30 Rock

It was going to be difficult to compete with last week's Kim Jong Il-related episode no matter what 30 Rock put out for its fifth season finale.

Even so, "Respawn" still felt extremely flat as a way to end the year.

Jack's story line was the main culprit. The guy uses another guy to replace his absentee wife thing has been done well before, and to perfection with Doug and Arthur on King of Queens, so Jack treating Kenneth like Avery was both tiresome and a little weird. The pouring of wine, staring into Ken's eyes, and giving him earrings was just weird, and not funny.

While Jenna's plot also missed the mark, as most do with her boyfriend Paul, it still had its moments. Honestly how can it not be funny when a sheep and a giant wool mascot are sitting in on a boardroom meeting.

The Paul stuff continues the trend of just being more strange than funny. I get it. They do crazy stuff like walk each other like dogs. It just doesn't really work on a comedic level.

Unsurprisingly, the Tracy action was some of the best of the night. His interruption of Liz's perfect summer worked on multiple occasions, from yelling in his sleep to introducing himself as both "Tracy from work" and "the black guy from work."

But it was the scene with Liz in the courtroom that really kept the episode alive.  There is nothing like listening to Lemon recite every line from a courtroom movie scene that she could think of.  Add to that a judge actually named Judge Dredd, who has to yell "gavel, gavel, gavel!" because he doesn't have an actual gavel, and you have yourself multiple laughs.

It had its moments, but "Respawn" was not an extremely positive way to end this great bounce back season for 30 Rock.  What did you all think of the episode?

How did season five work for you? And are you excited for a sixth season? We leave you with some of our favorite quotes of the night, and don't forget to check out the 30 Rock quotes page for all the best one-liners.

Dr. Spaceman: Alright. Now that the popsicle's melted we've got ourselves a tongue depressor. | permalink

Frank: How's this for grown up? Last night for dinner, I put milk in my Apple Jacks. | permalink

Kenneth: It's an old Parcell family recipe, but I like to replace the Union soldier meat with boiled potatoes. | permalink

Paul: I hate to be the stereotypical man, but this is my home and I wanna wear this blouse. | permalink

Tracy: Hey guys. It's me Tracy, the black guy from work. | permalink