30 Rock“Subway Hero”
Original Air Date: April 17, 2008
PG Ignacio – Associate Editor
Tonight’s 30 Rock episode is about the fall of a hero, a desperate political move, and realizing today by learning from our past. How did they tell such meaningful stories in a thirty-minute show? Easy. Bring back The Beeper King as a hero, ask Tracy Jordan to support the Republican Party, and have Kenneth the page take a walk with an entertainer from the 1970’s – enter guest star Tim Conway.
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30 Rock
ReplyDelete“Subway Hero”
Original Air Date: April 17, 2008
PG Ignacio – Associate Editor
Tonight’s 30 Rock episode is about the fall of a hero, a desperate political move, and realizing today by learning from our past. How did they tell such meaningful stories in a thirty-minute show? Easy. Bring back The Beeper King as a hero, ask Tracy Jordan to support the Republican Party, and have Kenneth the page take a walk with an entertainer from the 1970’s – enter guest star Tim Conway.
The main storyline brought back Liz Lemon’s ex-boyfriend, Donald “The Beeper King” Duffy. Apparently he saved a life when he jumped onto the subway track, dubbing him “Subway Hero.” Jack wants a guest appearance by the new hero and knows his inside track is Liz. Disgusted by the thought of even communicating with her ex again, Liz does her job and gets Duffy to agree to be on the show. Unfortunately for Liz, Duffy believes it is fate that has brought them back together and insists they will be dating soon. After a day and a night out, Liz begins to think being with Duffy just makes sense. Until she realizes in public that he is still the same disgusting, inconsiderate, self-centered Beeper King she had left once before.
Subplot #1 - Jack needs to find celebrities to back the Republican Party. His last resort is TGS’ own Tracy Jordan. An African American supporting the Republicans? Tracy isn’t sure about the idea, but after having a near death experience trying to fix his radio, he believes Richard Nixon spoke to him to plead for Tracy’s help with the Republican party. Jack is delighted with the news from Tracy and sets up the filming of Tracy’s endorsement. During the shoot, Tracy realizes that this just won’t work, citing that all black people will vote Democrat. Jack’s solution: air an endorsement of Tracy telling African Americans not to vote at all.
Subplot #2 – Kenneth the page must escort out of the building the NBC celebrity, Bucky Bright (Tim Conway), from the 1970’s who was called to help support the Republican Party. Kenneth’s love for television prompted himself to ask Bucky about what TV was like back then. To Kenneth’s dismay, Bucky shared the behind the scenes stories that made Kenneth feel very uncomfortable. When Kenneth confronts Bucky about his horrid stories from the past, Bucky explains that “Before you make something beautiful, you have to make a mess of things,” and poignantly stating, “Things are about to get weird.” Kenneth realizes how right Bucky is when he thinks about all of the strange things he does for Tracy Jordan. Lesson learned.
Last week’s return, MILF Island, was great and tonight’s episode continues the 30 Rock success. We might have received some foreshadowing with the brief return of The Beeper King. Will we see him again? Spoiler news and gossip says yes, but how soon and how often? Stay tuned. See you next week.