'30 Rock' - 'Gentleman's Intermission': Don't be such a DIHC
Avery forces Jack and Liz to spend time apart, which only makes them need each other more
Avery (Elizabeth Banks) has something to tell Liz and Jack on "30 Rock."
A quick review of last night's "30 Rock" coming up just as soon as I leave for my ironic kickball league...
"30 Rock" in general doesn't have much interest in interpersonal relationships or deep characterization, as those things get in the way of the show's anything-for-a-laugh ethos. But there is one relationship the show does care about, and every now and then it's important to check in on the state of Jack and Liz's mentor/mentee dynamic - or, here, to see how difficult it is for each to function without the other.
It helped that an episode that kept them apart paired them with other strong characters, whether it was the return of Buck Henry as Old Dick Lemon, Avery going crazy on pregnancy hormones, or Jack trying and failing to line up Jonathan, Tracy and Jenna as potential proteges. (Heck, Liz's quest for advice even led to Cerie's first appearance in forever.) Plus, my inner 12-year-old was amused by all the DIHC jokes, Alec Baldwin's outer borough accent is never not funny, and I loved Liz randomly turning into the Dustin Hoffman drag character from "Tootsie" as part of her ill-conceived plan to make Dick hit on her.
The Tracy/Kenneth/Jenna obituary subplot was more hit-and-miss, but the Tracy-related hits - "Perhaps best known for his FCC fines, and giving the queen parvo," the references to the New York Necks giraffe basketball team, or the predictable but still funny cutaway joke about his Shakespeare in the Park stint - were amusing enough to compensate for the misses. (Kenneth briefly turning into a "Lost" character praying to Jacob was just weird.) On the other hand, Tracy's desire to win an Oscar should have been accompanied by Grizz or Dotcom reminding him of his previous EGOT obsession, and how quickly he forgets about this stuff.
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November 5, 2010 at 10:56AM EST Reply to CommentI thought it was the best episode in ages. Enough of the Jack/Liz relationship, and just joke after joke that hit. Felt like Season 2 again.
conrad
November 5, 2010 at 10:58AM EST Reply to Commenti'm really not a fan of the more 'pathetic' liz that we've seen this season [and last]. i really prefer when she has herself more together like she did in the first 2 seasons.
mack I hate that too but I thought the show has made a lot of effort to rein that in this season.
November 5, 2010 at 11:12AM ESTAnd she definitely did not have herself together in the first 2 seasons: food in hair, swimsuit as underwear, foodstains on clothes. But she did play more of the straightman in those seasons.
ohonestly
November 5, 2010 at 10:58AM EST Reply to Commentanother really solid episode. jack and liz's friendship is still my favorite part of the show, too, so i was glad to get an update on the state of things.
my favorite lines of the night surprisingly came from jenna:
"tell people in lieu of flowers, they can pour jewels into my open coffin"
"i played arts & literature in the film adaptation of trivial pursuit!"
GSC How could your opening line not have been "just as soon as I google myself"?
November 5, 2010 at 11:07AM ESTmathis Fair question.
November 5, 2010 at 11:43AM ESTstudioplant
November 5, 2010 at 11:11AM EST Reply to CommentAsking Liz if he could use her office to google himself was down right funny. Easy, maybe, but still gut busting funny.
Josh
November 5, 2010 at 11:13AM EST Reply to CommentI think the Jacob thing wasn't a "Lost" reference, but rather "It's a Wonderful Life" one, as I believe Clarence's boss was Jacob and at some point he said something out loud to a not-present Jacob about not being able to save George.
SueNYC I think in "It's a Wonderful Life," Clarence's "boss" was Joseph.
November 5, 2010 at 1:30PM ESTDaniel Chornomaz
November 5, 2010 at 11:16AM EST Reply to CommentBest episode this season. The cat dialing 911 was hilarious!
Chrissy
November 5, 2010 at 11:25AM EST Reply to CommentPretty good, and helped by following an awful Office. I actually got my biggest laugh from Jenna - "three time Tony ... Shalhoub sex partner".
And Avery is still pretty funny, and we got more of Pete's increasing creepiness. Now if only we can get some acknowledgment that the writers' room still exists (other than the Tracy "google" flashback), this show would be killing.
conrad yes, a great laugh.
November 5, 2010 at 11:42AM ESTno doubt it was pre-monk tony shaloub. jenna & antonio scarpacci...there's a sitcom couple for you.
timb 30 Rock aired before the "awful" Office. otherwise, dead on, Chrissy
November 5, 2010 at 12:59PM ESTvelocityknown
November 5, 2010 at 11:25AM EST Reply to CommentHilarious. I'm surprised we've never really seen Jack and Liz be forced apart in this fashion. They've bickered, sure, but never been forced to "break up".
Also funny to see how Jack needed Liz just as much as she needed him, I enjoy this platonic relationship more than any other one on TV.
"I was going to take a 'Cooking for One' class, but the teacher killed himself."
Well done 30 Rock.
mack
November 5, 2010 at 11:28AM EST Reply to CommentTotally agree about the importance of the Jack/Liz relationship. It is one of the most unique things about this show where the writers can inject a lot of genuine affection between the two characters and it is executed more brilliantly and organically than any other show on television without any grand gestures or overt happy endings. And a lot of it is also due to Tina and Alec's chemistry, which imo, is the best between any actors/characters on tv right now. That simple elevator scene was ridden with a lot more emotion than the show normally does and it was really because the two actors play off each other extremely well.
