One of the best lessons that Seinfeld taught TV networks is that it really isn’t important to have life lessons built into prime time sitcoms. 30 Rock has been a great torchbearer for that sentiment. The biggest emotional reach they decided to take in setting up this week’s season finale was to have Jack find his long lost biological father.In an attempt to generate more interest, the long lost father is in need of a kidney. Despite that somewhat lame cliffhanger, 30 Rock did try to deliver some season ending fireworks via a round of high powered musical guest stars.

After barging in on Jenna’s newfound stardom, Liz goes on a daytime talk show giving relationship advice. Despite being a total wreck herself, Liz is a smash hit. She hands out the same meaningless catchphrase “that’s a deal breaker” over and over to the delight of squealing women. Liz for the first time, is getting recognized.

While hesitant at first, Jack becomes enamored of his new found liberal father. After testing the two and finding their kidneys are not a match, Jack is off the hook. However, Jack has taken a shine to his new father and he pulls out all the stops to create a “charity” with the sole purpose of getting his father a kidney. Elvis Costello, Clay Aiken, Wyclef, Sheryl Crowe and a whole gang of others are assembled to awkwardly sing a crazy tribute to Jack’s father and his need for a new kidney. Its very funny and it was impressive to see all the musicians having fun playing with their public images.

Its was a good episode to be sure, but it seemed like a low note to end a season with. Though the episode was still better than any episode of Kath and Kim, I expected more as a wrap up to 30 Rock’s most successful season. Never the less, I hope we’ll get to see more of Alan Alda as Jack’s father next season. Plus the fact that a quirky and smart show like 30 Rock is safe from cancellation should be comforting. I hope we get to see Tina Fey and the rest of the writers feel some of the freedom that comes with that success and take a few more risks as well.

30 Rock has gotten attention as being a show created mostly for liberals. With Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impersonation and Alec Baldwin’s very active political endorsements, its hard not to agree with that. Compared to the first two seasons however, the third season has been relatively independent. This weeks episode might show a return to the leftist bent of the past two seasons just in time for the season finale.

The show left us with a minor cliffhanger last week. Jack discovered that the man he thought was his father was not. So with Liz egging him on, Jack goes on the hunt for his real father. Jack hires his shady PI, played well by the terrific Steve Buscemi, to find his father. The Investigator returns with a list of three possibilities. Pushing him toward a “Mama Mia” moment, Liz summons all of the men who could be his father. Its immediately obvious who Jack’s father is. Mr. Green, played by Alan Alda is the opposite of the corporate conservative Jack. He’s extremely liberal, possibly Jewish and worst of all, in need of a kidney. Jack’s decision with the kidney is left for next week.

Jenna is finally having some success on the show with a new catchphrase. Its a line that Liz wrote, but that Jenna is getting all the credit for. Liz’s frustration boils over when Jenna is asked to be photographed for a magazine article proclaiming her the funniest woman in the world. Insisting she gets credit too Liz tags along, eventually stealing the spotlight from Jenna but not before making an ass of herself.

Tracey annunces he has an illegitimate son who he has been supporting financially for the last three years. Though the cast eventually tells him that this man is probably not his son, Tracey explains that he knew the whole time and that he was supporting the scammer as some sort of charity work. Tracey continues to be both stupid and wise.

30 Rock, like most comedies, probably doesn’t feel the need to ramp up tension in order to try to get viewers to tune in for its season finale. The Jack’s long lost father who needs a kidney story is as close as they’ve come. Although I’d love to see more of Alan Alda, I’m not sure that he’s a compelling enough twist to carry viewers through the summer rerun break. Regardless of that, 30 Rock has settled in to be one of the most successful comedies on TV.

A general running theme in almost every episode of 30 Rock is the idiocy of the entertainment industry. Stars are always self-centered and dumb and the writers always nerdy and awkward. This episode drove that point to the hilt.

Claiming he’s tired of being treated differently, Tracey literally plays the race card saying that Liz treats him like monkey. Tracey even goes so far as to get a actual monkey to replace him. Liz challenges Tracey to show up on time and do his work just like all the other staff. He does. For a day, he’s on his best behavior. Eventually, he turns the tables on Liz and forces her to do physical work as a sign of ‘equality’. There’s a long shot of Liz trying to refill the water cooler, which turns out great. Its classic physical comedy, which Tina Fey pulls off surprisingly well.

