Future Husband

Elizabeth Banks, James Rebhorn, and Michael Sheen guest star in the episode, and there are cameo appearances by Jack Welch and Brian Williams.

At the same time, Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric (GE), Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) is informed that a cable company is rumored to buy out NBC.

Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) comes across an unrecognized contact in her cellphone listed as "future husband", and realizes that it must be a man she met at her dental appointment with Dr. Kaplan (James Rebhorn), while awakening from anesthesia in the recovery room after root canal surgery (seen in the previous episode).

At the same time, Jack Donaghy's (Alec Baldwin) aspirations of becoming CEO of General Electric (GE) comes to a halt when his girlfriend and CNBC host, Avery Jessup (Elizabeth Banks) informs him that the Philadelphia-based cable company Kabletown is rumored to be buying NBC.

Jack—who serves as Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for GE—insists that no sale is pending, as he believes that his mentor and GE CEO Don Geiss (Rip Torn) would not agree to such a deal.

At the end of the episode, Tracy does read the phone book at his show, making Jenna very proud of him, and inexplicably drawing high praise from the audience.

[8] In January 2010, it was announced that actor Michael Sheen would guest star as a love interest for Liz Lemon, played by series creator Tina Fey.

[17] Actor James Rebhorn, best known for his current role as a special agent in the USA Network crime comedy-drama White Collar, made his debut as the character Dr. Kaplan, Liz and Wesley's dentist.

[22] When asked by a contributor from The Philadelphia Inquirer why the characters on 30 Rock refer to the network's new owner as "Kabletown, with a K", co-showrunner and executive producer Robert Carlock revealed that the reason for this was that the staff writers came up with the name "Cabletown", however, they later learned that there was a real company with a similar name, so NBC's legal team department "wanted to emphasize the difference, and after a while, everyone just liked the sound of it.

[18] In the beginning of this episode, Liz asks where Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander) is, as he is one of her staff writers and she wants him to write some Winter Olympics sketches.

This results in Liz breaking the fourth wall—a term used when a character in a television show, film or on stage directly addresses the audience—where she mouths speech that is unintelligible, while her voice is heard saying "Lindsey Vonn!"

[26] Kenneth later has a dream that seems to be influenced by the movie The Shining, telling Jenna, "Late at night these two little twin girls told me they wanted to play with me forever."

He also references the story of Lot and his daughters from the Bible, and a vignette from Saved by the Bell involving characters Samuel "Screech" Powers and Lisa Turtle.

Wondering why he has not seen any of his GE colleagues, Jack's office assistant Jonathan (Maulik Pancholy) suggests that maybe they are the last people on Earth, as he references the 2007 film I Am Legend, "You're Will Smith and I'm the dog!"

[25] While giving elocution lessons to Tracy, Jenna quotes the song "I Am So Proud" from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado when she asks him to repeat the phrase, "To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock/Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock."

Nonetheless, Pierce responded favorably to Tracy's one-man show, calling it the "shortest and best of the plots" and "even manages to get a laugh out of that old 'I'd watch him reading the phone book' chestnut.

[25] IGN contributor Robert Canning wrote that the NBC/Comcast reference here "wasn't exactly a well of laughs, but Baldwin's Donaghy kept the story entertaining enough to want to follow it."

[32] Los Angeles Times contributor Meredith Blake felt that Michael Sheen was "underused" in his role, and observed that Jack and Avery's relationship showcased here seemed "remarkably convincing.

"[33] Television columnist Alan Sepinwall for The Star-Ledger wrote that the episode's storytelling was "better than it's been in recent weeks", however, was not complimentary towards Liz meeting Sheen's Wesley, as he felt that their plot fell flat.

Michael Sheen, a caucasian male in his mid-40s with dark hair, wears a black suit and burgundy shirt.
Michael Sheen made his 30 Rock debut in "Future Husband".
Rip Torn, a caucasian male in his early-60s with dark hair, wears a black suit and white shirt with a black bow-tie. He laughs and smiles.
It was revealed in this episode that fictional CEO of General Electric, Don Geiss, played by Rip Torn ( pictured ), has died.
Elizabeth Banks, a blonde-haired caucasian woman in her early 40s, wears a white dress. She wears her blonde hair up in a ponytail.
Robert Canning of IGN enjoyed the performance of Elizabeth Banks ( pictured ) as Avery Jessup in this episode. [ 28 ]