Well, we know that the singers from Glee were not welcomed into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade thanks to NBC's territorial attitude. Still, that doesn't mean we won't be watching on Turkey Day. NBC, in fact, will feature one of their own prominently that morning -- 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski will be singing an original song on a float.
It will not be a typical Jenna floppola, either. It's a song being written by the Emmy nominated team of Wesley Whatley and William Schermerhorn. And in case you don't know, Jane's a Tony-winning star who is not only hilarious as Jenna, but a really fine singer/dancer/actress.
That's not all. Alan Cumming is also set to perform in the parade, and it sounds like a doozy, too. He'll sing the Sinatra classic, "That's Life" on the M&M float. What the song, Cumming and Sinatra have to do with M&M candies is anyone's guess.
(S04E03) "I met JJ Abrams once, and I don't know what this means, but he said that the island was just Hurley's dream." - Jenna
In a typical 30 Rock episode, not all of the plots always work. While the A plot will be great, B and C will be lame. If A and B are great, then C will be lame. If A and C are great, B will be lame. Sometimes A is great and B is fair, but C will be really unnecessary and forced. Sometimes there will just be an A and it's great, and there will be dashes of B and C. I don't know where I'm going with this because I was terrible at algebra.
Oh yeah: tonight A, B, and C all clicked, and that made for a very good 30 Rock.
(S04E02) "This isn't the auto industry, Pete. The auto industry was run by a bunch of out of touch white guys selling consumers a product they didn't want. We're GE damn it, and we're going to make a giant, flimsy microwave." - Jack
It's funny how Liz Lemon wrote the book titled Dealbreakers (a plot from last season they've continued this season). You can actually picture a book like that getting published. There must have been a hundred humor books like that released in the past five years, so this doesn't seem like one of those "crazy" fake books that a TV show comes out with. Actually, I'm surprised NBC hasn't actually published a book to cross-promote the show. Hey, Castle did it.
I just hope that the book that Tina Fey is writing isn't like that.
(S04E01) "We'll trick those race-car loving wide-loads into watching your lefty homoerotic propaganda hour yet!" - Jack
One of the many, many reasons 30 Rock is one of my favorite shows is because it's well aware of its own world. For example, one of the running jokes tonight was about Josh (Lonny Ross). I spent most of the last two seasons wondering where Josh was. He'd make a cameo here and there, but he's been pretty much missing since the first season. Liz and Jack talked about this tonight when Jack revealed that TGS needed a new cast member and Liz wondered about Josh's popularity on the show. Jack said "Oh, that's right, Josh. I forgot about that guy. You think that's a good sign?"
For the record, Josh was indeed in this episode, for a few seconds. He quit and then attempted to tip over the table when he found out a new person was coming on to the show.
I can't wait until the fourth season of30 Rock starts a week from Thursday. Here's a sneak peek/behind the scenes look, with the cast talking about a new plot, guest stars, and what it's like working on the set. I'm already laughing. (Note: it's a bit spoilerish; not necessarily the plots but some great lines you'll hear this season).
[Watch episodes and clips of 30 Rock and other shows at SlashControl.]
(S03E22) "There's no such thing as bisexual. That's just something invented in the 90s so they could sell more hair products." - Liz
OK, so how long before "We Need A Kidney" is available for download from the NBC site or from iTunes? I suspect it will be up before you finish reading this review.
I was going to talk about how this episode was a little disappointing, but then I hit rewind on my DVR and watched it again and realized, wow, they actually hit all of the season finale notes rather perfectly. Not in a "we're having a baby!" or "he has amnesia!" way, but in a way that symbolized that "this is the end of the season but we're not going to go overboard" way. Some might think that having 20 big-name musical guest stars on a season finale actually is over the top, but it didn't turn out that way. This episode was quite funny.
(S03E20) "It's the biggest regret of my life, Lemon. And I once made love to Kathy Hilton." - Jack, about not confronting his dad
Oh, come on. There's no way that Liz Lemon would be that incompetent when it comes to replacing a water bottle. It was like she was a mixture of Steve Urkel and Barney Fife, dropping the bottle, getting herself soaked. I mean, she could have at least known that you take the empty jug off before you attempt to put the new one on. That whole scene was odd. It went on a lot longer and was more slapstick-oriented than most 30 Rock gags.
(S03E19) "It's not product placement, I just like it!" - Liz, wearing a Slanket
OK, can we settle this once and for all? Liz Lemon/Tina Fey is not an unattractive woman. I don't care if she's wearing a rumpled TGS sweatshirt or a casual jacket or has glasses on or has her hair tied back or if she's wearing a potato sack or even a track suit. There's no way a snooty jewelry store clerk would look at her and doubt that Alec Baldwin/Jack would marry her.
