30 Rock (2006-2013)

I miss this show so much. So many great characters and terrific writing.

I liked the episodes where Liz was dating Jason Sudekis, who lived in Cleveland, and she went to visit him. When she came back, she told Jenna, "I'm a MODEL in Cleveland!"

Eileen Stritch as Colleen was pretty damn funnt

Any episode featuring Jenna.

"Okay, I'll do it. But only for the publicity."

I watch 30 Rock regularly on rotation. So transcendently funny and so underappreciated.

It's replaced Frasier as my latest fall asleep to show

This is a show that stuck around far too long. I think it peaked during S2 with the Carrie Fisher episode. Tina Fey is a much better writer than actor.

"If I can't be Mo'Nique fat, I have to be Teri Hatcher thin!"

I liked Tina Fey as Liz Lemon, you relate to her

"Fruit blindness!!!"

30 Rock is one of my faves too OP. It never got as popular as The Office but was superior to me.

"Liz, I am happy! All this attention! Getting my picture taken! Having ice-cold diarrhea from drinking too much Jamba juice! It's everything I ever wanted!"

R7 😂 The writing was brilliant. And I don’t care what anyone says when she eased on down the road in blackface was hilarious, you know the episode where they were competing on who has it worst in society. Too bad the scene has been removed, damn PC police.

It IS 30 Rock!

R11 Rachel Dratch was originally cast as Jenna but NBC execs deemed her too ugly. I can’t even imagine anyone other than Jane Krakowski in the role. Everything about this show just worked. Tracy Morgan’s crazy antics, Alex Baldwin’s loveable arrogance, Tina Fey’s awkward sensibility.

It was ahead of its time. Genius.

I like how Jack was a Republican. The references to the Bush Administration were solid, and it helped "ground" Liz with her own out of touch liberalism.

I wish we saw more of Isabella Rossellini as Alec Baldwin's first wife, Bianca.

I loved this bit

Even former Vice President Al Gore made an appearance

Loved the Mother's Day episode, where most everyone's mother showed up for a skit on The Girlie Show, including Elaine Strict and Jan Hooks as Jenna's mother.

Jan Hooks as backwoods Florida stage mom was golden

Baldwin was great in the role, but he’s so repugnant in real life, he ruins the legacy IMO.

R12 That was The Sarah Silverman Show, not 30 Rock.

That episode was hilarious, though.

Jenna, on being a hard worker: "Hey, I was onstage in Pippin when Irene Ryan died, and I kept going!"

R23 What are you talking about?

I always preferred Black Frasier

"Bitch Hunter" with Will Ferrell

Also, it was prescient: "MILF Island" as a TV show.

I liked the episode where Liz went to the post office and tried to talk to the black lady postal worker.

Liz looks at the woman's nametag and says, "I'm wondering if you can help me, Trené."

The woman looks at Liz and says, "It's Irene."

Kenneth's game show idea, "Gold Case."

The nerdy black guy was also funny especially with his intellectual debates against the fat trucker looking dude.

Or when she reads the name tag of an Indian woman working at 30 Rock "Ah-mahn-daa". "It's Amanda".

Liz was us.

"Why do you have that rotting pumpkin on your table?"

"I wanna see how small it gets. I'm kind of hoping it'll disappear."

R26 😂. Omg I about to start watching the series again from the beginning.

Any show that had Al Gore and Condi Rice as guest stars is iconic.

Mary Steenburgen was fun as Jack second wife (Elizabeth Banks)'s mom.

She was age appropriate and just as intelligent and sophisticated. Jack was into her

Sabor de Soledad!

(made with dried bull semen)

R35 The episode where Jack tells Liz he used to date Condi Rice.

"It didn't work out, though. When we'd go to the movies, she'd always yell at the screen."

Or when Megan Mullally was the adoption case worker and Liz called the Black guy by the other Black guy's name. Then says some like "it happens to all of us, right?" to Mullally and Mullally says "yeah, it happens to my Black husband all the time!"

Salma Hayek's character to Liz: "Liz, isn't there a slanket you should be filling with your farts?"

Jenna's nemesis played by Kristen Schaal: "I'm leaving New York and going back to the Bay Area."

Jenna: "Oh, yeah? Have fun carrying around a light sweater."

"Puerto Rican!"

"Really, Lemon?"

"I'm Nazi doctor Leo Spaceman. I know it's live, I want them to know!"

Jenna: "What scary surgeries can I have to make me thin again?"

Dr. Spaceman: "Here's this brochure - 'You do the Meth.'"

Tracy Morgan remembers his childhood:

I slept on an old dog bed stuffed with wigs!

I watched a prostitute stab a clown!

Our basketball hoop was a rib cage. A rib cage!

Oh lord! Some guy with dreads electrocuted my fish!

A crackhead breastfeeding a rat.

A homeless man cooking a Hot Pocket on the third rail of the "G Train."

I've seen a blind guy bite a police horse!

A puppy committed suicide after he saw our bathroom!

I once bit into a burrito and there was a child's shoe in it!

I seen a hooker eat a tire!

A pack of wild dogs took over and successfully ran a Wendy's!

The sewer people stole my skateboard!

The project I lived in was named after Zachery Taylor, generally considered to be one of the worst presidents of all time!

I once saw a baby give another baby a tattoo! They were very drunk!

R45 😂 Pure fkin comedy.

R45, I'll bet the writers were having an absolute blast coming up with those descriptions. The genius of some of them is that they add a tweak to an already funny joke to make it even more absurd. It's not just that the babies were giving each other tattoos, they were also drunk. It's not just that wild dogs took over a Wendy's, they were also good at it.

One of my favorite bits was the awards dinner where Jenna wanted to get back at Liz for ruining her wedding.

