’30 Rock,’ ‘Frasier’ & More Essential Leap Day Episodes
A holiday episode is a stalwart of any network sitcom — and for good reason. They provide a reprieve for the writers from the grind of cranking out 22 episodes worth of fresh narratives as well as a familiar setup for the audience.
Leap Day falls into more of a liminal space between a regular day and a holiday, but that hasn’t deterred sitcom writers from squeezing out a plotline about “leapling” birthdays and mythical Santa Claus-esque figures that emerge every four years. And what better genre to tackle something that doesn’t come around once a year than comedy, especially with hits like 30 Rock, Frasier (which, now that it’s returned and will be back for more, could do so again), and others?
We’ve rounded up the best Leap Day-centric sitcom episodes to ring in the arrival of February 29th that might be good enough to revisit before 2028!
30 Rock
Far and away the most utterly unhinged take on the concept of Leap Day, this episode follows Liz (Tina Fey), Jack (Alec Baldwin), Tracy (Tracy Morgan), and the rest of the cast and writers as they celebrate Leap Day as if it was an actual holiday, replete with a figure called “Leap Day William” who emerges from the Mariana Trench (?) to drink children’s tears (???) and a fake movie starring Jim Carrey and Andie MacDowell. This episode is so off-the-wall that Liz getting offered $20 million to take someone’s virginity before being upstaged by a cavalcade of Victoria’s Secret models isn’t even the fifth most interesting thing that happens.
Streaming on Hulu and Peacock
Parks and Recreation
It’s tradition for Leslie (Amy Poehler) and Co. to constantly poke fun of Jerry Gergich (Jim O’Heir) in as many ways as possible, but it’s truly a cosmic joke that his birthday falls on February 29, marking the day, you guessed it, his “sweet sixteen.” Leslie Knope, always willing to go above and beyond, insists on throwing him a surprise party despite taking on the pressures of her campaign, day-to-day parks work, and volunteering. The fact that things don’t run as smoothly as Leslie hopes should not be much of a shock.
Streaming on Peacock
Modern Family
Oh, Cameron (Eric Stonestreet). Of course one of the most attention-loving characters on the show has a Leap Day birthday, and of course, nearly everything about it goes awry. After Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) scraps the party he so lovingly prepared for him for fear of being insensitive (it was Wizard of Oz-themed… and a tornado had just hit Cameron’s hometown), he’s left to cobble together the best party he can with extremely limited time. Elsewhere, Phil (Ty Burrell) attempts to deal with his wife and daughters’ time of the month, and Jay (Ed O’Neill) reckons with Gloria’s (Sofia Vergara) conceptions of his manliness.
Streaming on Hulu and Peacock
Frasier
Leave it to Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) to take a more literal approach to Leap Day, as he uses the opportunity to push himself, along with Roz (Peri Gilpin), Martin (John Mahoney), and Daphne (Jane Leeves) to take a “leap” by doing something special with their day that they wouldn’t ordinarily do. This leap ranges from questionable haircuts to spontaneous singing live on-air — with typically side-splitting results.
Streaming on Paramount+ and Hulu
The Middle
A callback to Sue (Eden Sher) being a Leap Day baby pays off to heartwarming results in this episode, as she becomes convinced over the course of the day that a lavish surprise party is in store for her to make up for how rare of an occasion it is. Despite the family forgetting for much of the day, they end up surprising her with an impromptu, but loving, birthday celebration in bed.
Streaming on Prime Video
From TV Guide Magazine
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