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Tracy Morgan Collapses At Sundance 2012

traviswoods — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:55:40 +0000

As readers of ScreenCrave may have noticed over the weekend, the 2012 Sundance Film Festival is currently in full swing, which means a deluge of films, press conferences, interviews, reviews, snow… and, apparently, celebrity health emergencies. At least in the case of Tracy Morgan, who collapsed into unconsciousness on Sunday night outside of a Sundance event.

The 30 Rock and former Saturday Night Live comedian fainted outside of the Creative Coalition Spotlight Awards in Park City, Utah on Sunday night, where he had just finished giving a speech after giving an acceptance speech at the event.

An ambulance was called and took the star “to a nearby hospital for treatment and he was joined by his fiancée Megan Wollover.”

Due to Morgan’s troubled medical history (which involves alcohol abuse with diabetes and a kidney transplant), many in the media were quick to assume Morgan may have been abusing alcohol at the event. However, Lewis Kay, Morgan’s representative, “has put the incident down to exhaustion and altitude sickness and dismissed reports which suggested the star had been drinking.” Kay also states that any accusation that Morgan may have been drinking are completely false. Hang in there, Tracy.

What do you think of the Tracy Morgan news?

Source: Starpulse

’30 Rock’ To Satirize Tracy Morgan’s Homophobic Rant In Upcoming Episode

traviswoods — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:26:25 +0000

Well, this should be interesting. Remember last year when Tracy Morgan, during a stand-up routine, stated that he would stab his son to death if he discovered he was gay, “criticized the media for promoting a gay agenda, said lesbians were just women who were angry at men and dismissed the wave of anti-gay bullying, which was at the time making headlines following a series of teen suicides, ‘insignificant’’? Yes? Well, so do the writers of Morgan’s TV show, 30 Rock, as the comedy series will be tackling Morgan’s homophobic rant in an upcoming episode.

MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts has a cameo in the upcoming episode, and let the details slip yesterday:

“Well, you know how a lot of their episodes mirror their lives. They’ve incorporated [Morgan's rant] into the Tracy Jordan storyline…Liz Lemon writes Tracy’s apology on the show and says he’s not a homophobe, he’s an idiot. That offends idiots, so while NBC is being picketed by the LBGT community, now it’s also being picketed by idiots led by Denise Richards. She’s the leader of the idiots.”

Which is about the funniest thing you’re likely to hear all week, and yet another example of how 30 Rock is one of the best and most clever comedic TV shows on the air today, taking a meta-satiric swipe at Morgan’s real life follies. It’s also nice to see a show not shy away from the controversies created by its stars, but, rather, embrace them (and mock them) head-on instead of sweeping them under the rug. Good for them.

What do you think of 30 Rock’s reaction to Morgan’s rant?

Source: MTV News

Top 5 TV Comedies That Figured It Out

Damon Houx — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:05:01 +0000

As with every new year of television, the weakest shows that cost the most money are often cancelled after airing a handful of episodes. For example: this season, we’ve already seen The Playboy Club get shuttered, among others. TV shows are often about the ensemble, and most of their casts need time to work together to see how their chemistry develops over longer stretches of time. With comedies, that energy and chemistry is pivotal, and with so many shows put together through high-concepts or based around a name talent, everyone needs to find their footing. With that in mind, here are five shows that started rocky, and became brilliant.

5. 30 Rock:

When 30 Rock debuted, it was coming out the same time as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Both were thought to be “takes” on Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey’s version supposedly the more friendly one. It was going to be about a sketch show where Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) fought with unstable, Martin Lawrence-esque Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), and their struggles with the company’s owner Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin). Though the residue of that remains, the show never became about the fake show as much as it became a workplace comedy, and spun off in all sorts of other different directions once the ensemble found their groove. In 2006, Studio 60 had a brilliant pilot, and 30 Rock had a first episode with some scattered laughs. By mid-season, Studio 60 was done, and 30 Rock congealed into near-greatness. Alas, that groove meant removing Rachel Dratch from the show.

