BUSINESS DRUNK AND PARTY HIGH: I liked last night's 30 Rock even though the A-story was a little old-timey for me. Not as in "traditional 80s-90s sit-com," but as in a Hudsucker Proxy-ish riff on antiquated notions of business politics. I blow hot and cold on Idiot Liz, but I liked this version, especially the ease with which she slipped into the back-slapping and sexual innuendo, a joke that works particularly well because it allows us to laugh both at the ridiculous conduct and Tina Fey's own weird fantasy of executive living, which seems to parallel Liz's. But Rip Torn -- geez, it's both great and difficult to see him now.
As for our other favorite office, Sepinwall mentioned that Kaling's episodes are more straightforward comedy than the ones written by the other writer-actors, and the New York half of the show was no exception. What was unexpected was the way that Kaling revisited a theme that has popped up occasionally since Jim returned to Scranton: there is a reason that Jim is stuck somewhere below middle management -- he is neither the perfect boss he imagines he would be nor the beloved goof that we saw for the first two seasons (remember how annoyed Toby and Oscar were at his antics during the Angela's Ashes book group?).
Is Toby really moving to Costa Rica?
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