Jack’s bulldog-ish mother is also featured this week. In from Florida, Jack discovers that she’s brought a man with her. Conflating his revulsion for her mother’s new boyfriend with his feelings of abandonment from his father, Jack decides to investigate and discovers he’s a married man. Again confusing this new man as his father, he confronts  him. In the ensuing argument with his mother, Jack discovers that the man he thought was his father may not be. Also we find out that Florida retirement homes are for swingers. Which is its own set of sillyness.  In a final ‘twist’ Jack realizes that his father may not actually be his biological father at all.

As Tracey’s plan to get revenge on Liz unravels, the two switch roles. Liz is forced to go out to a strip club with the writers and Tracey must stay at the studio working. Not surprisingly, it drives both of them to tears and reconciliation.

Good job again from Fey and company. I was really impressed by the ammount of physical comedy Fey brought into this episode. She certainly isn’t known for it, but she came through with flying colors.

30 Rock is right back this week with a surprisingly tender episode. Filled with stories of long term commitment, blossoming love and snuggies. Love is in the air, but for perhaps the first time, not from poor star-crossed Liz.

Jack’s lost love Elisa returns this week. Its always welcome to have the crazy hot Selma Hayek on screen, but she just wasn’t that good this week. She comes to Liz behind Jack’s back to tell her the real reason she left town. Years ago in a jealous rage, Elisa killed her husband. She fears that if she and Jack get married, her insane jealousy will once again strike.

Worried about his ability to commit to one woman, Jack turns to the only married person in the cast, Tracey. He and Tracey go out to a strip club and after discussing their love lives, Tracey admits that he’s been faithful to his wife all these years. Inspired by this surprise announcement, Jack decides to go through with his proposal. Unfortunately, they eventually decide that it won’t work and Elisa makes her inevitable exit from the show. It’ll be sad to see her go (again) but it was expected.

There were two real comedic highlights. The first really doesn’t need to be explained, its so simple and sophomoric that no description is needed. Its described by one line by Mrs Hayek. “Liz, shouldn’t you be trapping farts under your snuggie?” The second is Tracey. As usual Tracey as the uber-rich man child is simply hilarious. For me, week in and week out, Tracey is the highlight of the show. This week was just a prime example of why.

Last week Liz’s attempts to thwart budget cutbacks on the show led to a trumped up sexual harassment charge. This week as part of her suspension Liz must spend two weeks away from the show. Its the only time she’s ever been absent from the show’s taping. Not surprisingly, the show falls apart without her.

Jenna’s unapproved Janis Joplin pic has stalled and in order to drum up interest Jack decides to have Jenna fake her own death. Kenneth’s crush on one of the show’s dancers lead Tracey to fire one dancer, losing all of them in solidarity. Tracey replaces them with transvestite hookers and Jenna’s phony memorial is accompanied by classical violin, transvestites and Jenna herself who is so vain she was unable to resist the spotlight of her own fake death tribute. Its the usual ego driven disaster.

What is surprising is what Liz finds while she’s away. Desperate for something to do, Liz meets a gaggle of ex-career women and rich divorcees. They spend their day getting massages, attending yoga classes and drinking. Though Liz tries to resist, pretty soon she’s up to ears in lost days and relaxation. There’s always a catch though, as in the end we find out the ladies are actually a fight club and Liz must fight her way out.

A solid episode from 30 Rock, if not a spectacular one. Even with her buddy Amy Poehler joining her on NBC Thursday nights, Tina Fey is still queen of cute mousey prime time SNL alumni.

TGS has reached its 50th episode but due to the economic downturn, cutbacks are being made. Kenneth is enlisted to replace Jonathan, Jack’s assistant. Sadly, Kenneth can’t get the hang of the workload. Because of his overwhelming burdens, Kenneth asks Tracey to feed his pet bird. He mysteriously warns Tracey not to enter his bedroom while there. Being an over grown child, Tracey is curious and terrified. After enlisting the equally dimwitted Jenna, they come to the conclusion that Kenneth must be some kind of pervert or serial killer.The two decide to risk it and open the door only to discover that Kenneth had set off a bug bomb. In their haste to escape they leave the door open, killing Kenneth’s pet bird.