4. Cougar Town

When Cougar Town hit the scene, even the creators knew the title was the terrible hook. At the time, Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel spoke of how the Cougar Town was a joke premise that became the pitch, and so for the first episodes it followed the newly divorced Jules (Courtney Cox) as she started dating younger men. But that idea couldn’t sustain a show, and so it quickly became about her Cul-de-Sac friends, and their neighborhood adventures. Everyone hated the title so much that season two offered a running joke during the credit sequence where they would actively make fun of their own name. But once it became about the ensemble, the show became about it’s goofy, wine-drinking, but loving family of misfits.

3. The Office

The first episode of The Office was nearly (and originally) a shot-for-shot remake of the first BBC episode of The Office. The original ran for two British seasons, and had a Christmas Special, and is one of the most perfect TV shows to ever air. Steve Carell couldn’t really do the same sort of desperate and obnoxious as Ricky Gervais – no one could. When Carell did his take on David Brent (renamed Michael Scott) it came across as too loud for America, and the cast couldn’t slip as easily into the same roles without it coming across as a bad cover. The first season, which ran six episodes (smart for comedies), is mostly a misfire with some good stuff here and there. But over the summer break they figured out their angle on the character – he’s just a good salesman who got promoted beyond his skill set – and everyone else started falling into place.

2. Parks and Recreations

Ironically, what hurt Parks and Recreations was a similar problem to that of The Office. The concept seemed to be that Amy Poehler was going to play a Michael Scott-esque small town bureaucrat whose reach exceeded her grasp. She made a new best friend (Rashida Jones), and kept interacting with a possible love interest (Paul Schneider). Like most of the shows on this list, those elements are now either removed (in Paul Schneider’s case, he left after season 2) or reconfigured to better fit another workplace comedy. The main thing was figuring out Pohler’s Leslie Knope, and that she shouldn’t be incompetent so much as perky. Once they made her goofy and loveable, they had a lead to hang the show upon.

1. Seinfeld:

The best example of giving a show a chance to develop its own aesthetic, Seinfeld started out as another in a long line of sit-coms based around a stand-up in the hopes of repeating the success of The Cosby Show, etc. Jerry Seinfeld played a variation on himself and had wacky friends. The first season – which ran four episodes – was hurt by studio interference, with Julia-Louis Dreyfuss’s Elaine character acting as an ex-girlfriend the studio wanted to make a possible love interest. Once the show was free from those sorts of notes, it kept getting weirder, better and less forced sit-com. Ironically, it’s now one of the templates for situational comedies.

30 Rock: Season 5, Episode 22: Everything Sunny All the Time Always – TV Review

Joseph Oliveto — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:55:47 +0000

This week’s episode of “30 Rock” brings in two very special guests from the world of politics. Ok, to be fair, one of those “guests” is merely an actor impersonating a famed political figure, but the performance is so frighteningly spot-on that we’d be safe in pretending that it was the real thing. Sadly, the other guest didn’t quite deliver the goods, but that doesn’t ruin the episode by a long shot. Take a look at our review to see how we felt…

The Players:

Cast: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Elizabeth Banks, Tracy Morgan, Jack McBrayer, Jane Krakowski

Episode Title: “Everything Sunny All the Time Always”

Upon realizing that she could improve her life if she only devoted as much attention to herself as she does to her TV show, Liz embarks on a mission to clean up her apartment, dress nice, and perhaps even be happy. However, a plastic bag caught in a tree outside her window threatens to ruin her self-improvement project. In the meantime, Jack learns that Avery has been kidnapped by Kim Jong-il, and Tracy is upset to learn that his entourage has an inside joke that he’s unfamiliar with.

