Sunday, January 22, 2012

What I’m Watching: 30 Rock


30 Rock: Season 6, Episode 2 “Idiots Are People Two!” (C+)

After a strong premiere last week, this second installment returns to the same kind of untethered wackiness we’ve seen over the course of the past few seasons, making for a wild and generally uneven half hour. Starting with a moment that required an extensive flashback is an overused device, and it didn’t prove terribly interesting here, especially since the show ended on a “To Be Continued” screen, which is an unnecessary move for a sitcom like this. James Marsden’s appearance as Criss, Liz’s new boyfriend, wasn’t very engaging, and I really wasn’t a fan of the imaginary Jack taking out his wallet and mocking him in Liz’s head. The one element of that storyline that I did enjoy was Jack asking Liz to be friends with benefits and deducing that the only reason she would say no is that she was in a relationship. Tracy’s antics were nothing new, and protesting with all of the other idiots was just the kind of over-the-top nonsense that this show has come to know all too well. Involving Brooke Shields as a closet idiot may have elicited laughs from some, but it didn’t do much for me. Now that the world hasn’t come to an end, Kenneth is back to his old ways, being manipulated by anyone with a desire to achieve something with a patsy along for the ride. Something as simple as changing a light bulb couldn’t have gone more wrong, and I did laugh at Kenneth’s reaction to people and their proximity to the mercury.

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