Monsters of Television

“Would a mother be planning a sex tour of Vietnam this spring?”

People have been cooling on 30 Rock in recent seasons (aside from award givers), but I still find it enjoyable and often times very funny, but sometimes it offers a little bit more. While I found “Klaus and Greta” to the funnier of the two episodes this week, “Black Light Attack!” give that something a little more, and that’s learning to grow up. A little bit, anyway.

This week has the cast (specifically Jenna and Tracy) trying to grow up. I really appreciate the show carrying through on Tracy’s quest for a daughter (especially after dropping Jefferson from the plot), and I was happy to see him going about in the only way he could figure out how to do that: bring in one of the two female writers from TGS to be the female member of the entourage. His exchange with her during board game night, while nothing incredibly new even from a satirical standpoint, does allow his character to have another epiphany moment like at the end of “Klaus and Greta.” It’s nice seeing wacky Tracy remain wacky but also acknowledging that he’s getting older and wanting to fill his life with more than just success, money, and extramarital affairs.

Jenna, on the other hand, doesn’t want to acknowledge she’s getting any older (of course, she never has). But I’m hoping that her own experiences will pave the way for her story to compliment Tracy’s. She’s still looking for her idea of success, and hopefully, based on the applause she got at the taping of the Gossip Girl episode, she’ll realize that she can still achieve that success. My hope would be for her to try and land a role on Damages as a rival to to Glenn Close’s character. I’d still like for her character to remain somewhat intact (insecure, neurotic), but develop her character a bit more.

As Myles McNutt noted, this week’s episodes have made Liz fairly sexual. While she’s certainly been more aggressive (and let’s see if that holds up when Jon Hamm’s oblivious Dr. Baird returns next month) the show at least provides a bit of a reason in Sanjay Gupta’s idea of the “Dirty 30s.” Her affair with Danny wasn’t terribly interesting, and Jack’s reasons for wanting her to shut it down didn’t really work for me. The downside to it is, of course, Jack’s confession of love for Liz. This will no doubt drive the Liz/Jack shippers crazy (What’s the name for that pairing? Lack? Lick? Probably Lick. Damn shippers.) with hopes of the two finally getting together. Only in the last episode, folks. And as a dream. Patrick Duffy will be the in the shower.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• To quickly bounce off Nick’s point about the show needing to address NBC’s current plights, I very much agree, but I also think the show needs to remember that next season, Kenneth has to either take over NBC or kill everyone on the show, as per Jack’s prediction in “Blind Date” from way back in season 1.
• First Matt Lauer and now Sanjay Gupta. Maybe someone from Fox and Friends would like to play…?
• Of course Jack wears a suit to a hockey game. (What is he, a farmer?)
• Since she hasn’t responded to a single one of my texts, I appreciate any joke that takes Carla Bruni down a peg.
• Kudos for the Tron reference. As if I needed another reason to go and watch the trailer for Tron Legacy. Again.
• How old is Kenneth? My money is on 65.