The Collection (18 Oct. 2007)

Jack is in the running for the G.E. chairmanship and hires a private eye to dig up any dirty secrets. The P.I. exposes Jack's enormous cookie jar collection (he was collector of the year ... See full summary »

Director:

Don Scardino

Writers:

Tina Fey (creator), Matt Hubbard

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
Scott Adsit	...	Pete Hornberger
Judah Friedlander	...	Frank Rossitano (credit only)
Alec Baldwin	...	Jack Donaghy
Katrina Bowden	...	Cerie (credit only)
Keith Powell	...	Toofer (credit only)
Lonny Ross	...	Josh Girard (credit only)
Steve Buscemi	...	Lenny Wosniak
Sherri Shepherd	...	Angie Jordan
Jackie Mason	...	Jackie Mason
Maulik Pancholy	...	Jonathan
Kevin Brown	...	Dot Com

Storyline

Jack is in the running for the G.E. chairmanship and hires a private eye to dig up any dirty secrets. The P.I. exposes Jack's enormous cookie jar collection (he was collector of the year under the pseudonym Victor Nightingale) and advises him to get rid of it. Jenna is more successful than ever now that she's overweight, but panics when it turns out her happiness is making her lose weight.

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Plot Keywords:

comedy writer | sitcom | sketch | workplace | boss | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Release Date:

18 October 2007 (USA)

Company Credits

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the fake "Enormé" advert that Jenna stars in when she gains weight, the soundtrack (also played over the end credits) is whispered Italian words for "very fat woman", "female pig", and "whale".

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Goofs

During Liz's confrontation with Angie, Tracy's necklace changes position from outside his collar to inside his shirt several times.

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Quotes

Jack: Lem on I'm impressed! You're beginning to think like a businessman.
Liz Lemon: A business woman.
Jack: I don't think that's a word.

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Connections

References Predator (1987)

User Reviews

"You don't collect cookie jars, do you?"

The Collection doesn't really reach as high as previous episodes, but it's pretty darn good nonetheless, courtesy of some pleasantly laughable set-ups and a humorous if a bit brief guest appearance by Steve Buscemi (who was deemed funny enough to get nominated for an Emmy).

The main plot concerns Jack setting up an investigation about his past so that GE doesn't learn anything scandalous about him. The guy he hires, Lenny Wozniak (Buscemi) tells him he has to get rid of his cookie jar collection, since it was a similar hobby that cost John Kerry the 2004 Presidential election (yeah, right). Meanwhile, Liz has to make sure Tracy's wife Angie (Sherri Shepherd), who is hanging around the office all day long and imposing African- American-friendly jokes for TGS, doesn't find out about his visits to strip clubs, and Kenneth is instructed to make sure Jenna, who is more popular now that she's fat (her new catchphrase is "Me want food!"), doesn't lose any weight. His technique, however, makes her horny instead of hungry, with awkward results.

As always, dialogue is the key to success, with Jack's explanation for the collection being the best of the lot (after telling Liz how his mother never made any cookies for him and his siblings, he concludes "So obviously it has nothing to do with my childhood"). Acting-wise, Jack McBrayer gets to be as embarrassingly endearing as ever, and Shepherd uses her episode-long guest spot to perfection, cleverly assisted by Tracy Morgan. As for Buscemi, he wasn't really that funny (the Emmy nomination is difficult to explain), but it has mostly got to do with the brevity of his role. Besides, gotta love him when he says Giuliani became mayor of New York just because his doll collection was kept secret. Hilarious.