Episode 13 - Anna Howard Shaw Day
13 February 2010
Review
Synopsis: It’s Valentines Day and everyone has plans. Liz decides to avoid the loneliness by scheduling her route canal surgery then. But when she realises that she needs someone to pick her up afterwards she finds she has no options. Jack is looking for some easy action but instead develops an attraction to Avery Jessop a CNBC news woman. Jenna is upset to discover her stalker has moved on.
The Good: I don’t quite understand why Tina Fey loves writing romance stories for Jack so much. Admittedly he plays them well and they suit his successful man who can’t find love persona. But they never seem to work out and they are always played relatively straight, where as everything else on the show is a big crazy mess. With Jack also involved with Nancy it seems an even odder choice to have him start developing feelings for Avery. But perhaps a love triangle could be a new angle and in Elizabeth Banks they have chosen a fine comedy actress. She plays a good foil for Jack and their romance seems convincing if seemingly doomed (their age difference is one clue).
As for Liz, her plot was pretty well thought through. She decides to vent at the world as usual and as per usual it blows up in her face. Her root canal surgery was a plausible choice to ensure she spent Valentines Day otherwise occupied. And the sudden need for someone to look after her post-surgery provided a neat dilemma. I liked that they showed her asking everyone at work and trying to hire someone to do it. Having explored all her options it allowed for Jack to swoop in and save the day, servicing the Avery story nicely. It of course allowed Liz’ ex-boyfriends to return and camp it up for the camera. It wasn’t as funny as it could have been but seeing Jon Hamm playing a Caribbean woman was quite a sight for all Mad Men viewers.
There were even hints of the comedy which this show could produce including Bon Jovi playing along for laughs. But I liked Liz’ attempt to stand up for single people everywhere by pointing out that some things are actually easier when you don’t have a boyfriend “such as…monologues.” Then she tries to avoid offending the black receptionist and claims she is black, before realizing they are about to meet and hastily taking it back. I also liked Dot Com once more championing equality as Jack thanks him and Grizz for playing bouncers: “Maybe someday we’ll live in a world where you’ll ask us to pretend to be scientists.”
The Bad: Jenna’s story wasn’t bad, it was just dull. It fitted her character just fine but it hit every stalker cliché one after another.
The bad here was just the incredibly lame humour. This show is run by a former SNL star and she has experienced comedy writers to help her out. Yet we get so many jokes that are just awful for a variety of reasons. Some are just painfully obvious like Lutz’ pretending to have a girlfriend or Liz falling for Jack’s obvious compliment about her hair. Lutz and Liz both seem implausibly dumb to say these things so the joke doesn’t work. Ditto the release form which the doctor sends over to Liz. It contains all sorts of ludicrous exaggerations about her dying alone etc. As it is so far beyond what would exist in the real world I don’t think its satire any more, it’s just silly. It’s the kind of joke you make in the real world to point out how something makes you feel. By saying it in a world which is supposed to be real (as in the 30 Rock universe) it makes that world look fake.
Then there is Toopher claiming he doesn’t want to date a black woman. That needs exploring. We have barely had any stories about him since the first season and jokes like that could be really funny if they weren’t thrown out there with no proper context. Liz refers to Maxim’s “I’d rape that 100” which is kind of unnecessary, again for an exaggeration which would clearly not happen in the real world. Finally Jonathan talks about once hitting someone while driving and not stopping to help them. That has become a tired comedy cliché to try and shock an audience with the horror of the idea. But when its recycled and said with no conviction it has no power.
Comic Highlight: Liz sets up a fake VIP Lounge on Jack’s behalf. Cerie comes up to pass on a message and asks “Hey, when are you going to set up that cool VIP lounge?” A witty use of her character.
The Bottom Line: A fun episode in many ways, let down by its terrible attempts at comedy.
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