NBC’s parent company has enlisted a headhunter to come in and trim the budget fat on TGS. Liz decides to try to save the show from cutbacks. Even creating a Steve Jobs style presentation. Despite this, Liz is forced to find a way to cut the budget by twenty-five percent. Unable to bring herself to make the cuts herself, she attempt to seduce the budget manager sent to do it for her. Though the seduction is a success, the manager doesn’t reciprocate still slashing the TGS budget. It turns out that the manager was actually not in on the quid pro quo and his realization leads to Liz receiving a sexual harassment complaint.

Though there where a few bright spots, the episode just wasn’t up to the standard. 30 Rock’s bar is pretty high, so its normal to see a few duds. I hope it gets back on track next week.

Killing an Ewok

The only thing on TV Thursday night that could soothe my soul after the loss of the Memphis Tigers was a new episode of 30 Rock. Sadly, it wasn’t their best effort. Jack is planning his 50th birthday party, Tracey wants to go to space and Liz’s degenerate ex-boyfriend Dennis rears his head again.

After seeing some of his childhood home movies of his birthday, Jack is inspired to celebrate his success. After an offhand comment by Kenneth, Jack’s happy birthday suddenly becomes dour and reflective.

Dennis, now claiming to be a sex addict, has been calling all his former partners claiming he needs to make amends. Because of this Liz discovers that Jenna and Dennis also had sex. Liz confronts Jenna and the two bond. They decide to give Dennis a piece of their minds, which he turns against them. The next day, Jenna is doing a sketch suspended on a high wire. Liz neglects to tell her about a clip on her wire harness and Jenna is injured. Despite their best intentions, Dennis has driven a wedge between the old friends.

At Jack’s birthday party, its clear that the only people who came are business associates and strangers. Feeling depressed and alone, Jack decides to invigorate his birthday by finding out what was the birthday present that made him so excited in his childhood home video. After getting a deaf person to decode his words, he discovers that the toy that made him so happy is replication of the Apollo moon lander.

Jack decides to placate Tracey’s dreams of space travel. The only way to do so is to fake a spaceship flight using the TV studio. Tracey falls for the elaborate trick hook, line and sinker.

Though it was funny in general, the show felt sloppy this week. 30 Rock usually tries to tie things up at the end, but this one just ended on a gag about Liz’s early acting job as a model for a phone sex commercial. Its hilarious, but it just didn’t wrap the episode up properly. Although 30 Rock is still the king of network comedy, this episode showed some chinks in the armor.

Merkins for hope

While most of America was watching the NCAA tournament, 30 Rock decided to throw non sports fans a bone with a new episode. This wee, Jack has to figure out a way to re-sign Tracey to a new contract and Liz finds their are hidden benefits and risks to dating a super handsome man.

Liz begins to notice that when she’s with her new beau Drew, they get preferential treatment. Drew’s so handsome that he has lived in a bubble of good will for years. While playing tennis, Drew reveals that he was once a teaching pro. After just a few swings its clear that Drew only got work because women wanted to spend time with him. Liz finds that Drew is actually terrible at most things but no one’s been honest with him due to his supernatural handsomeness. Liz levels with Drew and it becomes clear that he can’t handle life this way. Liz has to choose between Drew and his bubble and a life with the rest of us. Not surprisingly, Liz chooses a normal non-handsome life.

Tracey quits the show after Jack reveals to him how rich he really is. Jack is desperate to sign him. He even goes so far as to impersonate Bill Cosby and Billy Dee Williams during phone negotiations. Jack eventually decides that the one thing that Tracey can’t live without at the show is Kenneth and eventually he pulls the right strings to get Tracey back.

The attractive girlfriend bit has already been done on Seinfeld years ago, but 30 Rock did a pretty good job of retooling it. Drew was clearly another temporary stop in Liz’s love life, but I was pretty satisfied with the way the show took him out.

The Hot Richard

30 Rock got back to basics last episode by focusing on the core cast rather than the constant parade of guest stars. Though its hard not to like the occasional new face, the show works best when its written in the voice of its principle players. Happily, the trend continues this week.

