'30 Rock' Season 6, Episode 11 Recap - 'Standards and Practices'
by Andy NeuenschwanderSometimes the guest stars are the reason to watch "30 Rock." Other times, it's Jack McBrayer. In tonight's episode, we got the best of both.
Kenneth's new job with standards and practices is going very well, especially after his higher-up got fired following an "America's Kidz Got Singing" incident in which the finalists were drunk. The fiasco lead to a promotion for Kenneth, which means he is now in charge of the content on "TGS."
Of course, this is Kenneth we're talking about, so Liz is suddenly extremely limited in what she and the writers can put in the show. Kenneth nixes the word "fart," which make the classic "Fart Doctor" sketch difficult to pull off. In fact, things are so bad that the harshest thing they can say on the show is "dingbat."
Eventually Liz and Kenneth make nice, but only after Liz hears him crying in the bathroom and adjusts the script. Kenneth also pulls a miracle by live-bleeping Tracy's on-air performance of his stand-up act, and the number references this season to Tracy Morgan's disaster of a performance last year rises to two.
Jenna spends most of the episode being Jenna, as she finds that she has six children from her egg donations, and ends up being mean to the ugly one. Don't worry, she kinda learns her lesson.
Jack, meanwhile, has a face-off of his own: his nemesis Kaylie is back in town. That means we get another Chloe Moretz episode, which I have been hoping for since her appearance last season. Not only is she hilarious, but the interactions between her and Alec Baldwin are priceless. The plot here is almost too convoluted to rehash, but let's just say Kaylie is pretty good at manipulation... but Jack is ultimately better.
Notes & Quotes:
- "Oh, you're the one who solved that? Thank you!"
- "Jack versus Kaylie round two, colon no subtitle necessary"
- Jack hired a Kato. Awesome.
- Kenneth's arguing techniques. Also awesome, and probably surprisingly effective.
- Kenneth's nose hitting the lens. Another dose of goofiness from this increasingly creative show
- "I just had a fruit roll-up for dinner... at a strip club"
- "Son of a dingbat!"