From Julia Louis-Dreyfus as cutaway Liz Lemon to Rachel Dratch as a helpless Russian cleaning lady, the much ballyhooed live edition of 30 Rock featured its fair share of former Saturday Night Live stars. (Hey, there's Bill Hader!) But were those veterans of live comedy any match for the rest of 30 Rock's sparkling cast? Ahead, Movieline ranks the ten best performances from the East Coast edition of "Live Show." Do your TGS with Tracy Jordan "power rankings" match up to ours? Join us for the definitive countdown.
10. Jonathan (Maulik Pancholy)
I was worried the magnificent Jonathan had been written off the show sometime ago. But no, he's back, suffering through Liz's Slumdog Millionaire jokes, water bottle squirts and screeching at Kenneth when questioned about forgetting Ms. Lemon's birthday.
Best line: (To Liz): "Oh, are you turning a thousand?"
9. Kenneth (Jack McBrayer)
Kenneth giggled like some sort of Pixy Stix-addled preteen throughout the live episode, an idea that never came together comically. But Kenneth's role at least seems renewed after a couple of disappointing episodes for the perky page.
Best line: (To Jenna): "If you need someone to scream at, I'm right here."
8. Dr. Spaceman (Chris Parnell)
In one skit-tish segment, Liz's "doctor" (his air quotes, not mine) stars in an informercial and claims that erectile dysfunction can be curbed if only the world produced a "doing-it song" that rivaled Teddy Pendergrass's "Close the Door." That's a Time/Life special I'd sit through.
Best line: "Erectile dysfunction is not just a dog problem anymore."
7. Danny (Cheyenne Jackson)
The little-seen Danny scored two big lines in last night's episode and both were dynamite. He gave us Canadian confusion during one adorable moment and a hysterical impersonation of Dr. Oz in the other.
Best line: (As Dr. Oz, holding up a slab of something on Oprah): "This is what the inside of a child's face looks like."
6. Tracy (Tracy Morgan)
Though Tracy was reduced to a single conceit this episode -- breaking character and laughing at his own ambivalence -- he found time to squeeze in some classically baffling rejoinders. For instance, he said he'd laugh onstage "harder than [he] laughed at Dotcom's play" (which was Angels in America).
Best line: "Why do people do anything? Because they're rich or they have Attention Deficit Dis -- Hey! Look at Lutz's shirt."
5. Jack (Alec Baldwin)
The SNL hosting vet fumbled a few lines on the East Coast feed, but he also killed when it came to smelling Jenna's mouth to curb his alcohol thirst and practicing magic tricks on a confused Liz.
Best line: (To Liz, who asks him to have a drink with her): "Avery says no, but it's dangerous to say no to an old spinster. You may turn me into an old crow!"
4. Drew (Jon Hamm)
In just a minute-long cameo as a commercial spokesman, Hamm took his role as Liz's buffoon ex and elevated it to a vaudevillian mix of slapstick, one-liners, and darting pupils. Is there room for him to appear again on 30 Rock? Maybe not. But this was a genius closing scene for Hamm's halfwit character.
Best line: "Every year dozens of people lose their hand to a helicopter, or a fireworks mishap, or in my case, both."
3. Carol (Matt Damon)
I hope Matt Damon watched Robert Stack in Airplane minutes before going on air, because his pilot crisis sideplot conjured clear memories of that classic role. Bonus points also awarded for Carol's reference to DVR'ing Bones, which airs opposite 30 Rock.
Best line: "No non-essential chatter, Liz, I'm having the worst flight of my career. We got wind chill, lightning, turbulence -- the in-flight meal was a fritatta."
2. Liz (Tina Fey)
Liz appeared in a bulk of the scenes last night, shifting from harried to hilarious to straight-man to crestfallen within the space of single scenes. She sometimes responded too quickly to certain jokes before the audience could catch up, but eh. Minor snafus are the orchids of live TV, as Keats used to say -- wild and eye-catchy and each a singular spectacle. Plus, a real Liz Lemon would sometimes have bad timing! It all works out.
Best line: "Open on: The Coven Garden flower market, 1892: "Flawehs! Flawehs fo' sayo!"
1. Jenna (Jane Krakowski)
Turns out SNL alums are no match for legitimate stage veterans, and no one proved it like Jane Krakowski. The Tony-winner sang the "30 Rock Live!" theme with pitch-perfect gusto, found time to say something offensive about the Chilean miners ("Oh, they're geniuses for getting stuck in a mine?") and burst with the clearest, shrewdly timed punchlines.
Best line: "Welcome back to Fox News. I'm blonde."