The Good:

Kim Jong-il: As a show that often tackles the absurdity of modern life, “30 Rock” is nearly peerless. However, while it tends to focus its satire on elements of pop culture, it is also tremendously effective when it tackes on politics. Thus, its interpretation of crazy dictator Kim Jong-il is brilliant, primarily because it barely seems different from the real thing. His insistence that North Korea is abundant in food, sunshine, and all things any growing country needs is eerily similar to the real man’s own misinformation. Kudos, Margaret Cho.
Talking Bag: Speaking of absurdity, Liz has an interesting conversation this week with a plastic bag. While in theory that sounds too ridiculous to work, it is actually pretty humorous. “I’ll still be up here when they take you out in my cousin: a body bag.” There is no reason why that should be funny, but somehow, it is.
Jack’s politics: Casting Alec Baldwin as an extreme conservative has always been genius, and we are reminded of that in this episode when he is fine with the fact that Avery has endured extreme physical torture at the hands of her captors, but horrified that she claims to have rejected capitalism. Baldwin pulls off the reaction perfectly.

The So-So:

Smooth move, Ferguson: Tracy’s unrelenting efforts to recreate the events that led up to his entourage creating an inside joke without him comes off as only slightly funny. It’s hard for anything involving Tracy to ever be unfunny, but this subplot feels like something that the writer threw in to fill up space, not exactly knowing where it would go. When it reaches its conclusion, we’re left a little bored.

The Bad:

Condoleeza Rice: Nabbing Condoleeza Rice for a guest appearance seems like it should be instant comedy gold, but the sad truth is that she lacks the acting skill to keep us entertained. She can’t deliver a line believably, and when paired against Alec Baldwin, who can bring the funny like nobody’s business, this becomes even more painfully apparent. It was a great idea, but in practice, it just didn’t work out.

Overall:

Hey, it’s no classic episode, but it was certainly funny, thanks primarily to the hilarious antics of Kim Jong-il. We’re not used to seeing “30 Rock” tackle the subject of crazy dictators, but given the way the show pulled it off this week, we’d love to see them revisit this territory. Thankfully, it looks like we aren’t through with the North Korean ruler just yet. Tune in to see what else has has in store.

Rating: 8/10

“30 Rock” airs every thursday on NBC!

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What did you think of last night’s episode? Tell us in the comments!

30 Rock: Season 5 Episode 19: I Heart Connecticut – TV Review

Joseph Oliveto — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:30:28 +0000

“30 Rock” is so attractive to fans of comedy because the writing is extremely sharp, reminding viewers that what goes on behind the camera is just as important as what goes on in front of it. Luckily, this week, both elements were pretty strong, and while there were a few missteps along the way, it generally made for a good half hour of entertainment.

The Players:

Cast: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Scott Adsit, Jack McBrayer

Episode Title: “I Heart Connecticut”

Upon realizing that Tracy is not in Africa but is indeed in NYC, Liz enlists the aid of Kenneth to seek out the “TGS” star and save the show. In the meantime, Jenna spends her free time playing a victim in a torture-porn movie, but the project is low on funding. Back at the “TGS” office, Pete discovers an ability he never knew he had. Or, at least, so he thinks.

The Good:

Rob Riggle: Rob Riggle may never be the leading man, but he always makes anything he is involved in slightly funnier. He never plays clever characters, but he is good at portraying the loud, obnoxious and antagonistic types. His constant jokes about Pete’s wife aren’t funny in spite of their immature nature; rather, they make us laugh precisely because Riggle is so good at playing immature characters.
Torture Porn: The Saw ripoff which Jenna appears in feels eerily like the real thing. In an alternate universe, we could see ourselves heading to the theatre to check this one out. (Ok, no we couldn’t, but that’s only because these movies suck. If we liked them, we’d like this, though.)
Clever Writing: “30 Rock” always sports some commendable comedy writing, but tonight’s episode stood out in particular, with line’s referring to the “Bastille” of Bastille Day as a stripper and Jack commenting on the fact that “NBC has produced more failed pilots than the French Air Force.” Clever stuff.

