“Live Show”

A “cold open” is when a show jumps right into the action, before the credits start.

This is because Mexican soap operas are filmed on the cheap. They use regular video cameras, as opposed to high-quality film or HD video cameras, and use what’s called a multiple-camera setup.

Modern high-quality TV productions like 30 Rock use a single camera setup. Each new angle requires a new setup, new lighting, etc. This is more time consuming but gives a much better quality picture.

However, you can’t do this in live TV, otherwise you’d be limited to a single camera for the entire program. Live TV uses multiple cameras to capture various angles of the action, so the director can dynamically switch between the cameras to get the required shot. But a multiple camera setup comes at the cost of poorer lighting (everything needs to be lit the same way) and inferior sound (the boom microphone needs to be hidden from all cameras).

These 30 Rock Live episodes were filmed on video in Studio 8H, home of Saturday Night Live, and I assume they used the same cameras that SNL uses, which are all 1080p HD video cameras, so the lower quality look of the show probably came from the inferior lighting setups required for live broadcasts. 30 Rock is normally shot on film, as explained in an interview with Matthew Clark, cinematographer of 30 Rock [pdf].

YMCA stands for Young Men’s Christian Association, which was founded in 1844 in London, England. It’s now unisex and mostly known for its fitness facilities, which often include climbing walls, neither of which have much to do with Christianity.

Michael Pollan writes a series of books on healthy eating. Okay, you could have figured that out from context. Let’s see… Ah! Michael Pollan’s books postulate that modern agribusiness is a broken system, and food science’s view of food in terms of various nutrients is flawed. He suggests a more holistic, natural approach to food, and works to discredit various modern theories on food. He coined the advice “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”.

I also just found out that Judah Friedlander (Frank) makes all of his own hats every episode! Crazy. Good for him. Sadly I can’t make out what this first hat says. On both the West and East Coast episodes you only see half of it. Here’s all I can see:

ACO-
DEN- (maybe DEM-)

If anyone knows what his hat says please let me know in the comments!

Liz, in Liz’s flashback, is played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who played Elaine Benes on the fantastic 90’s sitcom Seinfeld. This is clever casting, not only because Louis-Dreyfus looks similar enough to Fey to make a fantastic doppelganger and she did a great Fey impression, but because Fey credited Louis-Dreyfus as a huge inspiration when she accepted her Emmy.

I’ve always thought the evolution of sitcoms was weird. Most older sitcoms were stupid, mostly unfunny affairs until Seinfeld came along. It was easily ten times more clever and funny than anything on the air. It ran for ten years, as it was as if no other sitcom producers noticed the bar had been forever raised. The continued making their unfunny dreck. Seinfeld ended in 1998, and still, it took another five years for something as funny to come out: Arrested Development in 2003. Since then it’s gotten a bit better, but you still see the TV schedules filled with crap that isn’t as funny as Seinfeld. You know what? If you can’t make something as good as Seinfeld, a twenty-one year old show, just don’t make it. Please. Okay, rant over.

Aladdin is an animated Disney movie based on an ancient Arabian story as told in The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night (Vol. 4). In the Disney version, the street rat hero Aladdin and the princess Jasmine fall in love, but are set upon by the sultan’s evil Grand Vizier, Jafar, who plots to marry Jasmine, then kill her and her father and take over the Kingdom. There’s also something in there about a magic lamp.

Lyrics! They put lyrics to the theme song! Very cool, 30 Rock. Love it.

Writing up this episode was a bitch in places, though. The sound on a live version (especially when the studio audience is laughing) is really hard to hear sometimes. Luckily one of my sharp-eared commenters figured it out. My best guess is “L.A. to Nome” as in “Nome, Alaska.”

Jadwiga is being played by Rachel Dratch, who’s appeared in numerous weird little roles on 30 Rock and is a long-time collaborator of Tina Fey. Liz’s greeting is double — the last time Dratch was on 30 Rock was almost three and a half years previous, in S01E21 “Hiatus”. Dratch was actually cast as Jenna for the pilot, but the role was eventually given to Jane Krakowski, although I’ve never found out exactly why, or whether that had any effect on Fey and Dratch’s long-time friendship.

