OK, I think this is the point when 30 Rock is starting to repeat itself. Normally I’m all over the series for its witty repartee, offbeat references and weird throwaways.
But last night, I feel like we’ve seen it all before. Jenna’s money-grubbing mom Verna came to town (played by Saturday Night Live alum Jan Hooks).
Sure, she brought the crazy, but I couldn’t help remember when we met Liz’s emotionally repressed mom (Anita Gillette) and Jack’s nightmare of a mother (played to perfection by Elaine Stritch). As an aside, what’s with creator Tina Fey’s obsession with bad mothers? Calling Sigmund Freud …
Anyway, instead of immediately hitting Jenna up for cash, like that time she needed to pay medical bills when her boyfriend broke bones in a cage match, Verna went for the big lovey-dovey buildup.
She gave a seemingly heartfelt apology for being a bad mom, and threw a lavish birthday party — before asking Jack to give her and Jenna their own reality show.
Luckily, Jack saw through it all and warned Jenna, but he didn’t have the heart to tell her about the reality show. Instead, in a sweet Jack moment, he bribed Verna to visit Jenna more and be a better mom.
Though I’m not often completely wowed by Jenna-centric storylines, this one, where she showed true vulnerability and we got glimpses of her painful past, endeared me to her. She’s still loco, though. A complete cracked egg.
In the B-plot was another recycled premise: Frank has to stay with Liz after he had a fire in his apartment. OK. We’ve already seen Pete and Tracy stay there — are Jack and Kenneth next? (I admit, I’d love to see a Jack/Liz cohabitation thing going on.)
They both made pacts to give up their bad habits — Frank’s smoking and Liz’s junk food. Yet another been-there-done-that sitcom gag.
At least there was a fun payoff when Liz tried to videotape Frank sneaking smokes in the middle of the night and it turned out she was sleepeating everything, including cigarettes. Ew. Frank, meanwhile, was being cuddled by a random woman he met. Double-ew.
Even though this episode gave me a sense of déjà vu, I’m not ready to give up on 30 Rock just yet. It still makes me smirk, and the pacing and one-liners were still punchy. But for how long?
RANDOM FUN
• “It was perfect. Like a John Mayer song.” — Jenna, after meeting her mom
• Liz’s dream about giving birth with Jack as the dad — and an animated cat — pops out
• Jenna and her mom singing karaoke to Captain & Tennille’s “Do That to Me One More Time.” Shudder. Now I’m going to be humming that all day. That, and “Muskrat Love.”
• “I’m sure she's down there, chain-smoking, sitting on the curb, waiting for me to come out. Just like the day I was born.” — Jenna
• “Wear something nice. Like a pair of white jeans and a Dan Marino jersey.” — Verna, to Jack
• “Wow, an old white lady yelling at me while wearing microwaveable socks. This is so different than living with my mom.” — Frank, to Liz
30 Rock airs Thursdays, 9:30 p.m. ET/PT, Citytv/NBC.
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