30 Rock: Emanuelle Goes to Dinosaur Land

30 Rock: Emanuelle Goes to Dinosaur Land
NBC
May 13, 2010
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Matt Hubbard wrote this episode which is an unofficial first half of a two-parter.  (Well, it does end "To be continued.")  We see the beginning of the day that Liz has to be part of three wedding parties, starting with Floyd's wedding in a Catholic Church.  Jack and Nancy finally slept together the previous night, so he decides to tell her, during Liz's speech, about Avery.  Meanwhile, Dot Com and Kenneth convince Tracy to do a movie that may get him the Oscar in his EGOT goal.

Kristin McGee returns as Kaitlin and Seth Kirschner is back as Shawn.  John Anderson again plays Astronaut Mike Dexter.  Tuxedo Gala Guest Ali Khan would later be an Airline Passenger.  Frank Anello is consistent as a member of the Production Staff.  I'm omitting Judah Friedlander and Jane Krakowski from the very overcrowded tags.

30 Rock: Anna Howard Shaw Day

30 Rock: Anna Howard Shaw Day
NBC
February 11, 2010
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This Matt-Hubbard-written episode introduces another love interest for Jack: Elizabeth Banks as Avery Jessup, who's a good match for Jack in the sense that they're both conservative and tough but sophisticated.  Meanwhile, Liz hopes to avoid Valentine's Day by going to the dentist, but she ends up hallucinating three of her exes.  I might've gone with a B, but I wasn't crazy about the thread about Jenna's stalker.  Note that we actually meet one of Pete's kids, Evelyn, his only daughter.

Stewart Steinberg is again the Old Janitor.  Maechi Aharanwa would be Keisha the nurse in the following episode as well.  I'm omitting Friedlander and Powell from the overcrowded tags.

30 Rock: Apollo, Apollo

30 Rock: Apollo, Apollo
NBC
March 26, 2009
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Robert Carlock wrote this story where Tracy wants to go into outer space and Jack wants to recapture the joy he felt on his tenth birthday.  Oh, and Liz has to deal with finding out that Dennis and Jenna had sex a few years ago, while he was dating Liz.  The highlight here is the staff watching Liz's 1-900 commercial from the '90s, although the way Kenneth sees everyone as Muppets is cute.

Carmen Osbahr would again be a Puppeteer (or "Pupeteer" according to the credits).  Dylan Clark Marshall would be Young Jack again in 2012.  Frank Anello shows his versatility as a member of the Production Staff.  Eighty-year-old Adam West appears as himself.  Millicent Shelton would direct only one more 30 Rock episode.

30 Rock: Subway Hero

30 Rock: Subway Hero
NBC
April 17, 2008
Sitcom
DVD
B

This Burditt & Carlock story has three good threads:

• Jack recruits has-been Bucky Bright (Tim Conway doing self-parody, a decade after his appearance on Ellen) to be a celebrity Republican but decides that Tracy would be better, which Tracy agrees to after having a dream where Jack is Nixon and Toofer is Sammy Davis, Jr.;
• Meanwhile Kenneth gradually gets disillusioned with Bucky;
• And we see the return of Dennis Duffy (Dean Winters) and understand more about why he and Liz got together, from a flashback to their snarking at the Hours (which I heartily agree with) to a Liz & Jenna talk where (ironically as it would turn out a few episodes later) Dennis is compared to the off-brand Mexican Cheetos that Liz likes.

30 Rock: The Break-Up

30 Rock: The Break-Up
NBC
December 14, 2006
Sitcom
DVD
B

This story by Dave Finkel and Brett Baer, who'd team up for one more, is the first one where I feel like everything clicks.  The title situation has Liz breaking up with Dennis and then him manipulating her to get back together, until she sees him on To Catch a Predator.  Meanwhile, Toofer (whose real name is revealed here to be James) and Tracy clash over stereotypes, and Jack is offscreen dating Condoleezza Rice.  Along with the interesting storylines, this not only ups the use of cutaways-- Black Frasier is a mini-classic-- but it was probably the first time on my initial viewing that I had to pause to read something onscreen, in this case Liz's very funny list of pros and cons about Dennis.  (The running joke about his mother in the cons is worth it alone.)  At the series' peak, this would be a winning formula, although I don't know if they'd yet realized that.

Frank Anello continues to be an onscreen member of the Production Staff.  Henry Boyle, who's Billy Huckster here, would play Henry the next year, while Joe Forbrich, who's Kevin, would be Crew Guy #1 in the last season.  This time Rachel Dratch plays Pamela Smew, the sensitivity trainer.  And many of the regulars, even Pete and Kenneth, are absent.  Scott Ellis wouldn't direct another episode until '09.

30 Rock: Tracy Does Conan

30 Rock: Tracy Does Conan
NBC
December 7, 2006
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Fey was nominated for an Emmy for this script, and the episode does have a fast-paced madness to it, emphasized by the ever improving background music.  However, I'm not a big fan of the crazy!Tracy of the first season.  Yes, he's mad in later seasons, but more likably.  (Do we really have to hear that he and his wife like to play "rape" games?)  Still, his meltdown here does bring on one of my favorite minor characters, Dr. Leo Spaceman (pronounced like you think by Tracy, "Spuh-chemmin" by everyone else), played hilariously by Chris Parnell, who I knew from a tiny role in Down with Love.  I also like the minor thread of Pete wearing a flattering toupee at Jack's urging.  Note that when Liz gets home from her draining day, she's too tired to break up with Dennis, so we begin to see the series' tendency to draw some threads out awhile.

Frank Anello is again a part of the onscreen Production Staff.  Nurse Johnnie Mae would return as a Screener, and 2nd AC Dave Frinkel would be back as a nameless Husband.  This time Rachel Dratch is the Blue Man that Tracy and later Liz hallucinates.  Conan O'Brien would be back as himself in the last season, although I don't own that at the moment, so I don't know if I'll be reviewing it on this blog.

30 Rock: Jack Meets Dennis

30 Rock: Jack Meets Dennis
NBC
November 30, 2006
Sitcom
DVD
B-

As the title suggests, this episode introduces Liz's ex, Dennis Duffy (Dean Winters), whom she's gotten back together with. It's clearly a mistake, as both Jenna and Jack recognize.  Even Liz admits that she's settling.  She promises to break up with Dennis, but instead she lets him move in.  I like the humor about him being a beeper salesman and, yes, it's a sign that we are in the modern era of sitcoms.

Frank Anello and Teddy Coluca are again respectively part of the Production Staff and the Stage Manager.  Brian Stack is Howard Jorgensen for the first of three times.  Ali Reza's first of three 30 Rock roles is the Sandwich Guy.  And this time Rachel Dratch is Liz Taylor.  This is the first of 20 30 Rock episodes written by Jack Burditt, but director Juan J. Campanella didn't work on any other of my shows.