Flu Shot (30 Rock)

"Flu Shot"
30 Rockepisode
Episodeno.	Season 3 Episode 8
Directed by	Don Scardino
Written by	Jon Pollack
Featured music	"Mr. Templeton" performed byMichael Bublé
Production code	308
Original air date	January 15, 2009(2009-01-15)
Guest appearances
George Bartenieffas Mr. Templeton Scott Bryceas Michael Templeton Salma Hayekas Elisa Chris Parnellas Dr. Leo Spaceman

"Flu Shot"is the eighth episode of thethird seasonof the American television comedy series30 Rock.It was written by Jon Pollack, and directed by series producerDon Scardino.The episode originally aired onNBCin the United States on January 15, 2009. Guest stars in this episode includeGeorge Bartenieff,Scott Bryce,Salma Hayek,andChris Parnell.

In the episode,Liz Lemon(Tina Fey) campaigns for her staff's right to get flu shots fromDr. Leo Spaceman(Parnell), butJack Donaghy(Alec Baldwin) will not allow it due to a limited supply. Meanwhile, Jack tries to think of creative ways to spend time with his girlfriend, Elisa (Hayek), as she works seven days a week. At the same time,Jenna Maroney(Jane Krakowski) andTracy Jordan(Tracy Morgan) try to do something nice for the crew.

"Flu Shot" received a mixed response from television critics, with Robert Canning ofIGNconcluding that the episode fell below30 Rockstandards.According to theNielsen ratingssystem, it was watched by 6.6 million households during its original broadcast, and received a 3.2 rating/8 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic.

Plot

Liz Lemon(Tina Fey) is excited about her vacation week, until she gets a text message from her assistant,Cerie Xerox(Katrina Bowden), that the hotel she had planned to stay at was overbooked. Liz goes to seeDr. Leo Spaceman(Chris Parnell) who is giving out flu shots at the 30 Rock studios. She learns that the shots are given to select few employees. Her boss,Jack Donaghy(Alec Baldwin), asks her to let him know about the most important individuals in her staff that should receive flu shots. Liz does not agree with Jack that he should ration out health care, which results in Liz not getting a shot. Jack considers giving the show's page,Kenneth Parcell(Jack McBrayer), one of the remaining shots, as he is very ill with the flu, though Kenneth refuses. Later, Jack continuously asks Liz, but still refuses. This time, she displays her solidarity in front ofThe Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan(TGS) crew who show her their appreciation. However, as she sees the crew getting sicker, as days go by, she panics and gets the shot.

Meanwhile, Jack wants to spend time with his girlfriend,Elisa(Salma Hayek), but her job as a nurse does not allow it. While taking care of an elderly man named Mr. Templeton (George Bartenieff), who suffers fromdementia,Jack persuades her to spend time with him, to which Elisa gives in to, and results in the two bringing Mr. Templeton along on their dates. One day, as they prepare to go out again, Jack and Elisa are shocked when Mr. Templeton's son, Michael (Scott Bryce), visits unexpectedly. The elderly man tells his son about the late night escapades, though Elisa tells the son that his story is not true. As Elisa distracts the son, Jack tries to leave the apartment, until Mr. Templeton sees him. Jack explains his situation with Elisa to Mr. Templeton, which he understands, and promises Jack he will not tell his son anything more of the late nights.

At the 30 Rock studios,Jenna Maroney(Jane Krakowski) andTracy Jordan(Tracy Morgan), the stars ofTGS,decide they want to help the sick crew. They think about getting the crew soup but are too lazy to do it; instead they decide that laughter is the best medicine. Jenna and Tracy, dressed as clowns, put on a very unsuccessful show at theTGSstage where they end up throwing a pie on Liz's face. The crew stands up for Liz until they see the red dot where she received the shot. She confesses that she chose the vacation over the crew, as she later was told by Cerie that the hotel had rooms available, which results in the crew hating her for it. Later as she discusses the situation with Jack (who is dismissive of the crew concerns), both suffer adverse reactions to the shot.

Production

Michael Bublé performed the song "Mr. Templeton" in this episode.

"Flu Shot" was written by Jon Pollack and directed byDon Scardino.This was Pollack's second writing credit, having writtenseason twoepisode "Greenzo".This was Scardino's seventeenth directed episode. "Flu Shot" originally aired on NBC as the eighth episode of the show'sthird seasonin the United States on January 15, 2009.

