I have yet to write about 30 Rock, a show I enjoy to varying degrees. When it’s on, it’s on fire, but sometimes the cartoonish nature of the plots and characters send the show into the realm of the absurd. And not in a good way. But tonight’s episode was very satisfying. Building from last week’s show, Liz continued to have a series of chance encounters with possible “future husband” Wesley. He eventually came to the conclusion that they were destined to be one another’s “settling soul mates” (as if settling for dreamy guest star Michael Sheen is some kind of a compromise). Liz, ever the romantic, rejects him at episode’s end, but Wesley Snipes (in truth, the name does make more sense on a pale Brit), predicts she’ll return to him in two months in time for “sweeps” (or spring cleaning in England). Sheen and Tina Fey have an interesting chemistry. It’s not quite fireworks; who am I kidding, it’s not even close. But the beat of “you totally repulse me but I could do worse” is fun to watch, and I hope that Wesley, in the vein of Liz’s other love interests, becomes a semi-recurring character. And as the dentist who inadvertently brought this odd couple together, character actor James Rebhorn got to deliver a great monologue about his resentment for his cardiologist brother. Hey, he’s only killed one patient!
The revelation that Tracy was actually a loving husband was an obvious but amusing slant on the Tiger Woods scandal, the highlight of which was the leaked phone call of Tracy calling his wife from Bed Bath & Beyond then excited that she was calling him as he left his message because he loves her so much. Jack’s revelation that Kabletown could increase its profits by creating porn for women, which he assumes is someone listening to us complain about our problems (hmmm… he might be on to something there) sets up storyline for the weeks to come. Scott Bryce, the original Craig Montgomery from As the World Turns, got what might have been the line of the night when complaining about his blathering wife and crying that he is more than a “pair of ears.” Oh if only we could watch far more attractive representations of ourselves share similar problems with understanding, muscled, bespectacled supermen (the glasses show that he’s intelligent, and when he whips them off he’s revealed to be sensitive). I mean, I guess that’s what Jack and Co. are going for. Watch and see. And if you see Hot Tub Time Machine next weekend, pay attention to the science at work, not the time travelling mind you but the speed at which the tub heats up.
Telephoria 