Apollo, Apollo

The episode is set on the fiftieth birthday of Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), and much of the plot revolves around his concerns with his age and desire to reclaim the happiness of his childhood.

Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) agrees to help Tracy with his dream of traveling in space, promising to call his friends at NASA.

Pete and the TGS crew construct a model space shuttle and place Tracy in it after disorienting him by flying him in a helicopter blindfolded.

At the same time, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) is visited by her ex-boyfriend, Dennis Duffy (Dean Winters), who informs her that he is a sex addict, now atoning for his past errors.

At the party, however, West calls Jack by the wrong name, leading him to realize that he is in fact unhappy, despite his accomplishments.

"Apollo, Apollo" was written by executive producer Robert Carlock, making it his eleventh writing credit after "Jack the Writer", "Jack-Tor", "The Source Awards", "Cleveland", "Jack Gets in the Game", Episode 210, "Subway Hero", "Sandwich Day", "Believe in the Stars", and "Generalissimo".

[4] In this episode of 30 Rock, actor Dean Winters reprised his role as Dennis Duffy, a former boyfriend of Liz Lemon, for the sixth time,[5] having appeared in "Jack Meets Dennis", "Tracy Does Conan", "The Break-Up", "Subway Hero", and "Cooter".

To accommodate this, Sesame Street puppeteers Joey Mazzarino, Carmen Osbahr, and Matt Vogel were brought in to do the Muppet versions of Jack, Liz, and Tracy Jordan.

[10] Star Wars is frequently referenced in 30 Rock, beginning with the pilot episode in 2006 where Tracy is seen shouting that he is a Jedi.

He complimented Robert Carlock for "[zooming] in on the narcissistic worldview" of the Dennis character as it "cranked those qualities up to appropriately absurd 30 Rock proportions."

[22] Time contributor James Poniewozik was favorable to the episode, observing that it was "[e]asily the funniest 30 Rock in months, and probably the whole season."

Club's Nathan Rabin enjoyed Adam West's cameo, but noted that Tracy's plot "felt awfully shticky and sitcommy to me."

He opined that "Apollo, Apollo" was "pretty great" for Jane Krakowski's Jenna, and in conclusion, Rabin said "I had initially pegged this episode as good but not great and essentially minor in the grand scheme of things but while writing this post I came to realize just how much of it I loved.

"[25] IGN contributor Robert Canning also delivered a mixed review of the episode, writing that he laughed "quite a bit" but said it ultimately "felt like it could have been so much more."

"[26] Writing for The Palm Beach Post Kevin D. Thompson said "While last night's episode was far from unwatchable, it wasn't one of the show's best, either.

[31] Eluto garnered the American Cinema Editors "Eddie" Award for Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television.