Happy Days (1974-1984) was a sitcom set in the 50s/60s, starring Henry Winkler as Arthur “Fonzie” / “the Fonz” Fonzarelli.

The Fonz and his friends hung out at Arnold’s Drive-In, and Fonzie claimed the men’s washroom as his office, which was where the gang went to work out problems.

Topical! On October 8, six days before this episode aired, Brett Favre (actually pronounced “farv”), an NFL quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, was investigated by the NFL for allegations he was harassing the Jet’s “gameday host” Jenn Sterger. There’s a reason for this. Anyway, apparently he’s after Jenna now. I don’t think it’s a picture of a hot dog.

Also topical! On 5 August 2010, the San José copper-gold mine, near Copiapó, Chile, collapsed, leaving 33 men trapped underground. The event received huge worldwide media coverage. The miners were all eventually rescued alive on October 13, 2010, the day before this episode aired. I guess that’s part of the fun of doing a live show! You can do this sort of thing. And Jenna’s just mean!

Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is drug that has a tendency to induce euphoria, a sense of intimacy with others, and diminished anxiety and depression. An illegal drug. Which is why Jenna’s probably having trouble getting a hold of some, and less to do with Barrack Obama’s new health care plan, which is designed to extend health care coverage, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t cover illegal drugs. More’s the pity.

The Carol Burnett Show (1967-1978) was a variety show famous for its distinct lack of porn. I didn’t research too heavily, but I’m pretty sure no porn version was ever made.

It also known as “breaking character,” and is considered extremely unprofessional. Just about right for Tracy Jordan.

Tracy messes up his line a bit here. It’s the most obvious mistake in both the East and West coast airings, which is pretty good overall, I think!

Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is a play set in 80s New York City centered around two troubled couples, one gay, one straight, and deals with issues like AIDS and drug addiction. Not really a laughy-type play.

These shirts are hilarious.  That is all.

Snooki, a.k.a. Nicole Polizzi, is a trashy chick on Jersey Shore, a similarly trashy reality show. If you watch it, please stop. I was going to link to the DVD of Season One on Amazon, so I’d make a bit of kickback if anyone buys anything, but I can’t bring myself to do it. Snooki’s mom recorded no such song, but it would fit if she did.

Coincidentally, South Park’s episode S14E10 “It’s A Jersey Thing” aired the day before 30 Rock and parodied Jersey Shore and Snooki, accurately portraying her as a feral oversexed rat creature.

As for “Happy Birthday To You,” it is actually copyrighted! It was written by sisters; two Kentucky spinster schoolteachers, Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill in 1893. The rights to the song now belong to Summy-Birchard Music, part of AOL Time Warner media, and pulls in about $2 million in annual royalties.

In case you were wondering, I don’t think “choke a cop with your panties” is an actual reference. At least I can’t find one. And believe me, I wanted to.

Want to try an online quiz yourself to see if you have a drinking problem? Do it. Apparently I don’t. Much to my surprise.

Ooo! Jack’s slight-of-hand is getting better. Want to buy your own mouth coils and try this on your friends and loves ones? While you’re at it, order up some X-Ray Glasses, Sea Monkeys, and a footlocker full of real toy soldiers!

Liz is quoting from the movie My Fair Lady, based on Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw’s 1912 play Pygmalion, in which profession Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess. Liz is that begraggled Cockney flower girl.

As an interesting side note (from my wife, the theatre nerd), while on Broadway, Eliza Doolittle was played by Julie Andrews, but when it was made into a movie, studio head Jack Warner insisted Audrey Hepburn be cast instead due to her name recognition. This was kind of insulting, as Julie Andrews was doing a fantastic job in the role and Hepburn can’t sing. Andrews ended up being cast in the title role in Mary Poppins, for which she won an Oscar and a Golden Globe award for Best Actress, and at the Golden Globe acceptance speech she thanked Mr. Jack Warner for making it all possible. Ha! In your face, casting directors!

