"Hey, Baby, What's Wrong" is the sixth and seventh episode of the sixth season of the American television comedy series '' 30 Rock'', and the 109th and 110th overall episode of the series. It was directed by

Michael Engler Michael Engler is an American theater director, and a Directors Guild of America and Emmy nominated television director and producer. Theater His Broadway credits include '' Eastern Standard'', starring Dylan Baker, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Con ...

and written by

Kay Cannon Kay Cannon (born August 22, 1974) is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and actress. She is best known for writing and producing the ''Pitch Perfect'' film series (2012–2017). She made her directorial debut with the comedy film '' ...

. The episode originally aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in the United States on February 9, 2012. Guest stars in this episode include

James Marsden James Paul Marsden (born September 18, 1973) is an American actor, singer, and former model. Marsden began his acting career guest starring in the television shows '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' (1993), '' Touched by an Angel'' (1995), ' ...

, Mary Steenburgen, and

Kristen Schaal Kristen Joy Schaal (; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and Mabel Pines on ''Gravity Falls''. She's also known for playing Mel on '' ...

. In this hour-long episode,

Liz Lemon Elizabeth Miervaldis Lemon is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American television series ''30 Rock''. She created and writes for the fictional comedy-sketch show ''The Girlie Show'' and later ''TGS with Tracy Jordan''. She is po ...

(

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...

) tries to have the first good Valentine's Day of her life with boyfriend Criss (

);

Jack Donaghy John Francis "Jack" Donaghy ( ) is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'', airing from 2006 to 2013. The character was created by series creator Tina Fey, and is portrayed by Alec Baldwin. He was introduced as the Vice President of Ea ...

( Alec Baldwin) and his mother-in-law ( Mary Steenburgen) go to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

to attempt getting his wife out of North Korea;

Pete Hornberger '' 30 Rock'' is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey, which aired on NBC. The series takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy series, also airing on NBC; the name "30 Rock" refers to the address of t ...

( Scott Adsit) tries to help

Jenna Maroney Jenna Maroney (born Yustrepa Gronkowitz; February 24, 1969) is a fictional character on the American television series ''30 Rock'', played by Jane Krakowski. For her portrayal of Maroney, Krakowski was nominated four times for the Prime time E ...

(

Jane Krakowski Jane Krakowski (; ; born October 11, 1968) is an American actress, comedienne, and singer. She is best known for her starring role as Jenna Maroney in the NBC satirical comedy series ''30 Rock'' (2006–2013, 2020), for which she received four ...

) have a successful live singing performance;

Kenneth Parcell Andromakennethamblesorton "Kenneth" Ellen Parcell is a fictional character on the NBC comedy television series, ''30 Rock'', portrayed by Jack McBrayer. Originally a supporting character in the first two episodes of the series, the show's produ ...

(

Jack McBrayer Jack McBrayer (; born May 27, 1973) is an American actor and comedian, who gained national exposure for his portrayal of characters on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and as Kenneth Parcell in '' 30 Rock''. For his role in ''30 Rock'' he was ...

) trains his page replacement (

); and

Tracy Jordan Tracy Jordan is a fictional character in the American television series ''30 Rock'', played by the actor Tracy Morgan. The character is a movie star whose personality traits and life events are taken from Morgan's own life. In 2010, ''Entertain ...

(

Tracy Morgan Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor best known for his television work as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1996–2003) and for his role as Tracy Jordan in the sitcom ''30 Rock'' (2006 ...

) and

Frank Rossitano ''30 Rock'' is an American television comedy Television program, series created by Tina Fey, which aired on NBC. The series takes place behind the scenes of a fictional Live television, live sketch comedy series, also airing on NBC; the name "3 ...

(

Judah Friedlander Judah Friedlander (born March 16, 1969) is an American actor and comedian, known for playing the role of writer Frank Rossitano on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock''. Friedlander is also known for his role as Toby Radloff in the film '' American Splendo ...

) try to show how

Lutz Lutz is a surname and given name, occasionally a short form of Ludwig. People with the name include: Surname *Adolfo Lutz (1855–1940), Brazilian physician *Aleda E. Lutz (1915–1944), American Army flight nurse * Alois Lutz, Austrian figure ...

(

John Lutz John Michael Lutz (born April 23, 1973) is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is best known for playing J. D. Lutz on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'', and for his work as a writer on the NBC series ''Saturday Night Live'' for seven ...

) can find a date despite his undesirability.

Plot

Criss (

) wants to cook

(

) a great

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

dinner. The two head to an IKEA to buy a dining room table together. In the store, they join other couples arguing over the furniture as metaphors for their respective relationships.

and his mother-in-law, Diana ( Mary Steenburgen), go to the

to try getring Avery back from North Korea. Throughout the day, the two bond over the things they have in common and battle sexual tension due to their mutual attraction.

( Scott Adsit) tries to prepare

(

) for her first live singing performance on ''America's Kidz Got Singing'', where everyone is hoping that she will crash and burn following her cruel comments as a judge. Jenna can't sing well due to "the yips" that Pete, a former archer, diagnoses her with (as he too suffered from them at the 1984 Olympic trials). She eventually has a solid performance, as Pete realizes she needs pain to distract her from the pressure to sing well. He shoots her with an arrow from a cupid prop to help her perform successfully. Meanwhile,

(

) trains his page replacement, Hazel (

), who is horrified upon realizing how rude the people who work at ''TGS'' are. She is discouraged until she sees how amazing Liz's life is, which makes her feel ready to work as a page at the show.

(

) and

(

) decide to teach Lutz (

) "jerk"-esque ways to pick up emotionally vulnerable women. He tries them all out, but fails. Lutz realizes he still had a great time hanging out with Tracy and Frank all day, while they discover they have neglected their own respective partners. Liz resigns herself to the notion that she has lost another boyfriend, only to return home and find that Criss has cooked her an amazing Valentine's Day dinner. He tells her that he wasn't upset about their argument and that he does not mind when they disagree. Finally, Jack and Diana find a way to deal with their sexual tension by vigorously hitting the driving range together.

Reception

According to the

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

, this episode of ''30 Rock'' was watched by 3.88 million households in its original American broadcast. It earned a 1.6 rating/4 share in the 18–49 demographic. This means that it was seen by 1.6 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 4 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. Overall, the episode received mixed reviews from critics.

Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...

of ''

HitFix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...

'' opined that "Double-length comedy episodes are hard to pull off, particularly on a show as joke-driven as ''30 Rock'' is ..and while there were funny moments because it's ''30 Rock'' and they're talented and it's almost always funny at some point, on the whole, he episodedragged." However, he complimented the performances of Mary Steenburgen and Alec Baldwin, and commended their

plot line as "the kind of broad, clever satire ''30 Rock'' does so well." Nathan Rabin of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' was particularly negative toward the episode, calling it a "disconcertingly dreadful Valentine’s Day episode of ''30 Rock'' that luxuriates in a bubble bath of sour misanthropy for an interminable hour." He awarded it a C−.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hey Baby What's Wrong 30 Rock (season 6) episodes Valentine's Day television episodes