The Morning After: 30, A.D.

"Mission Accomplished" parodies? Really? 5 years later? Lazy lazy lazy.

Plus, their Jefferson Davis statue looked more like Stonewall Jackson.

I can see where you're coming from on the Arrested Development comparisons, but I think it's kind of a stretch.

Hilarious episode all around, and I nominate the best joke of the evening as going to Alec Baldwin dressed like a cigar-chomping Douglas MacArthur.

Strong episode, except for the lame "Gay for Jaime" bit. If Tina Fey is looking to really push some buttons, how about using Jena in a storyline about the Jena 6?

@Alejandro: BTW, I hope this doesn't read as my saying that 30 Rock is as good as AD. It's very good but not its equal. But it's the one network show right now doing the same *kind* of comedy--in particular, the whole aspect of creating this alternate world of recurring characters, products, events, and so on. Dr. Spaceman and the Sheinhardt Wig Company, e.g., are very A.D.-esque elements.

@James - and you're forgetting the best "in-joke" a la AD on 30 Rock: when Tina Fey is dressed as Harry Potter at Kenneth's Halloween party in a flashback, the music in the background is Tracy's "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah". Totally a AD style joke (although AD had way too many to list...Lucille/Loose seal, the hand chair, teaching lessons, etc.)

Not my favorite episode of 30 Rock, but pretty good. I do have a question, though, James - is it possible that this episode may not be AS good as normal because as we get closer to the end of "new" 30 Rock episodes, there was less chance for re-writes/re-shoots due to the strike?

@Chaddogg: If I remember my brief talk with Tina Fey correctly, they were shooting only one more already-written episode after the strike began. I can't swear to that, but if that's the case my guess is this was shot before the strike. That, and the fact that the exteriors looked awfully warm for the November that we've had in NYC.

"Shut it down" has become almost as much a catchphrase for 30R as "I've made a terrible mistake" was for AD.

And a good-but-not-great episode of 30R is better than many other shows out there at their best.

Baldwin's WWII getup -- seemed to me like a parody of his Doolittle portrayal in Pearl Harbor.

@James: I'm actually kind of surprised that you felt the need to point out that 30R isn't as good as AD. I agree... but only because AD's greatness is encapsulated into its three seasons, while 30R is still even younger and only now coming into its own. And it's popular, isn't it? I expect better things over a longer time from 30R in the long run.

I also am a huge fan of multi-episode, multi-threaded jokes (like, as Chaddogg pointed out, Lucille/Loose seal and blue fingerprints on the walls versus, say, Rural Juror and GE appliances). It doesn't bother me that AD did it first and now 30R is picking up the torch... rather, I'm ecstatic that Fey might be able to carry on this kind of humor after it got smothered at Fox.