The Jan. 29 episode of 30 Rock was a repeat of “Reunion,” one of the funniest shows so far this season. It features terrific guest appearances from Diane Neal (who played A.D.A. Casey Novak in Law & Order: SVU), Janel Moloney (Donna Moss in West Wing) and Jeff Hiller, who played the dead naked guy in Ghost Town.

Liz arrives at the studio and is greeted by Kenneth.

Kenneth: “Oh, Ms. Lemon, you have several messages. Ah, let’s see. That company running that bike tour in South Carolina says no singles.”

Liz: “Oh-kay.”

Kenneth: “Your credit card company called. They want to make sure you’re the one buying cream soda in bulk.” (A play off of Tina Fey’s American Express card commercial.)

Liz: “I sure am.”

Kenneth: “And, your landlord called and he said it’s not the toilet. It’s you.”

Liz: “That’s his opinion.”

There’s a fourth message for Liz, and it’s from one of her high school classmates confirming her RSVP to attend their reunion. Liz clearly has no plans to attend but Kenneth, Tracy and Jenna try to convince her otherwise:

Jenna: “I definitely would have gone to my reunion, but the boat I was educated on sank.”

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It’s been mentioned on the site before, but now you can see for yourself — Mad Men’s Jon Hamm is coming to 30 Rock!

I, for one, am quite excited.

Look for the episode to air February 5.

When it comes to 30 Rock’s winning streak, it seems that the recent awards season may be becoming a bit predictable.  At the SAG Awards this weekend, when an interviewer talking to Christina Applegate brought up her nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy, she had this to say:

“You would have to be Jesus to take it away from Tina Fey at this point this year.”

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“30 Rock” continues its awards streak with big honors at the 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, held tonight. “30 Rock” drew wins for Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and for the ensemble cast — which beat out “Desperate Housewives,” “Entourage,” “The Office,” and “Weeds.” Except for “Housewives,” I think the competition was very strong this year, so kudos to “30 Rock” for the honor!

In her acceptance speech, Tina Fey thanked her daughter, Alice, for being the funniest person in her household. Get that girl a writing credit!

By the way, the upcoming show (1/29) is an encore of “Reunion,” in which my new friend comedian Vicki Ferentinos has a small part as an extra. We’ll post a synopsis even though it’s a repeat, so check back with us later this week!

Here’s where we start with this week’s synopsis of “Retreat to Move Forward”: an explanation of Six Sigma, please. According to Wikipedia, it’s a business management strategy that “seeks to identify and remove the causes of defects and errors in manufacturing and business processes.”  In the uber-flawed worlds of “TGS” and Liz Lemon, Six Sigma is an anathema that can only cause more disruption.

Jack is delivering a keynote address at NBC’s Six Sigma corporate retreat and he is apprehensive about how he will be received. (“I haven’t seen a lot of these people since the CEO debacle and my time in the Bush administration.”)  Jack enlists Liz to help him get through his “camp jitters.” Begrudgingly, Liz accepts on the condition that they stay at a hotel with a spa where you are allowed to eat in the sauna because apparently at some places they get mad.

In the writer’s room, Jenna enters with an actor’s announcement: she got the Janis Joplin biopic gig (or the movie about Janet Joppler or Janie Jimplin, depending on how some legal issues pan out) and plans to use the method style of acting. She doesn’t plan on responding to anyone as Jenna, so the staff send her off with their final thoughts:

Frank: “Your hands are weird.”

Toofer: “I don’t think you went to high school.”

Cerie: “I’m not moving Friday. I just said I was.”

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Last night’s episode featured the return of one of my favorite “30 Rock” characters: Dr. Spaceman!

We get to see the brilliant Chris Parnell as Dr. Leo Spaceman later in the show. But first, Liz has a spring in her step because it’s four days before vacation week. She’s preparing for her time off by experimenting with self-tanner. Kenneth asks:

Kenneth: “What happened to your hand?”

Liz: “Oh, I was trying out a spray tan for my trip to St. Bartlesby next week.”

Kenneth: “Oh, Ms. Lemon, how could you do that to your beautiful hand? With your flat, manly milking thumbs and your long graceful knuckle hair…”

Caught daydreaming, Liz takes us to her vacation — “a resort with private beaches, soft serve machines and, after the French custom, a place where people wear dark socks to go to the beach.

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NBC is renewing “30 Rock” for the 2009-10 season!

Tina Fey has had an incredible year — all the industry accolades and her game-changing impersonation of Sarah Palin — so there was never any doubt among fans that the show would be back, but in this challenging economic environment, one never knows.

Let’s hope the show’s writers continue to find creative ways to integrate products (Soy Joy, Snapple) into the episodes without it becoming cumbersome.

While it may have seemed that Tina Fey’s calling out of some internet critics may have been just for comedic effect, the actuality is that the posters she mentioned by name are real.  Gawker has done some homework, and dredged up some of the things these people have posted to the LA Times Envelope Awards site.

Some of the posts they mention specifically and attribute to DianeFan:

I just hope they give the win to anyone but Tina Fey. Boy I can’t wait until Edie Falco comes back on the scene just to wipe that smug look off Tina’s face.

Tina Fey was simply like the pimple on my face – just there….  I think that the key issue here is the fact that when Tina is at her best, she’s just not that great.

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Congratulations to “30 Rock” for its amazing winning streak at the Golden Globes! The show won in all three of the categories in which it was nominated:

* Alec Baldwin, for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series (Musical or Comedy)

* Best Television Series (Musical or Comedy)

* Tina Fey, for Best Actress in a Television Series (Musical or Comedy)

We should mention Tracy Morgan’s funny acceptance speech on behalf of the cast when they won the Best Television Series award. He told the audience that he and Tina made a pact that if Barack Obama won the election, he would become the official spokesperson for the show.

Tina also had something to say to her haters on the Internet: “You can suck it!”

Happy New Year, 30 Rock fans! Following a brief hiatus, both “30 Rock” and 30RockOnline.com are back in full swing. Quick recap: in the last episode, Liz got into the holiday spirit by donating gifts to children in need; Jack took in his injured mother after nearly running her over; and the Girlie Show staff had two days to produce a Christmas special. In the Jan. 8 episode “Senor Macho Solo,” both Liz and Jack usher in the New Year with the hope that they will find their soul mates. The show opens with Jenna telling Liz that she is auditioning for the latest Sheinhardt film production of the Janis Joplin biopic. But Liz is distracted by the ticking of her biological clock — and a cute baby.

Liz: “Hi Max, is this your baby sister? Oh, what a cute little girl — or boy, if you grow up and feel that that’s what’s inside you.”

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