"Lemon, you're socially retarded."

He's gonna Jack!

Liz's assistant: "You told me to be more proactive."

Liz (pointing to her own face): "No. I told you to BUY more Proactiv!"

Jack's mom going out to dinner at Applebee's with Liz's visiting family and looking at the menu: "My, the pictures of the food are so large and colorful!"

We open on an abortion clinic in New Orleans, a young mulatto…

I'd like you to come on, come on, come on,

And take it! Break another little chunk of my lung now mister!

You know you bought it if life makes you sweet food.

Chunk of my lung! Chunk of my lung!

Now take it! Take a big old chunk of my lung now baby

Take it! Take a big old chunk of my lung, chunk of my lung!

You know you bought it if you buy it with things.

"Have you been drinking wine all day?"

"It's heart healthy!"

"All day?"

"Oh come on, Liz, it's the '90's!"

Jenna's duetting incestuously with her mom Velma on "Do That To Me One More Time."

Liz: "How are you not moved by this?"

Jack: "Because I'm listening to the words!"

The scene when she's trying to buy an apartment and spirals out of control always gets me.

"I bought two apartments.... I bought a BLACK apartment" *drinks wine from the bottle on running machine*

My husband introduced me to 30 Rock early in our relationship. Twelve years later, we still speak to each other in 30 Rock quotations to a degree that is probably unhealthy.

I love the episode when Liz has jury duty and she understands the lady who burned down her business

Jenna: Do you act? Because we should do a movie together where we're on a road trip just being sluts.

[quote]Jan Hooks as backwoods Florida stage mom was golden

She was fabulous. It was her last acting gig. She didn't look well and at the time I wondered if there was something wrong with her.

Li's phone dating commercial always cracks me up

Dealbreaker!

Jenna's movie, "The Rural Juror."

No one could say it properly. "the Wurrrjuurrr..."

Why Jan Hooks didn’t at least get an Emmy nomination for playing Verna, I’ll never know.

r62 BIJOU

Who wore it better?

Kenneth was the best. I sure hope Jack McBrayer is getting dicked down by Alexander Skarsgard

r68 they were hiding in plain sight.

Enter, Jack

Jenna on buying Manhattan real estate - "Do you know how long I've been waiting for the lady next door to me to finally join her husband in hell?"

HDTV had a funny sense of humor on 30rock.

I’m still waiting for the DVD release of “The Rural Juror”.

Dratch (as Barbara Walters) interviewing Jenna and repeatedly pronouncing the name of the film is gold.

Also loved Dratch as the Russian hooker -“Happy Valentime’s Day”.

Mary Steenburgen to Liz:

"I'm glad you think the endgame of feminism is dressing like Dennis the Menace while at work."

From the episode when her gay nephew comes to NYC and crashes at her place: "Liz, do you know how hard it was growing up gay in Methenburg, Pennsylvania? The local TV station edited Will & Grace down so much that it was just called ‘Karen’. "

When we find out that Jenna attended the Royal Tampa Academy of Dramatic Tricks, at which she majored in game show pointing and theatre superstitions.

Jack was a shady ass bitch and could read someone to filth better than the bitchiest gay man. When he told them cunts they dressed like they shopped at Kmart after calling himself the new president NBCUniversal-Kmart. The writing was genius yo. It was showbiz meets “only in New York”.

Jenna Maroney reading her obituary: "A two-time Cable Ace Award nominee and three-time Tony... Shaloub sex partner."

I'm skipping to the bottom of this thread to say I never watched this, and mostly because Alec Baldwin was in it.

Is it really worthwhile to watch it? If so, where could one stream it (hopefully for free)?

If I’m not mistaken the show was never a huge ratings hit despite always cleaning up at the Emmys and having 6 seasons. I think tastemakers and the higher ups loved it so it stayed on the air

R79 Yes. I almost want to say it’s the best sitcom of all time. But I generally don’t like to compare new age multi camera comedy series with the traditional sitcom format.

It's truly a groundbreaking sitcom. It regularly shows up on the list of best TV shows of the 21st century.

Watch the first two seasons, r79. It's funny and smart.

It's on Hulu and this and Beetlejuice give Alec Baldwin a lifetime pass. I'd suggest watching Girls5eva on Netflix if you're a fan. Same sensibility and writers etc

Alec Baldwin will always get a pass. Sexy fkin whore. He was peak hotness during 30 Rock as I prefer that look more than when he was young and slim. What did he even do so bad; he didn’t mean to shoot that lady And as far as his dealings with the press, they can be annoying sometimes. He is just a fiery Long Islander, reminds me of this guy I used to hook up with.

R75 😂. I don’t think I have ever seen episode. Omg this show was brilliant.

“Lemon, never follow a hippie to a second location."

Can't have a Lemon party without Old Dick

60, 70 years from now I want 30 Rock quotes to be read at my funeral

The episode with Oprah guest starring had a great twist at the end, but sadly, if you didn't buy the DVDs, you'll never see it again. They pulled the episode due to Jenna doing blackface (but not because Tracy did whiteface.) The episode was called "Believe in the Stars."

R90 That’s the one I was talking about. It’s ban is fkin stupid. She was playing a character who lacked any self awareness. Liz and other characters were horrified and was telling her people would react negatively.

r85: I don't like Alec for his complicity with his wife Hilarious' attempt to convince people she was from "España," instead of just plain ol' Boston. He played along with her while she put on a fake-ass accent and spun yarns around how all her family is from there, when in fact they are just white folk (I think with even some Mayflower connections) and not a drop of Spanish blood in any of them, as asserted by her own father. All her family did was take a few vacations there, then eventually move over there permanently, many years after Hilarious left home and graduated college, etc. etc.

