Quick thoughts on this weeks 30 Rock. I miss the jump links.
I enjoyed this weeks '30 Rock' more than the other NBC sitcoms, but that's probably not saying much.
I always enjoy seeing Liz's family, and seeing Dick Lemon (because "it's not a lemon party without old Dick!") again, though this time trying to be a player in New York clubs, was very funny. I enjoyed Liz stalking her dad, and then being the one who got shamed at the club by everyone else, rather than her dad. Ultimately though, the storyline was built around keeping Liz from Jack.
Which was by far the strongest part of the episode. The relationship between Jack and Liz is great, because like all good platonic relationships, the two characters have a great level of admiration and respect for their other half, even though they don't like admitting it. It's something the '30 Rock' writers like to address every now and again, and I'm down with that.
I enjoyed Jack trying to see if other people passed his 'DIHC' scale too - though of course we knew he would eventually go back to his one true mentee, it was nice that Avery(*) was the one who brought them back together, knowing how mean it was keeping them apart.
(*)I gotta say, how great is Elizabeth Banks when she's given something good to do? Last year she was great on Modern Family too - I love Bill Lawrence, but he screwed the pooch with Kim on 'Scrubs'.
Elsewhere, I enjoyed the Tracy/Jenna/Kenneth subplot more than I usually do, largely because of the 'Lost' reference that was so wonderfully over the top. The idea that NBC update the obituaries every year in preparation was bizarre - but I did consider if there might actually be some truth in that(**). I would have liked it if Tracy had referenced his EGOT when he saw that video about his Oscar buzz though.
(**)Seriously, it would make sense for them to do that. From a journalism viewpoint, imagine being the first person to announce the death of a famous celebrity? It'd be hugely beneficial to your network/company.
Solid episode all round. Good stuff.
What did everyone else think?