I can’t believe there isn’t a thread on this yet. I think it was one of the funniest sitcom episodes I’ve ever seen. There were so many great lines I had to save the show so I can go back and watch it again.
The Brian Williams New Jersey schtick, Jack insulting Lemon, “what play was that?”, Dot Com and the Seagull, the audition process, “I Dreamed A Dream”…
I’m watching it again tonight.
Who was the guy that they were going to hire? It looked like it was dubbed when he did the imitations.
Despite that, I found it funny that he was his own references. I find it clever when they set up a joke then go for the payoff several scenes later. It’s hard to look out for those because things are generally happening quickly on the show.
I was looking for some other kind of payoff with Jack’s bedbug problem, like it was something other than bedbugs, but it was funny nonetheless.
The fact that they shove the corporate sponsor like the Cisco Telepresence in your face when they do it is funny as well. I don’t know if any other show is as up front and deliberate when showing the sponsor’s product.
Jack: “…which is as useless as the Winter Olympics!”
“coming February, on NBC.”
The “I Dreamed a Dream” bit was brilliant.
My favorite moment was in the very beginning when Tina Fey broke the fourth wall. I know they did it multiple times, but IMO the later times weren’t nearly as effective. In the opening scene it was right after she said they had their candidate and it was a done deal, unless of course something crazy happened in the next 8 hours. The look she gave the camera wasn’t off the wall or anything, but it was so perfectly timed and understated I had to rewind it a couple times. Just perfect.
Great episode with a big “but.”
I HATED the Jack subplot. Possibly my least favorite thing in a sitcom I’ve ever seen. A) it was stupid. Bedbugs, really? B) The bedbug/leprosy jokes were all played like jokes from a much dumber sitcom. C) Jack never works as well when he’s “brought low.” He’s such a charismatic, powerful, succesful-at-all-costs person that seeing him “humanized” just doesn’t work for me.
But the rest was good stuff, and the “I Dreamed a Dream” bit was probably my favorite joke ever on 30 Rock.
Ellis Dee, did you notice there was a little “sparkle” in the background music when she looked at the camera? It was awesome. (I didn’t even notice the look-at-the-camera until you pointed it out, so I went back to rewatch it.)
“It’s just that you’ve never been right before.”
“I know!”
That was a great line reading, and in fact this is the first episode where I thought Jenna was actually as funny as the rest of the cast.
i had no idea this was back on
My favorite moment was when Jenna suddenly appeared in front of Kenneth and he says, “Vampir!”
“I had no idea she planned to take off her panties during the last verse.”
I have no idea whether Fey liked/likes Jimmy Fallon or not but I definitely get the idea she’s taking shots at him with Josh and some other characters. (I also loved that Josh has turned to low budget movies that didn’t work and “guy-guy” stuff since losing his job… three weeks ago.)
“I’m not gay… I’m bi-larious!”
I’m not sure what you mean. There’s a decent chance you already know this, but just in case, Manhattan has been hit with a bedbug invasion.
It was dubbed. The credits listed those three people (Gottfried, Scorsese (?), and someone else) as special guests.
Only a Broadway nerd like myself would catch this, but when Tina Fey asked “What play was THAT?”, the correct answer would be Starlight Express, which was Jane Krakowski’s Broadway debut. Nice little inside joke!
Christopher Walken