It’s Leap Day! The magical time of every four years where Leap Day William emerges from the Marianas Trench to trade children’s tears for candy.
As everyone celebrates this magical time, Liz finds herself facing a romantic challenge, while Jack resolves to use Leap Day to increase profits.
The 30 Rock episode “Leap Day” contains examples of:
- Affectionate Parody: Of holiday traditions. Leap Day comes with its own mascot, clothing, sayings, history, and classic movies. To someone who’s never heard of it before, it all sounds very strange...
- Audience Surrogate: Liz was apparently on a single's cruise in Season 2's Leap Day, and has a hometown that doesn't celebrate it. This justifies her reacting like us to everything.
- The Cameo:
- Jim Carrey appears as the star of an in-universe film about Leap Day. He plays a man who has an epiphany about his life after suddenly becoming the holiday’s mascot.
- Andie MacDowell plays Carrey's unaware wife, in a part reminiscent of her role in Multiplicity.
- Victoria's Secret supermodel Karolina Kurkova also appears As Herself as one of Thad's suitors.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Parodied. Tracy has a $50,000 Benihana gift certificate and wondering what to do with it. He starts following a train of thought, arrives at soup kitchen, keeps going, but arrives back at soup kitchen a second time and stays there.
- Gold Digger: Liz finds herself competing with these after word of Thad's wealth starts getting around.
- Humanoid Abomination: Leap Day Williams is a mascot for Leap Day depicted as a white haired man dressed up like the Monoply Guy that rises from the Marianas Trench to exchange children's tears for candy. The in-universe Jim Carrey movie depicts his character's transformation into the figure as growing gills. In The Stinger, an old man implied to be the real Leap Day William bids goodbye to the viewers, before flashing gills, a mouthful of needle-like teeth, and shiny black eyes while hissing.
- Scarpia Ultimatum: A variant. Liz is offered $20 million to sleep with a college acquaintance who's hit it big.
- Yet Another Christmas Carol: Jack has a fever dream of Leap Day Past with his mother, Leap Day Present of his neglected daughter, and Leap Day Future of his daughter working for Habitat for Humanity after experimenting with liberalism.
