30 Rock

30 Rock gave its farewell tonight, airing its final scheduled episode of the season. In fact, the episode was apparently so affected by the writer's strike, that the writer's didn't even get around to naming it before heading off to the picket lines. That being said, the show still gave us the laughs and entertainment fans have come to expect from the sophomore sitcom as Jack and Liz struggled with balancing their professional and personal lives as Jack tries to make time for his girlfriend (Edie Falco) and Liz attempts to venture into the world of home-ownership. The show even featured Motown legend Gladys Knight and her song "Midnight Train to Georgia", though that statement may be somewhat misleading.

We open with Jack negotiating a deal with some German broadcasters. Still shooting for the CEO position that his boss is considering him for, Jack is given a series of German television shows, looking for some programming to strike a deal with. As Jack meets with the Germans, Liz waits in the lounge with C.C., Jack's girlfriend. Though Liz's appointment is first, she offers to let C.C. go first, to which she rejects since the two are trying to keep their personal and professional lives as separate as possible. So, Liz heads in for some financial advice that Jack had earlier promised her. After some persuasion, Jack convinces Liz to buy some real estate as her first investment and Liz sets off to buy her own apartment in the city.

Back in the studio, Tracy has purchased a cappuccino machine for the staff as an apology for his actions in what was most likely a dream he had the night before. Nevertheless, he sets up the device on Kenneth's desk, much to Kenneth's disappointment. We soon learn that Kenneth's feelings about the cappuccino machine stem from the fact that he has never tried any sort of coffee before, since he promised his mother that he wouldn't let the big city change him. Tracy convinces Kenneth to live on the edge a little and Kenneth discovers new joy as he tries a hot caffeinated beverage for the first time in his life.

Meanwhile, Jack and C.C. are still trying to manage their relationships within their busy schedules. As part of the compromise, they agree to "meet halfway." This leads them to meet up in a small mining town exactly halfway between New York City and Washington, D.C. The two discover new freedom away from their work and carelessly throw their cell phones into a lake as a sign of their devotion to one another.

Back in the city, Jack has pawned off his duties onto Liz and asked her to watch all of the German programming his potential partners gave to him to review. Liz, however, has a meeting with the co-op board of an apartment complex she's interested in so she, in turn, passes the responsibility onto Kenneth. Kenneth however has gone off the edge with his new caffeine addiction and is going crazy in the studio.

Liz, of course, does horribly in the interview with the board and struggles with their rejection, getting drunk and calling the board repeatedly like an obsessive new girlfriend. Jack, in the meantime, considers leaving everything behind and moving to the small mining town he and C.C. had earlier visited. Downstairs, Tracy is forced to intervene with Kenneth after hours on a caffeine bender. This leads Kenneth to decide to move back to Georgia, since he broke his promise to his mother and let the big city change him. Tracy then breaks into song, with Dot Com and Griz doing backup, of a rendition of "Midnight Train to Georgia" and is soon joined in by the entire 30 Rock cast, including guest star Edie Falco . As they sing we see that Liz and Jack have decided to go back to the professional life they are already familiar with and Kenneth comes back, having missed midnight train. We are then finally introduced to Gladys Knight herself - as she yells at the cast for waking her up from her nap. The show then ends.

Though clearly never intended as a season finale, since only half of its cast appeared, 30 Rock delivered as it always does. The constant mention of Gladys Knight's appearance throughout the episode was handled brilliantly to lead up to her NOT actually performing. And the musical number was actually entertaining, something that is often fairly awkward in sitcoms. But all in all, this was just another regular episode, and it's unfortunate that it has to serve as the finale. But maybe that's a good thing, since it is likely that by the time the strike is over and the shows start up again, I probably won't remember what the last episode was about anyway.


-George Freitag, Buddy TV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of NBC)