# What was the final moment of the 30 Rock season finale a parody of? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996 "2011-05-06T19:18:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996/1 "2011-05-06T19:18:39Z")
I’m referring to the final moment of the show before the blip before the credits. Kenneth is watching all of his co-workers in the park through a telescope and says something like “Do you see their capacity for joy and love? Give me more time Jacob, I beg of you!” It’s familiar but I can’t quite place it. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996/2 "2011-05-06T19:20:36Z")
I thought it was a parody of “Lost”. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996/3 "2011-05-06T19:21:03Z")
Jacob sounds like a _Lost_ reference, and the “capacity for joy and love” sounds familiar as well, but I can’t place it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996/4 "2011-05-06T19:23:38Z")
Ah. I’ve never seen an episode of _Lost_ but I may have absorbed some through other discussions. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996/5 "2011-05-06T19:33:09Z")
Hmmm, now that I think about it, the “capacity for joy and love” bit makes it sound like it could be from some sci-fi in which a malevolent entity seeks to destroy the earth with disregard for the creatures who inhabit it. Galactus vs the Fantastic Four is the first example that springs to my mind, but there are lots of others, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996/6 "2011-05-06T19:36:55Z")
He’s Clarence, the angel, from It’s A Wonderful Life. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996/7 "2011-05-06T20:19:05Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > He’s Clarence, the angel, from It’s A Wonderful Life. Well, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996/8 "2011-05-06T23:44:24Z")
I haven’t seen any particularly plausible explanations anywhere. Presumably the “to be continued” is meant to indicate they’ll follow up on it next season, so I don’t think its supposed to be a parody of anything, or at least we’re not supposed to understand what its a parody of yet. Perhaps next season, we’ll find out not only the explanation for Kenneths weird conversation with “Jacob”, but also a more general explanation of his general weirdness (extremely long life-span, etc) ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996/9 "2011-05-07T20:01:18Z")
Huh. I thought it was a reference to the ghost of Jacob Marley from A Christmas Carol. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996/10 "2011-05-07T20:50:07Z")
That was generally a lame episode, but I liked the moment where Jack McBrayer was playing Kenneth Parcell playing Avery playing Kenneth Parcell. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996/11 "2011-05-07T23:47:15Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > That was generally a lame episode, but I liked the moment where Jack McBrayer was playing Kenneth Parcell playing Avery playing Kenneth Parcell. Yeah, I think the show has peaked in general. It’s kind of on auto-pilot, each character does their thing and it’s not a fraction of Community. Still funny, but they need to really take some risks or wrap it up. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-final-moment-of-the-30-rock-season-finale-a-parody-of/580996/12 "2011-05-07T23:52:22Z")
I feel the same way. 30 Rock used to be my favorite sitcom, but it’s a pale imitation of its former self at this point and with it being paired against a juggernaut like Community, it comes off even weaker. Even Parks & Recreation is consistently funnier, and as much as I love it, that it’s overcoming 30 Rock says a lot about how the latter has fallen.