Corporate Crush
"Corporate Crush" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the American television series 30 Rock. It was written by co-executive producer John Riggi and directed by Don Scardino. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 12, 2007. Guest stars in this episode include Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman, John Lutz, Emily Mortimer, Maulik Pancholy, Jason Sudeikis, and Rip Torn.
In this episode, Liz Lemon, who is now in a happy relationship with Floyd DeBarber, becomes annoyed when Jack Donaghy seemingly becomes obsessed with Floyd. Jack begins a relationship with Phoebe, after being demoted. Meanwhile, Tracy Jordan pitches his movie, Jefferson, to General Electric CEO Don Geiss.
"Corporate Crush" received generally positive reviews from television critics, with Robert Canning of IGN describing it as "solid". According to the Nielsen ratings system, the episode was watched by 5.1 million households during its original broadcast. Griffin Richardson, the episode's sound mixer, received a Creative Arts Emmy Award nomination in the category for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series and Animation.
Plot
Liz has become very happy since dating Floyd, and their relationship together is going strong. Don Geiss, the CEO of General Electric, speaks to Jack about his career, and points out that Jack is the only executive at his level to be unmarried. Owing to the debacle with his fireworks special, Geiss takes away Jack's role as the head of the Microwave Oven division, which makes Jack become extremely depressed. Liz decides that she wants Jack to meet Floyd at dinner, although Jack becomes obsessed with Floyd and becomes a third wheel in Liz and Floyd's relationship. Liz, extremely bothered by Jack's obsession, tells Jack to leave Floyd alone. Jack agrees, and he tells Liz that he has begun a relationship with Phoebe, a Christie's auction house art dealer who has "avian bone syndrome" and on their third meeting still greets Liz with "Hi, I'm Phoebe, I don't know if you remember me ..." Jack asks Liz's approval in his relationship with Phoebe, and when Liz grants it, he immediately proposes to Phoebe.Meanwhile, Tracy tries to get Don Geiss to finance his film, Jefferson, which is based on Thomas Jefferson's life. However, Geiss is not interested in Tracy's $35 million project, even after Tracy uses NBC page Kenneth Parcell, Grizz Griswold and "Dot Com" Slattery to put together a trailer for the film. After failing to convince Geiss, who would rather see him do a sequel to one of Tracy's previous films, Fat Bitch, Tracy decides that he will make Jefferson on his own.
Production
"Corporate Crush" was written by co-executive producer John Riggi and directed by Don Scardino. This was Riggi's third writing credit, having written the episodes "Blind Date" and "The Head and the Hair", and was Scardino's fifth directed episode. "Corporate Crush" originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 12, 2007 as the nineteenth episode of the show's first season and overall of the series.Comedian actor Jason Sudeikis, who played Floyd DeBarber in this episode, has appeared in the main cast of Saturday Night Live, which Fey worked for from 1997 to 2006. This episode was Sudeikis' fifth appearance on 30 Rock. This was actress Emily Mortimer's first appearance as the character Phoebe. She would later guest star in the episodes "Cleveland" and "Hiatus", the latter being her final guest spot. Mortimer told The Philadelphia Inquirer, "It was amazing doing telly. I'd never done a sitcom before and it was so fast. You're given dialogue as you're walking onto the set and it's kind of hairy. There are 10 people standing around watching the monitor and if they don't laugh – then instead of having another chance to do it – someone writes another line." Actor Rip Torn made his second appearance as GE CEO Don Geiss in "Corporate Crush". Torn previously appeared in the February 15, 2007, episode "The C Word".
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Corporate Crush" was watched by an average of 5.1 million households, according to the Nielsen ratings system. This was a decrease from the previous episode, "Fireworks", which was watched by 5.4 million American viewers. "Corporate Crush" achieved a 2.6/7 in the key 18- to 49-year-old demographic. The 2.6 refers to 2.6% of all people of ages 18–49 years old in the United States, and the 7 refers to 7% of all people of ages 18–49 years old watching television at the time of the broadcast in the United States. Since airing, the episode has received generally positive reviews.IGN contributor Robert Canning wrote that "Corporate Crush" was a "solid episode", and that 30 Rock seemed "to have hit its storytelling stride". He added that "as we near the season finale, we're happy to see that 30 Rock has begun their drive towards a big finish". Canning rated this episode an 8 out of 10. TV Guide
Griffin Richardson, the series' sound mixer, was nominated for a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy in the category for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series and Animation. Richardson, however, lost to Steve Morantz of Entourage, and Joe Foglia of Scrubs.