jenna maroney

(S04E12) "It was perfect. Like a John Mayer song." - Jenna, on meeting with her mom

There's a 1984 episode of 'Kate & Allie' titled 'New Year's Eve' where Kate and Allie make a bet: Kate has to give up smoking and Allie has to give up eating chocolate (never mind that we never even saw Kate smoke before, but that's another story). Sound familiar? OK, so Liz had to stay away from all junk food and not just chocolate, but still, that was one of the plots of tonight's '30 Rock.' It's an old staple with sitcoms, of course, I just didn't think that '30 Rock' would necessarily go there.

I also don't want to see yet another character have to stay at Liz's apartment. Pete has stayed there, Tracy, and now Frank. Who's next, Jack? Kenneth? Luckily, even a couple of creaky plots can't completely hurt an episode of this show because there are so many great jokes flying at you from all directions.

This week we finally meet Jenna Maloney's mother, Verna, on '30 Rock.' Not that we've heard too much about her, I don't think, but it will be interesting to see where she came from (I'd also like to meet the sister who peed in Jenna's eye).

She's not in this clip below, but Verna is played by ex-'SNL' star Jan Hooks.

I'm not sure what the heck James Franco is doing on General Hospital (though I kind of admire his quirky career strategy), but I do know what he's doing on 30 Rock: he's playing himself, trying to set up a fake romance with Jenna. Here's a sneak peek of the episode, which airs on January 14.

[via Zap2it]

The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:

• I have zero interest in the Saw franchise, but Paranormal Activity looks super-creepy. Apparently America agrees with me, because Paranormal Activity beat Saw VI at the box office on Friday.
• I remember renting the 1988 version of The Blob on VHS from our library when I was a kid. Now you can see it for free, just like I did! Except instead of VHS, you can totally watch The Blob on SlashControl.
• Vampires may be the new hot thing, and as Jenna Maroney told us on 30 Rock, werewolves may be next, but after that? Witches are the new hotness.
• I've always felt a kinship with Amelia Earhart, ever since I put on my mom's riding pants, boots, scarf, and a short wig for biography day in the 5th grade. So maybe that's kind of a sad reason to want to see Amelia, but there it is. You can read Cinematical's review of Amelia here.
• Speaking of Amelia Earhart, Cinematical Seven has 7 biopics worthy of their subject. And Amelia isn't the only film on the list featuring Hilary Swank.