The Break-Up (14 Dec. 2006)

Jenna takes Liz out on the town after she breaks up with Dennis, Jack is having problems with his new relationship, and Tracy and Toofer clash over negative African American stereotypes.

Director:

Scott Ellis

Writers:

Tina Fey (creator), Dave Finkel,

Stars:

Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Tina Fey	...	Liz Lemon
Tracy Morgan	...	Tracy Jordan
Jane Krakowski	...	Jenna Maroney
Jack McBrayer	...	Kenneth Parcell (credit only)
Scott Adsit	...	Pete Hornberger (credit only)
Judah Friedlander	...	Frank Rossitano
Alec Baldwin	...	Jack Donaghy
Rachel Dratch	...	Pamela Smew
Keith Powell	...	Toofer
Lonny Ross	...	Josh Girard
Katrina Bowden	...	Cerie
Maulik Pancholy	...	Jonathan (credit only)
Dean Winters	...	Dennis Duffy
Chris Hansen	...	Chris Hansen
Devin Richards	...	Black Frasier

Storyline

Liz finally breaks up with Dennis, but he still hasn't moved out of her apartment. To celebrate the break-up, Jenna plans to take Liz out on a girl's night. Meanwhile, Liz suspects that Jack is dating Condoleezza Rice and Tracy is mad at Toofer, because he talked him out of doing a sketch involving drag. Liz makes Toofer work with Tracy on a sketch, but since Tracy cannot believe that another black man is so much different than he is, the work turns into a disaster.

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Plot Keywords:

sitcom | reference to olof palme

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 2006 (USA)

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Broadway Video, Little Stranger, NBC Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

At Karaoke, Liz sings Janis Ian's "At Seventeen", the same song that was the first ever musical guest performance on Saturday Night Live.

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Quotes

Dennis Duffy: I'm moving into my new apartment so I've got one last thing to say to you and I'll be out of your life forever.
[reading from written letter]
Dennis Duffy: Dear Liz Lemon: While other women have bigger boobs than you, no other woman has as big a heart. When I saw you getting ready to go out and get nailed by a bunch of guys last night, I knew for sure it was over between us, and for the first time since the '86 World Series, I cried... I cried like a big, dumb homo. And if it was up to me, we'd be together ...

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Connections

Features Dateline NBC (1992)

User Reviews

Tracy and Toofer

The Break-Up is an outstanding 30 Rock episode for the way it perfectly uses all three of its main gag-machines: Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan and Alec Baldwin, all of whom are granted a hilarious storyline.

Liz has to deal with the fact that Dennis still lives in her apartment despite their recent break-up, and reluctantly accepts to go looking for guys with Jenna to see if he will react the way she hopes. Tracy and Toofer, the only other African-American working on TGS, are forced to work together on a skit and end up in a huge fight over their different uses of the N-word. As for Jack, he is going through a rough phase with his new girlfriend, whom the episode's events "subtly" identify as Condoleeza Rice.

The script is a pit of golden jokes, especially when race and politics are involved: having a laugh at the expense of Jack's die-hard Republican mentality is always good, but the Tracy vs. Toofer plot line is close to being the best ever written for the show, with their misunderstandings showing how vastly different two people can be despite claiming some sort of spiritual connection. Dean Winters, making his last appearance for the season as Dennis, is also on top form (the "Dear Liz Lemon" bit alone should have gotten him an Emmz nomination), but even he can't beat the sheer, irresistible absurdity of seeing a scene from a fictional series called "Black Frasier". Anyone still wonder why NBC has a practically spotless record of great sitcoms?