Quick Take: 30 Rock, "When it Rains, It Pours"
"Full disclosure, most of my experience is putting babies in women." - Dr. Spaceman
Review: 30 Rock, "When it Rains, It Pours"
(S0502) 30 Rock's strong suit has always been its lightning fast writing. Sure, there has been a fair share of character development, plot progression, and dramatic angles over the years (maybe not so much as, say, The Office or Community, but a decent amount at least), but it works best when it is pumping out one-liner after brilliant one-liner. "When it Rains, It Pours" was 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 moments 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 a brotha 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":
Video: 30 Rock, "When it Rains, It Pours"
Check out Jack McBrayer talking about five seasons of 30 Rock, from Hulu:
It usually takes plot development, even in a comedy, to hold my interest for very long but very much agree that this was a great standalone (of sorts) episode. Baldwin, Fey, and Morgan all delivered the goods with their respective storylines.
But when there was mention of werewolves, I was so hoping for a return of Werewolf Bar Mitzvah (it of the "spooky scary" fame")!
When they first aired the Werewolf Bar Mitzvah episode, my roommate and I rewound the scene probably 15 times and died laughing every time.