“Pilot”

The lyrics and score to the song and the shots of Fey prancing down the New York streets are reminiscent of the opening sequence for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” The theme song lyrics for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (seasons two through seven) stated, “Who can turn the world on with her smile? Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? Well it's you, girl, and you should know it.” This entire opening sequence works on the level of parodying “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” so as to make this a sort of parody “sketch,” but as Fey approaches her office building the camera shifts inside to a set where the theme song playing is being filmed. It is not the theme of “30 Rock” as we have been mislead to believe, but rather the theme song for one of “The Girlie Show’s sketches” titled “The Overly Confident Morbidly Obese Woman,” a screen parody of Kirstie Alley’s “Fat Actress” (replete with sequined dress). Again the show is providing two levels here: the sketch comedy that occurs within the narrative and also the sketch comedy that takes place as a part of the show that Fey as Liz Lemon is writing for. In a sense the show is able to parody two shows at once – one in the narrative and the other in the narrative’s own sketch comedy show. The idea of the show-within-a-show concept is also tied into “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

Also reminiscent of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, but they kind of remind me of the go go dancers from Austin Powers as well. Thought that may just be in my imagination. The dance they're doing is called the frug.

There's a Facebook Group. Yeah there is.

Samovar: basically a traditional large Russian metal coffee maker. Actually more used to boil water for tea, but still funny.

Referring of course to Steve Urkel, from the old TV show Family Matters. I'd say there were the big three: Toofer, Urkel, and Carlton Banks, from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Jay Leno is best known for hosting The Tonight Show from 1992 to 2009. He's also a massive car nut. He owns approximately 200 vehicles, including about 100 cars. He also has a website devoted to his passion called Jay Leno's Garage.

Ray Romano is an actor best known for his roles on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, which I, in fact, do not. I never got the appeal of that show. In fact, I was going to put a link to buy the seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond in the sidebar, but I really don't think anyone should buy it, so I won't.

In the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray's brother Robert was played by 6'8 1/2" actor Brad Garrett. The entire show's still not funny.

This is cuz K-Mart sucks. Yeah.

Tina Fey, the show’s creator and writer of the episode, has stated the Trivection Oven was actually included in the show purely as a joke and that GE had nothing to do with it, although she suspects that "maybe somebody's taking credit for it." Allison Eckelkamp, a spokesperson for GE, confirms this and says that GE chose to run ads for the oven during the commercial break to make sure viewers knew it was a real product. General Electric is the parent company for NBC, which produces and broadcasts 30 Rock.

Okay so I did't have to include all of that dialogue, but it's hilarious and reminiscent of that Sherlock Holmes sizing up thing he does. So. Third-wave feminism is basically the modern age of feminism. Kind of a free-association, post-"bra-burning and hairy armpits" kind of feminism. A feminism we can all get behind.

This is an actual product sold by GE. Jack's description of the product is taken near verbatim from GE’s website. This is the premiere of a hilarious run of jokes where they not-so-indirectly pitch GE products to the audience.

Lee, the costume designer for TGS, is played by Tom Broecker. In real life, Broecker is the costume designer for "30 Rock." Hemorrhoid cream is reported to not work well, if at all, and can make matters worse. Plus there's the ick factor. Yeah, if it's never been used before what's the big deal, but it's kind of like when you're drinking at a fountain and you hear someone flush a toilet and your water pressure drops. Ew.

Greta is played by Rachel Dratch, who was on Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey. They worked alongside each other from 1999 - 2006. Before that they were writing partners at The Second City in Chicago (referenced later in the series), and the characters of Jenna and Liz are based on Rachel and Tina's experiences there. In fact, Rachel left Saturday Night Live at the same time as Tina to play Jenna Maroney in the pilot, but was subsequently replaced by Jane Krakowski. Rachel ends up playing an endless stream of weird bit-part characters this season.

This is just hilarious. Jedis are, of course, mystical warriors from a galaxy far, far away. They have a church and everything.

In the next episode Jack refers to Tracy falling asleep on someone’s roof again. If you want to know who’s roof, click here.

A flashy Italian restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. About a block from 30 Rock.

How the hell do you write out that noise Liz makes? It's not really an "ugh".. Maybe "Uchh?". "The sky is falling" refers to the children's fable Chicken Little, which, if we read into it (a lot), may refer to Liz's constant complaints that bringing Tracy Jordan onto the show is ruining everything, when in fact it isn't that bad. In the fable, Chicken Little cries "the sky is falling!" so many times that no one believes him anymore, and he's gobbled up by a fox. If we extended that to 30 Rock, we'd have to assume that Liz, after complaining constantly about Tracy Jordan, is ignored and eventually eaten. Or perhaps Tina Fey's brainchild, 30 Rock, is bought out by the Fox network (essentially a death sentence). Okay that's stretching it a little far. Anyway. Chicken Little.

Probably a reference to General Hospital's Scotty Baldwin, as Alec Baldwin plays Jack Donaghy.

A shot at George W. Bush's wife, Laura Bush's Queen-of-England fashion sense.

A shot at Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Queen-of-England fashion sense. She was the president of the Philippines from 2004 to 2010.

Probably a reference to Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor, who actually played seven different characters.

Oddly enough Tracy Morgan did end up doing a movie called Cop Out, which was released a little over three years later in February of 2010, where he starred across from Bruce Willis, where they both played NYC cops. Spooky. I know.

The poster for this movie appears later in Tracy Jordan's dressing room as "Who That Ninga", and in later seasons, "Who Dat Ninja ". I read somewhere this is probably a reference to Beverly Hills Ninja, in which another non-Asian (Chris Farley) plays a ninja, but that seems kinda weak sauce.

Probably referring to Big Momma's House , where Martin Lawrence plays an undercover FBI agent who poses as an old lady, to much hilarity.

Referring to the stereotype of black people liking chicken and waffles. Which aredelicious. I mean, show me someone who doesn't like chicken and damn waffles! As a stunningly relevant aside, y'all should watching Black Dynamite, which is a) friggin hilarious for connoisseurs of blacksploitation, and b) details the origins of chicken and waffles.

In 2010, HBO announced Tracy Morgan would get his own stand-up comedy special in November of that year. Okay so it was four years after this episode, but cool, right?

Tracy mispronounced Karl Rove, former Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush, and apparently quite evil.

Tracy is butchering the classic 80's "Love is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar.

Scottie Pippen is a retired NBA player famously on the Chicago Bulls. Yeah okay so most people know this. Whatever!

Tracy Morgan was indeed born in the Bronx, though he was never an orphan.