Kidney Now!
- Episode aired May 14, 2009
- TV-14
- 22m
Jack brings in several famous musical artists to perform a benefit song so his biological father can get a kidney, Tracy is afraid to speak at his high school's graduation, and Liz finds a t... Read allJack brings in several famous musical artists to perform a benefit song so his biological father can get a kidney, Tracy is afraid to speak at his high school's graduation, and Liz finds a talent in giving irresponsible relationship advice.Jack brings in several famous musical artists to perform a benefit song so his biological father can get a kidney, Tracy is afraid to speak at his high school's graduation, and Liz finds a talent in giving irresponsible relationship advice.
- Frank Rossitano
- (credit only)
- Toofer
- (credit only)
- Dot Com
- (as Kevin Brown)
- Vontella
- (as a different name)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDonald Glover, then a writer on the series, has a cameo as the gay kid in the audience at Tracy's high school. He was a last-minute substitute for an actor who did not show and improvised his memorable one-liner ("Who told?!").
- GoofsJack refers to hosting a benefit concert like "We Are the World." However, "We Are the World" was a charity single, not a concert. Live Aid (1985) was the famous benefit concert that raised money for the same cause, the victims of the Ethiopian famine.
- Quotes
Milton Green: A guy crying about a chicken and a baby? I thought this was a comedy show.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards (2009)
- SoundtracksHe Needs a Kidney
Written by Jeff Richmond
Additional Lyrics by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock
Performed by Clay Aiken, Mary J. Blige, Sara Bareilles, Elvis Costello, Jane Krakowski, Sheryl Crow, Mike D (as Mike Diamond), Steve Earle, Adam Horovitz, Wyclef Jean, Norah Jones, Talib Kweli, Cyndi Lauper, Adam Levine, Michael McDonald, Rhett Miller, Moby, Robert Randolph and Rachael Yamagata
Whether it is Kenneth seeing the world as singing, cheerful muppets, Liz's catastrophic mis-reading of situations, Jenna's selfish behaviour or Tracey's wonderfully daft opinions, each episode is rich in humour that is as creative and clever as it is fast paced and hilarious. OK there are some narrative threads that provide some structure but mostly the flow of each episode is about the jokes - the "plots" are really just there to provide enough structure to make a series. There are a couple of weaker episodes in season 3 it must be said but the way you recognise them says a lot about the quality of the show - you recognise them because there are maybe only about 3 or 4 laugh-out-loud moments in the episode as opposed to the usual 10 or so. It tells you all you need to know when an "off-day" for a show is still well worth seeing, funny and enjoyable and that is the case here in S3. It is the stronger episodes that have the best "out of nowhere, throw-away moments" that actually get the biggest laughs – season highlight for me being Liz enjoying some time at home singing about her "night cheese" – hilarious and very true to the character of Liz Lemon but yet only the first few seconds of an unrelated scene.
As was the case before, S3 has several big names guests of varying impact but as in S2, one doesn't get the feeling that this is the clamour for attention that many shows will get with cameos. Often these come because a show is flagging and this is an easy attempt to boost ratings but with 30 Rock it continues to feel like stars genuinely want to be involved and their appearance is part of the joke rather than a clumsy insert. It is telling that the episodes with special cameos are not "better" than those that "only" (!) have to rely on the main cast. Speaking of which, the main cast continue to be a very impressive bunch indeed even though there are some characters that continue to become more part of the background than they started out being – Powell's Toofer, Ross's Josh and Lutz's Lutz being the most notable but Friendlander (Frank) and Adsit (Pete) also have a little less to do than before. This is the reverse of many shows (eg The Office has opened out its cast to make more use of the supporting players to good effect) but somehow the strong material means it doesn't matter.
30 Rock is by far my favourite comedy of the moment and I cannot believe that I ignored it when it first came to the UK when I should have been singing its praises to people in the same way as I do with The Wire. Great writing, a very high number of laughs per short episodes, inspired and creative comedy and great performances. Of course the downside now is that there will be a good long wait before I get more of it.
- bob the moo
- May 22, 2009