She pulled this bullshit for years, and he played right along with her - even often saying "my wife is from Spain" like she was some spicy Latina. She's a grifter, which apparently is what her parents are too, and he's a tool for perpetuating her whole cosplay EST-act. He's also a liar (he DID pull the trigger, it didn't go off by itself as he claimed, this was proven) and he's a rage-aholic. While I appreciate his turn in Beetlejuice, he has become an overwrought, angry, self-important asshole and he's not a likeable person.

And this has nothing to do with politics or his portrayal of Trump on SNL, either. I hate Trump, am a liberal and don't even watch SNL anymore, but I'm aware he appeared several times as Lord Orange Assholio. That's probably one reason to actually like him. But I don't.

[quote] It [is] ban

R91, there was also another moment of blackface involving Jenna, in which she dressed as former Pittsburgh Steeler and gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann while her boyfriend was in drag dressed as Natalie Portman in her ballerina outfit. Their couple costumes for New Queer's Eve (of course) were Two Black Swans.

R92 Fair enough. I respect that. I’d still swallow his loads.

That was a plot on the show. Alec's bird boned fiancee cosplaying as a British woman

QUEEN OF JORDAN! My new single, “My Single is Dropping” is dropping. Portia reads the papers! 30 Rock had the best shows within a show.

Ha, interesting r96

r97

one of my favorite eps... spot on critique of reality shows

R48 God, that was hilarious.

"In a few minutes, that stage is gonna be lit up like the milk aisle of a grocery store!"

Jack: "There's something strange about seeing women in positions of power. It's like seeing cats in clothes."

Jack Donaghy at the birthday party of Prince Gerhardt Habsburg, or Gerhardt Messerschmit Rammstein Von Hap (played by Paul Reubens):

"Most people in his situation would be angry with their family for centuries of inbreeding. But not Gerhardt. He's too busy staving off infection."

The episode with Steve Martin was my least favorite. That's one I will never watch again, all the others, absolutely.

"JENNA IS LISTENING! LISTENING LIKE THE SUN!"

Jenna: "Listen up, 5s, a 10 is speaking!"

"Go jump back up your mother!"

I much prefer Urban Fervor to The Rural Juror.

I hated Kenneth, but I loved Sherri Shepherd as Tracy's wife.

“Oh, I can play dead. I watched my entire church group get eaten by a bear.”

The cutaway to Jenna in blackface singing Ease On Down the Road is the funniest thing that has ever been on television.

When people talk about Trump's transition team or who will be in Trump's cabinet, I always picture the people that Liz had jury duty with.

If you can't stand the heat get off of Mickey Rourke's sex grill.

R106 She was supposed to be like an American hot chick version of Simon Cowell. Lol. Jane Krawoski was very talented.

Happy Holidays...is what terrorists say.

Merry Christmas, from Avery and Jack

I still want to see the Jackie Jormp-Jomp movie

“A synonym’s just another word for the word you want to use.”

Jenna managed to sing one verse of “Hey Big Spender” at Jackie Onassis’s funeral before being booted out.

Jenna carried a battery-powered microphone in her purse.

Kenneth studied TV theory and Bible sexuality at Kentucky Mountain Bible College.

Liz can’t wear green because she has witch undertones.

The way Angie says ham.

Liz talking Jack out of suicide by asking him if he wants to die without seeing how “Mad Men” ends.

Just gonna sit here and have my night cheese

Oh damnit, Johnny! You know I love my big beef and cheddar!

Pam, overly confident, morbidly obese woman.

Cut! Sorry I have an erection. I think it's the sound of the skateboard

HHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

My boyfriend was supposed to pick me up after that shoot, so I called him and I was like, ‘OJ, where are you?’ And he was like, ‘Wait, you’re alive? Then who did I kill?’

R121 😂 Jenna said that? There are still a handful of episodes I haven’t seen. Omg this show was a riot.

"I'm snitting next to Borpo!"

...and then the woman Liz mistook for Oprah ends up being a sassy tween girl.

Coleen: "I told your girl."

Jack: "My assistant is named Jonathan."

Colleen: "Yes, I know. I met him."

I always loved Elaine Stritch

R126 meet R2

Ed was my true love, sweetheart. He was my steady at Montclair High. The night before he was shipped off to Korea, I repeatedly lost my virginity to him while Waldo the town perv watched from the bushes.

Jack to Liz: and try not to dress like a small-town lesbian.

Why did you think I was a lesbian?

Your shoes.

Liz goes to her high school reunion with Jack and runs into a closeted guy, who tells her after she asks him if he's finally come out: "Come out of what?! I'd like you to meet my wife, with whom I've raised three beautiful dogs."

[quote] When we find out that Jenna attended the Royal Tampa Academy of Dramatic Tricks

I love when she says she hated her first two weeks there because no one knew who was the sluttiest, and then she says, “But I showed them. Oh, I showed them all,” and she tops that with “and when we graduated a week later.” The whole thing is brilliant.

[quote] When she came back, she told Jenna, "I'm a MODEL in Cleveland!"

You left out Jenna's response:

"Oh Liz, everyone's a model west of the Alleghenys."

Kenneth, explaining to Jack where he's from: "Stone Mountain, sir. Although when the Parcells first came to America, they lived in a town called 'Sexcriminalboat'. Do you think that's Cherokee?"

"I remember growing up in Stone Mountain, my whole family would go down to the Chuckle Hut."

Jack: "That's the local comedy club?"

"Oh, no, sir, It's a Chuckle Hut. You see, the chuckle is the part of the pig between the tail and the anus. But at night, the Chuckle Hut becomes the Laugh Factory. And that's a comedy club."

