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'30 Rock': Help me, Liz Lemon
So yeah, perhaps it was an obvious joke. But really, did you really expect a prominent Carrie Fisher guest spot on a show with as nerdy a sensibility as 30 Rock not to include a Star Wars reference?
Of course not. And both the show and Fisher delivered.
(Just need to find a new jacket without getting a demerit, and then I'll post the spoilers.)
Fisher and Tina Fey carried the A-story in Thursday's show, and watching another of Liz's dreams go down the tubes -- or at least down to Little Chechnya (slogan: "How can you not write when you live here?") -- had some pretty great moments. Fisher played her barrier-breaking character to the hilt -- "Does everyone still do blow in Joe Garagiola's office?" (Liz: "Which one is blow? Is that cocaine?") -- and seemed to be having a great time.
The episode served as an object lesson in why it's dangerous to meet your idols: Almost inevitably, you'll end up disappointed. Liz sees what Fisher's Rosemary Howard has come to -- out of work, clinging to an outdated notion of how the world works, drinking wine from a Thermos -- and goes running to Jack ("I want to do that thing rich people do, where they turn money into more money") to escape the same fate, albeit reluctantly. It takes a visit to Rosemary's Little Chechnya neighborhood to really drive home just how sad one of her possible futures might be.
Granted, it's not exactly a charitable portrait of a trailblazing career woman. But it played to me as Fey making fun of herself; I can't imagine she really believes that.
And anyway, I don't look to 30 Rock for trenchant sociopolitial commentary. I look to it for things like:
- The Page-off. Actually, I was hoping for a little more of Kenneth facing off against his nemesis the head page, because Jack McBrayer has been nothing shy of brilliant so far this season. But Pete -- hey, Scott Adsit had more than two lines this week! -- put the kibosh on it, noting that NBC is, in fact, a billion-dollar company and as such able to afford a new jacket for Kenneth.
- Jack and Tracy's therapy session, where Alec Baldwin trotted out impressions of Tracy's father (who sounded an awful lot like Fred Sanford), mother, the stuffy white guy who moved in after his father left and Tracy himself, all to get Tracy off the idea of dog-fighting.
- Dotcom's reaction to Tracy's initial interest in dog-fighting: "Man, this is Phil Spector's entourage all over again."
- One of my favorite things about 30 Rock is the intra-episode callbacks it does with jokes. So tonight we had Rosemary spinning tales about how crazy things were in the old days in one scene -- "Don't you see? The mailbox is Haldeman!" -- and a little later, Liz appropriates the imagery with Jack: "You're like that talking mailbox." To which he replies, "I'm going to assume that's a Haldeman reference ... so thank you."
- One very disgusting word: Adverlingus.
OK, I have to go track down that old NBC show Supercomputer, so it's your turn: What did you think of this week's 30 Rock?
Jack and Tracy's therapy session was genius. Didn't care for the page off though.
AC | Oct 25, 2007 10:00:39 PM | #Agreed, that therapy session may have been the highlight for TV shows this week for me. I loved it ...
I think the problem with the page off was that, well, it didn't happen. I would've been curious if it did happen. I wouldn't mind them actually doing that again down the line, with something actually happening, albeit, with a better reasoning than tonight.
On a side note, I think this show is plenty edge, in a very plain way, if that makes sense.
Tony | Oct 26, 2007 12:31:44 AM | #I thought the Page-Off was brilliantly executed, especially the ending. The whole idea was so over the top, with the girl ringing the bell, the tying of the hands together, etc that actually trying to pull off what a page-off is would have fell flat. The reality injected at the end was like a refreshing slap in the face and Pete was the perfect guy to deliver it. Plus it set up future highjinks with the head of pages.
I loved Kenneth tonight, especially the part when his jacket caught fire and, even thogh he wasn't wearing it, he cried out, "Oh it burns". Then at the clode of the page-off segment Jenna tries to get off the hook by saying no one really remembers how it all got started and turns away and he says very low and sadly, "You burned my jacket".
Also, loved how Tracy's entourage worked around his craziness with the dogfighting, especially when the one guy brought in the 2 dogs and they were these little cute adorable, furry things. When they started that line of satire I didn't think it would work but the entourage guys made it. It was reminiscent of the, "Not that there's anything wrong with it" episode of Seinfeld. Every time they mentioned dog-fighting they were sure to say how wrong it was, even while Tracy had to pursue it due to his daddy issues.
Some other great lines were the one about Happy Days which I can't remember and Jack playing Tracy's dad, "The honky's got me.", Also, Tracy to the psycologist, "Who's carazier, me or Ann Curry".
And the best line was when Liz said to Rosemary something like, "Your my heroine, not that I want to shoot you in my arm and listen to jazz."
Sac | Oct 26, 2007 6:33:15 AM | #Alex Baldwin deserves every Emmy he wins after pulling off all those impressions during the therapy session.
Glenn | Oct 26, 2007 7:41:42 AM | #...that should be Alec not Alex....
Glenn | Oct 26, 2007 7:42:20 AM | #What a fantastic little episode
Corey | Oct 26, 2007 9:46:07 AM | #This was probably my favorite episode so far of the new season.
Darius | Oct 26, 2007 10:33:13 AM | #30 Rock and The Office make up the funniest hour on TV today.
Alec Baldwin and Steve Carell each have their SAGs and Golden Globes. They both will get their due and take home Emmys.
Carl | Oct 26, 2007 2:27:29 PM | #Alec Baldwin was BRILLIANT, I am more impressed with him every week.
As funny as the show was, there was so much truth in it that hits close to home.
I love to laugh and think at the same time!
I agree with the review, I really wish they would have shown more of the page-off.
Renee | Oct 27, 2007 10:02:58 AM | #never go with a hippy to asecond location!!! cmon thats classic!
blindslug | Oct 29, 2007 4:22:45 PM | #When Tina admits to Jack that she's only got $12K in checking and he replies, "What are you, an immigrant?"
David | Oct 30, 2007 1:05:08 PM | #And a minor side note, the whole page-off fiasco didn't begin with Jenna burning Kenneth's jacket...it actually begun with her flicking dip on it!
David | Oct 30, 2007 1:07:14 PM | #Seriously, why don't they give Scott Adsit more to do?? Also, I read an interview this summer with Tina Fey where she says there's going to be less guest stars, and it seems like there's going to be more. And they're taking lines from scott Adsit!
Steve | Oct 31, 2007 12:26:41 PM | #
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