Erectile Dysfunction, a.k.a. male impotence, is when a man can’t.. oh how to put this delicately? Bring wood to the fire. And there is actually a physical version as well as a psychological version.

Close The Door is an R&B song by the late Teddy Pendergrass. Listen to it. I dare you not to make love to this song.

On the West Coast episode, Dr. Spaceman has a pamphlet on his desk that reads “You Do The Meth!” which is a twisted version of the phrase “you do the math.” In S01E09 “The Baby Show,” Dr. Spaceman reveals that he is listed under fertility, meth addiction, and child psychiatry.

The East Coast episode had a different pamphlet, but it was difficult to make out.

Let me finish this one. “Strap that strap-on with the straps and hold me close when you’re done.”

Frank… has a history of sleeping with cleaning women. I haven’t done up the trivia on enough episodes to provide a comprehensive list here, BUT MARK MY WORDS I WILL! One day… I will.

I’m certain there’s a real brain region for shame. On a related note, scientists have a new tool in their brain-examining arsenal. They can now temporarily turn off specific regions of the brain while a patient is conscious. That’s so cool. So they can figure out what each region is doing. Or make you forget the third grade. Or the letter Q.

Attention Deficit Disorder (now known as Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is when you get distracted very, very easily. Especially by shiny or trivial things. Like little bits of tinfoil or Jersey Shore.

Kraut is a racial slur for German, referring to the belief that they eat a lot of sauerkraut.

A frittata?! It is indeed commonly served at lunch, thank you very much. Absurd.

Raleigh is in North Carolina. You’re welcome.

A TiVo is a PVR (personal video recorder), the much more intelligent descendant of the common VCR. They record and play back television.

Bones is Fox crime drama TV series. Fox?? Why are they mentioning a Fox show if they’re not making fun of it? It’s what they DO! Weird. Oh wait, seems Damon keeps slipping references to Bones into shows he’s in, but nobody knows why yet! Ooooo!

Wow, there’s a lot of interest in this topic. Cell phones may interfere with older aircraft systems with missing/degraded shielding. It may also be a ploy by airlines to charge the hell out of you to use their in-craft phones. It also may cause multiple cell towers on the ground to pick up your signal, causing havoc on their network. It also may be that passengers don’t want some jackass talking way too loud six inches from their ear for an entire transcontinental flight. Maybe they should stay banned.

Irene Ryan is best known for her role as Granny in The Beverly Hillbillies, and did create and star in the 1972 Broadway musical Pippin. She didn’t die while performing Pippin, but she did have a stroke while performing it in 1973 and died later that same month.

And as a side note, Jane Krakowski’s performance was pretty much flawless for both East and West Coast episodes. This is probably because she’s a theatre actor and has heaps of practice memorizing lines and performing in front of a live audience.

Ahhh the infamous “wardrobe malfunction,” made famous by Janet Jackson’s 2004 Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show “Nipplegate”.

“Sit on it” is one of the Fonz’s catchphrases. Watch them all!

Whoa. Jack’s sobriety has made him go medieval.

There is a 1967 The She-Beast movie, but I doubt that’s what he’s referring to.

Ha! I love these flashbacks. Brilliant.

Though Young Jack should have had chest hair. Check out young chest-hairy Alec Baldwin here and here. Young Jack was played by Garrett Neff, a Calvin Klein model.

More random 30 Rock semi-racist but baseless stereotypes. I think they just choose a weird thing and them randomly choose a nationality.

“A forty” = a 40 oz. bottle of liquor (often malt liquor).

They’re parodying The Oprah Winfrey Show, with Tracy playing Oprah. And breaking character again. Oh, Tracy, you’re so crazy.

My God I love Jon Hamm. In earlier episodes it was established that he’s very pretty and dumb as dirt, and lost his hands while waving from a helicopter, although there was no mention of a fireworks incident. His hand does look like it was stitched on by Dr. Frankenstein (common misconception — the monster doesn’t have a name; Frankenstein is the name of the Doctor who created the monster).