The sexy baby thing isn't an act... I'm a very sexy baby.

Jack: Where do you invest your money?

Liz: I've got like twelve grand in checking.

Jack: Are you an immigrant?

I was trapped in a world of wet wipes and rectal thermometers… then the babies came...

Those shoes are definitely bi-curious.

I can handle the models, the Rockettes, the Shakira. They will all leave him. But you can make him happy, and it makes me want to SIT ON A KNIFE!

You know how I love my Big Beef and Cheddar!

"...if you guys at Bravo, excuse me, gays at Bravo..."

"No ones coming to save you. Because we're deep inside one of Connecticut's thirty beautiful state forests *raises meat cleaver* THIRTY!"

R126 God, the writing on this show was brilliant, and they got the right actors to do the scripts justice.

I’m only at R20 and I’ve already seen Eileen Stritch and Elaine Strict. What’s wrong with you gays?

R123 My favorite part of this:

Oprah: Too many women are spreading themselves too thin these days. And what suffers because of that?

Liz: Our bowel movements.

Oprah: Our personal lives.

Colleen (Stritch) accusing Jack of hiding his affair with a divorced woman from the hood:

"Patricia Goodband, whose sister runs the Friday night bingo game at Our Lady of Reluctant Integration in Waltham…turns out last week that the game was won by Anne O’Connor, who mentioned that her niece, Nancy Donovan, got divorced and was running around with a hot-shot in New York City who pours scotch like a woman."

“Why, Jack, Why?” is a 2002 episode of Will & Grace, in which Jack (Sean Hayes), chooses between two YMCAs. Featuring guest stars Daniel Day-Lewis as gay bench press guy.

R146 "Our Lady of Reluctant Integration."

Dying!

Jenna is on the Japanese porn star diet: I can only eat paper, but I can eat as much paper as I want.

Jenna as the spokesperson for vaginal mesh.

I loved Jane Krakowski in her Jenna role.

The Temple Grandin porn parody "Ten Poles Rammed In."

For R51

I played Avery Jessup in Kidnapped By Danger, now available on Sega Genesis.

Are you all right, Jack? You look like that flashcard they told me means sadness.

You know I’ve always reminded myself of Grace Kelly.

Ok I'll do it. But only for the attention.

Do you need a sex tape released? Cause I've got a weird one. It's in night vision and you can see that his buddy is robbing me

Just seen this thread for the first time. Forgive me for not reading all 153 posts just yet, but, seeing the thread prompts me to ask... do first-run fans of the show think it still holds up? I ADORED this show when it first aired, but never rewatched in syndication or on streaming. I need some good short-length episode comfort food TV. Think I might revisit it for the first time. Hope it lives up to my very fond memories! Especially looking forward to the Elaine Stritch episodes and the live episode with Julia Louis Dreyfus.

And, to OP's point, I'm guessing that, given the relentless volume of jokes per minute, I'll probably have forgotten many of those lines by now.

I meant R151

Rewatching it now r154

It’s very funny in hindsight and especially compared to what’s passing for comedy now.

R154 It holds up, especially if you were old enough to remember the late 2000's world.

Dean Winters, as her off and on loser boyfriend Dennis Duffy was hilarious.

I can't not silently sing along to the theme song with the lyrics they wrote for the live show

Weird Al's parodies of Jenna's "Kidnapped by Danger" songs were hilarious.

I loved the relationship between Will Forte's and Jenna's characters. We're Normaling.

My partner still hums Jenna's "Muffin Top". It was number one in Israel and number four in Belgium! And Yo Yo Ma performed a cello version for the filming of Jenna's obituary.

R258 Dennis isn't a loser, he is just waiting for his big break

It was great but the last 2/3 seasons it took a dive.

Cooter Burger

Liz should have ended up with Floyd...I hated manic pixie dream boy pretty boy Cris. And Jack with Salma Hayek's character, my god she was hilarious.

The blackface scenes

Floyd had this hysterical line: "I would never try to get you drunk on salmon... or any other fish!!"

I wish I could show the Condoleeza troll her appearance on the show. Literally the worst acting I've ever seen and I've seen 75% of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes. She's the moat terrible by miles. Like she's differently abled.

I loved that Locks of Love wouldn't take Jenna's hair, so she donated it to Merkins of Hope. Now everyone knows what a merkin is!

"Racism is back. Yesterday I saw a Slovin Shield commercial. With a black burglar."

"Mother? I'm not a mother! Would a mother be planning a summer SEX TOUR OF VIETNAM?"

I'm in a program that places at-risk adults with child mentors.

She said she was 16, but I swear to god she looked 22.

When I grab on I do not let go. Like a killer whale going nuts on his trainer at Sea World.

Liz: Abby, thanks for meeting me here. This place is very special to me.

Abby Flynn: Is this where you got your V-Card punched?

Liz: What? No. Does this look like the makeup room of a clown academy? No...

"Tracy, you are going to die when I tell you who I'm dating. Squeaky Fromme. She is...... difficult"

Dear god, Lemon!

Dot Com was hilarious!

There’s a reddit thread just like this but there are way too many Tracy Jordan quotes. He was on the show to take up space I guess or to represent the mentally handicapped or something.

Tracy did become the representative for the Idiot community, R178, which was how the show dealt with that offensive stand-up routine that Morgan did about gay people. I still don’t think it quite worked, but it did give us a very funny cameo by Denise Richards, who came out as an Idiot in the episode.

It wasn't ahead of its time. It was very much of its time.

It was like the Norman Lear shows of the '70s. Bracingly "truth-telling" at the time but a bit hollow and strident now.

And I say this as someone who watched 30 Rock twice a night when it hit syndication but has no desire to revisit it today. Life has moved on.

