(My) Top Ten 30 Rock Episodes: PART ONE

It takes me a long time to get into new things, which is why I didn't try sushi until I was 20 and why I still haven't see There Will Be Blood. However, once I like something, I usually devour it with unmatched enthusiasm, bordering on obsession, and will eat/watch/read it over and over again until something else catches my eye. At this point, I've seen every 30 Rock episode multiple times, and I thought it would be fun to make a top ten list. I've chosen a few from each season, and I welcome fervent debate!

1. BLIND DATE (SEASON 1)

It was tricky finding favorites in Season 1, because although I like the season quite a bit, the show was still finding its "cruising rhythm," as my lovely French co-worker would say. The jokes still followed a more sitcom-like structure, whereas later the show became more fast-paced and witty.

In this episode, we see the beginnings of Jack meddling with Liz's personal life, leading to a blind date with a woman named Gretchen Thomas. Liz's storyline is mostly centered around whether she can imagine herself to be in a romantic relationship with a woman, but one of my favorite parts of the episode concerns Kenneth, who ends up in a high-stakes poker match with Jack. The personalities/mysteries of all the minor characters really begin to shine in this episode.

FAVORITE LINES

Liz: "And even though I'm not into the sex stuff, if it helps you, I would let you...do stuff...to me."
Gretchen: "I can't be around you anymore. Bye, Liz."

Tracy: "This round, Texas Doozy. Face cards are wild, threes are jinxed, fives are twos."

Jack: "In five years we'll all either be working for him...or be dead by his hand."

2. CLEVELAND (SEASON 1)

What hotspot's got the hippest groove? Where all the real gone-daddies move? Dig that sweet Cuyahoga glow!

There is no way any list could not include this episode. It contains some of my favorite 30 Rock-isms ("By the hammer of Thor!" "Just a whirl of wind" "Paris was, to borrow a phrase, bonkers") and the musical sequence of Cleveland was just great. (So great, in fact, that it seemed to have spawned an unfunny-seeming sitcom, Hot in Cleveland. Full disclosure: I've never seen it.)

Also, Emily Mortimer is terrific as British-but-probably faking it, hollow-boned gallery owner, Phoebe.

FAVORITE LINES

Tracy: I'm going to have so much money, my grandkids are going to play lacrosse. Lacrosse, Liz Lemon!

Jenna: Wow, how Sex and the City are we right now? I'm Samantha, you're Charlotte, and you're the lady at home who watches it.

Floyd: If the whole world moved to their favorite vacation spots, then the whole world would live in Hawaii and Italy and Cleveland.

3. ROSEMARY'S BABY (SEASON 2)

This episode is a favorite of mine because it is a combination of topics that 30 Rock typically does well: New York, feminism, yuppies (do people still use that word?), liberal hypocrisy, silliness, and anything that involves Grizz and Dot Com. The episode also features one of my favorite cameos. Carrie Fisher is pitch-perfect as the radical aging former comedy writer.

FAVORITE LINES

Liz: You are my heroine. And by heroine, I mean "lady hero." I don't mean I want to inject you and listen to jazz.

Rosemary: God, I haven't been in that building in so long. Does everyone still do blow in Joe Garagiola's office?
Liz: Which one is blow? Is that cocaine?

Liz: What neighborhood is this?
Rosemary: They call it "Little Chechnya." It's so gritty and real. More murders per capita than Detroit. Try not to write when you're living here!

Rosemary: I predict, opening weekend: a million dollars.

Jack: Never follow a hippie to a second location.