Don Geiss, America and Hope

Plot

Jack Donaghy, who is leaving his role as General Electric’s Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming, looks into Kabletown—the company that bought NBC as a tax-deductible charity move—to see how he can be useful there. NBC page Kenneth Parcell accidentally hints he might have been alive forever when he worries Kabletown might start enforcing age limits and verification for pages.

An old colleague, Dave Hess, who moved from NBC to Kabletown, explains that the company’s success comes from adult pay-per-view channels; it’s a perfect business that doesn’t need new products or services. Jack is appalled at the idea of never creating anything again. Later, while delivering a eulogy at the funeral of former GE CEO Don Geiss, Jack has a sudden insight and suggests to Kabletown executives that they launch porn aimed at women—channels with handsome men who just listen while women talk endlessly.

Liz Lemon tries to dodge Wesley, a British man she met and flirted with while sedated by anesthesia. She finds him irritating, but they keep bumping into each other, making them think they’re destined to be together. After visiting the dentist’s office where they first met, Liz and Wesley realize the anesthesia was behind their connection and agree to stop seeing each other. When they cross paths yet again, Wesley suggests they should just settle for each other.

Horrified, Liz asks Jack for advice, but he’s too upset about the idea of settling for a company with no growth to help her. Eventually, Liz tells Wesley her answer is no, insisting they both deserve better than each other. She’s further upset to discover he shares his name with actor Wesley Snipes.

Production

The fifteenth episode of 30 Rock's fourth season, and the 73rd overall, is titled "Don Geiss, America and Hope." It first aired on NBC on March 18, 2010. The episode was directed by Stephen Lee Davis, the series' first assistant director, marking his directorial debut. The writing team consisted of Jack Burditt and Tracey Wigfield.

For Burditt, this was his first script of the season, as he had relocated to Los Angeles to work on the CBS comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine; it was his twelfth writing credit overall. For Wigfield, it was her third writing credit. Filming took place on January 25 and January 27, 2010.

The episode features several guest stars. Welsh actor Michael Sheen, announced in January 2010 as a love interest for Liz Lemon, makes his second appearance as Wesley, having debuted in the prior episode "Future Husband." Scott Bryce appears as Dave Hess, a former colleague of Jack Donaghy; Bryce had previously played a different character, Michael Templeton, in the season three episode "Flu Shot." Marceline Hugot returns for her ninth appearance as Kathy Geiss, daughter of GE CEO Don Geiss. In the episode, Kathy performs Schubert's "Ellens dritter Gesang" on a trumpet at her father's funeral. James Rebhorn reprises his role as Dr. Kaplan, a character he first played in "Future Husband." At the episode's end, Liz watches a "porn for women" channel, where the man speaking to her is portrayed by John Anderson, who had previously guest starred as Astronaut Mike Dexter; Anderson is credited as Astronaut Mike Dexter in the end credits.

The plot involves Jack learning from former GE CEO Jack Welch, in the previous episode, that current CEO Don Geiss has died. This episode then depicts Geiss's funeral service. Television critic Bob Sassone of TV Squad, in his recap, speculated that actor Rip Torn might have been written out of the series due to an alcohol-related incident involving Torn in January 2010.

Cultural references

The episode opens with Jack informing the staff that Kabletown, a Philadelphia-based network, has purchased NBC. This sparks a heated exchange between Jack and Liz about their hometowns. Liz, having grown up near Philadelphia, shouts support for the Eagles, cheesesteaks, Bobby Clarke, and Will Smith while declaring Boston terrible.

Jack, a Boston native, counters by listing the Boston Tea Party, Boston cream pie, reality star Boston Rob Mariano, and Benjamin Franklin’s birthplace. Liz retorts that Franklin quickly realized Boston was awful and relocated to Philadelphia. The New York staff then mock Los Angeles, prompting an NBC executive on a video call to defend LA with mentions of Michael Bay, freeways, and Legoland—until Jack cuts him off.

In a meeting with Kabletown executives, Jack discovers their focus on adult films, with titles like Assatar, The Lovely Boners, The Hind Side, and Fresh-Ass: Based on the Novel Tush by Assfire, all spoofing 2009 movies such as Avatar, The Lovely Bones, The Blind Side, and Precious. Jenna tells Tracy she once ate the pig that starred in the film Babe, which was based on the novel The Sheep-Pig. At Don Geiss’s funeral, his daughter Kathy performs a trumpet solo of Schubert’s Ellens dritter Gesang, commonly recognized as the Ave Maria. Later, after Tracy tries to sleep with Liz to revive his womanizing image, she tells him she only has a Sims family that keeps getting murdered—referring to the video game where players control virtual people.

Tracy responds that Liz will one day have what he has because she is strong and intelligent, comparing her to Hilary from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a character known for being dim-witted. Before they part, Liz learns Wesley’s last name is Snipes, but he says it suits a pale Englishman better than actor Wesley Snipes. Liz and Wesley also watch a second screening of Hot Tub Time Machine, leading to arguments despite both enjoying the film.

Reception

The episode "Don Geiss, America and Hope" drew 6.857 million U.S. viewers on its first airing, a 3% bump from the prior week's "Future Husband," which had 5.894 million. In the 18-to-49 demographic, it earned a 3.0 rating and a 9 share, meaning 3.0% of that age group and 9% of those watching TV at that time tuned in. Alec Baldwin received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for this episode at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, but lost to Jim Parsons.

Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger felt the episode wasn't as strong as the previous one but found "many funny moments scattered throughout" and was satisfied overall. He thought the awkward dynamic between Liz and Wesley "worked better" here than in earlier appearances, called Jack's storyline "a good story," and praised the show for being "fearless about mocking their future Comcast overlords as they are at making fun of NBC." Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club enjoyed Michael Sheen's return, calling every part of Liz and Wesley's story "brilliant," and noted that Jack's midlife crisis was "poignant as well as funny." Rabin gave the episode a B+ rating, concluding it was "a rock-solid episode." James Poniewozik of Time liked Sheen's performance but had reservations about his arc with Liz, writing, "I assume that [Sheen] is not going to become a permanent cast member, and so however much I might enjoy parts of this story, I can never forget that this is probably one more relationship that Liz will go through and end up at status quo ante." Bob Sassone of AOL's TV Squad praised the NBC/Kabletown deal storyline and enjoyed Tracy's subplot, noting it gave the character "something important to do" and "shined some new light on the Tracy Morgan character." Adam Mersel of TV Guide wrote, "I can officially say that almost no episode of 30 Rock falls flat for me, and this one certainly didn't," adding, "All in all, this is one of my favorite episodes of the season."