Last laughs (for now) on '30 Rock'

Verne Gay | Off Camera

May 8, 2008

30 Rock. Tonight at 9:30 on NBC/4.

Reason to watch: The season finale! Plus, cameos by Matthew Broderick and Edie Falco.

What it's about: Liz ( Tina Fey) is on an emotional roller coaster and may or may not be pregnant. Meanwhile, Jack ( Alec Baldwin) has scored a (temporary) gig in the public service sector in the waning days of the Bush administration - resigned to the possibility that the GE chairmanship will elude his grasp; Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) really wants to go to the Beijing Olympics but just can't put together a "personal essay" for the application. Head page Donny Lawson (Paul Scheer) isn't making it easy for him, either. Oh, and after joining the Bushies, Jack badly wants to leave the moribund lame-duck folks - who have run out of money and are counting the days - but his immediate superior, "Cooter Burger" (the nickname the president gave Matthew Broderick's character), won't let him leave. Let's see ... hmmm ... what else? There are plot elements involving pens, leaking ceilings, vomit, knees, bull semen, snack food and Cinco de Mayo. Blink and you'll miss Falco (toward the end).

Bottom line:

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Same as always. Very funny with two laugh-out-loud lines at the end. McBrayer's Kenneth is a scene thief (more than usual) while the storyline with Jane Krakowski's Jenna is a winner, too. Meanwhile, Broderick's comic chops are on full display here. Cooter's a sad, misbegotten, lumpen bureaucrat who desperately needs Jack's wisdom, vision and passion. (Jack's!)