This episode was actressSalma Hayek's second appearance on30 Rockas the characterElisa.She first appeared in the episode "Señor Macho Solo"as a nurse forJack Donaghy's mother and love interest for Jack.In this episode, composerJeff Richmondwrote a theme for the Elisa character.ActorChris Parnell,who playedDr. Leo Spacemanin "Flu Shot", has appeared in the main cast ofSaturday Night Live(SNL),a weeklysketch comedyseries which airs on NBC in the United States. Series creator, executive producer and lead actressTina Feywas thehead writeronSNLfrom 1999 until 2006.Fey andTracy Morganhave both been part of the main cast ofSNL.Alec Baldwin,who plays Jack, has also hostedSNLfifteen times.This was Parnell's eighth appearance on the show. ActorScott Bryceguest-starred as Michael Templeton,the son of Mr. Templeton (George Bartenieff), though Bryce would make an appearance on the show'sfourth seasonepisode "Don Geiss, America and Hope"as Dave Hess, a former colleague of Jack's.

According to Fey, in the DVD commentary for this episode, the show was not allowed to "say or imply" that the United States government had truly run out of flu shots,as many jokes in the original script were cut out. In addition, there were "a lot of meetings" in regards to where the red dot onLiz Lemon's arm would be.In the commentary, Fey revealed that the show had to askDisneypermission to "imply" that Jack and Elisa, while on their date, were in attendance atThe Lion Kingmusical, which was granted.The romantic scenes between Jack and Elisa, which showed them at a park at night, were filmed in front of agreen screen.The show's producers initially wanted to go to different locations around New York, but believed it would be too hard to shoot.In addition, Liz's scenes at the beach were also shot in front of a green screen.

Canadian singer-songwriterMichael Bubléperformed the song "Mr. Templeton" that was featured in this episode. In a January 2009 interview, the singer said he was notified by his manager that both Alec Baldwin and Salma Hayek—fans of the singer—hoped he could write a "funny little tune" to the "Flu Shot" episode, to which he agreed. Bublé was referenced in the previous episode, "Señor Macho Solo",as Hayek's character teases Baldwin's Jack over his many album collections of the singer.Bublé, a fan of30 Rock,in an interview withEntertainment Weekly,said he was asked by the show to perform the song, and as a result, Bublé went to Canadian singerBryan Adams' studio in Vancouver and recorded "Mr. Templeton" there.

Reception

Alan Sepinwall ofThe Star-Ledgercommented that the "long-awaited return" of Chris Parnell's30 Rockcharacter "wasn't as funny or ridiculous as it could have been".

According to theNielsen ratingssystem, "Flu Shot" was watched by 6.6 million households in its original American broadcast. It earned a 3.2 rating/8 share in the 18–49 demographic.This means that it was seen by 3.2% of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 8% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. This was an increase from the previous episode, "Señor Macho Solo",which was watched by 5.4 million American viewers.

Since airing, the episode has received a mixed response from television critics.IGNcontributor Robert Canning said "Flu Shot" had a number of aspects that he enjoyed, but "as a whole" the episode was not completely satisfying, and reasoned that this episode fell below30 Rockstandards. He said that he personally did not buy the idea of Liz taking a tropical vacation, "[t]hat's just not the Liz I know. But even ignoring this, the bits involved, especially the flashes to Liz on the beach, weren't all that inspired." Canning also was critical of Jack and Elisa's story as he felt it was weak. Overall, he rated the episode a 7.6 out of 10.Bob SassoneofAOL'sTV Squadwrote, "Is it just me or was this one of the more lacking episodes of30 Rock?It's not that it was terrible... but this one just seemed to meander. It wasn't as funny as other episodes... and that whole crew-as-zombies-with-the-flu stuff was a little bit too surreal, even for this show. "Further in his review, Sassone wrote that theTracyandJennasubplot started funny, but ended "in a lame, predictable manner."Television columnist Alan Sepinwall forThe Star-Ledger,also disliked "Flu Shot", opining that it was a disappointment. Sepinwall further added that the Jack and Elisa story "felt like something out of a bad '80s sitcom – and not even the30 Rocktake on a bad '80s sitcom episode. "Sepinwall, however, wrote that the episode did have a good moment withKennethsuggesting to Tracy that he and Jenna get soup for the sick crew themselves, and with Tracy replying "With what? My arms?".

Not all reviews were negative.Claire ZulkeyforThe A.V. Clubwrote, "For me, there are two types of episodes of30 Rock:the really really good ones, where all the parts come together to make a wonderful whole, and the pretty good ones, where there memorable jokes and lines are all there, but put all together create a kind of uneven episode. That struck me as tonight's type of episode. "Though, Zulkey felt that the zombies scene" didn't really work "except for when Liz smashed a picture frame overPete Hornberger's (Scott Adsit) head. She said that the "funniest part" from "Flu Shot" was the look on Jack and Elisa's faces "as the animals fromThe Lion Kingwalked through the audience. "The Palm Beach Post’s Kevin D. Thompson, in his review of "Flu Shot", said it featured many funny lines.

External links

• "Flu Shot"atIMDb