A new 30 Rock thread because I can't find the old one

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It's a seriously ambiguous joke, actually -- first Jack says he's a Twofer because "he's a black guy ... and a Harvard guy," where you're expecting "gay," and then there are jokes like the gay sweater and the day he wants to go see Mama Mia. But in the episode where Jenna wants to get back at the writers using Her Sexuality, she totally tries it on him, and the only roadblock is that he can tell what she's doing. Possibly he's just the straight egghead who gets used as a slate for all gay-related jokes.

― nabisco, Thursday, 5 April 2007 20:45 (nineteen years ago)

"He's not gay ... he's just stylish!"

― nabisco, Thursday, 5 April 2007 20:46 (nineteen years ago)

fyi i wasnt expecting 'gay' in the initial black guy/harvard guy joke

isnt he all giddy when cerie says she'd marry him in boff marry kill?

― and what, Thursday, 5 April 2007 20:47 (nineteen years ago)

i don't think he's supposed to be gay, or else "the case of the gay sweater" would be even more offensive.

― kenan, Thursday, 5 April 2007 20:50 (nineteen years ago)

xpost--Yeah, but in Marry Boff Kill the marriage is sexless.

― max, Thursday, 5 April 2007 20:50 (nineteen years ago)

What's your schedule mañana? Cuz this is gonna be ooone serious negosh.

lololol

― and what, Thursday, 5 April 2007 20:59 (nineteen years ago)

Really, E? I was expecting "gay" less because of anything having to do with the character, but just cuz that's where you'd expect the diversity twofer to lead. I mean, the joke certainly requires you to expect something other than "Harvard guy." But maybe I'm reading the joke backwards.

― nabisco, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:05 (nineteen years ago)

Either way, I appreciate their using him for the kinds of jokes that would usually get pinned on some horrible "sassy" gay character (like the Mama Mia thing). (Actually the funny part there was just the look of total gratitude and excitement on his face when she said okay.)

― nabisco, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:08 (nineteen years ago)

I have a seat reservation on the train home for Easter at 3PM BST tomorrow (17 hours). If I haven't downloaded the extra-length special before I leave, I am getting a later one, even if it does involve pre-Holiday commuting hell.

― caek, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:14 (nineteen years ago)

I would totally expect "Harvard guy" for a member of a team of network comedy writers, especially when he was set up as the well spoken egghead prior to that scene.
xpost

― Bnad, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:15 (nineteen years ago)

How would that quality as a "twofer," though?

― nabisco, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:18 (nineteen years ago)

Cuz if it's just "fulfills two categories of comedy writers," then it's not actually a joke. (And I'm pretty sure it was being presented as a joke.)

Actually nevermind, not worth parsing.

― nabisco, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:20 (nineteen years ago)

Bnad otm. Because he's black, and he went to harvard, yannow, like Conan.

― kenan, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:20 (nineteen years ago)

i'm sure you will be able to dl this in 15 min, like, tonight, xpost

― rrrobyn, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:21 (nineteen years ago)

i mean, that is my plan

― rrrobyn, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:21 (nineteen years ago)

Wait, why not parse it: so if you interpreted it as a straightforward "he's black + he went to Harvard," did you not laugh at that line?

― nabisco, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:27 (nineteen years ago)

xpost, "Tonight" I should be in bed because it will be 2am here when it airs. How long after the show does it usually show up?

― caek, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:29 (nineteen years ago)

did you not laugh at that line?

not... really? It seemed expository. The joke was the flash cards, a minute later.

― kenan, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:30 (nineteen years ago)

i mean, it's funny that they need to fill two token comedy writer positions: black guy (gotta have one of those!) and harvard guy (hey, he wrote for the lampoon, he's elite).

― kenan, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:35 (nineteen years ago)

xpost

Huh. Given the contexts of his other introductions (scored 760 on the SAT / owns every issue ever published of Black Tail magazine / "has a thyroid problem"), I'm sticking with my joke reading!

</parsing>

― nabisco, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:36 (nineteen years ago)

no, you're right. but i think you lost me with:

Cuz if it's just "fulfills two categories of comedy writers," then it's not actually a joke.

sez who?

― kenan, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:38 (nineteen years ago)

Well, sure, it can still function as a joke, but you know what I mean -- the more legitimate they are as categories, the less of a "joke" there is?

Anyway, I interpreted it as saying that he fills two diversity / minority categories (which is actually the only context where I've heard people called "twofers") -- "he's a black guy," and then you expect something along the lines of "and gay" (or similar), except you get "and a Harvard guy" instead. But whatever.

― nabisco, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:45 (nineteen years ago)

In fact the American Heritage Dictionary actually offers this as the third DEFINITION of "twofer": One who belongs to two minority groups and can be counted, as by an employer, as part of two quotas.

― nabisco, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:46 (nineteen years ago)

http://tweeak.cbstaff.com/TinaFeyPilot.pdf

P.S. hey look, here's the pilot script! The main character is named "Lisa Lemon," and she works on a show called "Friday Night Bits!"

