Episode 9 - Episode 209
6 January 2009
Review
Synopsis: The episode has no title because of the Writers Strike of 2008. It’s Christmas and Liz’ family is in town. Jack is surprised at how supportive they are. His own mother also arrives and is determined to bring them down. Meanwhile Tracy is fitted with an ankle bracelet to alert the police if he drinks and Kenneth is worried that no one knows the true meaning of Christmas.
The Good: If it weren’t for Liz always being wrong, her story would be a good one. Both the Donaghy’s and the Lemon’s play their roles well. They both act like families and its particularly good to see Liz play the happy daughter. Jack’s mum is suitably scheming and the viewer is enticed by waiting to see which family will be proven to be more stable. Or less stable depending on your perspective.
Kenneth’s character seems just right as he takes the authority he is given over Tracy and uses it to lecture the others about Christmas. Tracy, as usual, slips in a few amusing lines (e.g. his relationship with his wife’s sister).
The Bad: The humour isn’t strong in this episode. And this is not a case of their being lots of humour but it not being to my taste. Most of the episode is spent on the Lemon and Donaghy families and their interactions are played seriously, rather than for laughs.
As I mentioned before, we know Liz is always wrong. So we suspect all along that her family will fall out in some way. I’m not thrilled with the writing of Mitch, her brother whose mind is stuck in 1985. That’s quite a tragic story and doesn’t make the episode much funnier. But then when he realises the truth, his parents seem annoyed. Wouldn’t they be happy that he had finally “woken up”?
I am aware that 30 Rock likes to be ironic. And therefore presenting a story about Liz’ happy family not really being happy is meant to be ironic. Because instead of the supportive, loving parents being the happy ones, they are just as messed up if not more than the angry bitter relationship that Jack and his mother have. Being aware of this irony, I know the show is not trying to promote any particular set of values, I know they are just trying to be funny.
But I don’t find this funny. I think most viewers have their emotions engaged by television shows. I don’t think many viewers were happy to see Liz’ family descend into a pretty damaging sounding argument. If the family argument were handled in a humorous way then I would understand this better. But instead the writers do a convincing job of portraying their argument as real. So we are being asked to laugh at unhappy people, presumably just because it is ironic that they had seemed so happy before. I don’t find that funny.
Tracy’s decision to chop down the tree is suitably silly but what does it say for all the other characters that they went along with this suggested violence? It suggests that they have no personalities. Tracy and Kenneth are the only ones with developed characters, the rest of the cast are just stereotypes.
Comic Highlight: Not a lot to choose from here. There are a couple of lines from arch-Republican Jack which I smiled at. Here Liz tells Jack that her parents are about to arrive:
J: “God you must be a ball of anxiety right now.”
L: “No I’m really excited.”
J: “What are you trying to say Lemon, that your family’s perfect and you never fight.”
L: “No, I remember them arguing a lot during the gas crisis of 79 but since Carter left office it’s been pretty smooth sailing.”
J: “You got that right.”
The Bottom Line: I think this episode says a lot about how the producers of 30 Rock see their show. They seem to think that the point of 30 Rock is to present an ironic sit com. Unlike in traditional comedies where the central character is the hero, Liz Lemon is destined to be always be wrong. The values she champions are always proved to be flawed and she will ultimately fail when trying to do the right thing. It’s an irony which is lost on me because I think it breeds discontent in viewers. I believe that many viewers will lose interest in seeing Liz constantly proved wrong when standing up for values which many viewers hold. This episode sees her family brought to dysfunctional misery and it isn’t funny.
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