NBC's 30 Rock bids farewell to the GE Trivection oven

One of our favorite running gags on 30 Rock came to an end last night in "College," episode 8, season 5 of the Emmy-winning NBC series. For non-followers of the meta-comedy, Alec Baldwin plays Jack Donaghy, the one-time "Head of East Coast Television and Microwave Programming" at Generic Electric who, in season 1, is transferred to NBC to help retool a late-night sketch comedy show.

30 Rock's writers, headed by creator/star Tina Fey, have spoofed their share of GE products, but none more than the Trivection oven, which Donaghy says he invented, calling it his "greatest triumph." The joke stands on its own, but it has special meaning to us, since we remember testing one of the first real-life Trivection range ovens back in 2004. "Fast, not supersonic," was our basic take. "Though very good overall, its cooking performance in our tests doesn't justify its stratoshperic price." Sorry Jack. 

The fifth season of 30 Rock has revolved around the merger between NBC and cable giant Kabletown (with nod to Comcast), which could sever Donaghy's connection to GE once and for all. In last night's episode, he makes a final visit to the GE labs, where he finds a team of engineers putting the finishing touches on the latest speedcook oven, the TK-421. "How many vections does it have?" Jack asks. "Five," says the lead engineer. "It's the perfect microwave."

Refusing to believe that a better oven could be built without him, Donaghy sets out to find the flaw in the machine. That includes having NBC intern Kenneth Parcell pour water onto it in the freezing cold, which is enough to finally cause a short circuit.

Donaghy is vindicated, but in the end he knows he must move on. We'll be here waiting in case GE appliances make a comeback to 30 Rock. Meanwhile, our colleagues in Electronics are eager to see what the fictional execs at Kabletown have in store.

—Daniel DiClerico