“Jack-tor” spoilers below:

Things that happened

There’s a GE golf tournament in Connecticut and Jack invites Tracy in hopes to get face time with the CEO of GE. Some interns get sent down to help and this freaks out Kenneth because he has a (largely fabricated) romantic past with Grace, another intern. Meanwhile, Liz is running a tight ship and the boys in the writing room are getting fed up. She overhears them venting and the worst word ever is bestowed on Liz. Luckily, they have Rachel Dratch running around looking for a runt kitten, so we never get to hear the awfulness that is the word that describes Liz’s personality.

Back at the party, Tracy is winning everyone over until he pulls the race card and embarrasses Jack. In the office, Liz is trying really hard to be nice. Both of these events are horrifically awkward for all involved. However, Tracy learns to play the game and concocts a tear-jerking story about a daughter with diabetes to save face. Liz stays up all night, doing everyone’s work, catches an episode of Designing Women and decides she can be a bitch and be a boss and fuck being nice.

Things that were good

• The writing. Fey and her staff are gelling with this show and it’s transitioning well from a more sketch-type oriented comedy to a dialogue-based humor. There’s still a lot of awkward gags that would work better in a sketch situation, but her track record is improving!
• Tracy owns his character. Even when the scene is awkward and painful to watch, and potentially difficult to pull off.
• Liz failing at be nice! It’s okay to be a bitch. Really, it is. It made Jack smile!
• Zed from Men in Black! This show rocks at using their guest stars to the fullest.

Things that were not so good

• The ‘Tracy is black’ plot line. It’s been in every episode so far. While it is usually well done and important to address, they really need to diversify what Tracy does and what he deals with from episode-to-episode.
• Using Rachel Dratch for the sake of using Rachel Dratch. I know it sucks they dumped Dratch as the main female character, but giving her awkward and obvious cameos and gag-characters to fulfill her contract only makes her presence painful. Dratch is talented, and they use use her accordingly.
• The male-heaviness of this episode. Yes, Jenna is annoying, but — especially in episodes where gender is an issue being dealt with — it would be nice to see more of her just to better balance the writers-Jack-Tracy-Kenneth-Pete with Liz. And give the female writers in the writers’ room some lines!

Worth Watching if…..

You enjoy these neo-funny sitcoms NBC is producing: My Name is Earl, Scrubs and The Office over the other networks’ more traditional sitcoms. It fits right in with all of them, making NBC the place to be on Thursday nights. They make jokes about bad words, diseases and feminism. How could you go wrong with that?! 30 Rock is especially good if you enjoy the workplace comedy and find The Office overly awkward. While the subject matter is often more awkward, it is dealt with more traditionally, striking a comfortable balance, as opposed to the squirm- and cringe- inducing laughter Michael Scott evokes. While 30 Rock has yet to be memorable or produce an episode that belongs on the ‘Best Episodes Ever’ list of anything, it doesn’t disappoint.

In Five Words

Don’t call Liz a @#%$!