Thursday, April 12, 2007

Thursday Night Funnies
Tonight’s The Office/30 Rock combo was great. I thought 30 Rock was better than The Office, so this week I’ll focus on it. However, before moving to 30 Rock I just want to say the first part of The Office was HILARIOUS to me. At the office where I work, we have a staff meeting every other Wednesday, and yesterday it was announced that we have to start complying with all of these workplace safety board things, including all of us reading some little book on workplace safety, putting up some huge poster that explains how to stay safe, and expecting unscheduled visits by some inspector. As you can imagine, the jokes started flying: “Can we have one of those dry-erase boards that say how long it’s been since our last accident?” “Do we have to appoint someone to be our in-house safety inspector, and if so, does that person get a raise?” “Can we have a safety subcommittee?” (Our office has about 8 people in it.)

I work in an office. As I said to my husband, other than carpal tunnel, the occasional paper cut, and maybe some lower back pain from moving boxes of books, what the hell could possibly go wrong in an office? Tonight’s episode of The Office changed that. Looks like I can become uncontrollably depressed. I’ll be applying for worker’s comp tomorrow morning.

On 30 Rock Jack has a minor depression (must be because he works at a desk) when his beloved Don Geist takes him off the microwave division and tells him he needs a wife. Meanwhile, Liz is happier than we’ve ever seen her because she’s in love with Floyd, but Jack decides to move in on the relationship and sidle up to Floyd himself.

The funniest part, however, involved Tracy Jordan (who else?) when he decides to impress Don Geist and get him to bankroll his Jefferson movie (it’s like Norbit, but a drama) by shooting a preview.

Highlights:

All the clips of Jack’s fireworks special.

Don Geist talking to Jack: Everyone in this division is married except you. Look at Bob: his wife looks just like Walter Matthau, but she’s always there for him. It’s the kind of companion you need.

Liz squeezing Lutz’s face and squishing his face, saying it’s like a baby’s bottom and saying, “Poop!”

Liz going to meet Jack at Christie’s and he knows it’s her before turning around. When she asks how he does that, he says, “To be perfectly honest, the first couple of people I did that to were NOT you, but… here we are.”

Jack’s reaction to Liz telling Jack that her new boyfriend’s name is Floyd: “That’s unfortunate.”

Ken knitting an NBC bikini for his nana.

Floyd knowing EVERYTHING about Jack’s microwaves.

BEST line: Tracy standing in Liz’s office with a horse and she walks in. “Hey, Liz Lemon. Could you go away for a while? I gotta get rid of Freddie’s erection.”

Emily Mortimer as the auction dealer, with her hollow bones and constant, “You probably don’t remember me” refrain.

Tracy on the set talking like Jefferson, saying, “Speakest!” When the two guys say the horse ate his wig: “Well, stand guard by his rump, and await it in his droppings!”

Liz modeling her unsexy pajamas and turning on her humidifier. HAHAHA!

Jack stalking Liz and Floyd by phone, and standing at the front door with Liz whispering, “The call is coming from inside the house!!”

THE ENTIRE JEFFERSON TRAILER!!! Oh my god, that was hilarious. I especially loved:
  • his two bodyguards playing the slaves, and one has a Bluetooth on his ear!
  • the terrible whiteface on Tracy (and his hands aren’t painted)
  • the jogger who runs by him in the park in the background of the “slave scene”
  • the terrible backdrops (and how he hits one of them and it floats)
  • “He was a Jungle Fever-Haver” HAHAHAHA
  • Sally Hemmings telling Jefferson she’s pregnant, and wants him to free her and marry her. “Uh… I’m gonna have to get back to you on that.”
  • “Starring Source Award nominee Tracy Jordan… NAACP Image award presenter Tracy Jordan… and Academy Award watcher Tracy Jordan.”
  • Tracy saying, “Get me off this horse” at the end.

Liz telling Jack’s story in the background while Jack tells the same story to Floyd.

Tracy’s bodyguard when Tracy says he was offered $7 million for Fat Bitch II, and then turned it down. “Damn, it’s like a rollercoaster of emotion in here.”

Tracy saying he’s going to do Jefferson himself. “Now who’s with me?”
Ken: We all are, sir!Tracy: Good, good! Now first order of business? Get that dead horse outta my car.

The look on Jack’s face when Phoebe tells Jack to come to her office and see something delicate that few people have handled: “Oh god, I hope we’re talking about the same thing.”

The end, when the camera’s on Liz and you can only hear Jack proposing to Phoebe, who keeps saying, “Ow… ow…”

2 comments:

Unknown said...

GIll and I just got caught up on the last two episodes of 30 Rock amd loved them - the show has got nerve. What amazed me the most was that they made a September 11 joke! Very nervy for a major broadcaster. Does this mean it's ok now? has this happened on other shows and I've missed it?

The Chapati Kid said...

I agree! VERY nervy. Also, my favourite line from Episode 18 (just watched it) was Alec Baldwin as Thomas Jefferson on Maury Povich in Tracy's dream: "I came down on my horse from heaven to tell you this."