What’s this one about again? Jack asks Liz to be his date to a fancy birthday bash for a deformed royal Austrian. Jenna tags along and tries to be the next Grace Kelly. Whilst back at the office, Tracy tries to help Pete relax, and Kenneth is not impressed.
30 Rock
is one of my favourite sitcoms of recent time (along with It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Happy Endings), and I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve fallen way behind
(much like my abandonment on How I Met
Your Mother). It happened somewhere along season five – I blame the
inconsistencies of Channel 7’s (Australian TV) late night programming – and now
this weird and beloved sitcom is soon coming to an end.
Instead of trying to catch up on this
series, I went back to have a look at an old favourite episode of mine. A while
back I recommended this show to my sister, and happily handed her my season one
DVD. A couple of weeks later, we found ourselves laughing about this particular
episode, thanks to Paul Reubens’ hilarious performance as Prince Gerhardt
Hapsburg of Austria (“Thank you, all dear friends… FOR COMING TO MY BIRTHDAY!”).
Dressed up in pale make-up, mangled teeth and tiny legs, this inbreeded royal
is supported by a wheelchair, aided by his loyal assistant (played by Will
Forte), and he’s meant to be 25-years-old. “It’s 7.45 and I’m still awake,” Gerhardt
says to Jack (Alec Baldwin), as he crosses his tiny legs manually with his even
tinier hands. This scene still makes my tummy hurt from laughter and this
episode if filled with golden moments like this. Like when Gerhardt blows out
his birthday candles – he blows (sputters) like an over-excited toddler.
And Reubens isn’t the only celebrity
guest star in this episode. Isabella Rossellini plays Jack’s graceful, but
crazy ex-wife Bianca. Jack is still smitten by Bianca, and poses Liz (Tina Fey)
as his pretend live-in girlfriend. Liz plays along and proves to Jack that
Bianca is still in love with him by faking an engagement. Bianca humorously
attacks Liz out of jealousy by ripping out her hair out and going after her
with a broken glass bottle. An actress like Rossellini, – so elegant, cultural
and diligent – it’s refreshing to see the comical side to her in such a silly
sitcom.
At this point in time, Tina Fey and her
crew were lead to believe that the series was pre-maturely coming to an end due
to average ratings. In her memoir, Fey even notes that Gerhardt was a metaphor
of the show – a young and ill-fated subject – as the episode ends in Gerhardt’s
death (by drinking wine because his body “cannot metabolise grapes”). But unlike
Gerhardt’s end, the series continued for another six seasons, thanks to this strangely,
funny episode.
There are many people (on the internet)
who argue that Tina Fey is overrated, but I just adore her, and I’m eager to
see what she plans to do post-30 Rock.
She’s sharp, grounded and dorky (in a good way), much like her sympathetic
character. Liz Lemon is certainly a character most people can relate to – overworked,
self-critical and unattached, and staying up late watching hours of TV whilst
eating junk food (and singing “night cheese”). But I also think that many
people, in some way, can relate to the obnoxious Jenna (played perfectly by
Jane Krakowski and is arguably the funniest character) – an overachiever who
thinks too highly of herself – as she tries to make her Grace Kelly fantasy come
true by marrying a prince who can take care of her: “I don’t think Gerhardt can
take care of you” says Liz, as Jenna contemplates getting passed Gerhardt’s
deformed looks after he attempted to woo her. Subsequently, as Jenna tries to
flirt with the prince, he asks her to dance for him (and she does) in this very
memorable moment in the series. Gerhardt exclaims as Jenna dances: “Jazz! Tap!
Jitterbug! Charleston! Interpretive! Twirl! Twirl again! KEEP TWIRLING!” – Hilarious!
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