30 Rock: Believe In The Stars
By fred | November 7, 2008
(S03E02) After its triumphant return last week, 30 Rock is now fully back and, for the time being, will present us with one guest star a week. The show has already proven in the past how great it can be at using special guests and make the most if it, some of those episodes remain among my favorite ones, like Greenzo. That said, I am just a little afraid that the show focus too much on whatever guest of the week is on and not enough on the regular characters of the show.
And once a week for weeks in a row, might have a risk of overdose. Of course, it done brilliantly and without ever leaving one under the impression that changes had to be done to the usual structure and dynamic of the show, if everything continues to be true to the show, it could be a success. Let’s see how things went with this week’s guest, Princess Leia Oprah.
All in all I think they managed that just fine, in that it was relatively funny and the show certainly did not change in any way from its usual self. On the other hand, the whole “hallucination” twist was more than obvious the moment Oprah walked in, and I’m not sure they really made the most of it. Sure, things were funny, but nothing hilarious really… it felt more like they had Oprah and Liz was talking to Oprah, from TV, than something genuinely funny past the celebrity aspect of it.
Okay, expect for one thing, which I’ve decided was the best line of the episode (feel free to disagree in the comments, but not unless you have a better quote) :
Oprah: Too many women are wearing themselves too thin these days, and what suffers because of that ?
Liz: Your bowl movements.
Oprah: Your personal life.
Liz still registered in Chicago from her very own reasons and having to get out of jury duty there was fun, especially since it meant she got to dress up as Princess Leia and pretend she was able to red thoughts, but the ride on the plane with Oprah was a little disappointing, and the resolution with Oprah being a teenage girl called Pam, because Liz was high from Jack’s drug of choice, quite predictable (even though at first I actually thought Oprah was completely made up out of thin air).
But that’s okay because we had some other great plot lines going on. First of all Tracy and Jenna fighting over who has it worse, black people or women, and - of course - ending up dressing as the other. It was so deliciously not PC that you had to love it. But for me the best story of the episode was without a doubt Jack & Kenneth.
First of all, I always absolutely love it when they make fun of NBC, they have a genius way of doing so, and quite frankly NBC is the best target at that, being the crappy network it is. Their treatment of the Olympics was absolutely insulting (with the opening ceremony delayed 12 hours, many “live” events from pre-recorded tape, …) and I’m still not done laughing at them for loosing money over it (ah-ah-ah!), and I thought the idea of NBC making up fake sports just to boost ratings and get more medals to America was outrageously hilarious.
Absolutely loved it myself, and it’s just crazy enough that it could be true, I’m sure Zucker & Silverman are working on it already. Anyways, poor television lover Kenneth was crushed by the revelation, and lost faith in his hero (one of the many many he has) : Jack. And it was just awesome to see Jack desperately trying to prove to Kenneth wrong.
I loved Kenneth refusing to dive into hypothetical situations, because “that’s like lying to your brain” (genius!), and Jack staging the elevator only to see Kenneth not even waiting one second and trying to kill himself to allow everyone else to survive was just brilliantly Kenneth. And of course, that in the end when offered a brand new HDTV Kenneth couldn’t pass on the occasion and did the morally wrong thing, and got himself illegal cable, was just great.
A few more quotes quickly :
Jonathan: M. Donaghy is on another call right now, he doesn’t have time for a separate interaction with you, so everything he says will have to work for both conversations.
Jack: What do yo take to fly ?
Liz: Candy and magazines.
Jack: No no, pills! Nobody flies without medication anymore. Why shouldn’t you enjoy the same luxuries as a dog ?
Tracy: Do you know who I am? Seriously, please, tell me who I am!
Tracy: Liz Lemon! (To Jenna:) Nemesis.
Jenna: Liz, will you tell Tracy I don’t even want to speak with him.
Tracy: Okay, two can play at that game! Liz, could you please tell Kenneth that Liz wants him.
Tracy: I watched Boston Legal nine times before I realized it wasn’t a new Star Trek.
Jack: Did you know that President Bush’s approval rating was almost as high as 15% after the Olympics?
Jack: You can be he voice of Knight Rider, the film.
Jack: Sometimes life is complicated, there isn’t always a right answer… Say, you’re on a life boat…
Kenneth: You’re on a life boat.
Kenneth: There are only two things I like in this world : everybody, and television.
Liz: This one time at summer camp I kissed a girl on a dare, but then she drowned.
Kenneth: I am also a white man.
Jack: No, you are not. Social-economically speaking, you’re more like an inner-city latino.
Jack: In-flight medication is how I met M. Night Shyamalan, until it turned out to be…
Jonathan: That was the best day of my life!
Jack: Good job, Lemon.
Liz: Good job Pam, really.
Jack: Be a white man, take credit.
Kenneth: Is SpongeBob SquarePants supposed to be terrifying ?
How much did you like this episode ? Were you happy with Oprah’s guest appearance ? What sports did you watch on NBC during the Olympics without realizing it wasn’t real ?
