Quick Take: 30 Rock, "Today You Are a Man"
"It's a Jack-off." - Jack
Review: 30 Rock, "Today You Are a Man"
(S0605) There's a reason 30 Rock is one of the most lauded and popular sitcoms on television and the first half of this episode is a perfect example.
Let's start with the guest stars. Josh Fadem is one of the most talented weirdos I have ever met. Considering how strange and funny the regulars are on this show, it takes a special talent to stand out as a guest star. Josh certainly fits that bill.
The same goes for Kristen Schall. Any fan of good comedy is familiar with her work on Bob's Burgers and Flight of the Conchords and having her replace Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) is a brilliant move.
Another brilliant aspect of the show is the relationship between Jack (Alec Baldwin) and Liz (Tina Fey). For some reason, Jack is obsessed with Liz and can't stop trying to control her life, so to have her use Jack's own negotiating techniques against him is a recipe for comedy.
At first I was disappointed that Jack discovered what Liz was doing but then I realized how awesome it was to see Jack negotiating with himself. Unfortunately after they stopped the negotiations, it stopped being awesome.
The second half of this episode really fell flat. Jack's “realization” about why he out-negotiated himself wasn't near as interesting as what lead up to it and I found it boring.
As for Tracy (Tracy Morgan) and Jenna (Jane Krakowski), their entire storyline was a whiff. Sure, I giggled at them acting and looking like horrible robots but the test of the bar mitzvah was a snooze.
The only thing that could have made this episode worse would be the acting “talents” of Suze Orman, who isn't even convincing enough to play herself.
In the end, this episode needed more Fadem, more Schall and more jokes.
I would watch Schall in anything.
More shout outs for her work on The Daily Show and the Mad Men pilot !
By the way: I was highly disappointed that there was not a reprise of Tracy's "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" novelty hit...
What are you basing the notion that 30 Rock has ever been a popular sitcom? Sure, it's a darling with the critics, but the ratings have not been good. If Lorne wasn't attached, if might have been cancelled by now.