April 19, 2007: "By the Hammer of Thor!"
What did
I tell you? Good stuff, yes?
If there was any doubt that NBC's
30 Rock had arrived, that it was a keeper, that this is a real show and not one of this season's fly-by-night
Saturday Night Live-spoof sitcoms, we now find ourselves vested in these crazy, neurotic and/or ego-inflated people. Will Liz lose out on love by forsaking Cleveland-smelling Cleveland? Is Jack headed for a fall at the hands of Phoebe the hollow-boned faux Brit? Can Tracy evade the Black Crusaders, as powerfully staffed as they are with the likes of Gordon from
Sesame Street?
Will scientific advances ever allow Jenna her three-way?
As the first few scenes played, I feared for a moment that Floyd was going to decide that, like, Liz was a jinx, seeing as in fell swoops he lost his dream apartment
and a promotion. (Well-played indeed, Garkle.) But we didn't go there. Instead we got a fanciful if all too accurate music-montage travelogue for Cleveland, set to some made-for-
30 Rock ditty. Someone here recently gave props to the show's music, and let me seventh that. From the opening we all wish we had that as our cell ringtone (Wagner's "Kill the Rabbit"). Right down to the flourishes that punctuate a funny line or transition, it really is quite excellent. It tells me that someone is trying, and you see that all over the
Rock.
Like with the guest stars. Emily Mortimer... my only exposure to her has been
Match Point where, opposite my ScarJo... well, it wasn't even close. And she's not the first thought for most sitcoms looking to fill a vacancy. But here, she's obviously relishing (as Rossellini did) the chance to go a bit bonkers. When she lapsed out of the accent, what fun. Who knows, maybe she isn't even hollow-boned - like a birrrrd.
And Tracy versus the Black Crusaders? Do they really not want "Jefferson" to get made that badly? What has them concerned for the African-American image, the claymation porn?
I could go on - hey, it's Jenna! But still, where's Cerie? - but I have many quotables to revisit:
" Floyd and Liz eyeing his almost-digs: "You could get that third humidifier you've always dreamed about."
" Jack re: Phoebe's gallery hosting an Asian erotica exhibit: "Pick out a good one for me."
" Jack explaining to Liz why his gold card is so heavy: "It's... made of gold."
" Tracy exulting, "I'm on my grind!"
" Cutting to Liz's lunch with Pheebs, as she is summing up the plot of
Caddyshack.
" Liz further getting her geek on with her Elmer Fudd ringtone.
" Liz describing Phoebe's romance with Jack as "whirlwind. A whirl of wind."
" Jenna likening herself and Phoebe to
Sex and the City's Samantha and Charlotte - and Liz is, well, "the lady at home who watches it."
" Kenneth channeling Michael McDonald.
" Liz taken aback when Phoebe proffers TMI re: her and Jack's sex life: "I'm not that kind of girlfriend. I'd pick you up at the airport, but...."
" A fine piece of background physical comedy as Jenna wrestled with her thong.
" The subway police officer taking inventory of Liz's purse in front of Floyd: self-help book? Check. Fungus cream? Check/Ew.
" Jennifer Bassey (of
All My Children fame) singing about New York in the springtime when
wham! Great cameo.
" The TV newsman talking to Tracy: "The Black Crusaders are coming for you."
" Jack revealing/bragging, "I haven't been above 72nd Street in a decade."
" "Who taught Tracy about anagrams?"
" Kenneth referring to Cleveland as "out west."
" Jack: "'TGS' without Tracy Jordan is basically a puppet show." Insulted Jenna: "I'm right here!"
" Jenna reacting to Liz's news: "We're all models west of the Alleghenies."
" The "Hot Baby" sketch. So unsettling.
" Liz to Phoebe: "You
want to be Yoko?"
I could go on but you get the idea. So sad that next week is the finale, yet so happy a new season is to come!
