April 5, 2007: "Somebody Call the Park Ranger...."
Here I was, fresh from penning the
30 Rock recap, prepared to shrug at the relative humor of
Andy Barker, P.I. - I mean,
30 Rock is
30 Rock - but our stalwart accountant/private investigator combination served up a pretty good time. I've decided that the cartoony, ready-to-be-solved-in-22-minutes mysteries are akin to
Police Squad!, with broadly drawn broads and gummy-bear goons. I loved Drebin & Co., so that's a favorable comparison.
It's interesting that this week's guest star, Traci Lords, hailing from an early (porn) career known for bad acting, is... wow, she's a bad actress. But perfect for this week's purposes, as Geneva Marseilles (CC had "Marsay," but I have to think they were going for the history-rich one-two) wasn't Oscar-caliber either.
The bullets:
" This week's dollop of man-wife tenderness: Jenny tilting her heel as she pecks Andy.
" Andy's bean-counter humor: "They don't call it Quicken because it slows your pulse."
" "You bit me! What are you, four?!"
" Simon to the late-night stakeout crew: "I don't want any cracks about my retainer."
" Lew eyeballing the whipped cream-topped coffees Simon brought for the stakeout: "I'm growing a set of jugs just looking at this thing." (And Wally scolding Simon, "We sell coffee here, you know.")
" As Lew beats on Andy's father-in-law, Simon "helping" by flailing around "like Ann-Margret."
" Andy re: Jacobsmeyers' blackmail photos: "It could be worse. They could have put
two candles in your bottom."
" Andy to Simon: "Why is '48 minutes' written on the back of the [video] box?" Mmmmm-hmmmm....
" Wally set to give Andy's FIL a second beat-down: "Today I am an American!"
" Goon 1 to Goon 2, to test the stolen credit-card numbers: "Go to gap.com and get me some wrinkle-free pants. 44 waist."
And how many chase scenes are initiated by the search for a Wi-Fi signal? To file a tax return??
