Monsters of Television

We’re all waiting. With everything that’s been happening with Comcast, Conan, Leno, and the crash and burn that is NBC, 30 Rock has been that bastion of satire poised in the right position with courageous-enough showrunners to address the comedy of errors that is their network. So we wait with bated breath for the episode (episodes? arc? season?) that addresses the mess Jeff Zucker and company have made of the once stalwart network. This is not that episode.

But it’s pretty good anyway.

Though it doesn’t have heads of entertainment making the self-destructive decisions that we know will eventually come, it does have Jack chasing down a childhood love’s answering machine to delete a drunk dial (which, of course, because it’s Jack, is probably more eloquent than any of us could make sober), Tracy coming to terms with the fact that he likes to have sex with the daughters of others (illuminating the grim truth of having a daughter of his own), and Jenna having a contractual romance with James Franco (to hide his obsession with a Japanese body pillow name Komiko). Also, the family member Liz outs over the holidays comes to New York and indirectly introduces her to the possibility of a threesome. Seriously.

While this episode was funny and I know it’s a little much to ask for a rush piece to capitalize on the times, I’m really pumped to see what they do. Sure, there are all kinds of storylines and characters that they’re focusing on since they’ve been writing this season since well before all this recent drama started. Whatever. I’m starting the hype machine now. Step up, Fey.