Cougars (30 Rock)

Plot

Liz develops a crush on Jamie, a twenty-year-old coffee delivery man, and after initial hesitation agrees to a date. Jenna encourages her, calling Liz a cougar—"hot older ladies pouncing on their young prey." The first date goes well, and they plan a second. When Liz goes to Jamie's apartment, she discovers he lives with his mother, who looks exactly like Liz.

Frank begins questioning his sexuality after realizing he has a crush on Jamie. He tries unsuccessfully to rival Liz for a date with Jamie. After a night at a gay nightclub, Frank concludes the only man he is attracted to is Jamie and decides he is not gay. Jenna dates Aidan, a teenage NYU freshman, to become a cougar herself.

She breaks up with him when he annoys her by wearing heelies, playing portable video games, and acting as if Jenna is his mother. Tracy, after hitting a police officer's horse, must do community service coaching the worst Little League team in Knuckle Beach. Jack helps by donating uniforms from the Sheinhardt Wig Company. When the team still fails, Jack replaces Tracy with Kenneth. The team revolts, so Jack and Tracy replace team members with Grizz and Dot Com.

Production

Scenes for this episode were primarily filmed on October 5, 2007 at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, Queens, New York. During commercial breaks, American Express commercials aired featuring 30 Rock cast members in character, with Kenneth giving "Secret Rodney" Christmas gifts to other characters. These commercials aimed to deter viewers using Digital Video Recorders from fast-forwarding. The title "Cougars" refers to the pop-culture term for older women who date younger men. Val Emmich, who played Jamie, said he was initially intimidated by Tina Fey more than anyone else he had acted alongside. He learned from acting with Fey that "normal people can be in this business" and described her as "witty, smart [and] sexy."

Reception

The episode "Cougars" drew 5.8 million viewers, earning a 2.5 rating and a 6 share among adults 18 to 49. That rating means 2.5% of all U.S. 18-to-49-year-olds tuned in, while the share indicates 6% of that age group watching TV at that time. It placed first among men 18 to 34 in its timeslot. For context, CBS's Survivor: China had 13.8 million viewers, a repeat of ABC's Ugly Betty pulled 6.5 million, and Fox's Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? drew 9.0 million.

Bob Sassone of TV Squad praised the Tracy and Jack storyline for its "Bush/Iraq metaphors" and Alec Baldwin in General MacArthur costume under a "Fun Accomplished" sign. Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode an 8 out of 10, favoring the Liz and Jamie plot. Matt Webb Mitovich of TV Guide called the episode full of "fun lines" and enjoyed the cougars storyline, noting Liz shines when awkward. Jeff Labrecque of Entertainment Weekly described Jenna's relationship with a Heelys-wearing teen as "priceless" and likened the Frank-Jamie dynamic to Michael Scott and Ryan Howard on The Office.