Friday, December 7, 2007

30 Rock: Jenna behaving badly

Spoilers for "30 Rock" coming up just as soon as I adjust my lapel pin...

There are episodes of "30 Rock" where I want to spend a lot of time analyzing why it worked or why it didn't. Then there are episodes like last night's "Secrets and Lies," where everything was clicking so well -- more Baldwin/Falco genius, more of Liz embracing her pathetic nature, and just the right amount of Tracy, Jenna, Frank and Twofer -- that all I really want to do is list all the jokes I liked. (There were so many of them that I was constantly pausing and rewinding the episode to write 'em all down.) It's not analysis; it's just quoting, and sometimes an episode's so good (and also so evocative of earlier episodes I analyzed) that nothing else is needed. So, bullet points ho...
  • The way Jack makes "pant suit" sound like the two dirtiest words in the language
  • Jack's stereotypically ethnic pseudonyms/disguises for CC (Lakisha Gutierez Araft, Edie Falco finally embracing Italian caricature as Mr. Spoonatelli)
  • Liz's rape whistle necklace (sans whistle) and her "Risky Business"/"Lemon out!" line
  • Liz hates the word "lovers" unless it's between "meat" and "pizza"'
  • NBC has a "bros before hos policy"
  • Jack finding new ways to insult Liz's appearance ("Try not to dress like a smalltown lesbian")
  • Tracy's diva-ish "Where are the french fries I did not ask for?"
  • Tracy and Shaq's animated movie -- specifically, "Would you call what we did last night 'sex'?"
  • "Samurai I Am Urai" (maybe my favorite Tracy movie title ever)
  • "Maiden Voyage, Newark's first offshore gentlemen's barge"
  • Kenneth bringing notecards to the dinner party ( "Liz, tell me a painful story about your teenage years.")
  • Pete getting all "The Right Stuff" and declaring "Let's fake this candle" at the start of their Pacific Rim Emmys thing
  • Jenna getting sharked by Tracy and only caring that he didn't thank her in his speech
  • Jack and CC kicking ass at party games
  • Did I mention Mr. Spoonatelli?
  • Liz rattling off all the reasons CC shouldn't take advice from her, then reaching for the tape dispenser after CC leaves
  • CC being annoyed she can't go on Oprah, and Jack's "I like when a woman has ambition. It's like seeing a dog wearing clothes."
  • Liz telling Frank and Twofer that nobody cares about their rivalry
  • Jenna's bitchy new entourage, and Jenna going to get her eyeballs whitened (no doubt by Dr. Spaceman)
  • Practically every second James "Cajun-style!" Carville was on screen, but especially him helping to rob the vending machine
  • Jenna is jealous of babies for their soft skin
  • Almost the entirety of the Confessions of a GE Republican scene, save the final "I murdered my wife" joke, which took it further than it needed to go (the scene would have been perfect if it had ended a beat or two sooner)
I'm sure I left out one or two good ones, but what did everybody else think? You as blindly amused by this one as I was?

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