It's All About the Benjamins

Jump to Comments A little while ago someone on twitter asked me for my favorite 30 Rock episodes. If you don’t follow me on twitter (and how can I blame you for not doing so?), most of my tweeting, aside from my ridiculous amount of retweeting, my “over-the-top cursing tweets[, my] unfunny tweets[, and my] love tweets to [J]immy Fallon” (as someone put it) is tweeting choice quotes from TV shows. Mainly 30Rock and No Reservations although in the olden days of twenty ought-nine it was mostly House (, M.D.).

So. Naturally, it seems appropriate that I should have a favorite or five or ten episodes of these shows, since I like them so much. And, in fact, since 30 Rock Season Six starts tonight, I thought I’d pick six.

• Do Over: This is the first episode of season 3, and the main plot is Liz trying to convince an adoption agent that she could be a good mother. The B plot is about Jack working his way back up the corporate ladder from mailroom clerk back to the top office of GE, or should I say “G”, as ridiculous arch-nemesis Devin Banks (GOB) has sold the E to Samsung — or Samesung. This also happens to feature Tina Fey dressed up in a lot of outfits that I would wear if I were a girl, so that’s also a plus.
• St. Valentine’s Day: of all the Valentine’s Day episodes, the A plot in this one is the most boring. Liz Lemon goes on a date (or rather, stays in her apartment) with her new boyfriend mister handsome idiot doctor, blah blah there’s some clever lines but that’s not the point. This show actually has three plots, so I’ll mention the ones I like: B, with Jack and his hypercatholic Puerto Rican mistress, and C, a Tracy/Kenneth plot with lots of Grizz and Dot Com! Tracy’s genius entourage would have absolutely stolen the show if it weren’t for Jack’s soliloquy in a McDonald’s. It’s great.
• The Ones: on paper this episode is filler-grade, but the gags in it really elevate it to the stratosphere. Brian Williams cameos as his super-creepy alternate-reality persona, there’s great interplay between Kenneth’s selflessness and Jenna’s narcissism, and a return of the Pranksmen!
• Into the Crevasse: another great gag-laden episode, featuring Liz’s book “Dealbreakers”, more screentime for GOB (that’s the actor’s name, I’m certain of it), and also heavy references to General Electric and microwaves. In trying to invent a better microwave, Jack and the writers end up designing the Pontiac Aztek. I had to press pause because I laughed so hard.
• Brooklyn Without Limits: The entire plot of this show is so heavily gagged I can’t even think about it without laughing. But suffice it to say that it’s extra funny to me as a person who does research on things like Corporate Social Responsibility and Fair Trade and has a love/love relationship with Park Slope. Plus the B plot is Jack trying to gin up support for a cuckoo Republican candidate (although they’re mostly cuckoo these days it seems like so it’s not so funny as it was when it was new). Bonus: A Parody of the Movie Precious Based on the Novel Push By Sapphire
• College: at first I couldn’t figure out why I had scribbled this down. The A plot is only moderately funny: Liz becomes suddenly popular with the crew and it reminds her of the two weeks of her college experience. But, this also features the online speech synthesizer made from recordings of Jack, more GE microwaves, and a great Hornberger subplot. In fact, it is the distillation of all Hornberger subplots, as he gets put on/made fun of for the whole episode, but in the end actually comes out the winner from the experience. I want to be him when I grow up, if I ever actually grow up. Also, borkulators.