"30 Rock" Jack-Tor (2006)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Don Scardino

Writers:

Tina Fey (creator)
Robert Carlock (written by)

TV Series:

"30 Rock" (2006)

Original Air Date:

16 November 2006 (Season 1, Episode 5)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Jack wants to integrate product placement in "TGS", but this idea is not very welcomed by the staff...

Plot Keywords:

Sitcom | Reference To Barack Obama | Reference To David Blaine | Character Name In Title | Boss

Cast

Tina Fey	...	Liz Lemon
Tracy Morgan	...	Tracy Jordan
Jane Krakowski	...	Jenna Maroney
Jack McBrayer	...	Kenneth Parcell
Scott Adsit	...	Pete Hornberger
Judah Friedlander	...	Frank Rossitano
Alec Baldwin	...	Jack Donaghy
Keith Powell	...	Toofer
Lonny Ross	...	Josh Girard
Katrina Bowden	...	Cerie
Maulik Pancholy	...	Jonathan
James Murtaugh	...	Ron
Ghostface Killah	...	Himself
Teddy Coluca	...	Stage Manager
Donald Glover	...	Young P.A. (as Donald Glover II)

Runtime:

28 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Broadway Video

Trivia:

Tracy was playing Halo 2 on his XBox 360.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Tracy is playing Halo, he puts the controller down, but the game is still being played.

Quotes:

Liz Lemon: Okay, here's your pep talk. You're not an actor. You're Jack Donaghy, all right? So quit whining and NUT UP. You're right. If you can't do this, you ARE a failure. Josh can do this, and earlier today he ate a club sandwich with the toothpick still in it. Jenna can do this, and she was once engaged to David Blaine. Any dumb-dumb can act, Jack. So be a man and get it done.
Jack: If you were any other woman on earth, I would be turned on right now.

Movie Connections:

References "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (1967)

Soundtrack:

Muffin Top

"I can't act!"

Jack-Tor is one of the funniest episodes of 30 Rock's first season, and was understandably Emmy-nominated for its witty script, which focuses on Jack Donaghy's pitiful attempts at pulling it off as a comedian.

Why does he do that? Because he had the genius idea of showing TGS's writing staff an informational video to emphasize his point: they should write sketches with GE product placement. Liz gets back at him by writing a skit that actually makes fun of the decision, and insists Jack play himself on the show. Of course, that was before she finds out the famous video, which is only a few minutes long, took five days to shoot, courtesy of Jack's lack of acting talent. In addition, Liz has to deal with the possibility that Tracy might be illiterate, while Frank and Toofer scare Jenna by making her believe someone will get the sack for the sake of budget cuts.

Jack-Tor is a complete success because of its self-referential (and self-spoofing) main storyline: watching the informational video's Making Of (basically a very long gag reel) and hearing Baldwin humbly admit he can't act is a huge treat, with the irony being even more poignant if you consider the funny-man won a Golden Globe for his work in Season One. The Tracy subplot is also one of the funniest ever made about that character (plus, it comes with a Barack Obama joke - always good), and finally, Jack-Tor features one of the smartest "breaking the fourth wall" moments ever seen on the small screen: while helping Jack to get over his stage fright, Liz says the most important thing to do is to not look into the camera. Baldwin, with a smug grin on his face, does exactly the opposite, as if to say: "What the hell, I know what I'm doing". He sure does.