Cougars (29 Nov. 2007)

Liz catches a lot of heat at the office when she starts dating a 20-year-old "boy toy," and Jack takes charge of Tracy's pitiful youth baseball team and tries to turn it into a winner.

Director:

Michael Engler

Writers:

Tina Fey (creator), John Riggi

Stars:

Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Tina Fey	...	Liz Lemon
Tracy Morgan	...	Tracy Jordan
Jane Krakowski	...	Jenna Maroney
Jack McBrayer	...	Kenneth Parcell
Scott Adsit	...	Pete Hornberger (credit only)
Judah Friedlander	...	Frank Rossitano
Alec Baldwin	...	Jack Donaghy
Katrina Bowden	...	Cerie
Keith Powell	...	Toofer (credit only)
Lonny Ross	...	Josh Girard (credit only)
Val Emmich	...	Jamie
Maulik Pancholy	...	Jonathan
Kevin Brown	...	Dot Com
Grizz Chapman	...	Grizz
John Lutz	...	J.D. Lutz

Storyline

Liz catches a lot of heat at the office when she starts dating a 20-year-old "boy toy," and Jack takes charge of Tracy's pitiful youth baseball team and tries to turn it into a winner.

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Plot Keywords:

sitcom | boss | celebrity | sketch | comedy writer | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Release Date:

29 November 2007 (USA)

Company Credits

Did You Know?

Trivia

The factor that makes Liz finally decide to break up with Jamie is meeting Jaimie's mother, Beth and seeing how much they (Beth and Liz) look alike. Beth is played by Laura Lynn Berrios, who, according to a photo essay that appeared in Entertainment Weekly magazine, is the lighting stand-in for Tina Fey, who plays Liz.

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Quotes

Kenneth Parcell: [on phone] Sir, conditions have deteriorated. I made De Marquee captain like you said, but having a kid from Trinidad in charge made the Latino's real mad. And they all seemed to really hate my grandpa, 'cause they keep yelling 'kill whitey' and I'm like 'what do you think you are, alcohol?
Jack Donaghy: [on cellphone] Right, Kenneth, calm down. There was bound to be some unrest once we removed Tracy. They're testing our resolve. Stay the course.

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Connections

References Cheers (1982)

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Soundtracks

"Muffin Top"
(uncredited)
Performed by Jane Krakowski

User Reviews

"You can't be gay for one person"

Cougars is yet another sublime example of 30 Rock's ability to turn any silly premise into comedy gold. Of course, it helps a lot when the characters it uses are every bit as silly as the story. In this case, that character is the wonderfully moronic, porn-obsessed Frank, played to ridiculous perfection by Judah Friedlander.

His involvement in the plot line is directly linked to the main story, which focuses on Liz becoming a "cougar", i.e. a woman who dates younger guys, and hooking up with the way too young Jamie, who's so good-looking the normally straight Frank claims to be "gay for Jamie". While the situation escalates hilariously, Jack and Kenneth make the terrible decision to help Tracy with his youth baseball team, which leads to Jack turning into a despotic coach.

The almost militaristic version of Jack seen in this episode is once again proof of the fact that Baldwin's Emmy win for the second season was fully deserved (although his full-on insanity in Rosemary's Baby remains unrivaled), and any scene with either him and Jack McBrayer or him and Tracy Morgan (plus Tina Fey, obviously) is a foolproof recipe for memorable laughs. All in all, though, Cougars belongs largely to Friedlander, whose odd-ball line delivery has always been a guaranteed success. Here, he goes all the way when Frank tells Jamie their situation is "a Sam and Diane thing". Now, he may not be Ted Danson (it's doubtful he'd compare himself to Diane) at least not physically, but man, does he get close in that scene. Which reminds me: when can we expect a cast-member of either Cheers or Frasier to make an appearance, given Seinfeld, Friends and Will & Grace have already contributed with their share?