30 Rock: Do-Over [season premiere]
By fred | October 31, 2008
(S03E01) Finally, it’s back!! We sure had to wait and wait and wait to get this show back on the air, even if Tina Fey was everywhere being praised for her hilarious performances as Sarah Palin. But finally, 30 Rock is back and so the world is better. I often say how wrong the Emmy are and how sometimes you have to wonder if whoever votes even bother to actually watch TV, but when it comes down to this show they definitely got it right.
This show is without a doubt unlike anything else on TV, it is filled with a unique pep energy that is really unique and makes everything seem like it’s all happening at once, one single flow of comedy that ends just after it started, or so it feels. You don’t know why it’s ending already when it just started a few minutes ago, until you realize it was actually half an hour ago and, thinking back, a lot did happen.
But because it’s so good and never stops, you simply don’t see how fast time goes by while watching the show. Last season, things ended with a lot of cliffhangers, and not all have been addressed. Kenneth for instance was hold at gun point in China, and we won’t have any idea of how he managed to get out and come back to NBC, but he did. On the other hand some were not forgotten about, like Tracy’s porn video game, a success who made him even richer, to the despair of Jenna.
And all in all I have to say, if not everything could be addressed this was definitely the way to go. Kenneth has always been a mystery and it can stay that way, but I would have been pretty pissed if the video game plot has simply been dropped and forgotten.
Last season, our two main characters were in difficult situations, for completely different reasons. The most important of all was of course Jack, Jack who left NBC to face the consequences of a gay bomb. Now we never find out what happened there, Jack can’t talk about it, but it allowed him to get out of his political duties and head back to NBC, where Davon was still running the place.
Will Arnett’s character might be a little one-note, but that note is so freaking hilarious I don’t think anyone could ever get tired of it. He was most certainly not able to be in charge, although I do wonder if shutting NBC down for a couple of years might not have crossed Ben Silverman’s mind, maybe that’s in fact what he’s trying to do already. Anyways, Arnett was absolutely perfect one again, and I think had the funniest line of the episode :
Jack: This is GE!
Davon: It’s just G now, Jack, I sold the E. To Samsung. They’re Samesung now.
Jack knew he had to get his old job back, and he wasn’t afraid to start back at the bottom and make his way to the top. “It will be just like when I worked the day shift at that graveyard and the graveyard shift at that Days Inn.” Of course he couldn’t wait that long, and as he got sexually harassed - something that was “not at all erotic and fun like when men do it to women” - by Kathy, he soon realized it was his only way back. And so he dove into soap opera mode and, with the help of Liz, got his job back.
Liz on the other hand was being evaluated for her adoption, and it obviously couldn’t happen. I mean it could have been a nice change, but also could have completely broke the dynamic of the show, so while leaving things open for it to happen in the future was good, so was that she eventually didn’t get it.
But seeing her trying was really fun, and she wasn’t really helped by anyone, even her writers. Just how awesome was the running gag about Frank’s hat. He had to change his “horny” hat, so he did. To a bowler hat that also had “horny” on it, of course. And while being interviewed, he obviously ended being talking about his video of the lion eating a sad clown. And later on when he accidentally knocks Bev out, all Liz can yell about is that he didn’t change his hat.
A knock-out that allowed Liz to have a do-over and get everything perfect this time, but alas Bev was losing her memory again and had to be sent to the hospital. In the end she didn’t pass it, and everything went back to normal. Jack had his old job back running the place, Liz was still her good old self without a baby or a man in her life, and it just felt great.
A few quotes, because there are a lot of great ones on that show :
* “I hear that theme park fire didn’t destroy any of the stuff it was supposed to.”
* “There’s one thing I learned from you Jack, is keep your friends close, and your enemies so close, than you’re almost kissing.”
* Megan Mullally was perfect in her role, and it showed how great 30 Rock is at getting guest and making the most of it without turning the episode into an excuse to have said guest on. It worked really well, but if every single episode is set to have a guest on, it might become a bit too much… I hope not, we’ll see.
* “Can I hide this box of penis pasta in your dressing room ?”
* Jack asks Lemon, “Have you ever been sexually harassed ?”, and quickly they both answer that one, “Of course not!”
* “I’m Fred, Rick is the other black guy!”
* Of course Jenna once dated OJ Simpson. Of course.
“
- She totally deserves to get custody of her kids!
- It’s not a custody case. Liz is trying to adopt.
- Then who were those kids you were yelling at the other day ?
- Those were some child actors who had lied about being able to break dance.
”
* “I think it’s a circus in the Philippines. The lion goes nuts and attacks all the clowns. How did we started talking about this, did you bring it up?”
* “Do you know what imperative means ? - Tell me! Tell me!”
* Graduate students are the worst people in the world, they just are.
* “Alright, take her to the hospital!”
* “My God, that’s her signature!”
* Davon had a plan, “I’ve already made provisions for my financial future. Check this out!” And he runs in front of a car, so he could sue. But the car happened to be Tracy’s of course: “You can’t sue me! I’m already being sued! Double indemnity!”
* “No. I just like seeing you in there.” Yep, don’t we all?
A return in great shape for 30 Rock! How much did you love this episode ? Are you sad not to know how Kenneth managed to get back unharmed ? And for a tough one now : what was your favorite line on the episode ?
