“Full disclosure, most of my experience is putting babies in women.” – Dr. Spaceman
30 Rock‘s strong suit has always been its lightning-fast dialog. Sure, there has been a fair share of character development, plot progression, and dramatic angles over the years (though maybe not as much as, say, The Office or Community), but it works best when I’s pumping out brilliant one-liners.
“When it Rains, It Pours” is set up to be not much more than a showcase of one-liners, with each of the three main storylines featuring little else. And, frankly, I loved every second of it.
Jack learns that he and Avery will be having a boy, but after Liz casually mentions he’ll be an “old dad,” he decides to film a series of videos where he tells his future son life-lessons from beyond the grave (or from the grips of insanity). When a misread ultrasound reveals that they will actually be having a girl, he makes an all-new series of videos. And just in case she doesn’t have Avery’s blonde hair or confidence, he brings in Liz to give her own set of advice which includes the concept of bandanas being a “fun, sexy fashion accessory.”
Tracy, meanwhile, has “werewolved himself” (look it up, I’m sure it’s on Urban Dictionary already) in his dressing room so that he’ll be ready at a moment’s notice to be with Angie in case she goes into labor (a procedure oversaw by the human one-liner, Dr. Spaceman). But a fire drill forces him to go outside and it isn’t long before he ends up lost on the other side of Manhattan. With no money, he flags down a cab driver and asks if the man will take him to the hospital for free.
The cab turns out to be the Cash Cab. As a big Cash Cab fan (though I’m very upset it hasn’t come to Chicago yet), I was thrilled to see Ben Bailey make an appearance. The main gist of this plot had to do with how someone as stupid as Tracy could succeed at answering the game show’s trivia questions through a wild series of mnemonic devices. For example, he knew that Thomas Jefferson invented the Lazy Susan because he is a descendant of Jefferson and Lazy Susan herself.
The Liz angle had the most plot development and even that one climaxed (as she said in the season premiere, that’s a gross word) with a run of silly non-sequiturs. When she starts getting more attention from the opposite sex because she’s dating someone (hence the episode’s title), she uses her newfound confidence to flirt her way into the good graces of the smarmy head NBC editor, Richie (played by some guy named Paul Giamatti).
Her plan backfires though when Richie starts spreading the rumor that he and Liz are sleeping together. When she confronts him, Richie admits that he only made up the lie to attract the attention of his real crush: his assistant editor, Donna. Liz helps him out by allowing him to “break up” with her in a way that makes him sound like a real catch, at least to a woman who has mayonnaise all over her face.
There was also a brief bit about how Kenneth has been secretly fulfilling all of his old NBC page duties. After Jack kicks him out of the building because they don’t need him anymore, Kenneth realizes (after briefly hilariously pretending to be Tracy to a drugged-up Angie) that Jack is wrong and he is needed. Jack offers to hire him back immediately, but Kenneth prefers to go through the proper (hey just like my last name!) channels by reapplying to the page program, leading to the inevitable page initiation episode (and hopefully the return of Paul Scheer’s head page Donny Lawson).
While an episode like this one where plot is an afterthought would grow tiresome if overused, it was a nice change of pace this week. And two episodes into the fifth season, 30 Rock feels as fresh and funny as ever.
More thoughts (well, actually just more one-liners) from “When it Rains, It Pours”:
- “Like a pretty refugee on the news.”
- “Like God, I created man.”
- Tracy: “I’ve missed the birth of both of my sons, for very legitimate reasons.” Dot Com: “Cooking a French bread pizza and forgot.”
- “There’s something about you lately, makes me want to put my feet in your mouth.”
- “I’ve already administered the epidural, so would you like one as well?”
- “The song ‘You’re so Vain’ was written by me.”
- “After I’m gone, your mother may meet someone else. I want her to be happy, so his death must appear to be accidental.”
- “That sounds really fake.”
- “I take my hug back.”
- “Shel Silverstein was a communist.”
- “I guess some other woman will get to enjoy that waterbed that you’re saving up for.”
Some stats and info about 30 Rock, “When It Rains, It Pours”
TV SHOW – 30 Rock
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 5, Episode 2
AIRED ON – September 30th, 2010
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – NBC/Peacock
GENRE – Comedy, Office Culture
CREATED BY – Tina Fey
CAST – Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jack McBrayer, Jane Krakowski, Scott Adsit, Chris Parnell
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.