No sitcom delivered as many celebrity cameos as "30 Rock" this season. Jennifer Aniston, Steve Martin, The Oprah, Jon Hamm, Steve Buscemi and Megan Mullally all grabbed screen time in an unrelenting plan to goose the critically acclaimed show's ratings. (And Salma Hayek. How we miss Salma Hayek.)
But the show waited until Thursday's season finale to break out the true showstopper, at least in the Raleigh market: Clay Aiken. Too bad the Triangle's favorite Idol was limited to the back row of a pop singers chorus assembled by Jack Donaghy to find an organ donor for the father (Alan Alda) Jack never knew he had until last week.
Heck, Aiken didn't even rate a mention on the show's official Web site's "list of amazing performers that lent their voices" for the "He Needs Kidney" sing-along that spoofed every "We are the World" celebrity chorus from the mid-1980s.
Cyndi Lauper, Moby, Norah Jones, Wyclef Jean, even Michael McDonald made the list, and none of them got as much screen time as Aiken. (That Michael McDonald is everywhere, though. One of the funniest bits in "40-Year-Old Virgin" was how the electronic superstore where most of the characters worked played a Doobie Brothers reunion concert on an endless loop, to the point where Paul Rudd's character vows to go postal if hears McDonald sing "Yamo be there" one more time.)
Then again, maybe Aiken didn't "lend" his voice for the "Kidney Now!" anthem and was lip-syncing. He could have been saving his voice for the short scene he shared with Elvis Costello and Mary J. Blige. Jack invited the three performers to his office to call in favors to get them to headline the event. In 30 Rock's world, Aiken is a cousin of Kenneth the page, who leans on him to perform. Sadly, there are no Clay-Kenneth duet scenes.
If it makes you feel any better, Clay, I spotted Steve Earle in the singalong scene, and he didn't get a credit on the Web site list either.
It turns out, though, that Liz Lemon and Sheryl Crow shared an "I'm a kidney" duet as fifth-grade classmates. Even back then, though, Crow had Lemon pegged as a nerd.
The episode ends as the rare season finale that doesn't wrap up with a cliffhanger, unless if you count wondering whether Dr. Milton Greene (Alda) will live long enough without a new kidney to finish the three-volume biography of Jimmy Carter which his rightwing son Jack can live without reading.
The show does include a newscrawl urging viewers to learn more about kidney donor programs, so there was effort to deliver a real public-service announcement. Apart from the song including the immortal lyrics, "Just give a kidney, we hear it doesn't hurt that bad," I mean.
Assistant sports editor Lorenzo Perez has bounced back-and-forth between The News & Observer's news and sports department several times since joining the newspaper in 1999. His latest assignment has him working with The N&O's ACC writers and online news. E-mail
Comments
Wow, what a hilarious song.
Tue, 05/19/2009 - 13:24 — justbrettWow, what a hilarious song. Kidney Now has got to be one of the most genius things that 30 Rock has done this season, and that’s saying a lot. I like how they are able to satirize the whole celebrity song for a cause thing while also truly spreading the word about this cause.
Great celebrity cast, good idea to include Cyndi ‘We are the World” Lauper and I was also way happy to see Rhett Miller lending his vocals to the cause, too. I’ve been anxiously waiting for his new album to come out next month, but for now I’m happy just to see him on 30 Rock.
FYI check out a video clip of the song at : http://displacedbrett.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/the-return-of-rhett/
Clay's listed on the site
Sat, 05/16/2009 - 13:36 — raleigh_girlClay (and all the others) are listed on the 30 Rock site - http://www.nbc.com/30_Rock/exclusives/kidney-now/celebrities.shtml.
I love that show, and Alan Alda was one of my early crushes... The subway exchange between Elvis and Clay was great!
They always put the tall
Fri, 05/15/2009 - 21:12 — IrinaThey always put the tall ones in the back row and if you think being in the back row was a diss, pity Nora Jones and Sara Barrielles while you're at it.
If you were familiar with Clay Aiken you'd know that his smooth voice was easy to recognize in the song. No lip synching for our Clay. Ever.
Alan Alda
Fri, 05/15/2009 - 17:06 — brookecainI love Alan Alda. Just had to say that.
I thought it was hilarious that Jack listed as a "con" to giving his father a kidney the fact that he might actually live to finish the three-volume Jimmy Carter bio ("From Peanut to President").