30 Rock recap: It's a Dad Dad Dad Dad World
- TV Show
Plenty of special guests on this week’s 30 Rock — Brian Williams and Andrea Mitchell had cameos, and Paul Giamatti played a greasy-ponytailed diehard Islanders fan/Civil War reenactor who loves hugs. That was a great one-episode character, but what thrilled me much, much more was that Tracy landed himself in Discovery Channel’s Cash Cab! TV FAVES COLLIDE! So mind-blowing, yet so…reasonable. Of course Tracy is in the Cash Cab! Once it was happening, everything felt so right. It made me want to put my feet in this show’s mouth.
Lemon, who is cute, like a pretty refugee on the news, learns from lip-licker Jenna that “being with someone makes people want to be with you.” Naturally, she proceeds to strut around the office wearing a cowboy hat a Kiss FM DJ once called a ‘sweet lid’ and attempts — successfully, it seems — to flirt her way into some quicker title edits for TGS. Head editor Richie (Giamatti) laps up the rare female attention with a fervor he usually reserves for shouting “Death to Lincoln!”
But Lemon’s new vibe turns out to be a double-edged sword, much like the one Mickey Rourke tried to kill Jenna with. Richie spreads a rumor that he and Lemon slept together so that his true love Donna, who’s basically the severe-nerd version of Lemon herself, will realize how desirable he is. Brian Williams and Andrea Mitchell even pop up to report on the rumors. What a small world! “SLUT!” Lemon needs those edits, so she sinks into martyr mode and plays along. They all need to make sacrifices, you know. Jenna has to be at work by 11 in the morning.
Jack, winner of the Amory Blaine Handsomeness scholarship, realizes that as an Old Dad, he may not be there for his son’s milestone moments, such as receiving his first subpoena and coming to terms with the fact that they might have once participated in the same mass orgy at a castle. So he makes a hilarious series of advice videos for the kid. He’ll have to do them all over because it turns out Avery’s having a girl instead. What will become of the baby’s spatial reasoning and upper-body strength? This must be God’s punishment, like a childbirth without drugs.
Tracy exits Ben Bailey’s Cash Cab (!!!!i) just in time to pinch-hit for a Tracy-masked Kenneth and watch Angie deliver their baby girl. She comes out upside down, but that was Dr. Spaceman’s bad. “Everything about this is disgusting,” he remarks. Meanwhile, Jack gives Kenneth permission to hang up his Phantom cape and work in the office like a real live page. Jack claims he doesn’t care. “OH REALO?” Advantage: Donaghy!
NEXT: The episode’s 10 best moments! (Plus some other bonus goodness.)
Below, my 10 favorite moments from 30 Rock: “When It Rains, It Pours.” Share yours in the comments!
10. “I don’t get why people like brunch. What’s the benefit of combining breakdancing and lunch?” –Tracy Jordan: Husband, Hero, Diabetic-Slash-Alcoholic
9. Lemon’s delight that according to Jack’s “50 is still 60 for women” rule, she’s Jack Klugman. “Writer, messy, lovable curmudgeon. I am solid!”
8. Tracy’s reasons for missing the birth of his two sons: “Cooking a French bread pizza” and “forgot”
7. Jenna’s tattoo: “It was supposed to say peace but they wrote ‘white hooker’ instead.”
6. “I don’t know how I feel about that.” –Tracy’s reaction to Grizz and Dot-Com having taken his mood ring.
5. “Corn!” –Lemon’s triumphant announcement of what was in her teeth during her Julia Roberts laugh
4. “You’ve just described my morning!” –Dr. Spaceman after Angie threatened to “kill that man”
3. “Centipeding means having sex with a hundred woman. I got it! 1886!” –Tracy calculating the age of the green boobies
2. “ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME BECAUSE I DON’T SHARE YOUR LOVE OF UNICORNS?” –The climax (ewww.com) of Lemon’s breakup rant to Richie
1. Jack: “The secret to a healthy hair is Dove…blood.” Whatevs, Tony Randall. You’re so vain.
Hidden Gem of the Week: Grizz is reading…Urban Fervor by Kevin Grisham!
Oh wait.
Top 3 Race Jokes
3. “That Russian skank read the ultrasound wrong.” –Avery, announcing to Jack that they’re having a damn girl
2. “It’s like I always say. White cab drivers are weird!” –Tracy, who went to middle school in the Exxon station
1. “And stand outside in the crowd like some Italian? I don’t think so.” –Jack, descendant of whiskey-testers and goblins
!!!!!!!!!!
Update: I just started my recording of The Office and realized that Lemon’s last piece of advice for Jack’s unborn child was “Put potato chips on a sandwich!”
DON’T MISS: Embedded below, listen to the first edition of EW.com’s TV Insiders podcast. Dalton Ross, Michael Slezak, Annie Barrett, Michael Ausiello (who also gives his picks for best and worst new show of the new season), and Jeff “Doc” Jensen break down the week in television and present it to you in an easily digestible audio format. Or click here to download TV Insiders to your MP3 player!
Annie on Twitter: @EWAnnieBarrett