text: the ones ( 30 rock ) " the ones " is the nineteenth episode of the third season of the american television comedy series 30 rock . it was written by co - executive producer jack burditt , and directed by beth mccarthy . the episode aired in the united states on april 23 , 2009 , on the national broadcasting company ( nbc ) . guest stars in this episode include josh casaubon , salma hayek , and brian williams . in the episode , jack donaghy ( alec baldwin ) goes shopping with liz lemon ( tina fey ) for an engagement ring for elisa ( hayek ) . jack grows worried about whether he and elisa 's potential marriage could survive in the real world , but tracy jordan ( tracy morgan ) counsels him on married life . meanwhile , elisa tells liz that she is keeping a secret from jack . a prank results in an injury back at tgs and jenna maroney ( jane krakowski ) falls in love with an attractive emergency medical technician ( casaubon ) who comes to help . " the ones " received generally mixed reception . according to the nielsen ratings system , it was watched by 6 . 3 million households during its original broadcast , and received a 3 . 9 rating / 6 share among viewers in the 18 – 49 demographic . for her performance in this episode , krakowski received a primetime emmy award nomination in the category for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series . plot jack donaghy ( alec baldwin ) is planning to marry his girlfriend elisa ( salma hayek ) as he believes she is " the one " , but elisa tells liz lemon ( tina fey ) she has a secret . after asking liz to tell jack of her reluctance to get married , elisa kisses liz and walks away . liz simply says " i see why he ( jack ) likes it " . she confesses to jack and liz that she killed her first husband in a crime of passion after he cheated on her , and did not go to prison because she could not get an impartial jury due to her consequent notoriety . jack considers marrying her anyway , saying that love requires one to overlook another 's flaws , but worries about what would happen if he would ever be unfaithful . tracy jordan ( tracy morgan ) tells jack that he has never cheated on his wife , angie ( sherri shepherd ) , which makes jack think that he too can be faithful . however , when elisa grows too suspicious of jack 's relationship with liz , he calls off the engagement . meanwhile , at the 30 rock studios , frank rossitano ( judah friedlander ) and james " toofer " spurlock ( keith powell ) decide to play a prank on j. d. lutz ( john lutz ) , which results in lutz getting hurt , after a flat - screen monitor falls on top of him . jenna maroney ( jane krakowski ) becomes romantically interested in one of the paramedics ( josh casaubon ) , but unsure of how to contact him , tries to bring him to the studio by giving the show 's page , kenneth parcell ( jack mcbrayer ) , strawberries , which triggers his allergies . kenneth willingly consumes some , after jenna tells him that the paramedic might be " the one " , only for jenna to decide against having a relationship with the paramedic because he has a son . production " the ones " was written by co - executive producer jack burditt , and directed by beth mccarthy , a long - time television director who worked with series creator tina fey on the sketch comedy show saturday night live . this was burditt 's tenth writing credit , and was mccarthy 's sixth directed episode . " the ones " originally aired on nbc in the united states on april 23 , 2009 . at the beginning of the episode , jack and liz are at a jewelry store , as jack is searching for an engagement ring for elisa . they shot that scene in a cartier store in new york 's fifth avenue , which was filmed on february 22 , 2009 . a scene featuring sue laroche - van der hout ( sue galloway ) as the grim reaper , in which jenna is led to believe kenneth has gone into shock because of the strawberries , was cut from the airing . according to jane krakowski , in the dvd commentary for this episode , there were alternate scenes with jenna letting kenneth know about the tampering she did to kenneth 's items , his chickpea , water bottle , and harmonica . " the ones " was actress salma hayek 's final guest appearance on 30 rock . her first appearance on the show was in the episode " señor macho solo " , as a nurse for jack 's mother and love interest for him . she next guest - starred in the episodes " flu shot " , " generalissimo " , " st. valentine 's day " , and " larry king " . news anchor brian williams , of nbc nightly news , guest - starred as himself in this episode . in a scene with tracy and jack at a club , tracy reveals to jack that he has been giving out his phone number to different women , though it is not his real number , which results in williams receiving the calls . cultural references kenneth revealing that his real name is " dick whitman " is a reference to the main character don draper of mad men ( played by jon hamm , who had a