The show's casting and structure doesn't hold up. It was very flawed from the get-go.

Fey, Baldwin, and Krakowski were great, occasionally brilliant.

Kenneth the page was OK.

Everyone else was a bunch of zeroes, including Tracy Morgan, who was included because Tina had a clit-boner for him or something, because he never offered anything close to comic genius.

Compare this to the Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which 7+ characters were carefully considered, written, and cast, and contributed to rich storylines. On 30 Rock, why were the writers and crew glorified extras / plot devices with no real-people attributes or story motion?

R181, the MTM was perhaps the best comedy show ever, it fired on all cylinders. But 30 Rock was the best of its time (along with Arrested Development). I always thought the MTM show had great storylines, as you said, but the Rock was great at its plots as well, and generated as much laughs as any show. I did like all the characters as well. Kenneth was pretty funny, perhaps Tracy was the weak link, but Grizz and Dot Com more than made up for him.

Elder gays always have to come rain on some parade. This show was better than MTM. And even attract Morgan was hilarious with his Martin Lawrence type parody. And this show has the best recurring characters of any comedy series period.

The show is awesome, R183, I was just mentioning that reddit focuses on double-digit IQ Tracy Jordan who was garbage compared to everyone else. Get over it. He is authentically retarded.

R184???????? You conducted the IQ test personally?

Tracy Jordan didn’t start out as being low IQ. One of the earliest episodes has him taking advantage of the fact that Liz Lemon thought he couldn’t read. He is then revealed to have regular column called “Musings”. I actually liked him better then, he became a bit of a caricature, but he was still funny.

Yall do realize his real name is Tracy Morgan right lol. R186 agreed.

Yes Tracy Jordan is played by Tracy Morgan. He’s an idiot.

Grizz and Dot Com were two of my favorites.

I tried to watch the MTM show the other day since its all on youtube but I just couldn't get into it. And I love old shows, even dated ones. Hell I could watch hours of I love Lucy as well as a few others, so it's not like it it's an old thing. It just didn't click with me. I do love 30 rock but the last couple of seasons were iffy.

30 Rock was MTM of the 2000's

LIKE A WAITRESS!!!

If I don't get attention I'M GOING TO KILL MYSELF

Martin Luther King Day is one of my favorite movies! Truly it is one of the greats.

From the director of Valentines' Day and New Year's Eve, MLK Day has an all star cast:

Liam Neeson

Amy Adams

Hugh Grant

Vince Vaughn

Emma Stone

Nick Cannon

Kristen Bell

John Krasinski

Andrew Samberg

Jenna Maroney

Also Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Sir Ian McKellen, Lynndie England, Plink from "The Price is Right," Inflatable Tube Man, The 1995 Quebec Nordiques, R2 D2, The Flight Attendant that Went Crazy, and Mankind

Liz's phone sex commercial

Favorite running gags:

*Appearances by older spoiled and entitled rich kids with hilarious names, like Pizzerina Sbarro and Cerie Xerox. The gag continued on "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," with Xanthippe Lannister Voorhees, who dated a rich boy at Columbia whose last name was Tylenol.

*Jenna's passing references to bizarre bad sexual experiences with male celebrities like Mickey Rourke or Nicolas Cage, and to her ongoing feuds with unlikely female celebrities like Raven-Symone ("She knows what she did!")

*Angie Jordan's unpredictable prickliness (which was funny every single time)

*Tracy's references to his ridiculously self-destructive what-the-hell antics during his downtime from the show

*The ongoing parade of ridiculous NBC shows ("Are You Smarter than a Dog?," "America's Kidz Got Talent")

*Kenneth's passing references to the Gothic supernatural weirdness of his hometown and family in Appalachia

Tracy was critical as a problem for Liz to solve and a contrast to Jenna. My partner and I still joke about the split second "am I'm Condoleeza Rice" moment from the show, said in full man voice.

I loved the immortal, ageless Kenneth references.

Who says I've been alive forever?

People rag on the last seasons of the show, but there are tons of quotes listed in this thread

R196 I keep coming back to this thread because you guys keep making me remember such awesome things about the show. Love you r196. Sherri Shepherd is a very underrated comedic actress. From her stint on The View one would just think she is an idiot but she is a talented one lol. I’ve seen her on other stuff too, great comedic timing. They could have easily spun off her character that’s how good she was.

R178 You really illustrated something. Gay men just don’t get people like Tracy Jordan. He appeals to straights though I found him funny on this show. I never really cared for his standup but then again I haven’t seen much of it. He was always a low rent Martin Lawrence to me standup wise. Even though we find Jenna hilarious, a lot of straight guys won’t. Like they might find her funny but they won’t truly get it.

Also one other thing I noticed. “Bro culture” is known for comedic shit but a lot of straight guys actually don’t have a sense of humor so they fake it. With women we just call them bitches, which they are but at least they are being real. But guys who don’t actually have a sense of humor pretend to like the most traditional masculine crude or downright stupid type humor.

DON’T ASK ME ABOUT MY BACK BRACE!

[quote] Sherri Shepherd is a very underrated comedic actress.

She's not underrated she's a genius. Shepherd stole the show in every scene she was in.

r205

let's be clear... maybe she a comedic genius BUT she is a flat earther

No one cares, r206.

She’s here to act. Is she a good actor? Yes?

Then fuck all everything else.

R205. Very true but I don’t think she ever won an Emmy winning for the role, never had her own sitcom as a star vehicle. She used to be mad funny on the Jamie Foxx too which is mad underrated as well and better than Martin. I do remember her being one of the main supporting leads on some sitcom of the early-mid aughts. It came on one of the big 3. I want to say Andy Dick is in it. It’s starred some big boned Frau chick.

