Alec Baldwin’s brilliantly klutzy, gay, flatulent turn on 30 Rock
Last night’s “reality show” parody on 30 Rock was very clearly a stunt episode — but as stunt episodes go, it was a work of genius, faring far better than last year’s noble yet faltering stunt episode, a live broadcast of the show, mainly because the groundwork for Angie’s reality program — Queen of Jordan — had been laid down in previous seasons.
Blurring the lines with NBC’s own Bravo network, Queen of Jordan awarded the side-character of Angie Jordan a huge break-out moment, and actress Sherri Shepard sparked and sparkled her way through the half hour. There were terrific moments for everyone in the cast, and an amusing yet weird guest appearance by Susan Sarandon as a convicted sex offender. We especially loved Jane Krakowski, who struck comic paydirt with Jenna Maroney’s attempt at staging her own intervention as though it were a birthday party gone awry. In addition, there was a hilarious gag surrounding Jenna’s new website — jennas-side.com (read it fast).
The episode’s pinnacle moments, however, were provided at the expense of Alec Baldwin’s Jack Donaghy. Baldwin was in sublime form, as Jack was portrayed by the reality show as a klutzy, gay, flatulence-prone boss. We just about hit the floor when Jack, referring to his sporting days at Princeton, let this line of dialogue casually fly.
Dot Com: You were a switch hitter?
Jack: Switch hitter, pitcher, catcher. Whatever the boys needed.
We’re also pretty certain Queen of Jordan marked the first time in history the phrase “rectal integrity” was uttered on network TV.
In case you missed it, here’s the episode in its entirety.
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