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The Official 30 Rock Season Three Thread

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A great ending to this one, and I was madly in love with Jack's storyline/one-liners throughout the entire episode, but I thought it was a bit hit and miss with Liz. It's a personal preference thing, but I like Liz to be a bit more self-aware than she was here, where I thought she was a bit too oblivious to her meanness. It worked at the end, as "Lemon Out!" made me laugh hysterically, but it felt like there was a much more subtle and less forced storyline in her time at the reunion that could have been as effective. Even without a major guest star, something about it still seemed like the show was trying a bit too hard, even if Fey was up to embodying that particular character development.
 
Memles said:
A great ending to this one, and I was madly in love with Jack's storyline/one-liners throughout the entire episode, but I thought it was a bit hit and miss with Liz. It's a personal preference thing, but I like Liz to be a bit more self-aware than she was here, where I thought she was a bit too oblivious to her meanness. It worked at the end, as "Lemon Out!" made me laugh hysterically, but it felt like there was a much more subtle and less forced storyline in her time at the reunion that could have been as effective. Even without a major guest star, something about it still seemed like the show was trying a bit too hard, even if Fey was up to embodying that particular character development.
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My major complaint was that it seemed completely out of character. But perhaps that was the intention: to show the difference between her perception vs reality in contrast to the way she is currently treated by Jack.
 
Diane Neal was pretty funny.

PantherLotus said:
My major complaint was that it seemed completely out of character. But perhaps that was the intention: to show the difference between her perception vs reality in contrast to the way she is currently treated by Jack.
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It's completely NOT out of character. In fact, this is like the fourth episode where her storyline is focused on how she thinks she treats everyone so great yet is actually trashing them. Off the top of my head "The Rural Juror", "The C Word" and "MILF Island". Her being mean to those she's threatened by or those she feels rightly or wrongly don't deserve respect has been a major character trait of hers from the very beginning. It's just front and center here.
 
tina-fey-0901-01.jpg


Is Tina Fey kind of growing on anybody else? She has this wonderfully nerdy look that makes me what to hit it HAARD.

Also, my does anybody notice some tension between Jack and Lemon? They are friendly but at times I get this feeling that there is a faint flirtatious nature of their relationship...
 
icrosoft001 said:
Also, my does anybody notice some tension between Jack and Lemon? They are friendly but at times I get this feeling that there is a faint flirtatious nature of their relationship...
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They've played with that from the very beginning. And by "play" I mean subvert typical sitcom conventions and audience expectations for a forced romance.
 
Dan said:
They've played with that from the very beginning. And by "play" I mean subvert typical sitcom conventions and audience expectations for a forced romance.
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Yep. The joke is they complement each other perfectly, are probably the only people in the world that would make each other happy, and yet, it's never gonna happen, whereas on any other sitcom them getting together would be the expected and eventual end result of the series.
 
Dan said:
They've played with that from the very beginning. And by "play" I mean subvert typical sitcom conventions and audience expectations for a forced romance.
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Yep. The nice thing is they always work to subvert it and instead do a buddy or mentor style relationship even though they play with the notion of them being attracted to each other.
 
icrosoft001 said:
tina-fey-0901-01.jpg


Is Tina Fey kind of growing on anybody else? She has this wonderfully nerdy look that makes me what to hit it HAARD.

Also, my does anybody notice some tension between Jack and Lemon? They are friendly but at times I get this feeling that there is a faint flirtatious nature of their relationship...
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I've had an unhealthy attraction to her for years. She is definitely my type of woman and it is hard to find someone similar out in the wild.
 
the liz storyline was ok.. pretty funny and good stuff.

the jack/braverman story was straight up one of the funniest segments ever on the show. that he was taking their side against liz just adds to it.
 
