What I’m Watching: 30 Rock

30 Rock: Season 5, Episode 13 “Qué Sorpresa!” (B)

This episode isn’t wholly terrific, but I did find it to be substantially more even than last week’s installment. Ken Howard was a great guest star, and there aren’t many people who can seem to intimidate, or at least command the respect of, Jack Donaghy. I loved the pitch that Jack tried to make to Hank involving the voice-activated television that went awry when it started listening to the voices of the “Law & Order: SVU” characters onscreen. The similarities between Hank and Kenneth were amusing, mostly because of Jack’s devastation upon realizing them. Jack’s frustration with Kenneth’s lack of a desire to get something in exchange for Jack stealing his idea was quite amusing, and was one of the better recent uses of Kenneth. Liz certainly had a blast pretending to a pregnant, and, for the most part, the plotline worked. The funniest joke of the episode was the introduction of Carmen Chao, whose ethnicity remains a hilarious mystery thanks to her incredible mastery of complex pronunciation in a number of different languages. While it’s somewhat amusing to see Tracy and Jenna invest so much energy into determining who gets to wear a free sweatshirt, I do feel that they could both be better used, especially in an episode that presents the opportunity for them to pitch their own ideas to the president of the company. I don’t know why Lutz, who just isn’t that great of a character, has been giving such a spotlight recently. I’ve always preferred Twofer, and not just for the reasons that got him the nickname.