The So-So:

Searching for Tracy: The quest to find Tracy brings a few laughs this episode, but overall, it doesn’t quite work. The scene at the pizzeria should have been a moment of midly absurd comedy, but instead it felt awkward and forced. The final confrontation between “Clemon” and Tracy is reasonably entertaining, but there aren’t any moments that had us really laughing out loud.
Corporate Interests: When Jenna’s torture porn movie fails to acquire sufficient funding, it seeks it out in unconventional places, and while this leads to a slightly clever commentary on the nature of corporate interference in Hollywood, it comes on a little too obvious. The jokes forecast themselves so that we know what’s coming. Good comedy involves being surprised, and this gag wasn’t all that surprising.

The Bad:

Pete’s fantasy: The show plays a major fake-out on us when we learn that an entire subplot occurred strictly within the imagination of Pete. This is definitely an example in which the writer was trying to gain some comedy out of the element of surprise, but sadly, this is a surprise which did not work at all, leaving us more baffled than amused.

Overall:

A very clever episode with a few weak spots, but certainly nothing noticeable enough to qualify it as a disappointment. The parts that worked did so very strongly, and those that didn’t work were still more or less admirable in theory. And of course, we’re just happy that Tracy is coming back.

Rating: 7/10

“30 Rock” airs every thursday night on NBC!

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What did you think of last night’s episode? Tell us in the comments!

Alec Baldwin Comes Under Fire For Claiming That ’30 Rock’ Is Ending

traviswoods — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:18:59 +0000

Yesterday, we reported that Alec Baldwin had announced that 30 Rock will be ending next year due to contract expirations. And today, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the 30 Rock star has come under fire for making the announcement, and is scrambling to backtrack.

The actor quickly laid down a blog at The Huffington Post to backpedal:

“I want to take the opportunity to state that although my days on network TV may be numbered, I hope 30 Rock goes on forever. Or at least as long as everyone involved desires…Next year hopefully won’t be the last… Kenneth can run the network. Jenna will get her own talk show. Tracy will become Mayor of New York. Then resign to go raise exotic reptiles. And Lemon will go do…. just about anything she sets her mind to. Here’s to five more seasons.”

It all sounds like standard-issue Hollywood backtracking, as sources close to THR state that there are no plans of 30 Rock to go off the air.

This isn’t the first time that Baldwin has stuck his foot in his mouth or declared the end of something—in 2009 he declared that he was quitting acting, and in 2010 he stated that he would not renew his 30 Rock contract in 2012. Now, only time will tell.

What do you think of the Baldwin news?

Alec Baldwin Claims ’30 Rock’ Will End Next Year

traviswoods — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:05:01 +0000

Well, fans of excellent television might have a reason or two to lament 2012 (aside from it being the end of the world, according to all the billboards I’ve been seeing lately)—according to Alec Baldwin, the next season of 30 Rock will be (brace yourselves) the last!

According to Coming Soon, Alec Baldwin was at the National Dance Institute’s annual fund-raising gala last night, where he dropped the following nugget reporters:

“I will tell you one thing… And that is our show next year is our last year of the show.”

“Our contracts are expired [in 2012], and Tina is gonna have a big career directing films and writing. She’s going to be the next Elaine May. She’ll be great.”

Both NBC and Tina Fey have yet to comment on the story, but I have a pretty good one: this sucks.

That said, maybe it’s a good thing for 30 Rock to come to an end while it’s still excellent, instead of just going on and on and on and on and grinding to a desperately unfunny lull for about ten years or so (I’m looking at you, Saturday Night Live).

What do you think of the 30 Rock news? Will you be sad to see it go?

Tina Fey Hits Back At Sarah Palin In Her New Book, ‘Bossypants’

traviswoods — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:02:53 +0000

Tiny Fey covers a lot of ground in her new book, Bossypants (“Why is this book called Bossypants? One, because the name Two and a Half Men was already taken”), from discussing sexism and ageism in Hollywood, to her hit TV show 30 Rock, to getting advice from Oprah Winfrey. But the most interesting sections seem to deal with The One They Call Palin.

