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" Corporate Crush" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the American television series 30 Rock. It was written by co-executive producer John Riggi and directed by Don Scardino. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 12, 2007. Guest stars in this episode include Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman, John Lutz, Emily Mortimer, Maulik Pancholy, Jason Sudeikis, and Rip Torn.
In this episode, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), who is now in a happy relationship with Floyd DeBarber (Sudeikis), becomes annoyed when Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) seemingly becomes obsessed with Floyd. Jack begins a relationship with Phoebe (Mortimer), after being demoted. Meanwhile, Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) pitches his movie, Jefferson, to General Electric CEO Don Geiss (Torn).
"Corporate Crush" received generally positive reviews from television critics, with Robert Canning of IGN describing it as "solid". According to the Nielsen ratings system, the episode was watched by 5.1 million households during its original broadcast. Griffin Richardson, the episode's sound mixer, received a Creative Arts Emmy Award nomination in the category for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation.
Meanwhile, Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) tries to get Don Geiss to finance his film, Jefferson, which is based on Thomas Jefferson's life. However, Geiss is not interested in Tracy's $35 million project, even after Tracy uses NBC page Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer), Grizz Griswold (Grizz Chapman) and "Dot Com" Slattery (Kevin Brown) to put together a trailer for the film. After failing to convince Geiss, who would rather see him do a sequel to one of Tracy's previous films, Fat Bitch, Tracy decides that he will make Jefferson on his own.
Comedian actor Jason Sudeikis, who played Floyd DeBarber in this episode, has appeared in the main cast of Saturday Night Live, which Fey worked for from 1997 to 2006. This episode was Sudeikis' fifth appearance on 30 Rock. This was actress Emily Mortimer's first appearance as the character Phoebe. She would later guest star in the episodes "Cleveland" and "Hiatus", the latter being her final guest spot. Mortimer told The Philadelphia Inquirer, "It was amazing doing telly. I'd never done a sitcom before and it was so fast. You're given dialogue as you're walking onto the set and it's kind of hairy. There are 10 people standing around watching the monitor and if they don't laugh – then instead of having another chance to do it – someone writes another line." Actor Rip Torn made his second appearance as GE CEO Don Geiss in "Corporate Crush". Torn previously appeared in the February 15, 2007, episode "The C Word".
IGN contributor Robert Canning wrote that "Corporate Crush" was a "solid episode", and that 30 Rock seemed "to have hit its storytelling stride". He added that "as we near the season finale, we're happy to see that 30 Rock has begun their drive towards a big finish". Canning rated this episode an 8 out of 10. TV Guide's Matt Webb Mitovich opined that "though the 'My guy friend is dating my boyfriend' gag has been done to death on TV sitcoms, 30 Rock is to be forgiven if only because the same episode gave us a preview of, no, not The Real Wedding Crashers Groan, but Jefferson, starring ... Tracy Jordan." Julia Ward of TV Squad awarded this episode with 5 out of 7, and said that Jenna Maroney's (Jane Krakowski) absence was upside to the episode, explaining, "I actually like Jane Krakowski, but I can't say that I've missed her". Regarding Jack and Liz's relationship in the episode, Ward thought it was an "uneasy mutual respect thing", which she thought let "Alec Baldwin exercise his thespian prowess". However, Ward said that she did not watch 30 Rock for the continuing storylines, rather, she watched the series for the "wacky".
Griffin Richardson, the series' sound mixer, was nominated for a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy in the category for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (half-hour) and Animation. Richardson, however, lost to Steve Morantz of Entourage, and Joe Foglia of Scrubs.
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