recurring role on 30 rock earlier in the season ) . " earn this " , spoken by kenneth as jenna has poisoned him again , references the 1998 film saving private ryan when actor tom hanks says the same words to actor matt damon 's title character . when she is told that kenneth has gone into a severe allergic shock and needs to have his hands cut off , jenna apologizes to him for what she has done , telling him " i 'm just a girl sitting in front of a boy she poisoned so this other guy would go to town on her " , which jenna misquotes from actress julia roberts ' character from the romantic comedy notting hill ( 1999 ) . after kenneth drinks his strawberry water , as he risked his life so that jenna can meet the paramedic again , jenna says to kenneth " you magnificent ! " , a line quoted by actor george c. scott in the american biographical war film patton ( 1970 ) . kenneth blows white smoke out while referencing bringing back something from " the other side " ( death ) echoes the same look when actor haley joel osment remarked " i see dead people " in the movie the sixth sense ( 1999 ) . the final three clips in the montage of tracy taking off his shirt are real clips from tracy morgan interviews . also , elisa wears a " what the ? ! " battlestar galactica t - shirt , as she admits her secret to jack and liz . " it 's not product placement — i just like it ! " , says liz to jack , after he storms into her office and she is wearing a , a sleeved blanket with sleeves usually made of fleece material . reception in its original american broadcast , " the ones " was watched by 6 . 3 million households , according to the nielsen ratings system . it earned a 3 . 9 rating / 6 share in the 18 – 49 demographic . this means that it was seen by 3 . 9 % of all 18- to 49 - year - olds , and 6 % of all 18- to 49 - year - olds watching television at the time of the broadcast . it was the eighth highest - rated show on the nbc network that week , while it finished in 19th place — tied with episodes of brothers & sisters , the celebrity apprentice , and heroes — in the weekly ratings for the week of april 20 – 26 , 2009 . jane krakowski received a primetime emmy award nomination for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series at the 61st primetime emmy awards for her work in this episode , but lost it to actress kristin chenoweth . since airing , the episode has received mixed reviews from television critics . ign contributor robert canning rated the episode an 8 out of 10 , saying it " gave all the main characters an opportunity to shine " and that the episode " delivered some great laughs and elevated some standard sit - com plots to a much funnier level . " he argued that liz helped make the episode good . though , canning found elisa 's secret disappointing and felt that salma hayek 's exit from the show too much like a conventional sitcom . entertainment weekly 's aly semigran wrote that the episode gave good character revelations about tracy , jenna , and kenneth , but that episode did not exceed expectations from the previous week 's episode , " jackie jormp - jomp " . writing for the star - ledger alan sepinwall reported that despite the episode not being a 30 rock classic it " had more than enough funny things in it to keep me satisfied . " the a.v. club 's nathan rabin wrote that " the ones " felt " a little stock " but that it was " just pretty good . " he further added that " the one " gag featured in this episode " was mildly amusing but a little obvious . " he felt that elisa 's secret felt more like a soap opera secret than a 30 rock one . nonetheless , rabin gave " the ones " a b- . david bauder of the guelph mercury , however , was complimentary towards hayek 's guest appearances throughout season 3 , noting , that they are " the best this absurdist comedy has to offer . hayek throws herself into her role with gusto , matching tina fey and alec baldwin step for silly step " . jenna 's storyline in the episode received mixed reception . canning enjoyed her subplot but found it predictable and stereotypical , while sepinwall reported it did not work , and wrote that jenna 's stories need to have liz or jack featured prominently or that she be put with scott adsit 's 30 rock character , pete hornberger , as in this episode , " as her insanity 's only amusing when contrasted against a relatively normal character . as with sepinwall , bob sassone of aol 's tv squad believed jenna 's subplot was fair , observing it was great in parts but " it just went on too long and got tedious and silly . " he believed it would be a good idea to have jenna dating or perhaps marrying a recurring character , but opined " the ones " did not choose that path . tom o 'neil from the los angeles times , in an august 2009 article , was thrilled for krakowski receiving an emmy nomination for her work on 30 rock , but felt that " the ones " would not be the episode for which she 'd win the outstanding supporting actress award .