'30 Rock' recap: The Holiday Spirit

Of course, Jack's childhood scars had blinded him to his mother's true Christmas colors: She was putting-out to Mr. Schwartz — Frederick August Otto Schwartz III — so her own underprivileged kids would have toys each year. It's no O. Henry's Gift of the Magi, but it was enough to calm Jack's subconscious urge for matricide. Maybe he'll even reconsider that humane Elba-like retirement home off the coast of Maine.

Lemon's festive spirit, on the other hand, was crushed when the Glovers of Lawrence Taylor Boulevard appeared to be two ungrateful black men. She felt "scrumped" and vowed to put the Letters to Santa program out of business. Lemon's latent bigotry, which previously led to her Middle-Eastern neighbor (Fred Armisen) being tortured, resurfaced and she turned to Jack's high-placed government contacts to act upon her close-minded suspicions. Fortunately for the ultimately innocent Glovers, Jack was useless since he'd had a quarrel with the postmaster general: "We had a falling out over the Jerry Garcia stamp. I mean, if I want to lick a hippie, I'd just return Joan Baez's phone calls."

Lemon ultimately got what she deserved. She agreed to host the Jordans for Christmas. And their steak-eating dogs. That's what you get when you act like a Cranky Sue.

30 Rock's quickly established its own Christmas/Kwanzo ("Shalam shazam to you too, my sister") tradition, and one constant in two comically diverse holiday episodes has been Stritch. I wonder if her titanium hip will keep her and her suitcase full of wigs on Jack's turf for a few more episodes this season. Probably not, but she's always welcome around the holidays — as long as she doesn't sing or even mention "White Christmas."

What did you folks think of this holiday episode? Do you enjoy the Stritch-Baldwin jousting as much as I do? Was it nice to get back to 30 Rock basics, with the plot revolving around the TGS offices? And whom would you prefer to hear Jenna sing with: Paul Anka or Crocodile Dundee?

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