Memles said:
It's a personal preference thing, but I like Liz to be a bit more self-aware than she was here, where I thought she was a bit too oblivious to her meanness.
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Did you just start watching the show? Liz is anything but self-aware. Dan said it better already, so look up ^^
 
SnowWolf said:
Did you just start watching the show? Liz is anything but self-aware. Dan said it better already, so look up ^^
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Please note "bit" self-aware: I'm well aware that she's not very aware, but I'm ALSO aware (egads, so many awares) that I PREFER those storylines where she isn't quite as oblivious or where that obliviousness is more her inability to know popular music acts or that she's in over her head (See: "Cougars" or "The Head and the Hair"). Placing it in such a "mean" area just felt a bit off to me: it was just a bit too broad.

I'm not saying it's out of character: rather, just like with Michael Scott on The Office, there are certain parts of her character I like more than others.
 
Memles said:
Please note "bit" self-aware: I'm well aware that she's not very aware, but I'm ALSO aware (egads, so many awares) that I PREFER those storylines where she isn't quite as oblivious or where that obliviousness is more her inability to know popular music acts or that she's in over her head (See: "Cougars" or "The Head and the Hair"). Placing it in such a "mean" area just felt a bit off to me: it was just a bit too broad.

I'm not saying it's out of character: rather, just like with Michael Scott on The Office, there are certain parts of her character I like more than others.
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I like the episodes where she isn't a saint and comes off as more human ala when she and Dennis got together and were cracking on the staff, her behavior where she didn't trust her neighbor, and of course MILF island. I like the flawed Liz because it balances off the good liz.

I think the main thing is that it was just a funny role reversal and it's kind of true sometimes that the way you remember things happening may not be the way they went down. Nerds also tend to be extremely snarky and don't even realize it. :D
 
Yet another fantastic episode. This show is absolutely amazing.

SnowWolf said:
Did you just start watching the show? Liz is anything but self-aware. Dan said it better already, so look up ^^
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Ignore Memles like most of us tend to do in the Entourage threads.
 
AlphaSnake said:
Ignore Memles like most of us tend to do in the Entourage threads.
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Fair enough, but I want to make clear that I was just stating a personal opinion about which episodes of 30 Rock I enjoy more. The list of episodes Dan listed are not amongst my favourites for the show, and I thought this episode overused that character trait for my preference.

I don't think that this is that ridiculous an opinion - and while I get that I'm on a totally different page with Entourage than most people in that thread I don't think this is anywhere comparable a situation. I bloody well LIKED the episode. Not loving it shouldn't be a crime.
 
Memles said:
Fair enough, but I want to make clear that I was just stating a personal opinion about which episodes of 30 Rock I enjoy more. The list of episodes Dan listed are not amongst my favourites for the show, and I thought this episode overused that character trait for my preference.

I don't think that this is that ridiculous an opinion - and while I get that I'm on a totally different page with Entourage than most people in that thread I don't think this is anywhere comparable a situation. I bloody well LIKED the episode. Not loving it shouldn't be a crime.
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Don't sweat the hate Memles. I always enjoy your insight and opinions.
 
I really liked the latest. I always love Liz on a mean streak. The Fighting Irish and Sandwich day have some of my favourite evil Liz moments ("You're all fired!", "Where's my mac and cheese?!!!" *flips over table* :lol) I found this new background info on her hilariously believable and the ending was awesome. I also found Jenna and Tracey's beef with Kenneth pretty amusing.

I also appreciate your opinions Memles, and can see where you're coming from.
 
it's kind of weird, but I think i like 30 rock more than the office at the moment. earlier today i randomly thought of "enorme" and lol'ed
 
Heh, thanks folks - really appreciate the kind words.

And know that I'm giving the episode a second chance in a second, to see if the Liz side of things hits me a bit differently.
 
Matt said:
Yep. The joke is they complement each other perfectly, are probably the only people in the world that would make each other happy, and yet, it's never gonna happen
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That's actually really good insight into the dynamic and this is one of the few shows that has been able to do an interesting take on the male/female relationship in a long time.
 
Memles said:
Heh, thanks folks - really appreciate the kind words.

