Hey, I don't know if you read my last recap of 30 Rock (it happened mere hours ago) but I was complaining about how 30 Rock relies to heavily on their guest stars and not enough on the already stellar cast they have. And guess what? They totally schooled me with their second episode of the night "The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell."
This episode was all about a temporarily fraction separating things that really should be together. It was Liz without Jenna, Tracey without presents and Kenneth without his page job.
Due to Jenna's success in a new Gary Marshall movie (MLK Day) she becomes fame crazed and feels that she can abuse Liz. Here was when we got those guest apperances by Emma Stone and Nick Cannon. It was a fantastic joke considering it's been made before, even on the NBC sister show Saturday Night Live. Tracey feels left out because he didn't get presents for his birthday....eh, I could give or take that plot. Much to Kenneth's dismay, Jack announces that he's cancelling the page program so that he can utilize computers yet things go horribly wrong due to user and computer error.
Most of it worked (like I said, I don't really care about that Tracey bit) and it was refreshing to see a concise yet creative episode. No guest stars, no gimmicks. Simple and true 30 Rock with great pop culture references and one liners. Actually, the quotable moments of the episode was perhaps the best part; references to The Hunger Games, Charlie Bit My Finger, and Sex and the City.
Keep up the non-guest starring, non gimmicky episodes of 30 Rock, Tina & Co! They're so much more rewarding than anything with Kelsey Grammar.
SumOlogy: That's more like it, ya'll.
Grade:8/10
Extra Quotes:
"I drove all the way up here listening to Garrison Keiler and getting psyched for a fun day." -Hank
"Did you hear about my fecalist murdering my kabbalaist?" -Jenna
"Dump sir, dump all over me." -Kenneth