I liked Rural Juror, but I think I personally prefer Urban Fervor

Damn, that Kevin Grisham is good!

R208 Yes, I just meant that I think of underrated actors as good or even very good actors that don't get the attention they deserve. I really think Shepard is a genius.

I never knew the chick from SNL had her own show. Sherri Shepherd was in it in her first big acting gig. Anyways it’s god awful from the first few minutes I watched lol.

Sherri Shepherd was also fun as Robert's partner in Everybody Loves Raymond

R211 WTF I thought the first few minutes were funny!

Mom (trying to intimidate her precocious kid) : There's no law I have to feed you!!

Kid: Actually there is.

Mom: Well, there's no law I can't dress you funny.

(Kid looks terrified.)

Nah that shit corny and Ellen Caghorn can’t act. At least not in there. I don’t really remember her from SNL, I just know she was on it. I do know she has discussed how she complained that they were hardly giving her any screen time.

And I guess that child’s father is either a white man or Rick Fox. 🤷‍♂️ Is he shown later in the episode?

Shepherd was also great in Trial and Error, that applies to the whole cast, really (at least for season one)

But back to 30 Rock, regular Liz talking to performer Liz was hilarious. Plus it kicks off with another good Jenna line

r208 You're thinking of "Less Than Perfect," which I thought was a pretty decent sitcom. Sara Rue, Zachary Levi, Sherri, Eric Roberts.

Remember when Alan Alda guest starred as Jack's hippy professor dad?

"Kidney Now"

Yeah, not to derail the 30 Rock discussion, but Trial & Error was great and should have run longer. Sherri bugs me as herself, but she was hilarious on that.

"I was on a reenactment of America’s Most Wanted once… playing a lady who was.... strangled on the toilet."

I loved Alan Alda in this! I knew it was serious when Adam Yauch skipped Kidney Now. RIP MCA

The Queen of Jordan episode was one of the funniest things I've seen. A perfect blend of comedy, character and satire. Ham!

This was my first exposure to Tituss Burgess and I wanted more immediately. He was perfect in Kimmy Schmidt. "Oh he's straight, boy can't dance at all"

D'fwine!

R222

"People do like the way she says ham"

I love how Tracy is scared of the Black Crusaders:

Bill Cosby and Oprah Winfrey are the chief majors. But Jesse Jackson, Colin Powell, Lester Holt, and Gordon from Sesame Street, they're members, too.

Liz: You know, usually everyone around here makes me feel like Hitler, but today, I feel like... Hitler in Germany.

There ain't no party like a Liz Lemon party because a Liz Lemon party is ... mandatory

Woggle means white in Australia!

🎶 Mommy kangaroo / mommy kangaroo / separate the races / mommy kangaroo

I love this show because it represents the time just before we could joke around with politics and people took themselves less seriously in that regard.

R228 here, meant to say "represents the time just before....well, now, where we could joke around with politics"

“Elizabeth, D’Fwan doesn’t like talking behind people’s backs, so I’m just going to tell you that what you’re saying is…very boring to me.”

Titus Burgess’ cunty little sigh of ennui mid-line reading was so perfect. I’m so glad Fey realized what she had in him and wrote him a lead in Kimmy Schmidt.

The funniest/saddest aspect of 30 Rock’s political humour is that for all his rock-ribbed Republicanism, Jack would have been run out of the actual GOP as a “Soros plant” years ago.

Why did Lonny Ross abruptly leave the show in the middle of the second season?

R230 No, he calls her e-LIZA-beth

R231 I wonder about that too. I enjoyed his character.

r231

he returned for one ep where he begs for his job back

R231 He came back in a few more episodes, his last appearance was season 4 I think. But his screen time dwindled until the running gag was how "forgetable" Josh (his character) was. He finally had to quit.

The way the characters evolved there just wasn't any role for him anymore.

Am I the first to talk aboot Cheyenne Jackson? He was great in this

r236

he was and he just kinda disappeared as well

R226, The Black Crusaders were a reference to Dave Chapelle walking away from his Comedy Central millions. He told people he was being threatened by black celebrities and that they took over his TV signal and were sending him messages. Like they did to Tracy

Jenna: Everyone shout out words that describe my beauty. Cerie: 80s! Jenna's stylist: 1880s.

jennas-side.com

I'm not hearing it

Just all of it...

"with your thinking!!!!"

You look like a BABY!

When did the show go downhill?

It probably started in season 4, although that and season five still had a few great episodes. Season six was definitely the worst season (not many people liked the Hazel character), but it wasn't terrible. I think the show did rebound in the final season, which sometimes happens with long-running shows.

R245 It didn’t. Not to me anyway.

Me neither. I loved every season

Some seasons are better than others but the show, in my opinion, never went downhill. Every season has hysterically funny episodes.

I’m not a huge fan of season six and seven

Jenna: "Wow. How “Sex And The City” are we right now? I’m Samantha!

(To Phoebe) You’re Charlotte.

(To Liz) And you’re the lady at home who watches it."

"You give me 10 minutes with the Lemon family, and I will have them fighting like drag queens at a wig sale."

-Elaine Stritch as Coleen Donaghy

^^That was already posted, darling.

I had to read every single post just to make sure I wasn't reposting. But I can't believe we got this far on Datalounge without posting Devon Banks best line that I quote all of the time. Brilliant.

"Wanting to be with a woman? How gay is that? You win sex against a man. That’s as straight as it gets"

The exchange begins at the 2:45 mark

Pert Knockers - for the Hurt Locker is stuck in my brain. And so is Fresh-Ass: Based on the novel Tush by Assfire.

Was 30 Rock the last smart series of the major broadcast networks?

R256 Yes.

