"Plan B" is the eighteenth episode of the fifth season of the American television comedy series '' 30 Rock'', and the 98th overall episode of the series. It was directed by the show's composer and producer (and

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...

's husband)

Jeff Richmond Jeffrey Wayne Richmond (born January 7, 1961) is an American composer, actor, director, and producer. He composed the music for, and directed multiple episodes of ''30 Rock'', a sitcom created by and starring his wife, Tina Fey. He also executive ...

, and written by Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan. The episode originally aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in the United States on March 24, 2011. Guest stars include

Ken Howard Kenneth Joseph Howard Jr. (March 28, 1944 – March 23, 2016) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in '' 1776'' and as basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the television show '' The Wh ...

Aaron Sorkin Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. Sorkin has earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime ...

and

Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular char ...

. In the episode,

Liz Lemon Elizabeth Miervaldis Lemon is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American television series ''30 Rock''. She created and writes for the fictional comedy-sketch show ''The Girlie Show'' and later ''TGS with Tracy Jordan''. She is po ...

(

) discovers that without

Tracy Jordan Tracy Jordan is a fictional character in the American television series ''30 Rock'', played by the actor Tracy Morgan. The character is a movie star whose personality traits and life events are taken from Morgan's own life. In 2010, ''Entertain ...

(

Tracy Morgan Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor best known for his television work as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1996–2003) and for his role as Tracy Jordan in the sitcom ''30 Rock'' (2006 ...

), NBC is putting ''TGS'' on a forced hiatus. However, when she passes on the news to the cast and crew, they all assume that the show will be cancelled and turn to their backup plans, leading Liz to wonder about her own. Meanwhile,

Jack Donaghy John Francis "Jack" Donaghy ( ) is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'', airing from 2006 to 2013. The character was created by series creator Tina Fey, and is portrayed by Alec Baldwin. He was introduced as the Vice President of Ea ...

( Alec Baldwin) is forced to hire his nemesis

Devon Banks '' 30 Rock'' is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey, which aired on NBC. The series takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy series, also airing on NBC; the name "30 Rock" refers to the address of t ...

in order to turn around his disastrous acquisition of TWINKS, a network for

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

men. According to

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

, "Plan B" was watched by 4.359 million viewers during its original broadcast and received a 1.9 rating/5 share among adults aged 18–49.

Plot

( Alec Baldwin) calls

(

) into his office to inform her that while its primary star

(

) is in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, ''The Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan'' (''TGS'') will have to be placed on a forced hiatus. Initially, Liz herself is optimistic and believes that Jack will be doing all that he can to save the show. However, when her cast and crew hear the news, they quickly scramble to find other employment. Concerned, Liz decides to contact her agent, Simon (

Josh Fadem Josh Fadem (; born July 19, 1980) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. Early life Fadem was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he attended Booker T. Washington High School. He has lived and worked in Los Angeles since 2000. Career ...

), wanting to see if he can find her other work. Jack gets Liz an interview with

Nick Lachey Nicholas Scott Lachey ( ; born November 9, 1973) is an American singer, actor, television personality, and host. He rose to fame as the lead singer of the multi-platinum-selling boyband 98 Degrees, and later starred in the reality series '' Newl ...

for a writing job in ''

The Sing-Off ''The Sing-Off'' was an American television singing competition featuring a cappella groups. It debuted on NBC on December 14, 2009, and was produced by Sony Pictures Television and Outlaw Productions, with Mark Burnett's One Three Media (for a ...

'', where she meets

. Sorkin, in a

walk and talk Walk and talk is a storytelling technique used in filmmaking and television production in which a number of characters have a conversation while walking somewhere. Walk and talk often involves a walking character who is then joined by another char ...

sequence, advises Liz that writing is a dying art. He then starts sucking up to Lachey himself. Ultimately, Liz doesn't get the writing job and is forced to try to save ''TGS'', which even

Kenneth Parcell Andromakennethamblesorton "Kenneth" Ellen Parcell is a fictional character on the NBC comedy television series, ''30 Rock'', portrayed by Jack McBrayer. Originally a supporting character in the first two episodes of the series, the show's produ ...

(

Jack McBrayer Jack McBrayer (; born May 27, 1973) is an American actor and comedian, who gained national exposure for his portrayal of characters on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and as Kenneth Parcell in '' 30 Rock''. For his role in ''30 Rock'' he was ...

) has lost all hope of rescuing. Meanwhile, Jack Donaghy has recently acquired a television network for

men called (TWINKS), which has turned out to be a ratings disaster. Kabletown boss Hank Hooper (

) is unhappy with TWINKS and advises Jack to find a gay version of himself (to run the network) or drop the network altogether. At that point, Jack realizes that there ''is'' a gay version of himself and calls upon his old nemesis

for help. As it turns out, Banks has fallen from grace and is living in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

with his partner and three "gaybies". Eventually, Liz's attempts to save ''TGS'' are met with a slight possibility of succeeding when Kenneth informs her that during his webcam talks with Tracy, he sometimes orders pizza from the same restaurant as she does. Liz immediately realizes that Tracy never left

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Jack's plans for reviving TWINKS backfire when Devon Banks brings one of his "gaybies" to work and Hank Hooper, a family man himself, promotes him. However, Devon has an epiphany and realizes that he loves his children too much to leave them for Kabletown, turning down Hooper's offer in the process. While victorious, Jack realizes that he hasn't been spending enough time with his own baby daughter.

Reception

Aaron Sorkin at the Music Box Theatre in 2007 crop

According to the

, this episode of ''30 Rock'' was watched by 4.359 million households in its original American broadcast. It earned a 1.9 rating/5 share in the 18–49 demographic. This means that it was seen by 1.9 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 5 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. The figure was an improvement on the previous episode,

Queen of Jordan This is a list of the women who have been queen consort of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan since the emirate was elevated to the status of a kingdom in 1949. As all monarchs of Jordan have been required by law to be male, there has never been ...

, which was seen by 4.192 million households. Caitlan Smith of ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' particularly praised the appearance of Aaron Sorkin, calling it "one of the most unexpected and excellent cameos this year". Dan Forcella of ''TVFanatic'' also praised Sorkin's appearance, as well as that of Ken Howard, whom he described as "a joy to watch on screen". However, he criticised the primary storyline, commenting that "Liz acting frantic is never really that funny".

References

External links

* {{30 Rock episodes 2011 American television episodes 30 Rock (season 5) episodes