Top five ways to cope with “30 Rock” ending

Allen J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times | MCT

Actress Tina Fey’s role as Liz Lemon will come to an end tonight as “30 Rock” concludes with its series finale..

Thursday night, after seven triumphant, bar-raising seasons, Tina Fey’s iconic comedy “30 Rock” comes to an end. The antics of Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) and Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer) provided for a Thursday night staple of rapid-fire jokes and the finest display of self-deprecation on a television screen ever. It’s a miracle that the show made it this far, given its middling ratings, but I am having difficulty letting go of the show that got me through high school and most of college. Here are five ways I’m coping with the end.

1. Rewatch your favorite episodes.
It’s probably too late to rewatch the entire series, so settle for your favorites. Note: While compiling this list, I found it nearly impossible to choose just one from each season.

Season 1: “The Rural Juror” – Jenna Maroney starred in a indie film titled “The Rural Juror,” which was impossible for the writers’ room to understand and even more difficult for Barbara Walters (guest star Rachel Dratch) to pronounce. It featured yet another memorable appearance from Dr. Leo Spaceman.
Season 2: “Rosemary’s Baby” – Carrie Fisher, in what was easily her finest role since being Princess Leia, guest-starred in this episode as Rosemary Howard, Liz Lemon’s childhood writing idol. The best scene in this episode was Jack role-playing as various figures from Tracy’s childhood as part of a therapy session.
Season 3: “Apollo, Apollo” – While the main plot line of this episode was sending Tracy into “space” and trying to find out what really made Jack happy, it’s most fondly remembered for introducing “lizzing” into the modern lexicon—what happens to Liz Lemon when she laughs and whizzes at the same time. The highlight of this episode was Liz Lemon’s phone sex line commercial at the end. I lizzed.
Season 4: “Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001” – Liz finally gets her own talk show, and it causes her to turn into a Jenna Maroney-esque diva. Letting Tina Fey play truly unhinged is only one brilliant part of this episode.
Season 5: “When It Rains, It Pours” – The title refers to Liz’s newfound luck with men. The true joy in this episode comes from Tracy having to take the Cash Cab to the birth of his daughter.
Season 6: “Leap Day” – The show has invented holidays before (like “Anna Howard Shaw Day” instead of Valentine’s Day) but this was their greatest one yet—because on Leap Day, nothing counts. It even featured Jim Carrey in a “Santa Clause”-like movie about “Leap Day.” Real life is for March!

2. Eat your feelings.
One of Liz Lemon’s defining traits is her love for all things food. In an entertainment world dominated by stick thin models and different diet fads, it was nice to see Tina Fey embrace the truly American value of eating all things in sight, especially when she was sad. Some of my favorite “30 Rock” foods include:
Muffin Tops: Make sure they’re whole grain and low fat.
Cheesy Blasters: A hot dog, cheese and a pizza rolled into one. All endorsed by a mascot called Meat Cat. What could go wrong?
Sabor de Soledad: Mexican cheese puffs made with bull semen. Sure, the false positive pregnancy tests are a pain, but they have to taste delicious.
And if you can’t find any of these, just cook up a sandwich on the Tracy Jordan Meat Machine. Do not, however, call it The Funcooker.

3. Buy a bottle of wine (21+).
While drinking away the pain is probably not advice Student Health Services would ever give you, it definitely is something Dr. Leo Spaceman would suggest. And let’s face it—they’re about equals when it comes to actual medical knowledge. Wine was a huge part of “30 Rock,” and it was used for both drinking and throwing. Plus, Liz Lemon loves wine. Her drink of choice is white wine with Sprite, which she keeps in a thermos by her toilet. She also famously consumed entire bottles of it while drunk dialing the Co-Op Board. She even ran with a bottle of red on a treadmill!

4. Throw a Liz Lemon party.
There ain’t no party like a Liz Lemon party ’cause a Liz Lemon party is mandatory. We suggest playing nothing but songs from the television show; masterpieces include: “Muffin Top,” “My Single Is Dropping,” “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah,” “Give a Kidney.”

5. Try to Reagan.
Reaganing, as Jack Donaghy defined it, was going a 24-hour period without a single misstep. So instead of drowning yourself in wine or eating leftover donuts, do something with your life. It’s what Tina Fey would want. And although “30 Rock” was never as heartwarming as its contemporary “Parks and Rec” or predecessors in great comedy like “Cheers,” it never ceased to teach us that dreams do come true, even the ones that are seemingly too wild to be possible. Jenna Maroney found her soul mate. Kenneth went from being a page to a janitor to the head of NBC. And Liz Lemon finally found love and became a mother, though there’s still one more episode to see if she ends up happy career-wise as well. Hell, “30 Rock” made it to seven seasons! So even though “30 Rock” is ending, remember that even a country bumpkin like Kenneth, whose favorite science is the Old Testament, can become the president of a television network. It’s your turn to Reagan.

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