracy. But Jack hired the robot guy instead.

As for Jack's plot this week, I didn't love it. I enjoyed some of the jokes about NBC, but I don't get a kick out of the "Jack out of his element among the lower class" storylines on the show. And the bedbug thing got to be a little too much. I actually enjoyed Jenna and Tracy's storyline because it fit in with the auditioning plot.

Oh, and I knew Jaden was going to turn out to be creepy. Saw that coming a mile away.

More thoughts:

- Even for 30 Rock, this episode was heavy on the nudge-nudge, wink-wink product placement, with Jack mentioning NBC's Winter Olympics coverage and going on and on about how Cisco has great, cutting-edge technology. I bet some people are turned off by that (having product placement but getting away with it because they're blunt about it and making fun of it at the same time; in the end it's product placement), but I find it funny as hell.

- I laughed out loud at Cathy Geist doing a Susan Boyle. Just caught me off guard but it fit perfectly.

- If you looked at the end credits closely, you would have seen that Martin Scorsese, Christopher Walken, and Gilbert Gottfried really did those voices on Liz's phone.

- Kenneth's names for bedbugs: Chewdaddies, Ozark Kisses, the Woodsman's Companions, Blue Ridge Quilt Ticklers.

Quotes:

"I'm sorry I'm not a robot." - Liz
"We all are." - Jack

"This is a disaster, like Katrina. Do you remember Katrina, that crazy girl from hair and makeup?" - Jenna

"I don't have bedbugs, Kenneth. I went to Princeton." - Jack

"Liz, I need to speak with you. Beat it, Grizz or Dotcom." - Jenna

"You don't think I've been brought on to a million auditions to make Kim Cattrall feel grounded and human?" - Jenna

"You think I didn't hear that? I can hear your hair growing on that thing." - Jack, to fellow execs on the Cisco system

"He's Evil Tracy?! Oh, he's evil comma Tracy." - Tracy

"I'm not a drug addict, I'm an executive with the General Electric corporation." - Jack, to fellow subway riders

"My mother used to send me articles about how older virgins are considered good luck in Mexico." - Liz

"Black people, I know I've said a lot of terrible things about you in print, but I come here today on a mission of peace." - Jenna

"I don't think so, sir. I only have the one pair, and I sleep in them." - Kenneth, to Jack, who said he walked in Kenneth's shoes

"Was describing your sandwich in such detail necessary to us understanding what happened?" - Tracy, about Liz's flashback

"For my first character, I'd like to do a janitor who has finally had enough and stabs everyone." - NBC janitor

"Who, Brian Williams?" - Tracy, about who Liz and Jenna thinks is crazy

"Sorry I doubted you, but you never been right before. About anything." - Liz, to Jenna

"In my defense, I didn't know that Cathy Geist was going to finish her song by taking off her underpants." - Liz

"I say we hire the one who lives by the code of the robot: Care. Love. Live." - Jack

[Watch clips and episodes of 30 Rock and other shows at SlashControl.]