First up, she drops an interesting nugget about Palin’s offer to allow her daughter Bristol (noted Dancing with the Stars and sex-before-marriage enthusiast) to babysit Fey’s daughter during a shooting of Saturday Night Live:

“She offered her daughter Bristol to babysit Alice during the show if need be. I thanked her, saying Alice was too little to stay for the show. She always went home with her dad after the dinner break. I can’t imagine Bristol would have been too psyched to do that anyway; it was her 18th birthday, she was in New York City, and I had made a vicious joke about her a week earlier. But I appreciated the mom-ness of Mrs. Palin’s offer.”

She also notes how, when running through lines as Sarah Palin with Senator John McCain during his SNL appearance a week before the 2008 election, McCain just kept giggling nervously—“It’s just weird,” he said.

Fey then hits back about Palin’s claims that she (Fey) “had exploited and profited from” the Palin family due to her impression, by first saying that she refuses to respond to such a claim… “Although if I were to respond, I would probably just say, ‘Nice reality show.’”

Clever. Bossypants is out in stores today.

What do you think about Fey’s statements?

Alec Baldwin Wins Comedy Award; Donates 1.5 Million To The Arts

traviswoods — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:14:56 +0000

Well, Alec Baldwin’s been shoring up some good karma lately—after donating more than a million dollars to the arts lately, the veteran actor just picked up a trophy at the first-ever Comedy Awards.

According to Playbill, the first-ever Comedy Awards were held on March 26^th at the Hammerstein Ballroom (and is set to air on Comedy Central, Spike TV, TV Land, VH1, CMT, Logo and Nick At Nite on April 10^th). And, in addition to dishing out awards to Eddie Murphy (Career Icon Award), David Letterman (Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence), and Modern Family (Best Comedy Series), the Comedy Awards bestowed Alec Baldwin with a Best Comedy Actor in Television Award, for his killer turn as Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock.

And while it was certainly his insanely honed comedy chops that garnered him the awards, his good karma as of late certainly couldn’t have hurt—according to Ecorazzi, the actor has been donating massive chunks of moolah to the arts: he recently donated one million dollars to the New York Philharmonic, and $500 thousand to the Roundabout Theatre Company, which is all “part of his plan to draw awareness to the power of the arts – and help turn the tide in deep funding cuts slamming groups around the country.”

What do you think about Baldwin’s good deeds?

30 Rock: Season 5 Episode 18: Plan B – TV Review

Joseph Oliveto — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:50:56 +0000

“30 Rock” is the best kind of sitcom: one that lets us know that the writers are just as important as the actors. As we slowly (and thankfully) say goodbye to laugh tracks on our TV shows, it’s up to the writing staff to deliver comedy that is actually funny. Last night’s episode was another one that harped on this fact, but dammit, it’s difficult to harp on it enough.

The Players:

Cast: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Will Arnett, Jack McBrayer

Episode Title: “Plan B”

With Tracy taking some time off in “Africa,” the network decides to put “TGS” on hiatus, forcing Liz and the rest of her staff to look for work elsewhere. Sadly, Liz discovers that show biz doesn’t exactly value its writers. In the meantime, Jack must seek out the assistance of a former rival after acquring TWINKS, a network for gay men which he finds himself unable to manage successfully.

The Good:

Aaron Sorkin: “30 Rock” has often been able to score some impressive guest stars, but writing geeks were thrilled last night when the one and only Aaron Sorkin, writer of The Social Network, made an appearance as himself. His dialogue wasn’t even that funny, but him being there was reason enough to get excited. The fact that he was applying for a job on a Nick Lachey show was icing on the cake, as far as we’re concerned.
Writers: Well, while we’re on the topic, we might as well once again commend “30 Rock” for being the kind of show that not only celebrates great writing by hiring skilled people, but also takes jabs at Hollywood for not giving enough respect to people who practice the profession. One of the best moments in the episode comes when Liz encounters a poster for Transformers 5 with the words “Written By Nobody” printed across the bottom. Sad, but probably close to the truth.
Will Arnett: It might be a scientific fact that everything from sitcoms to funerals becomes considerably funnier when Will Arnett is involved. His return to the show may have been brief, but his emotional breakdown when he thinks about his children is classic.
Tracy: Tracy’s attempts to convince everyone that he’s actually in Africa make for some of the funniest jokes on the show. He utters phrases like “Simba rafiki click click” and says he is hanging out with such people as “Invictus.” Who knew you could pack so many pop cultural references to an entire continent into only a couple lines of dialogue?

