"Everything Sunny All the Time Always" is the twenty-second episode of the fifth season of the American television comedy series '' 30 Rock'', and the 102nd overall episode of the series. It was written by producer

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 '' ...

and co-executive producer Matt Hubbard and directed by

John Riggi John Riggi is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor who has worked on various television shows. He is from Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended high school at Elder High School, in Cincinnati, OH. He has worked as a writer o ...

. 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 April 28, 2011. Guest stars include Condoleezza Rice,

Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...

Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell; February 10, 1974) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for playing Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the ''Pitch Perf ...

, Adriane Lenox, and Thomas Roberts. In the episode,

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) is shocked to discover that his wife,

Avery Jessup '' 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 ...

(

), has been detained in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

by Kim Jong-il (

) to be used in propaganda. Meanwhile,

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 ...

) rearranges her personal life and comes upon an obstacle. Furthermore, Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) settles back into ''TGS With Tracy Jordan'', only to discover that his entourage members, List of 30 Rock characters#Grizz, Grizz (Grizz Chapman) and List of 30 Rock characters#Dot Com, Dot Com (Kevin Brown (actor), Kevin Brown), have bonded with Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer) in his absence. KUAM-TV, KUAM aired the episode on Sunday, May 1, 2011 due to Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, The Royal Wedding, which aired the next morning on most NBC Stations, preempting the episode.

Plot

(

) is clearing out her apartment following her I Heart Connecticut, discovery that Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) had been living there. She comes to the conclusion that she needs to take control of her personal life. However, her hopes are dashed when a plastic bag blows into a tree opposite her apartment and becomes stuck there. Liz is determined to get the plastic bag removed from the tree. She is told by her building's doorman that she will have to take it up with the city. Following a disastrous visit to New York City Hall, City Hall, Liz attempts to take matters into her own hands and attacks the tree. As a result, she is apprehended by a police officer with a taser. Meanwhile,

( Alec Baldwin) is shocked to learn that his wife List of 30 Rock characters#Avery Jessup-Donaghy, Avery Jessup has been kidnapping, kidnapped by Kim Jong-il while in

. Avery is forced to take part in Anti-Americanism, Anti-American propaganda. Jack turns to his ex-girlfriend, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, with whom he broke up via text message, for help. However, she is unable to assist and Avery is forced into marrying Kim Jong-un. Tracy returns to work at ''TGS'' but is shocked to discover his entourage members, List of 30 Rock characters#Grizz, Grizz (Grizz Chapman) and List of 30 Rock characters#Dot Com, Dot Com (Kevin Brown (actor), Kevin Brown), as well as Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer) referring to an amusing incident that happened during his absence. Tracy forces the trio to recreate the events that led to the incident. Eventually, they admit that they missed Tracy.

Cultural references

''Invictus'' is a poem by William Ernest Henley. Liz recognizes the poem from the 2009 film ''Invictus (film), Invictus'' and wonders aloud, "Who was the white guy in that?" She is thinking of Matt Damon, who had formerly portrayed her boyfriend List of 30 Rock characters#Carol Burnett, Carol on ''30 Rock''. Kim Jong-il mentions that Laura Ling left North Korea because "she can't party as hard as we can". At the end of the episode, there is another clip (possibly from the same movie as the first clip) starring Tracy Jordan and Kim Jong-il. The scene starts out with the "Coffee's for closers" bit from ''Glengarry Glen Ross (film), Glengarry Glen Ross'' (a movie in which Alec Baldwin, who plays Jack Donaghy, played the part of Blake) before Kim Jong-il says, "Luke, I am your father" (which is a misquotation, misquoted line from ''The Empire Strikes Back''), then says "Ghostbusters!" (in reference to the film).

Reception

According to the Nielsen Media Research, this episode of ''30 Rock'' was watched by 3.95 million households in its original American broadcast. It earned a 1.9 rating/5 share in the 18–49 demographic. This means that it was seen by 1.9 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 5 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast.

References

External links

* {{30 Rock episodes 2011 American television episodes 30 Rock (season 5) episodes Television episodes set in North Korea