Yes, she even looks great in a Slanket. Interesting they didn't go with the Snuggie, but also great that they didn't go with the Snuggie (and kudos to Fey for the above shout-out to viewers).
(S03E18) As longtime readers of these reviews know, I like to list a lot of lines from each episode of30 Rock. Each episode of the show has a ton of great one-liners and jokes, but there are so many that sometimes I feel like I should forget writing a traditional review and just print a damn transcript of the entire episode. It's seems like that's what I'm on the edge of doing every week anyway.
But there's more to the show than just rapid-fire comedy.
(S03E16) "Computer, when do I get my tang? Also I'm thirsty. Word play!" - Tracy
To put it bluntly, I think this was one of the most explosively hysterical and imaginative half hours of TV this season, and one of this show's best episodes ever. 30 Rock embodies that idea you have of what a great TV comedy can be, the one that is non-stop funny and unpredictable and wild. This episode was a bizarre combination of sex addiction apologies, surreal Muppet appearances, videos of old birthday parties, faked space travel, vomiting, and old late-night chat line commercials.
That paragraph makes it seem like it was a bizarre mess, but it all seems to make sense and come together in the TGS/NBC world.
(S03E15) "His video game made a fortune and he invested all of it in a company that dismantles bank signs. They're doing very well." - Jack, about Tracy
I have to really disagree with Jack and Cerie: Liz Lemon is a bubble person.
Sure, Cerie is hot, but Jack himself admits that he hasn't been great looking since he was 25 and still had really blue eyes. They think Liz is merely nice and "pleasant looking"? That's crazy talk. Tina Fey is a bubble person.
That's a line I never thought I'd actually type, but she is. She really is. Liz should get what she wants a lot more than she does.
(S03E14) "Passing out? Cursing? On St. Patrick's Day? Is nothing sacred?" - Jack
Wasn't it great to see an episode of 30 Rock that revolved around NBC and TGS and the work of the staff? Sure, there was the plot with Liz trying to get out of jury duty, but even that was tied into her work life at the studio. We've had a lot of episodes that had the various characters scattered away from each other, involved with people and places that had nothing to do with NBC, so it's great to see the writing staff working together, Jenna going crazy at the studio, Tracy wanting to take over all of the advertising on the show, and Jack working on a new microwave product.
(S03E13) "Donuts and then bed. What are you depressed about or celebrating?" - Pete, to Liz
Holy crap, Josh was in this episode! Sure, he only had one line and wasn't on screen for too long, but Josh was in this episode! It's good to see that he's still a writer on this show (and that Lonny Ross is still a member of the cast).
It's also good to see a TV show whose plot is based around the 1987 filmHarry and the Hendersons. There aren't enough TV shows based on the 1987 film Harry and the Hendersons.
(S03E09) "Did you know that Janis Joplin speed walked everywhere and was scared of toilets?" - Frank, editing Joplin's Wikipedia page
OK, so I learned three things from tonight's episode. One, Jack revealed how he left the Bush administration at the end of last season (that gay bomb really did take effect), I never want to see Jenna and Frank make out again, and I'm never going to try any drink with the word "schlong" in it, even if it was inspired by 30 Rock.
I liked this episode, though it's the second week in a row where one of the plots was way too over the top for me. And I'm not even talking about Frank almost tricking Jenna into eating a live cat.
(S03E08) "I need this job, or I'd have to go to work on the late shift at Dunkin' Donuts. The customers are so sad." - Elisa
Is it just me or was this one of the more lacking episodes of 30 Rock? It's not that it was terrible - as I've said before, even a so-so episode of this show is better than the best episodes of most sitcoms - but this one just seemed to meander. It wasn't as funny as other episodes, despite the quotes I list after the jump, and that whole crew-as-zombies-with-the-flu stuff was a little bit too surreal, even for this show.
Well, we know that the singers from Glee were not welcomed into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade thanks to NBC's territorial attitude. Still, that doesn't mean we won't be watching on Turkey Day. NBC, in fact, will feature one of their own prominently that morning -- 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski will be singing an original song on a float. 
(S03E22) "There's no such thing as bisexual. That's just something invented in the 90s so they could sell more hair products." - Liz
(S03E19) "It's not product placement, I just like it!" - Liz, wearing a 
(S03E16) "Computer, when do I get my tang? Also I'm thirsty. Word play!" - Tracy
(S03E15) "His video game made a fortune and he invested all of it in a company that dismantles bank signs. They're doing very well." - Jack, about Tracy
(S03E09) "Did you know that Janis Joplin speed walked everywhere and was scared of toilets?" - Frank, editing 
(S03E08) "I need this job, or I'd have to go to work on the late shift at Dunkin' Donuts. The customers are so sad." - Elisa
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