Back in January, we called Tina Fey “the first true female Woody Allen†— and quickly added, “Which is not to discount Cathy Guisewite and her clear influence on 30 Rock.†And wouldn’t you know it: Last night, when Liz Lemon ran into her starchy anti-husband Wesley (last name Snipes) at a showing of Hot Tub Time Machine (nice product placement! We’re totally seeing that), their inevitable bickering led Wesley to compare Liz’s life to “something out of a Cathy cartoon — it just won’t end.†Now, comparing 30 Rock to Cathy isn’t exactly obscure or brilliant, but to do it in such a terrific episode — really, a Cathy parody — reminds us of just how sharp this show remains.
Things got off to a lightning-paced start, with Jack’s company-wide meeting that devolved, randomly and almost immediately, into city rivalries, with Boston-bred Jack throwing a battery at Liz in return for her Philly snowball, and all of it culminating in Jenna shoving a man away from the mike and breaking out into “Amazing Grace.†The stories that followed — Jack trying to fit in at Kabletown (and suggesting “porn for women,†meh), Liz contemplating Wesley (Snipes) for a “settling soul mate,†and Tracy dealing with the world’s discovery of his fidelity to his wife — were all quite comfortably situated in the show’s wheelhouse, but great vehicles for the gags, a few of which we can’t resist bullet-pointing here.
• Tracy’s Ben and Jerry’s flavor, “Adultaraisin.â€
• Tracy’s Post headline, “Old Faithful.â€
• The glimpse of the lesbian and the Hasid canoodling in the dentist’s recovery room.
• Jenna confusing Tiger Woods and O.J. Simpson. Yikes!
• Jack “the Master Baiter†Donaghy
• “I innovate products.â€
• Don Geiss encased in Carbonite.
• And greatest of all, Fresh Ass: Based on the Novel Tush by Assfire
And of course, Tracy Jordan took his shirt off: