30 Rock Recap: Like Owner, Like Lizard

Valentine's Day is not a new theme for 30 Rock. In fact, when Liz started cycling through flashbacks of her previous V-Day disasters, it seemed for a minute like we might be in for a clip show. But instead of going back over old ground, the writers took things in an entirely different direction, creating what has to be TV's first-ever ode to the romance-destroying powers of the Red Hook Ikea.

All Ikeas are bad for romance, but that particular Brooklyn location is a Bermuda Triangle. The jokes felt dead-on — Tracy and Lamar Odom's dad used to pick up girls there back when it was a marsh where people would go to shoot fish — but also awfully niche. Granted, I've personally come close to divorce in that space (my husband yelled "Noooo!" when it appeared on screen) but what about those people in the audience who live outside the greater New York metropolitan area? This is one reason Everybody Loves Raymond will always do better in the ratings, mother-in-law jokes and all. Read More...


