What I’m Watching: 30 Rock

30 Rock: Season 6, Episode 20 “Queen of Jordan 2: The Mystery of the Phantom Pooper” (C+)

I really didn’t like this format the first time the show tried it last season, and it’s not entirely improved this time around. It’s not clear to me why this show can’t simply have a normal episode, instead going from theme to theme after last week’s live installment. It doesn’t feel repetitive like reused tactics do on other shows, but at a certain point, it’s just too irreverent. I don’t see why Angie needed to return to being central when Tracy has been relatively entertaining recently, and his lone, hardly crazed contribution to this episode is to be lazy and ultimately purport that he had planned it all along so that Angie could get into a big blow-up fight with her husband in front of the cameras. Their cries of divorce and cheating likely won’t go anywhere, and I hope we don’t have to see more of their relationship this way anytime soon. Avery’s return has been a long time coming, and the invention of Gus and Russ felt highly unnecessary as Jack and Diana strove to deceive the cameras about their illicit romance, before Jack planted one on Diana and had to start kissing everyone, including D’Fwan, on the lips to try to make it seem unimportant. Liz’s drama with the baby and the frequent invocation of “Rude!” by all of the players were only funny to a point. Maybe it’s because I don’t watch the reality genre, but give me a straight episode of television any day over this.