Mama/Papa drama falls short on the funny...

I am a BIG fan of Tina Fey.

I liked her on Saturday Night Live, I think she's incredibly witty on the fly and I was super excited to see her present an award at the Oscars. I am quick to defend when things go wrong for my favourites...

I can't defend last week's 30 Rock.

For those of you who missed the episode it seems to be grounded in the fact that in losing Elena (guest star Selma Hayek), Jack has found his moral compass. Taking Frank under his wing after an impromptu "guy's night" with the boys in the writers room Jack convinces him to go back to law school. Later on in the episode he convinces Liz to give up her maniacal quest to adopt a young girl's baby (more on that later).

I have no issue with the idea that Jack's loss thrown his life into disarray; this seems reasonable to me. That said, it occurs to me that with Jack's sordid history he would likely be very upset by the idea that he has become the moral compass of the cast at the Girlie Show. Do we remember how he convinces Kenneth to steal cable by buying a brand new state of the art television for his crappy little apartment? Two weeks ago Jack's confessions after church caused a priest to run away from the confessional, yelling for backup. Clearly Jack has no qualms about doing the amoral. And what's more, he enjoys it! Whether this is a setup to make Liz' choices seem even more insane, or simply an excuse to quote Harry and the Hendersons (as an excuse for a cameo appearance by the series' star John Lithgow) I'm not sure it works.

But even if I could forgive Jack his proclivity for extreme personality changes, Liz's romp through this episode is fraught with issues; the first of which is an issue of re-use. Echos of episodes past chase her about as she does her very best to steal Becca's unborn baby (Becca is played by guest star Pheobe Stole) . Have we forgotten that in episode 9 of the first season she actually succeeds in stealing the Makeup artists' baby (albeit subconsciously)? It seems the bio-clock has been slowly ticking away in Fey's writers room as the last two projects she's put out (30 Rock and Baby Mama) have featured leads that were desperate to make babies as it were.

What's more, Liz Lemon's late night heart to heart in the donut shop with Becca seems problematic and sketchy. Not only does this girl not know Liz Lemon (who's giving her crazy eyes when she should be re-assuring her) but co-worker Pete leave Liz alone with Becca, knowing full well that Liz has a history of baby snatching and strange behaviour. While the character of Liz Lemon is supposed to be neurotic and obsessive there comes a time when the writers take it too far and I think that this episode is an example of that. Liz' quirks, no longer endearing, begin to wear upon the audience as we fight the urge to bitch slap the sense back into our TV sets.

Bottom line: not my favourite episode. And does anyone know what happened to Dr. Baird (guest star Jon Hamm)? Perhaps his train wreck of a daughter could turn Liz off children for awhile...it would be a welcome change.

EDIT: (March 22nd) Okay I take it back. They wrapped up the Jon Hamm storyline quite nicely in this week's episode and Jack behaved in a decidedly unbecoming fashion. Order has been restored to my universe...