The So-So:

Pete’s jokes: No comedy show is ever perfect, and one of the few recurring problems that plagues “30 Rock” is the way in which it awkwardly sets up some of its jokes. For example, when Pete discusses returning to the profession of teaching, he says that his early experiences were just like Dead Poets Society, in that he got fired. That’s kind of funny, but it sounded a little forced.

The Bad:

Jack: Alec Baldwin wasn’t given enough humorous lines last night. That’s not a major complaint, but he has proved to us that he’s a terrifically talented comedic actor, and we want to see hom have more opportunities to deliver jokes.

Overall:

A very funny episode with an excellent guest appearance and some very clever lines. This is why we watch “30 Rock,” and as long as they keep delivering strong entertainment of this caliber, we’ll keep tuning in. Thanks for remembering the writers, guys.

Rating: 8/10

“30 Rock” airs every Thursday night on NBC!

Photo Gallery:

What did you think of last night’s episode? Did you enjoy it as much as we did?

30 Rock: Season 5 Episode 15: It’s Never Too Late for Now – TV Review

Joseph Oliveto — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:36:35 +0000

Well it looks like Matt Damon is officially out of the picture on “30 Rock.” It’s a shame, since he did a great job in the role he was given, but we all knew that this day was coming. This week’s episode lets us mourn the loss vicariously through Liz, who takes yet another romantic failure rather harshly.

The Players:

Director: John Riggi
Writer: Vali Chandrasekaran
Cast: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, Scott Adsit, Judah Friedlander

Episode Title: “It’s Never Too Late for Now”

After breaking up with Carol, Liz embraces the life of a spinster by adopting a cat (who she names “Emily Dickinson”) and officially giving up on the dating game. Her coworkers, however, aren’t going to allow it, and Jenna takes Liz out for a night on the town which ends suspiciously well. In the meantime, Pete and Frank start a band.

The Good:

Jack’s nanny: Jack may be a skilled and ruthless businessman, but he’s no match for his nanny during negotiations. Her brief scene is perfect. The way she calmly peels and eats an orange while watching Jack dig a hole of desperation is hilarious; the way Jack imitates it during his negotiation with Kabletown later is even better.
Pete’s band: The subplot involving Pete and Frank’s attempts to form a band is entertaining and allows these two characters to shine. The song they eventually record is a perfect example of bad 80s rock, which for some reason will never stop being funny.
Liz: The attempt to make Liz even more of a spinster than she already is plays out very humorously. Every detail is spot-on, from the cat’s name to Liz’s decision to join a book club that reads Agatha Christie novels (as well as her decision to stop reading said novels when she discovers that there are film versions).

The So-So:

Liz’s confrontation: The scene in which Liz accuses her coworkers of setting her up at the club goes on for a little too long, and the emotional content seems like something that would work better on an episode of “Full House.” Ok, so it’s nice to see that these characters care about each other every now and then, but the comedy wasn’t strong enough for this scene to work as well as it could have.

The Bad:

Where’s Tracy? Tracy doesn’t need to be in every episode, but his limited role this week is a bit of a disappointment. Liz and Jack keep the comedy flowing, but Tracy is the one who usually scores the real laugh-out-loud moments, which were somewhat lacking this week.

Overall:

A strong episode that gave Liz a rare opportunity to enjoy the single life. While the jokes could have been stronger, it was fairly consistent comedically. However, this whole Kabletown/GE merger subplot is getting old. It feels like an in-joke for those who work at NBC.

