Then there’s the Jack/Tracy vasectomy thing. It’s always fun to see Dr. Spaceman, I guess, but this was another dud of a story. Boys acting stupid, ala Two and a Half Men or According to Jim, not at all worthy of a show that consistently rises well above the level of most other sitcoms.
There were some funny lines –
“Remember that horrible roommate you had in Chicago?”… “You mean you?”
“Some of them are sun tea.”
But I’ve come to expect a higher bar on this show. Hopefully this was a throw-away episode and they get it back on the rails quickly.
I dug this episode because the oneliners were a big improvement from last episode’s. But I agree, the Al Gore cameo was useless. Man, he’s looking haggard. Didn’t they do the “a whale is in trouble” line before?
Gore’s teeth look terrible. And yes, his cameos are no longer a surprise.
But I would have done a lot to appropriate that apartment. Working fireplaces? An extra bedroom? A view? Jack is right – get the real estate while you can.
Not the best episode, but I did like Liz soliciting a “black ex-boyfriend” to come in and be all angry and whatnot. You know, because he’s black.
Add: It was great that Kathy Geiss’s lawyer was Teddy Ruxpin.
And: “I’ll warn you, general anesthesia can cause powerful hallucinations, so I highly recommend it.”
“We all see the little black boy in the corner, right?”
The idea was that Liz would buy not only her own place, but the one upstairs. Then she could turn them into a 2 floor condo. But she had to get the gay hipster cop to move out.
I got that part, but: Why did he suggest she move in with him? Why would he move out as opposed to kicking her back downstairs? Or, if she wanted him to think she’d given up her apartment but really didn’t, is that plausible? I mean, how long did all this take anyway, and would her lease have been up that quickly with so little notice?
These questions may have easy answers, but it remains a poorly-told story.
I was slightly amused that the neighbor was played by Nate Corddry, who was one of the stars of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. (If you remember, that show premiered in the same month as 30 Rock, and was also sort of a fictional behind-the-scenes look at an SNL-type show, and was expected to succeed while 30 Rock was not.)
The condo group was going to raise the rent to a level that neither of them could afford on their own - thus the “we’ll show them” idea of moving in together.
I also noticed the guy from Studio 60 and thought it was interesting.
You left out what truly cinched the deal for Liz “…the flum doesn’t close to the whole apartment smells like Burger King during the day and Cinnabon at night.”
He assumed that she didn’t have a lot of money just like him based on what she was wearing, so that since rents were going up and he thought neither of them would be able to afford it, they both move in together. He suggested she move into his apartment because his apartment was bigger and had two bedrooms.
I thought it was a pretty good episode. But I do agree that the Al Gore cameo wasn’t great. I know it was a “green week” episode, but you would think they could get another environmentalist celebrity to appear instead of Gore this time.
Gore’s appearances on Futurama have been consistently funnier than anything live-action he’s done, with the possible exception of his “Visit to the set of West Wing” bit on SNL.