What I’m Watching: 30 Rock

30 Rock: Season 5, Episode 7 “Brooklyn Without Limits” (B+)

Leave it to this show to pull off excessive product placement for a product that both isn’t real and is nothing like what Liz Lemon thinks it is. I very much enjoyed the deconstruction of the Brooklyn Without Limits brand, executed most effectively by Jack telling Liz that “handmade by usa” roughly translated to slave labor. My favorite reference, of course, is that made by Liz to finding a bag of discontinued candy Tastations in her horrendous pair of suspender jeans. I was a huge fan of the chocolate mint flavor, and the only place I can reliably find them these days is at my grandparents’ home. I don’t think this series has the clout to get them back into production, but I still appreciate the shout-out. The first positive reference to Jay Leno I’ve heard in a while was entertaining as well, condemning the chances of one Steve Austin, Jack’s candidate to defeat Regina Bookman. It was fun to see John Slattery cutting even looser than he does on “Mad Men” to portray the worst possible candidate in history, and Jack’s edited footage of whatever was salvageable that he said was amusing. I did enjoy the plotline with Jenna and Tracy, with the former trying to sabotage the latter while he actually managed to put on a decent presentation and move his HFPA audience. I’m not sure this will tempt Golden Globe voters to honor either Krakowski (a nominee back in 1998 for “Ally McBeal”) or Morgan, but it’s still a lot of fun.