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Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) only has tonight and three more episodes to accomplish his plan to take over at 30 Rock, and to do so he needs the help, witting or otherwise, of at least two regular cast members, three actors who have recurring roles and one guest star - Chloe Moretz. Of course, there are at least two other subplots going on, with Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) trying to get pregnant or adopt, and Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) trying to make a movie with Octavia Spencer as Harriet Tubman.
30 Rock starring Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski, airs on NBC Thursdays at 9 pm ET
Dr. Spaceman: Surgeon General of the United States?
In an attempt to experience parenthood, Liz continues to struggle with her age and how it has affected her chances of becoming a mom. Fey has done an amazing job conveying the plights women face as they age, and this is yet another look into one such perplexity. As Liz has a consult with a doctor about taking fertility drugs to help her become pregnant, in walks, who else, but the one medical ‘professional’ she went all the way out to Westchester to specifically avoid - Dr. Spaceman (Chris Parnell). He launches into a inappropriate diatribe and then the police arrive. Dr. Spaceman holds out his wrists expecting to be cuffed, but is instead told by the officers that they are taking him to Washington, as he has just been named surgeon general of the United States.
Jack Donaghy Plots to Take Over the Network
In the ongoing plot in which Jack works to take over 30 Rock, Ken Howard returns as Hank Hooper, head of Cabletown, which acquired NBC and for whom Jack works. Hooper announces that he is turning 70 in a few days and intends to step down, but as all of his children are of ‘the creative type.’ he is skipping a generation and naming his 15 year-old granddaughter, Caley (Chloe Moretz) to succeed him. Jack, he adds, will be "assistant CEO" until she graduates from college. Of course, Jack is not going to take that lying down. He hires his personal private detective, played again by Steve Buscemi, to spy on Caley, which Buscemi does by going undercover in drag as her high school drama teacher. When his photos reveal that Jack's arch-nemesis, Devin Banks (Will Arnett), has been meeting with her, Jack springs into action - and in a surprise move recruits Banks as an ally, offering him head of public relations in return for helping him take over.
Octavia Spencer as "Moses of Maryland"
What would 30 Rock be without a subplot of Tracy Jordan’s ridiculous antics? Tracy is making a movie about abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who helped blacks escape their slave masters via the underground railroad. His star, however, turns out to be a female Tracy Jordan - crazed, spoiled and unwilling to take direction. Played by Octavia Spencer, Tracy’s actress doesn't like the sets or costumes, and won't do the movie if it is set in Maryland - due to her ‘ongoing feud with Cal Ripken’ (of the Baltimore Orioles). Tracy realizes that if he is to control her, he is going to have to act like the only person who can control him - Liz Lemon.
A Baby for Liz?
Ongoing jokes about the hormonal side effects of her fertility injections abound throughout the show tonight, but Liz is serious about having a child. Worried about whether or not she will get pregnant, she calls an adoption agency - where the phone is answered by Megan Mullally in a cameo role. She tells Liz it will be at least four years before she can hope to get an infant, but ‘if you want a six year old I can have one for you yesterday - pick a color!’ Liz talks with both Jack and Tracy about her concerns over raising an older child, but Tracy makes her realize that in effect she already has experience doing just that with him. Or, as he puts it, "if you can take care of me, you can take care of anybody."
Jack Turns the Tables
When Jack confronts Caley with information that should destroy her chances of becoming her grandfather's heir, she and Devin (with help from Jenna Maroney, as played by Jane Krakowski) explain that they tricked him and his plot will backfire. Jack, of course, has outfoxed the foxes - and it is he who has turned the tables on them in a way that will endear him so much to her grandfather that Hank Hooper is sure to name Jack as CEO.
Best Lines:
"If we joined forces we could be the greatest business power since Gregory Linens teamed up with Thomas N. Things." –Jack
"Teenage girls can't stop looking at their phones; it's like me with paintings of cannons." –Jack
"I have powerful friends at the Maury Povich Show." –Jack
"You're so old and out of touch Donaghy, I may as well be looking at Justin Timberlake."–Caley