And know that I'm giving the episode a second chance in a second, to see if the Liz side of things hits me a bit differently.
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One of the clever things they did I picked up on a second viewing is that the two Liz flashback scenes to high school are the exact same scene except verbally but they're just acted out differently. Liz mumbles the attack lines in her flashback for example but she says it very clear in the other girl's. Just like the girl asks the question about the telescope in a sarcastic manner in Liz's flashback but in a friendly tone in her flashback with the exact same words. The writing on the show is just very clever.
 
Eureka! I figured it out: I completely missed the details of the conversation Jack and Liz have in the janitor's closet. The idea of insults as a coping mechanism never really hit me, and now makes sense in the broader scheme of the episode. Really enjoyed it on second viewing.
 
It always helps to pay attention to what you're going to review ;)
 
Dan said:
It always helps to pay attention to what you're going to review ;)
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Heh - and it's often good for the sake of my academic productivity to be able to keep notes while taking the episode to expedite the blog-writing process and move onto real work by the time midnight rolls around.

Good ol' sacrifices - I was too busy writing down quippy one-liners to get the juice of the scene. Lesson learned.
 
Memles said:
Eureka! I figured it out: I completely missed the details of the conversation Jack and Liz have in the janitor's closet. The idea of insults as a coping mechanism never really hit me, and now makes sense in the broader scheme of the episode. Really enjoyed it on second viewing.
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I like the idea. A lot of people use insults as a defense mechanism. But considering she becomes the head writer on a popular TV show, it makes sense that her insults would be a bit too 'powerful' for her own good.
 
After this episode, 30 Rock is now my favorite show on TV right now. (Until Lost is back in January!)

I want to go to there.
 
MoneyBeets said:
it's kind of weird, but I think i like 30 rock more than the office at the moment. earlier today i randomly thought of "enorme" and lol'ed
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I don't see why this would be weird. I think The Office peaked in season two. The end of season three and most of season four was pretty lame. This season it has been pretty hit-or-miss too.

30 Rock is clearly the better show IMO. The Office makes me smile, while 30 Rock makes me actually laugh, multiple times per episode.
 
Eric WK said:
So uh, where have Twofer, Frank and Josh been?

Am I crazy or have they been almost nonexistent lately?
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That's what I was thinking! I miss seeing all the writers that you always saw in seasons 1 and 2. Are they still on the show or what?
 
It's difficult to keep such a large ensemble cast together. I think some of the people are gone. Josh has barely been in the show the last season and a half. That's one of the reasons I'm not such a huge fan of the big guest star of the week format because it pulls focus off the actual show within a show elements they do.
 
Stoney Mason said:
It's difficult to keep such a large ensemble cast together. I think some of the people are gone. Josh has barely been in the show the last season and a half. That's one of the reasons I'm not such a huge fan of the big guest star of the week format because it pulls focus off the actual show within a show elements they do.
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That was my big complaint last season and it applies to this season as well. The plots so far have hardly revolved around the making of TGS at all. I really hope they tone down these guest appearances for the rest of the season. It would be a shame if they have gotten rid of some of the supporting players.
 
Spotless Mind said:
That was my big complaint last season and it applies to this season as well. The plots so far have hardly revolved around the making of TGS at all. I really hope they tone down these guest appearances for the rest of the season. It would be a shame if they have gotten rid of some of the supporting players.
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It reminds me of Will & Grace last seasons' with the new STAR ever week. Show does need more Frank......Lemon out.:lol
 
MMaRsu said:
Hey I'm watching 30 rock season one, and who is the girl playing Cerie?

AND WHERE TO FIND TEH NUDE PICS :p
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Have you heard of IMDB?

Katrina Bowden
 
Vox-Pop said:
It reminds me of Will & Grace last seasons' with the new STAR ever week. Show does need more Frank......Lemon out.:lol
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Well, Tina Fey has admitted to it being a gimmick that would be dropped as people started watching the show on her interviews. A gimmick, I must say, that has worked pretty well so far.

That said, there has been a slow but steady de-focusing on TGS as the show has gone along, all the way back from the first season. I'd say at about the time that Rachel Dratch stopped appearing on every episode, they started to play down the show within a show element, and focused more on the characters.
 
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