13 going on '30 Rock': sitcom celebrates a bar mitzvah

First a bar mitzvah catch phrase, ‘Today You Are a Man’ is now also the title of a ’30 Rock’ episode. A funny one, too

Tina Fey’s NBC comedy on Thursday featured a bar mitzvah subplot involving two of the show’s most difficult characters – the stars of the fictional TV series that provides the behind-the-scenes setting for “30 Rock.”

Played by Jane Krakowski and Tracy Morgan, the temperamental duo get roped into appearing at a bar mitzvah party for their accountant’s son – a 13-year-old who proves almost as immature and obnoxious as they are. Their embarrassing performance at the party inspires an uncharacteristic moment of self-reflection, teaching them a lesson they’ll surely forget by the next episode.

For the Morgan character, at least, this isn’t his first encounter with the Jewish rite of passage. In the series’ second season, it’s revealed that the character once sang a “Thriller”-style dance song – titled, absurdly, “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.”