30 ROCK: Flu Shot
January 16, 2009 by Kari
Holy smokes! Did you know they just added “St. Elmo’s Fire” to Hulu? [GMMR: I did notice this morning and I had the same jubilant reaction]. Sadly but truly, this news excited me far more than last night’s new episode of “30 ROCK.”
Where to start? Kenneth’s escalating death throes were a highlight, amidst the ever-growing parade of flu zombies, especially when we see him in the background while Tracy and Jenna are talking soup, and he’s busy licking the inside of his mouth. But Liz has grappled with her “elite” insecurity and guilt before, with much better results (“The ‘C’ Word” comes to mind), and Tracy and Jenna’s double-teaming flat-lined halfway through. Worst of all, though, Jack’s new romance with Elisa generated what just might be my most unfavorite line ever: “I live in the Big Apple, but I spend all my time with a Big Vegetable.” Yikes. But the “Mr. Templeton” date montage was my one real joy: “Mr. Templeton, why should he stay at home? Just get his medication…”
Did you like this one? If so, please tell me why, and make me believe it. And since plot-wise none of it worked for me, we’ll focus on the details instead:
- Kenneth, on Liz’s spray-tanned hand: “Miss Lemon, how could you do that to your beautiful hands? With your flat, manly milking thumbs and your long, graceful knuckle hair?”
- Liz’s dream beachwear: dark socks with chunky wedge sandals and her new tankoort bathing costume (“You may have seen it in US Weekly, being worn by Dame Judi Dench…’s mother.”) Ditto with the sandwich turtle. Does anyone doubt that St. Bartleby’s is stocked full of Liz Lemons, all reading alone in the shade?
- Jack and Liz’s auto-PC aversion to saying “Puerto Rican.”
- The long-awaited return of Dr. Leo Spaceman, whose favorite thing about the medical profession is attending executions: “When is modern science gonna find the cure for a woman’s mouth?”
- Tracy to Kenneth, on bringing back the soup: “With what? My arms?!”
- Liz reprising her sexy dance—once slyly employed to seduce Floyd—to get her shot from Dr. Spaceman.
- Cerie’s text to Liz says “UR V8K8SH1 iz baqon.”
- Mr. Templeton raving about Jack: “A man comes at night! He comes to the house and takes me! He wears a suit. His hair is thick, like a Bolshevik Commissar. He made me watch a giraffe with the legs of a man! He gave money to a silver man! He ate a plate of fire! He was in prison, but now he owns a railroad!”
- Elisa’s flashback to her late-night Dunkin Donuts days has her serving our very own Liz Lemon, who asks, “What time do you start throwing out doughnuts?”
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Filed under #1 featured, 30 Rock, Posts by Kari
I can’t wait for the John Hamm’s episodes. Salma Hayek? Zzzzz
About T. Fey basing her acting on Julia Louis Dreyfus: I watched The New Adventures of Old Christine this week and it is so true. The tone of the voice is exactly the same. Interesting.
Osacr the turtle was the real star of that episode.
Agreed, Tawo — I liked Salma just fine last week, but the writing isn’t helping her character at all. Still: rock star turtles! Great gag.
I agree – the episode fell flat. But I still enjoyed it. I don’t think Salma is adding anything to the show…and I was disappointed that even working together Tracey and Jenna couldn’t get it together enough to do something nice for the staff. I missed the actual wording of the text – that’s hilarious!
Is this true in the “real world”? That actors on shows get flu shots but staff don’t? That’s craziness.
JennyL – where is our gravatar, girl?
By the hammer of Thor Kari!
I hadn’t read what I thought was your recap and I find out now, wow.
Unless they produced a really stupid, bad acted, unfunny episode, I will never say none of the show is working for me. because 30 rock is still well above any other comedy (maybe not The Office).
Aren’t people expecting too much from it now it got all the hype, the awards and the guests?
I ll concede I like the character of Lemon darker than that: a turtle will make look soft. Haha
I’m not sure, Tawo; I can only compare it to other 30 ROCK episodes that I adore — they’ve set their own standard very high, which would be impossible to reach every week, so when an episode like this comes along, where all of the plot development and much of the dialogue feels clunky, I am disappointed. But that’s inevitable: they can’t all be A’s. And even if a C episode of 30 ROCK is better than an A episode of a lot of other shows (which I believe is true), it’s still a C episode of this show (actually, I might throw this one a D). I just don’t think that a string of funny lines and sight gags makes a solid episode, nor can I excuse it by comparing it to anything else on TV. It is what it is by itself, and this week did nothing for me.
ok I see, let’s hope next week episode is better.
ps: after seeing GMMR gravatar, there is no way I will get one because I’m in love with JK and it hurts. Did you see his first class performance in the last episode?
Go ahead and do it, Tawo, be who you wanna be!
I was very disappointed in this episode, too. There was potential gold with Salma and Jack, but it didn’t happen. And some clunker lines, which you pointed out.
This episode was so bad. What happened?