"30 Rock" Jack the Writer (2006)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Gail Mancuso

Writers:

Robert Carlock (written by)
Tina Fey (creator)

TV Series:

"30 Rock" (2006)

Original Air Date:

1 November 2006 (Season 1, Episode 4)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Jack joins the writing staff during a meeting as an observer. He joins the group day after day and gets more and more involved in their work...

Plot Keywords:

Six Sigma | Character Name In Title | New York | Nbc Universal | Television Network

Cast

Tina Fey	...	Liz Lemon
Tracy Morgan	...	Tracy Jordan
Jane Krakowski	...	Jenna Maroney (credit only)
Jack McBrayer	...	Kenneth Parcell
Scott Adsit	...	Pete Hornberger
Judah Friedlander	...	Frank Rossitano
Alec Baldwin	...	Jack Donaghy
Keith Powell	...	Toofer
Maulik Pancholy	...	Jonathan
Katrina Bowden	...	Cerie
Tom Broecker	...	Lee
James Anderson	...	James Anderson
John Lutz	...	Lutz
Sharon Wilkins	...	Angie Jordan

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Silvercup Studios - 4222 22nd Street, Long Island City, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Trivia:

Frank's three trucker hats read "Ninja Expert," "Arcade Champ," and "Bigfoot Expert."

Quotes:

Jack Donaghy: Beep, beep! Ribby, ribby!

Movie Connections:

References "Today" (1982)

"Beep, beep, ribby, ribby!"

Jack the Writer sets another high standard for 30 Rock, by giving Alec Baldwin more juicy material to chew on and laying the path for hilarious interactions between other characters.

At first, the main problem appears to be nothing but the way Cerie (Katrina Bowden), Liz's young secretary, dresses at work, which results in most of the writing staff - Frank ahead of everyone else - being continuously distracted. Just as Liz thought everything was all right again, Jack starts showing up at every writers' meeting in order to better understand his employees and comes up with (weak) ideas for sketches, leading to a huge shortage of good material for TGS. Finally, the brilliant master/slave relationship between Tracy and Kenneth makes its debut here, as the naive page is ruthlessly exploited by the prickly movie star.

Aside from the limelight being temporarily granted to the good-looking Bowden (never a bad choice), the main pleasure of Jack the Writer is once again the flow of quotable dialogue. Best lines: Tracy's attitude towards life ("live every week like it's a shark week!"), his advice for maintaining your marriage solid ("Work that va-jay-jay!"), and, most of all, the dreadful catchphrase Jack insists someone write a skit around: "Beep beep, ribby ribby!". How could anyone doubt the show's status as one of the funniest things on American TV?