Must-see TV on Thursday night really is back.
Tomorrow’s episode of “30 Rock” (9:30 p.m. on NBC/4) may be the funniest episode of the season — yes! even more laffable than “The Office” Christmas party. This is one show that is hitting its stride before our very eyes, getting better each week and pretty much obliterating the notion that it was an afterthought to the misconceived “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.”
There’s so much to love about this one: Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) ends up as Jack’s “date” to a birthday party in honor of Gerhardt Hapsburg, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. And of course Jenna (Jane Krakowski) schemes her way there as well because she wants to have her Grace Kelly moment.
But Gerhardt is no fairy-tale prince: He’s a shrunken, deformed halfwit played to comic perfection by Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman), which reminds us of what a great comic Reubens is (was) before he was sidetracked by publicly being the master of his domain. At the party, Jack runs into his ex-wife (Isabella Rossellini) — and suddenly Liz becomes more than a beard.
Did I mention that Liz — an amalgam of Mary Richards, Rhoda Morgenstern and Carrie Bradshaw — has become my favorite female TV character this season? Sorry, Chloe. Sorry, Pam.
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Comments (1)
Ruebens was absolutely amazing in this episode...and also terrifying. My only regret is that he most likely won't be returning for future episodes, except perhaps [Spoiler alert!] as an even more terrifying ghost....