30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom

Katrin Horn

When the sitcom 30 Rock first aired in 2006 on NBC, the odds were against a renewal for a second season. Not only was it pitched against another new show with the same “behind the scenes”-idea, namely the drama series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. 30 Rock’s often absurd storylines, obscure references, quick- witted dialogues, and fast-paced punch lines furthermore did not make for easy consumption, and thus the show failed to attract a sizeable amount of viewers. While Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip did not become an instant success either, it still did comparatively well in the Nielson ratings and had the additional advantage of being a drama series produced by a household name, Aaron Sorkin1 of The West Wing (NBC, 1999-2006) fame, at a time when high-quality prime-time drama shows were dominating fan and critical debates about TV. Still, in a rather surprising programming decision NBC cancelled the drama series, renewed the comedy instead and later incorporated 30 Rock into its Thursday night line-up2 called “Comedy Night Done Right.”3 Here the show has been aired between other single-camera-comedy shows which, like 30 Rock,

1 | Aaron Sorkin has aEntwurf short cameo in “Plan B” (S5E18), in which he meets Liz Lemon as they both apply for the same writing job: Liz: Do I know you? Aaron: You know my work. Walk with me. I’m Aaron Sorkin. The West Wing, A Few Good Men, The Social Network. Liz: Studio 60? Aaron: Shut up. 2 | The show’s time slot has changed repeatedly, which has been criticized among others by Alec Baldwin. 3 | Until then, Thursday Night had been advertised as “Must See TV” from the 1990s onwards, featuring hit sitcoms like Friends (1994-2004), Frasier (1993-2004), and Seinfeld (1989-1998). 154 Katrin Horn

experiment with the sitcom format as well as TV’s potential for self-reflexivity.4 Now ending its seventh and final season, 30 Rock is still far from reaching the kind of audience attracted to CBS’ top-billing multi-camera-sitcoms Two and a Half Men (2003-) or How I Met Your Mother (2005-). Yet, as a critics’ favorite with several awards and countless nominations, a small but devoted fan base, and a steady flow of blogs and magazine articles dedicated to the show (and in particular its creator and female lead Tina Fey), 30 Rock’s success lies less in reestablishing the rating hits of NBC’s “Must See TV”-era and instead stems from its ability to bring NBC (and its viewers) the kind of prestige associated with ‘quality TV.’ Robert Thompson claims the term “has come to be associated in the minds of many with the ‘quality drama’” (1997: 17), such as The Sopranos (1999-2007), Mad Men (2007-), Lost (2004-2010) or The Wire (2002-2008). ‘Quality TV,’ however, has first been introduced long before the current trend of cable dramas with cinematic aesthetics and ‘edgy’ topics like mafia bosses, serial murders, and 60s sexism. Rather, as Jane Feuer has argued, it was first used to describe the comedy shows of production company MTM, and here most notably The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977). According to Feuer one of the signs of quality TV products introduced in The Mary Tyler Moore Show is the planned finale – perfected by Seinfeld (Morreale 2000), and now, if the reviews are to believed, revived by 30 Rock. The series is the first sitcom in a long time which had an opportunity to orchestrate its final season leading up to a final episode that satisfied fans as well as critics. The episode also pays homage to two famous finale moments from influential MTM productions: the snow globe of St. Elsewhere5 and the structure of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The latter in particular is noteworthy not only for revolutionizing the serial capacity (rather than episodic dimension) and political relevancy of the sitcom, but also because it paid tribute to newly developed research methods concerning audience demographics. The result was that networks decided that shows which reached a niche rather than mass audience could still be profitable, as long as those audiences were, as Brower puts it, sufficiently dedicated, educated and affluent, and thus in themselvesEntwurf a “quality product” to advertisers (2001: 165).6 I argue that 30 Rock, which references several other key aspects of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, follows this tradition and is consciously constructed