― nabisco, Thursday, 5 April 2007 21:51 (nineteen years ago)

Friday Night Bits! LULZ

― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 5 April 2007 22:07 (nineteen years ago)

OMG Alec Baldwin dressed as Thomas Jefferson flipping off the crowd at Maury. I laughed so hard I nearly blacked out.

― Johnny Fever, Friday, 6 April 2007 01:08 (nineteen years ago)

I rode a horse here all the way from heaven.

― nickalicious, Friday, 6 April 2007 01:21 (nineteen years ago)

Dr Spaceman!: That's the beautiful thing about science, it does whatever we want it to.

haqha

― nickalicious, Friday, 6 April 2007 01:22 (nineteen years ago)

did that john mccain line send some of yall into a panic

― A B C, Friday, 6 April 2007 01:57 (nineteen years ago)

that john mccain line made me momentarily wonder if the writers have been reading ILX

― horseshoe, Friday, 6 April 2007 02:01 (nineteen years ago)

Things ARE looking up for Liz Lemon!

― David R., Friday, 6 April 2007 02:25 (nineteen years ago)

OMG Alec Baldwin dressed as Thomas Jefferson flipping off the crowd at Maury. I laughed so hard I nearly blacked out.

-- Johnny Fever, Friday, 6 April 2007 01:08 (2 hours ago)

Ahahaha, "America, which I invented--" *BOOOOOOOOO*

― m bison, Friday, 6 April 2007 03:47 (nineteen years ago)

This might have been the best episode so far for me.

― Michael F Gill, Friday, 6 April 2007 04:02 (nineteen years ago)

Okay I went to Harvard and even the totally insular Lampoon culture was still full of people who knew the fucking difference between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee.

Other than that, I kept barking with laughter. And the big kiss was so satisfying!

― Dimension 5ive, Friday, 6 April 2007 04:06 (nineteen years ago)

TOO SOON

No, wait, that was really really funny and even a little cathartic.

― rogermexico., Friday, 6 April 2007 04:21 (nineteen years ago)

OMG Alec Baldwin dressed as Thomas Jefferson flipping off the crowd at Maury. I laughed so hard I nearly blacked out.

Made the whole episode for me!!

― musically, Friday, 6 April 2007 08:11 (nineteen years ago)

Will Arnett's guest spot wasn't as funny as I was hoping, but he's still great.

― musically, Friday, 6 April 2007 08:12 (nineteen years ago)

best episode yet, which is saying a LOT.

― ^@^, Friday, 6 April 2007 10:43 (nineteen years ago)

i guess we're at the point where 9/11 flashback jokes are now ok for prime time. which is fine, really, just worthy of notice.

― maura, Friday, 6 April 2007 12:38 (nineteen years ago)

They compensated for the 9/11 joke w/ the Thomas Jefferson appearance.

BTW, why is Cool Bald Pal living w/ Liz Lemon now? I missed the first minute+.

Also, WTF re: Will Arnett not being that funny? "I'm gay & I want your job!" Also: nice stems.

― David R., Friday, 6 April 2007 13:33 (nineteen years ago)

Also: KENNETH DID HIS EYELASHES

― David R., Friday, 6 April 2007 13:34 (nineteen years ago)

I liked when Kenneth wanted to be like Sydney Bristow.

― Nicole, Friday, 6 April 2007 13:46 (nineteen years ago)

I think Will Arnett isn't funny in a lot of guest appearances because they forget to balance his brash bravado parts with vulnerability, which they managed to pull off well on Arrested Development.

― n/a, Friday, 6 April 2007 14:10 (nineteen years ago)

I hadn't watched this show for a while before last night, but Dr. Spaceman and Thomas Jefferson on Maury made me glad I had.

― n/a, Friday, 6 April 2007 14:11 (nineteen years ago)

BTW, why is Cool Bald Pal living w/ Liz Lemon now? I missed the first minute+.

he was having trouble with his wife in the last new episode and it ended with a gag that makes it looks like he got Liz pregnant and says "you gotta let me stay at your place" to her in front of her crush the flower guy. or something like that.

not much Tracy last night but the "I did not get out of my car and she did not get all the way out of her tollbooth" line was classic.

― Alex in Baltimore, Friday, 6 April 2007 14:43 (nineteen years ago)

also I don't think Will Arnett is ever funny, but I did like when he and Baldwin had the "talking like this" competition.

― Alex in Baltimore, Friday, 6 April 2007 14:44 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, he lied about having a vasectomy, and then got his wife pregnant. I'd kick him out, too!

― kenan, Friday, 6 April 2007 14:44 (nineteen years ago)

pete ('cool bald pal') is kinda my favorite character, he seems like he should be on newhart or something

― and what, Friday, 6 April 2007 14:51 (nineteen years ago)

hadn't thought of that, but 8080

― kenan, Friday, 6 April 2007 14:57 (nineteen years ago)

hahaha remember when hes talking to his son on the phone? 'this is elmo! elmo says aim your pee-pee at the potty!'

― and what, Friday, 6 April 2007 15:00 (nineteen years ago)

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