30 Rock: Rosemary's Baby

30 Rock: Rosemary's Baby
NBC
October 25, 2007
Sitcom
DVD
B

This Jack Burditt story asks you to get past the fact that Carrie Fisher at 51 was too young to play a comedy writer from the '60s.  Her character is Liz's mentor, but I was actually more interested in the hidden world of NBC pages, and the funniest scene is the roleplaying therapy where Jack imitates Fred Sanford and J.J. Evans in order to help Tracy resolve some of his childhood issues.

Elijah Isaiah Cook is again Young Tracy.  Marcella Roy takes over the role of Young Liz, which she'd still be playing in 2012.  Paul Scheer plays Donny Lawson, the Head of Paging, for the first of two times.  Frank Anello, his fans will be pleased to learn, plays part of the Production Staff.

Roseanne: Arsenic and Old Mom

Roseanne: Arsenic and Old Mom

ABC

May 13, 1997
Sitcom
DVD
D-

Time has not made this episode any less painful.  In fact, knowing that Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds would die so close together makes this collaboration even more of a waste.  It ties for my least favorite episode of the series, with the spa episode. 

Dan's mother Audrey (played here by Reynolds) is released from "the hospital," supposedly all well, as long as she takes her meds.  She doesn't and decides to kill Dan for institutionalizing her, twenty years ago!  The script is by Fisher and I can't help wishing that a more realistic, funnier, and sweeter story could've been submitted instead.  Why drag Goodman back, when his performance shows how little he wants to be doing this story?  And there's even a gratuitous joke about D.J. lusting after Princess Leia, just so Grandma can hit him for it, which is even less funny considering who wrote the joke.  This episode is to be avoided by all but the masochistic and/or completist.  (So of course it gets high ratings on IMDB.)

Heather Matarazzo makes her last appearance as Heather.  Staff writer Lawrence Broch plays the Doctor.  This is a rare episode without Laurie Metcalf.

Ellen: The Movie Show

Ellen: The Movie Show
ABC
November 22, 1995
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This Newman & Stark episode is notable for the appearance of Joely Fisher's half-sister Carrie as herself.  While there are definitely moments I like, especially when Ellen is a very bad extra, it's a little hard, particularly these days, to watch Carrie play such a depressed and depressing version of herself.  (However, Ellen asking what Harrison Ford is really like has gotten funnier in the meantime.)  Additional irony by the passage of time: in 1995, Meg Ryan (only referred to, multiple times) being in a bookstore movie was hypothetical, since it wouldn't be till '98 that she'd make the dismal You've Got Mail.

Michael Des Barres, who at this point had done two of his three Roseannne appearances (one as Leon's boyfriend), here does his first of two for Ellen, as Nigel the Director.