Jack desperately negotiating with Devon Banks:

Jack: All right, you can watch me shower but no touching

Banks (eyeroll): No touching just makes it hotter

R256, I'd probably say that The Good Place was the last great network sitcom. There have been a few well-made sitcoms since 30 Rock, but really only The Good Place ever came close to 30 Rock's level of sophistication.

Ted Lasso

Abbott Elementary

Would you consider Canadian-produced "Schitt's Creek" an 'intelligent' sitcom? I've only ever seen two episodes. I didn't dislike it, but something about it just didn't really connect with me. For all I know, it might be hilarious, though.

R260 Schitt's Creek takes a good five or six episodes before it really hits its stride.

I wasn't crazy about the first few episodes, either, but friends told me to keep watching. It really does get better, and yes, it is absolutely hilarious.

Stick with it.

R259 Abbott Elemenary is a "trying very hard to be good" show, but it's actually not as great as it likes to think it is.

Many thanks, R261.

For me, Schitt's Creek lost something when it started getting praised. Levy seemed to switch from just making a good comedy to making something that was meant to mean something.

The conceit that I allowed Schitt's Creek is that even though they were broke, David always had the latest in avant garde men's couture. Only the trained eye would realize it. But I worked in the field at the time and would be like, that $800 t-shirt just came out this year. I am sure Dan used the shows budget on David's wardrobe as his personal shopping spree.

R265 In the first episode, when the family gets raided by the feds, David is shown frantically packing all his clothes before they ban be seized, so that explains why he had such an extensive sweater collection.

Yes, but his collection would have stopped the year that they were raided. But they were in Schitt's creek for several years and he was wearing stuff from the most recent collections that his character would not have been able to afford.

We barely made it through the unfunny first episode of Schitt's Creek, such a waste of talent.

The genius of 30 Rock is that no sitcom since Dick Van Dyke focussed on show business with such authenticity, hilarity and energy.

Don’t do impressions of other races.

Thanks, r268 for bringing this thread back on track.

Just like technology, this thread is cyclical.

R270 Love Dennis. Everyone has a Dennis in their past. The dumbness just makes them hotter.

My Dennis was a dirt bike racer, barely finished high school. But Cheeses Christ he was gorgeous.

I liked Hazel.

Liz: it's so hard being a female performer. The "male gaze".

Hazel: yeah, they're all a bunch of gays.

Remember Liz's pre-breakup list of Dennis's pros and cons, in season 1? Pro: "Jack likes Dennis." Con: "Jack likes Dennis."

There was a Reddit thread a while back about Dan Levy, a couple people who worked on Schitt's Creek said he was insufferable.

Here's one of the Reddit posts. Levy sounds like a lot of work to be around:

[quote]I work in the Toronto television industry. He's known for being an ass. He never worked on a sitcom - his experience is hosting an MTV Canada show, and probably visiting his dad's movie sets - and then he's given his own show to star, write, showrun, and act in. So now he's in charge (with no one above him to keep him in check) and he's bringing American diva behaviour to a lower-budget Canadian show. He demands to approve all social media posts about the show. He complains that craft services aren't lavish enough. He's complaining to the press that the show's budget isn't going up year after year (versus, not having your budget reduced each season is a miracle in Canadian TV), citing that it hurts the storytelling that the characters' wardrobe isn't getting more expensive each season. And he'd tell every outlet in the world about how Schitt's is the underdog show that no one would pay attention to, because he has severe envy of and only cares about the US star system; meanwhile, Schitt's had probably the biggest marketing campaign ever for a CBC show, launched to immediate record success, etc. It feels notable that he hasn't launched his next show yet, despite deals with Disney and Netflix. At this point, a Canadian network would probably let him make anything he wanted, but it's very clear he saw Schitt's as his ticket to American fame.

[quote]citing that it hurts the storytelling that the characters' wardrobe isn't getting more expensive each season

Well that lends credence to r265's post

And to go back to 30 Rock

Devon: You're going down.

Jack: No, Devon. I don't do that.

Jack negotiating with his Jamaican babysitter:

Jack: Please understand we value what you do, Libby adores you, but I'm paying you more for working part time than full time.

Nanny: So whats you wanna do?

Jack: Here's your money.

I think this thread has been derailed enough that I can include a quote I thought was from 30 Rock, but was actually from Kimmy Schmidt (although Jane Krakowski was in scene):

Jump cut with zero context to Donald Trump (impersonator) "My greatest achievement was not getting AIDS from Roy Cohn in the 80's."

[quote]I think this thread has been derailed enough

Not it hasn't. Get a blog.

30 Rock derails so it is fitting

Kimmy Schmidt was equally hilarious in a different way. The story behind the death of Carol Kane's character 's husband always cracks me up.

Lillian Kaushtupper : I can't support this. I will not bury another beautiful black man. You know my dear husband, Roland, was killed in our very own apartment.

Titus Andromedon : Yes, I've heard this story before.

Lillian Kaushtupper : He got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and on his way back to bed, he was shot in the face.

Titus Andromedon : By you, Lillian.

Lillian Kaushtupper : Well, it was dark out, and a black guy was trying to get in bed with me. It was the '70s! Point is, I will have nothing to do with this audition of yours.

R277 😂. Brilliant. Just brilliant. What I love is that they didn’t make minority characters weak or caricatures on this show. Yes they played into stereotypes but it always done with subversive brilliancy. The writers were genius. They had the Jamaican character basically say you paying me like I’m working part time so how bout I actually work part time. OR pay me more bitch.

Any love for Kathy Geiss?

Kathy Geiss and her hugging machine for old people that crushed their bones 😆😆

I’ve been jumping around seasons and watching episodes here and there. I had forgotten how much weight Alec Baldwin lost in the last season.