Josh Groban is a singer. And has a ton of female fans.

Once the hand starts getting… amorous, Baird claims he’s tired, the cliche response from a woman if she doesn’t want to have sex, but the hand doesn’t listen. The hand insists. The hand wants what the hand wants. Do not fight The Hand.

Yes, we know what that means in Canada;) It’s bad enough having most of the United States not know a thing about Canada without this kind of stuff. Still funny, though!

Here’s a quick primer on Canadians: we get 90% of our media from the States, so you can assume we know everything you do, and we’re basically the same in most ways. Except our education system’s better. Oh, and so is our health care. Oh, and we know how to manage our money better. And we’re way nicer;)

This is a play on the Alcoholic Anonymous medallions, given to members who pass certain milestones while remaining sober. Personally, I’d rather join Jenna’s group.

Ahhh another in a long string of wink-at-the-camera 30 Rock product placements, this one for Capital One Financial Corporation hawking their Venture Travel Rewards Credit Card. NBC actually does get paid for these ads, which makes me love the writers even more. They do what they need to do and make it funny at the same time.

To top it off, Frank’s hat reads “Promotional Consideration,” and his shirt says “Furnished by Capital One.”

So, the funny but less funny part here is Carol explaining how the “scary” stuff he saw in the Air Force consisted of a German haunted house, when you figure he meant near-death experiences in the air or something. The more funny part is what looks like a black bachelorette party walking by behind Carol. Sharp-brained fans will remember this from the first episode in this season, S05E01 “The Fabian Strategy”, where Carol mentioned he was flying black bachelorette parties from Newark to Atlantic City. Gotta love subtle fan rewards!

Update: Fabulous reader Chiyto filled me in on Jadwiga, saying her scream is in Polish (with a really good accent) and translates to “You stole my birthday!” which is exactly what Liz complains to the crew about when she says “This is supposed to be for Jadwiga! You stole an old cleaning lady’s birthday just to try to make me happy?” Jadwiga is a stereotypical “Polish old lady” name. It’s an old-fashioned name. It used to be popular shortly after WWII, so most women named Jadwiga are pushing sixty (I’m talking stereotypes), hence the “old Polish cleaning lady” bit.

Also from Chyto: The red and white balloons with the White Eagle on them emulate the Polish national flag, which is red at the bottom and white at the top; and the White Eagle is Poland’s national coat of arms. One of the country’s oldest national symbols. Now that’s paying attention to detail! Well done, show.

Spinster = old unmarried woman. Actually, that’s what it means in North America. In Europe it seems to be the female equivalent of “bachelor.” The term comes from medieval times. Women who spun wool held one of the few professions where their income could allow them to live without the support of a man. They were also sometimes mistaken for witches, who did things like cause cattle to die, spoil milk, and turn people into crows.

When the lights dim and Jack says “That’s more like it,” he’s referring to the super bright lighting required for a multiple-camera filming setup. 30 Rock is normally filmed with a single camera setup, allowing much lower, softer light.

In the East Coast version Jane can be heard asking Tina “Are we still on the air?” just before Tina starts thanking everyone. When they’re thanking everyone are they Jenna and Liz or Jane and Tina??

In the crowd is a robot and a bear, first seen in S01E03 “Blind Date”, where Frank is directing the bears to attack the robot. Apparently they’re friends now. In the East Coast episode, Jack has a little dance party with the robot and the bear.

In the West Coast episode, Jack holds up a sign reading “I LOVE YOU,” with a shamrock drawn below, maybe as a nod to his Irish Roman Catholic roots.

Liz thanks all of the special guests: Matt Damon (Carol, her pilot boyfriend), Rachel Dratch (Jadwiga the cleaning lady), Bill Hader (Kevin, Carol’s co-pilot), Jon Hamm (Dr. Drew Baird), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (flashback Liz), Garrett Neff (Young Jack), and Chris Parnell (Dr. Leo Spaceman).

She then tells the audience they’re watching The Office, which is in the time slot right after 30 Rock.