30 Rock: Subway Hero (Episode 212)

The Odd Couple: Image courtesy of NBC.com.Is there nothing more romantic than the sound of Dennis Duffy saying "Hey, dummy"?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Dennis the beeper king of Manhattan is back in Liz's life. A hero for pulling a stranger out of the way of an oncoming subway train, Dennis is hailed and honored by dignitaries such as Mayor Bloomberg (even if Dennis did yell "Stern Rules! Baba Booey!" during a ceremony) and a local 99-cent store which invited Dennis to cut the ribbon at their grand opening. Jack books Dennis for TGS as long as his 15 minutes of fame are still good.

Sure, Dennis is as bad for Liz as the Sabor de Soledad chips from her neighborhood bodega she insists on shoving into her mouth. And maybe she's not so nice to the writers when she's with him, but she doesn't have to try with Dennis. Being with Dennis is no work at all. Of course, Liz is startled when Dennis, who has sworn to never let go of Liz, proposes during a promotional photo shoot. Despite increasing pressure from a crowd of adoring subway hero fans, Liz manages to reject his proposal, and rather harshly at that. When the crowd starts to boo her, Dennis shows his true Dennis colors, yelling and being a jerk.

Dennis's outburst brings a premature end to his turn in the spotlight, and his guest stint on TGS is given to a 911-dialing parrot. When he runs off, Liz tracks him down in the subway, where he contemplates throwing Liz on the train for another daring rescue. Thankfully, he pulls her towards the wrong track, giving Liz enough time to realize how awful he is and swear yet again that she'll never see him again. Of course, Dennis swears back that he will will return.

Choosing is a sin so I just always write in the Lord's name.

Jack is hosting a GOP benefit for John McCain or, rather, for the campaign to reinvade Vietnam. His celebrity guest, Bucky Bright*, is a little long in the tooth to be a real draw, so Jack pawns Bucky off on Kenneth (who doesn't vote, as choosing is a sin) to entertain while he courts Tracy with tales of past Republican glory. Tracy doesn't bite until, during a dance break in his dressing room, he has a freak accident with his boombox and dies, going to purgatory. In purgatory, his ghost is convinced by the ghosts of Richard Nixon and Sammy Davis Jr. to join Jack in his quest. No matter what Dot Com may think, Tracy is going to be a dedicated Republican. There is, however, one small problem: all "Blackmericans", according to Tracy, vote Democrat. They just do, and he won't be able to stop them. He might, however, might be able to persuade them to not vote at all. Which may be all the GOP needs, so Jack changes the message of the PSA to accomodate Tracy's new and alarming "truth".

* If you watched "Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip", guest star Tim Conway as Bucky the old NBC writer bears more than a passing resemblance to Eli Wallach as a formerly blacklisted "Studio 60" writer who in a very special episode came back to teach the current staff about... something. But then, I think the problem with Studio 60 was that every episode was a very special episode.