30 Rock (TV Series) Hard Ball (2007) User Reviews

Hard Ball (#1.15)

[ComedyFan2010 · 9/10 · 18 November 2013]

Kenneth joins Tracy's entourage. HE is the one being honest to him, but Tracy still misses his old crew who always made him feel good about himself.

Jenna has a few faux pas with the press.

And Liz participates in negotiations.

My favorite part of this episode is Jenna's story. Great humor and I laughed a lot especially at her mixing up Obama and Osama.

Was also great to see Liz involved in the negotiation and her beast awaken in her.

And Kenneth and Tracy had a great storyline as well. Several great quotes from there. All in all another great episode

"Pregnant cornbread..."

[MaxBorg89 · 10/10 · 14 October 2008]

This is the episode that was used to secure 30 Rock's Emmy Nomination in the Outstanding Comedy Series category, an award it proudly walked away with. It's not that hard to see why: there are so many classic (and classy) moments in here that chances the audience could die laughing are higher than ever.

As usual, Hard Ball is made up of three different stories: first, we've got Josh's contract being up and the different approaches used by Jack and Liz in the negotiation; then there's Kenneth joining Tracy's entourage, only to cause trouble when it turns out the other members, Grizz and Dot Com, have been letting the comedian win at games and laughed at unfunny jokes to keep him happy; and finally, Jenna is among the "Sexiest Women in Comedy" in a magazine, but ignites a scandal when she is misquoted in an interview and appears to have said she hates American troops.

The Jenna section is the funniest for two reasons: a) Rachel Dratch is ace as always playing one of the people protesting against the poor girl; b) it gives Tina Fey the chance to throw in another Barack Obama gag after mentioning him in the fifth episode, Jack-Tor. Overall, Hard Ball is a clever piece of insanity where everything goes wrong, in true sitcom fashion, and yet another example of why 30 Rock is the smartest post-2000 comedy series next to Arrested Development, The Office and (to slightly lesser degree) Scrubs. Heck, it even manages to throw in a slow-motion scene at the end (accompanied by a character's rendition of a famous love song) without looking corny. Ain't that something!

Hard Ball is a very hilarious episode of 30 Rock

[tavm · 10/10 · 5 March 2007]

Josh's contract is up and Jack wants to play hardball but Liz just wants to be fair to her friend. Jenna is posing for the "Sexiest Funny Women" section of Maxim but gets in trouble when she gets misquoted about "hating" the troops (she thought she was being asked about theater troupes). Tracy asks Kenneth to be part of his entourage but fires his other two when he finds out how they let him win at everything. I'll just stop there and say this episode is almost as hilarious as Tracy Does Conan. Love Jenna's slips and falls during her Maxim shoot, Tracy and Kenneth's singing, the way Josh's negotiation went, and the way Jenna's patriotic number went wrong at the end. Rachel Dratch is, as usual, hilarious as a Jenna protester. The fact that not too many viewers are watching this show is bothering me. Hopefully, that will change by the end of this season.

Absolute Hilarity!

[g-bodyl · 10/10 · 8 February 2014]

The fifteenth episode in Season One of 30 Rock has to be the funniest episode yet. While the series consistently features many sharp, clever gags, no episode has been nonstop laugh-out-loud funny until this one. It has many ranges of jokes with anything from pregnant cornbread to gags issued at soon-to-be President Barack Obama.

This episode, "Hard Ball," has Kenneth joining Tracy's entourage with Kenny making a fool of himself, of course. Jack and Liz begins hard-nosed negotiations with Josh, whose contract is about to expire. Finally, after being named one of the funniest women alive, Jenna brings upon herself a scandal after she is misquoted about the American troops.

Overall, this is a hilarious episode and the first one I can genuinely say it's perfect. The comedy is nonstop and the gags are always there and not a single bad one to be found. I rate this episode 10/10.