30 Rock is comedic excellence personified. Only one sitcom is better than it and that’s Seinfeld. Yep I said it. That is how great it is.

30 Rock is so much better than Seinfeld

What I love is that having been the head writer for SNL for so many years, I always felt I was in good hands with Tina Fey's telling of this particular world.

R283 I almost forgot about poor Kathy!

She was also Bitsy in "Working Girl," the girl Harrison Ford dances with when he and Melanie Griffith crash the wedding.

[quote]What I love is that having been the head writer for SNL for so many years, I always felt I was in good hands with Tina Fey's telling of this particular world.

You were the head writer for SNL? Who knew?

It was no "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."

I loved when Kathy was singing I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserable for the audition.

It was definitely Susan Boyle style

r290 eat a bag of dicks. This isn't a doctoral thesis.

You mean bag of cunts, right?

r291 Shut up.

30 ROCK's roster of guest stars was truly dazzling -- not just who they got but how well they consistently used them.

Oscar winners who turned up include Matt Damon, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks, Julianne Moore, Susan Sarandon, Octavia Spencer, Mary Steenburgen and Emma Stone. (Note also Oscar nominees Alan Alda, James Franco, Paul Giamatti, Salma Hayek, Buck Henry, Michael Keaton, Queen Latifah, Rob Reiner, Stanley Tucci and Oprah Winfrey.)

Tony winners on 30 ROCK included Nina Arianda, Roger Bart, Matthew Broderick, Bryan Cranston, John Cullum, Brian Dennehy, Kelsey Grammer, Sean Hayes, Ken Howard, Nikki M. James, Nathan Lane, Adriane Lenox (the above-praised Jamaican babysitter), Patti LuPone, Andrea Martin, Cynthia Nixon, Alice Ripley and Elaine Stritch. (Note also Tony nominees Kerry Butler, Gregg Edelman, Victor Garber, David Garrison, Anita Gillette, William Jackson Harper, Stacy Keach, Terrence Mann, Michael Mulheren, Daniel Sunjata and Rip Torn.)

Then there were the Emmy winners -- Jennifer Aniston, Wayne Brady, Steve Buscemi, Tim Conway, Donald Glover, Jon Hamm, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Megan Mullally, Steve Martin and Catherine O'Hara (plus Emmy nominees Tituss Burgess, Jim Carrey, Gary Cole, Carrie Fisher, Jan Hooks, James Marsden, Paul Reubens, Isabella Rossellini, David Schwimmer, Michael Sheen and John Slattery).

And that's not even mentioning other theater favorites like Marylouise Burke, Mary Catherine Garrison, Deidre Goodwin, Ann Harada, Jackie Hoffman, Capathia Jenkins, Elizabeth Marvel, Burke Moses, Julia Murney, Novella Nelson, Laila Robins and Michael Benjamin Washington

Honorable mention: Chloë Grace Moretz, Emily Mortimer, James Rebhorn and Denise Richards, among many others.

But even as big a 30 ROCK maniac as I didn’t know until today that Kathy Geiss’ singing voice was supplied by . . . rising operatic superstar Lisette Oropesa!

Studio 60 was better and got better ratings, I don’t know why NBC committed to 30 Rock.

[quote]Studio 60 was better

LOL

[quote]and got better ratings

Not by the end of the seasons.

[quote]I don’t know why NBC committed to 30 Rock.

You can't work out why they'd back the cheap comedy over the expensive and pretentious drama, when both were doing the same ratings at the end of their seasons? Really?

I much preferred Studio 60. I don't know why 30 Rock survived one season.

If you disliked 30 Rock that much, why did you click on this thread? Pathetic.

R300 because they are pretentious and want to put others down

Studio 60 was not a sitcom. It was very much an dramedy and would have been in the dramatic categories at the Emmys. That shit was way more expensive to produce. 30 rock is the best sitcom of all time to me.

Studio 60 had all the staying power of a fart caught in a whirlwind.

STUDIO 60 was Sorkin at his worst, and among many other problems, the glimpses we saw of the "show within the show" were painfully unfunny, not remotely plausible as the stuff of a great show. (30 ROCK, by contrast, was smart enough to know that TGS was a mediocre show, and it never claimed otherwise.)

I'm still cringing from the moment on STUDIO 60 at which Bradley Whitford's character (indistinguishable from his WEST WING character, right down to the relentlessly dropped final Gs) said to Amanda Peet's character, "I'm comin' for ya, Jordan." Yay! Stalking is HOT.

R304 you’re cute. Coming for you is an expression, a slang you could say. It could mean revenge or to tear down someone’s social status. It’s not stalking really.

Can you give it a rest about Studio 60, a show that lasted for five minutes and nobody remembers? JFC.

r305 Except this was after Peet's character had asked him to stop pursuing her romantically. And he refused. So it's exactly as r304 described.

Similar to Sam in The West Wing ignoring Laurie's requests to leave her alone.

Remember when Tracy calls Betty White about the Rule of Threes?

R300- I clicked on this thread to say that I preferred Studio 60. Do you really have to love the subject of a thread to express your opinion? By the way, I never said I didn’t like 30 Rock, just stated I preferred Studio 60 which was about the same subject and got better ratings. 30 Rock was very lucky to make it past the first season. Also- who said Studio 60 was a sitcom, r302? Pathetic indeed

Studio 60 was hilarious(ly terrible)

So start another thread about Studio 60. Nobody cares or remembers it.

I remember it was terrible. They acted like that pirates of penzence song was cutting edge comedy. No wonder Matt Perry was a drug addict

“The head of the stress ball division hanged himself.”

Liz was so gross. It’s pretty obvious Tina Fey despised her.