Despite dressing up like Princess Leah, Liz is forced to sit on a jury for an arson trial. While twiddling her thumbs in court, the show spirals out of control. Tracey has decided that he can essentially say anything he wants since he can pay his own FCC fines, Jenna is involved in an experimental drug trial that leaves her shakier than a country meth addict and Jack has finally achieved his dream of creating a miniature and portable microwave oven.

Jack’s dream of mini-appliance domination is dashed however as the legal department refuses to allow its original name as its offensive in some languages. Jack forces Frank and the other writers to ignore the show to work on new names for his mini-wave. The list of names they come up with reads like a list of dirty jokes from Urban Dictionary.

After Tracey finds out that the FCC fines that are being dropped on him not only affect him but also the sponsors, he decides to buy all the advertising himself. He uses these as opportunities to tell the world his wife is throwing away old towels, deny his own apologies and show his “fun cooker” on television.

Jenna, desperate to keep herself working on the show and her faux Janis Joplin biopic, turns to Dr. Spaceman. I love Chris Parnell as Dr. Spaceman and I wish 30 Rock could find more ways to use him. The Spaceman gives Jenna an experimental upper that he’s been working on, essentially turning her into a lab rat. Jenna wanders around chugging water, licking her lips and acting like a coked up gerbil. Jenna is the weakest element of the show for me, but she does well in this episode.

Back in court, Liz listens to the accused arsonist. A middle aged woman who has managed a Mailboxes Plus for years has a massive breakdown brought on by her insane underlings. Though the woman is convicted, she rejoices in her freedom from her employees. Liz can’t help but see the parallels and when she returns to her jackass staff, she contemplates torching them. Though she thinks better of it, she accidentally throws a match and sets a blaze. No one is hurt, but the writers and cast are immediately put back into line.

A solid episode overall. I loved Tracey as usual and Jenna turned in a better than usual performance. The real star of the show this week though was the random references to made up offensive terms like “the hot richard” and “the fun cooker”. Its a reminder that even benign terms could be offensive in the right context.

Lithgow

30 Rock returns for a mostly guest star free episode (I’m not counting John Lithgow.) Going back to the multiple cast member plots format the show is known for is a nice return to form. 30 Rock has some of the best writing on network TV and the writers shine best when given the core cast of players rather than guest stars.

Jack is still carrying his torch for Elisa. To avoid temptation, he goes somewhere he’s sure will be woman-free. He joins the writers for their weekly nerd movie session. Frank and Jack’s late night heart to heart about their families and feelings with the mid eighties Bigfoot flick Harry and the Hendersons as a backdrop makes me chuckle even as I writ. Jack feels inspired by Frank’s admissions of regret about not finishing law school. Pulling some strings, Jack gets Frank a free ride to law school. After having dinner with Franks mom, Jack discovers that Frank comes from a long line of attorneys. Mob attorneys. To be more specific dead Mob attorneys. In order to drive him away from a career in law Jack reenacts a  scene from Harry and the Hedersons. Its drop dead funny.

Liz is still trying to adopt a baby. During a late night donut run, she meets a pregnant teen. Liz sees her opening and befriends the knocked up girl, imaging she may have a candidate for adoption. The girl confides in Liz that if she has a baby she’ll have to give up her dream of being a musician. Liz pounces and encourages her awful voice. Its pretty ugly actually even trying to keep the baby’s father away from the mother. Liz, inspired by the power of John Lithgow, relents in the end and the two lovers are reunited,

Jenna feels slighted by Tracey’s star power and throws a tantrum. Hoping to quell her ego, the crew plans a big birthday party. Kenneth destroys that as well after he discovers Tracey doesn’t have a birthday at all, and suggests the Jenna share her party with him. Tracey steals all Jenna’s thunder, but it backfires. Tracey in his insane rambling finds normal days more depressing now that there’s “no more cake in my mouth”.  Eventually the two egotists Jenna and Tracey rush to each other’s arms. Only these two could find solace in each other. Other than a few gags, it just doesn’t pay off.

Liz’s plot really didn’t work for me. I understand she has baby fever, but the gags just didn’t bear much fruit. Jenna and Tracey’s back and forth was full of their patented dim witted banter, but too didn’t have many good laughs. Jack and Frank, or more accurately Harry and the Hendersons was a knockout.