Jenna grated earlier in the episode but her delivery of showering her coffin with jewels instead of flowers was hilarious. Tracy had a lot of great lines that require rewatching too. I just love his delivery for "I'm Tracy Jordan, nothing happens when I go to sleep".
I still think the Avery character is very boring and for some reason, Elizabeth Banks thinks its funny to overdo hormonal reactions. Avery's like a watered down version of Bianca's competitiveness and Eliza's paranoia. C.C. still remains Jack's best romantic partner.
chez
November 5, 2010 at 11:34AM EST Reply to Comment"On the other hand, Tracy's desire to win an Oscar should have been accompanied by Grizz or Dotcom reminding him of his previous EGOT obsession, and how quickly he forgets about this stuff."
Actually the EGOT thing has been one of the few consistent arcs that the show has maintained (can't waste that prop necklace!) The fact that he has already done the film, which is a great callback to that episode in the stairwell, I think we will be seeing more of serious actor!Tracy Jordan.
Loving this season. This show and Cougar Town have been consistently hilarious so far.
chez Also I think the Jack-Liz interaction this season is a huge improvement over the last. And the show has been paying more attention to characterization - Liz's Dad plot was a pretty good father-daughter take on the 'father experiencing life crisis' scenario (and Tina nailed that Tootsie accent).
November 5, 2010 at 11:38AM ESTGreengo
November 5, 2010 at 11:39AM EST Reply to CommentThe Jacob thing wasn't a Lost reference, or an It's a Wonderful Life reference. There have been several times on the show where Kenneth's been hinted at as being supernatural and/or secretly demonic. This seemed like it went along in that vain, with him cursing God for taking away TJ before he could finish with him.
November 5, 2010 at 11:58AM EST
November 5, 2010 at 11:40AM EST Reply to CommentI laughed for almost the entire 20 minutes. Extremely funny episode and a great counterpoint to an unbelievably unfunny episode of The Office. Go Necks!
November 5, 2010 at 11:41AM ESTmathis
November 5, 2010 at 11:41AM EST Reply to CommentIf this would have been basically 20 minutes of "Two and a half men"-Level sitcomedy with the throwaway lines "New York Necks" and Jenna's "Three time Tony....Shalhoub Sex Partner" I would've been happy. But it was even better. Much better.
The Live-Show aside, it's been a surprisingly strong season so far.
bif
November 5, 2010 at 11:53AM EST Reply to CommentI was really upset you didn't open with "A quick review of last night's "30 Rock" coming up just as soon as I Google myself... "
loved the ep.
Sam
November 5, 2010 at 1:45PM EST Reply to CommentI really liked this episode but the one complaint I had was that it was odd that Tracy is the one who failed the humility test and Jenna failed the intelligence test. It seems more in line with the characters (and the way the scenes were written) to have those roles reversed. Do you think it was just political correctness? Did the writers fear being criticized for having the sole prominent African American character deemed unintelligent?
Chrissy Hmm, interesting. I think it works, because Tracy has a bizarre type of intelligence that works for him (he's a superstar, remember, so even if his choices seem awful to us, they work for him in terms of providing him with success). Also, jokes like his pretending not to be literate let on that he is maybe slightly less dim than he wants people to think. Jenna on the other hand is, if not completely dumb, really, really dumb about herself, and not terribly successful (proving her choices are poor, at least to Jack's mind). Neither really has humility, but Tracy has more to be proud of (again, by Jack standards).
November 5, 2010 at 2:25PM ESTBryan
November 5, 2010 at 1:53PM EST Reply to Commentvery funny ep - I started choking on my popcorn during Jack's threatening phone call, teared up when he was questioning why his 40 year old daughter had no kids then spit when he finished with "Go Necks"
hilarious
Joseph
November 5, 2010 at 2:10PM EST Reply to CommentI thought it was a pretty uneven episode but the "DIHC" jokes saved it for me. Loved Jack's line acknowledging it, too - "I hear it but don't care", or something to that effect.
Girly
November 5, 2010 at 3:38PM EST Reply to CommentI laughed many times...and once again, i am reminded of how much i have in common with liz lemon!
Hysterical Laughter...
November 5, 2010 at 6:02PM EST Reply to Comment...at anyone who thinks there was an angel named "Jacob" in It's a Wonderful Life. Really, how many times have you people seen that movie? A hundred? "Jacob"? Jesus Christ double-bouncing on a trampoline.
klg19
November 5, 2010 at 7:35PM EST Reply to CommentLOVED the tag. "And every Tina I've known has been a real judgmental bitch." Perfectly delivered.
mikerwilson
November 5, 2010 at 10:35PM EST Reply to CommentPretty solid episode. I laughed very loudly at the DIHC jokes, mainly because I didn't expect them to be so open about it. I thought they might just say the words and let us find the acronym, but when Jack said "DIHC," it broke me.
I really enjoyed him testing potential mentee candidates, solid stuff.
I do agree though that Kenneth needs to go. He's just not funny anymore - I think he's given about all he can in the role. He either needs to start having higher aspirations (I thought he would have been a good mentee for Jack) or just play a bit (Cirie-like) role.
C
November 6, 2010 at 2:57AM EST Reply to CommentAlbino ninja! was my favorite line.
IA
November 6, 2010 at 4:41PM EST Reply to CommentFavorite line: "Didn't you read my throw pillow?"
JDSTL
November 9, 2010 at 12:55AM EST Reply to CommentSorry this is so late as I'm just catching up on Thursdays shows on DVR after a road trip... only wanted to add that Tina Fey was on Letterman last week and she dressed as Dorothy Michaels/Tootsie in real life for her own Halloween party and brought a picture of her costume to show Dave. Nice way of art imitating life.