Rating: 7/10

“30 Rock” airs every Thursday night on NBC!

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What did you think of last night’s episode? Tell us in the comments!

30 Rock: Season 5 Episode 14: Double-Edged Sword – TV Review

Joseph Oliveto — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:46:17 +0000

“30 Rock” may not be as consistently entertaining as “Arrested Development” was, but it fills the gap that show left by providing viewers with a source of strong comedic writing. While this season has been somewhat uneven, last night’s episode was a well-rounded example of high-quality humor that did what it is meant to do: keep us interested for half an hour.

Read our review to get our full thoughts…

The Players:

Director: Don Scardino
Writer: Kay Cannon, Tom Ceraulo
Cast: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Matt Damon, Elizabeth Banks, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, John Cho

Episode Title: “Double-Edged Sword”

Liz’s doomed relationship (aren’t they all?) with Carol comes to a head this week when she challenges his authority as a pilot. Jack and Avery go to Canada together to attend the G8 conference, but they try desperately to make it back to the United States when Avery begins to go into early labor. In the meantime, Tracy learns that winning an EGOT isn’t easy.

The Good:

Matt Damon: Gotta hand it to him; the man can do comedy fantastically, and whenever he’s on this show, he is a genuine scene-stealer. Sadly, with this episode ending as it did, we’ve probably seen the last of him.
Conservative Couple: Jack and Avery’s conservative politics could have become an old joke long ago, but the writers are clever enough to continue finding humor in this topic. Their reaction to learning that Americans aren’t making their own meth anymore: “What is happening to American manufacturing?” Their response to realizing that if their daughter is born in Canada, she won’t be able to be President: “Well, if we were in Kenya we’d be ok.”
In-flight movie: Sometimes the smallest jokes are the funniest. For example, when Liz and her fellow passengers are stuck on a plane, the situation only gets worse when they learn that their in-flight movie is Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole. The writers could not have picked a better bad movie.
Potato chips: While we’re on the topic of minor but effective jokes, when Liz confronts Carol and asks why the passengers can’t at least be treated to some potato chips while they wait for the plane to take off, he responds by telling her, “Those bags are designed to be opened while in the air. If I open them here someone could die!”

The So-So:

Elizabeth Banks: It is great that the writers are finally giving her some comedy, but they don’t give her quite enough. As usual, she does a great job with what she has to work with, but even the best actor can’t rewrite the script.
John Cho: You don’t throw Harold into an episode if you’re only going to give him one funny line. You don’t.

The Bad:

Tracy: He’s usually the best part of any “30 Rock” episode, but this time around he just doesn’t have enough to do. Hopefully he’ll take center stage again. His character seems to work best when he’s the focus of an episode.

Overall:

A very effective episode that gets the laughs and does a decent job of balancing the various plotlines it handles. We turn to “30 Rock” for witty comedy writing, and this week delivered.

Rating: 8/10

“30 Rock” airs every Thursday night on NBC!

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What did you think of last night’s episode? Tell us in the comments!

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30 Rock: Season 5, Episode 22: Everything Sunny All the Time Always – TV Review

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Episode Title: “Everything Sunny All the Time Always”

The Good:

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Overall:

Rating: 8/10

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30 Rock: Season 5 Episode 19: I Heart Connecticut – TV Review

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Episode Title: “I Heart Connecticut”

The Good:

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Rating: 7/10

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30 Rock: Season 5 Episode 18: Plan B – TV Review

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Episode Title: “Plan B”

The Good:

The So-So:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 8/10

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30 Rock: Season 5 Episode 15: It’s Never Too Late for Now – TV Review

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Episode Title: “It’s Never Too Late for Now”

The Good:

The So-So:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 7/10

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30 Rock: Season 5 Episode 14: Double-Edged Sword – TV Review

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Episode Title: “Double-Edged Sword”

The Good:

The So-So:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 8/10

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