30 Rock

Fey can glam it up with the best of them but she's absolutely fearless about looking like absolute crap. That's a gift she displayed to great effect in this episode, most notably in a scene where she gracelessly devours an entire sub sandwich while an airport employee glares at her contemptuously. This episode didn't provide the wall-to-wall guffaws the show is capable of but I bumped it up a few points just for having the chutzpah to devote twenty solid seconds of valuable prime-time real estate to a woman eating a sandwich.



This episode of 30 Rock was all about powerful folks at 30 Rock putting a brave face on personal and professional disgrace. After last week's Machiavellian power-grab by Will Arnett's sinister usurper, Jack Donaghy is relegated to something approaching corporate hell, a nightmarish new office on a twelfth floor at 30 Rock that looks like something out of David Lynch's worst nightmare.



It even meant giving up a personal assistant with a Texas-sized man-crush on his boss that would make Smithers blush. A dark and tormented Donaghy spent much of the episode keeping a panicky vigil by Rip Torn's bedside and striking Nixonian poses of sadness and disgrace.



Meanwhile good old Liz Lemon reconnects with my third favorite of her ex-boyfriends when he travels from Cleveland to New York and they spend a magical night making goo-goo eyes at each other and trying to forget their past.



We consequently got to see Liz Lemon at her best and worst. She was a complete glamour-puss when trying to make her ex-beau regret leaving her behind and the angry, dowdy Liz Lemon we've all come to know and love when letting her guard down. I was never too crazy about Jason Sudeikis' character. He always seemed like a bland and unconvincing Mr. Perfect, unlike the wrestler Mr. Perfect, who, oozed charisma or the Pope, who is morally infallible. So I wasn't too sad to see him revealed as a cad. Besides, I fancy myself the Michael Clayton of Cleveland and I don't appreciate people trying to horn in on my shtick.



In a C-story that all too closely mirrored "Pretzel Day" on The Office, the 30 Rock gang is ecstatic about "Sandwich Day", a fantastical holiday where teamsters buy them magically delicious quite possibly purchased at Mr. Magorium's Wonder Imporium. There were some funny moments, but again, I felt like I'd seen it before on "Pretzel Day". Oh well, I'm sure there's very little crossover between the audiences for those shows. It's not like they share a sensibility or a network or a night or anything.



Also, I'm disappointed that we don't get to see more Tracy Jordan. As much as I love Jack Donaghy I wish Liz, Jack and Tracy were co-leads instead of two leads and a scene-stealing supporting player. Gimme more Tracy! Still, this episode was largely awesome.

30 Rock,,

Sandwich Day,

In the episode it is annual sandwich day. When the janitors or something bring the crew sandwichs from a secret location. Tracy and Frank decided to eath Liz's sandwhich which she goes in a furry about. She makes them get her a new one. But the problem is the people wont tell unless the crew can beat them in a drinking contest. Great scene with Kenneth drinking the adult drinks. In the end Liz gets a sandwich. Jack is demoted from his job and set to another floor of the building. Which he denies. Overall i liked how Kenneth and the cast drank.

30 Rock was all new again this week and Don Geis is still in the coma. Jack is in the process of moving from his office on the 52nd floor to his new office on the 12th floor. He is very upset, but determines that he will regain his spot at Programming Director for NBC. Meanwhile, Floyd, Liz's ex from Ohio shows up and wants to crash at her place. Well, Liz, decides to dress up and look sexy to him to show him what he gave up. When he comes by the studio, he really doesn't realize it and she goes through all of that for nothing! It's Sandwich Day at TGS and everyone loves this day because the teamsters come in and bring delicious sandwiches from an undisclosed location. Everyone, except for Liz, eats their sandwiches and Frank notices that Liz's is still on her desk. They, all of course, eat it and now Liz is bummed. She tells her staff that they better have her a new sandwich by the end of the day! The actors go to the teamsters, who tell them the only way they will get another sandwich is if they beat them in a drinking contest. It is all left up to Jenna, who is the only one who can drink, because Tracy has an ankle monitor, Frank gets sick and Kenneth doesn't drink. Jenna gets ten down and asks for help and this is when Kenneth realizes that all they are drinking is "Hillpeople Milk" and says he has been drinking this since he was a kid. The actors win and get Liz her sandwich. Well, after scaring Floyd away because she confronted him on leaving her, he lied to her and told her he had a flight that was about to take off and would see her later. She caught him in the lie and swore him off forever! She realizes that was a mistake and follows him to the airport. She has to by a ticket (one-way to Montreal) but cannot go to the boarding area because of her sandwich and her dipping sauce (which was more than 3 oz of liquid). So, classic Liz, chomps down the sandwich, and chases after Floyd. Floyd tells her he has to go back to Ohio and the reason it never worked out was because she did not want to leave New York. Very good episode, next week should be good for two reasons: One, it is the season finale and two, Dennis is back!

This was another decent, yet not spectacular, episode of 30 Rock. This explains the show since the strike. They're still far and above the best comedy on television, but the classics just aren't coming.



Floyd's return brought some laughs, and Jason Sudeikis should definitely be a full-time character on the show as he's one of the funniest SNL cast members in recent years. Floyd saying "he'll believe it when he sees it" regarding the emergence of an IKEA in Cleveland was a great line.



Jonathan was actually mildly amusing in this episode with his "Friends 4 Eva" poster. Kenneth was great as usual, especially when he said the sandwich being lost was his fault "because he let it happen". Tracy laughing at Jack saying he's on 12 as a joke was great. The Jack Donaghy/Don Geiss stuff was kind of boring, and the person telling him to leave felt oddly out of place. Lutz is really a terrible character as well. He has no comedic timing and he lines come off as so scripted. The Floyd/Liz fight seemed like something out of a bad episode of Grey's Anatomy, as did the ending.