4 | Originally Scrubs (2001-2010) and The Office (2005-). 5 | After a successful run over several seasons, the hospital series St. Elsewhere alienated fans and critics alike in its finale, when the cut to a snow globe revealed that its events and protagonists had only been the imagination of a child with brain damage. 6 | The same observation was made more recently by Jason Mittell. He claims that one reason for the existence of “complex TV” is that “programs with comparatively small ratings can provide lucrative results for the industry under their recalibrated new measures” (“Complexity on Context,” par. 28). 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 155 as a ‘quality sitcom’ which addresses ‘quality audiences.’ While the show, whose ratings never went above nine million and averaged between three and six million viewers,7 has garnered its share of “best show”-articles,8 I will use the term “quality sitcom,” as Jane Feuer suggested, as a descriptive, rather than evaluative term in order to illuminate the show’s status and concept (2007: 148). I will illustrate how 30 Rock unites the characteristics of the ‘original’ MTM quality products with current characteristics of quality such as televisuality (Caldwell) and complex narration (Mittell), and how the show moreover incorporates a TV genre hitherto excluded from the quality discourse, the sketch show, to further enhance its topicality and metareferentiality. The latter refers to self-reflexive jokes about The Girlie Show which extend to an ongoing commentary on 30 Rock, NBC and TV more generally, and thus from “artefact to the entire system of […] media” (Wolf 2009: 31). According to Werner Wolf, who coined the term, meta-references serve to make mediality itself visible. They allow audiences to reflect on the product’s medial status at the time of consumption (28). Michael Dunne argues that such highly reflexive elements in popular culture have shifted away “from the artists’ self-expression and toward an affirmation of the mediated community that is embracing both creator and audience” (1992: 11) due to audiences’ increasing familiarity with media structures and their heightened every-day immersion in media products. Similarly, Scott Olson claims that “meta-television,” as he calls it, is the “cultural expression of creators and consumers who are bored with and feel restricted by television’s naturalism and who resist meaning through illogic, irrationality, unreality, nonsequitur, and incoherence” (1987: 298). Hence, these complex mechanisms make 30 Rock more rather than less attractive to specific audiences, who are willing to engage with a show that combines such disparate elements as complex narration and sketch show segmentation, as well as the cinematography of ‘quality TV’ with the grotesque aesthetics of the variety show relying Entwurfon visual puns and gag costumes.

7 | For comparison: The Big Bang Theory, which for a time aired during the same Thursday 8pm timeslot as 30 Rock, came close to 20 million viewers in January 2013. 8 | See for example Jesse David Fox’ “Why 30 Rock was the best comedy of 2011- 2012 season” at Splitsider.com (http://splitsider.com/2012/05/why-30-rock-was-the- best-show-of-2011-2012-season/) or the Guardian-article “30 Rock is the Best show on Television” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/tvandradioblog/2008/feb/07/30 rockisthebestshowonte). 156 Katrin Horn

THE SITCOM: RESURRECTION VIA REFLEXIVITY

While 30 Rock is in many regards singular concerning its style as well as content and narration, it does not exist in a genre-vacuum. The sitcom as a whole has been snubbed stylistically (“zero degree style”) as well as ideologically (“conservative”), yet some shows nevertheless managed to garner critical acclaim and dedicated fans due to their penchant for self-reflexivity and willingness to verge from genre norms: first and foremost Seinfeld (NBC, 1989- 1998), later followed by Arrested Development (Fox, 2003-2006) and Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO, 2000-2012). More recently, single-camera-comedy shows which refrain from using a laugh-track such as Community (2009-), Modern Family (2009-), and Parks and Recreation (2009-) have further reinvigorated the genre, representing what Jeremy G. Butler has described as the “resurrection of the sitcom in the 2000s” (2009: 173). Among the most recent examples of the resurrection trend, all taken from NBC’s “Comedy Night Done Right,” which have exhibited inventive approaches to the sitcom genre, both Modern Family and Parks and Recreation have to varying degrees adopted the mockumentary style made famous by The Office. 30 Rock and Community, in contrast, distinguish themselves from more traditional sitcoms by their metareferentiality and a media-awareness which goes beyond mockumentary’s direct address. On Community, this meta- sensibility is mainly created by the character of Abed, who constantly relates the series’ events to iconic movies and TV shows, as well as by repetitive tropes and media practices. 30 Rock, on the other hand, in addition to the often self- conscious commentary by its protagonists, emphasizes its connection to the live-tradition of TV9 comedy found in earlier sitcoms and sketch shows, which broadens the opportunities for metareferentiality.

9 | Brett Mills in particular stresses the centrality of “liveness” to an understanding of the sitcom and points out the central role singular live episodes play for usually taped shows. Mills arguesEntwurf that while drama series such as ER and Coronation Street also feature live episodes, these need to be understood as mere “technical exercises.” Live episodes in sitcoms on the other hand, foreground their live-character by emphasizing the potential for mistakes and glitches as pleasurable consequences of live entertainment. While 30 Rock refrains from using the ‘laugh track,’ which Mills names as another of sitcom’s characteristics designed to create at least the illusion of live broadcast, the series’ use of live episodes fits Mills analysis concerning the pleasures of live performance. The most obvious examples include Tracy’s threat of ‘breaking,’ Jenna’s threat of ‘wardrobe malfunction,’ and minor slips like picture frames falling from walls (cf. Mills 2009: 15). The role of 30 Rock’s live episodes certainly warrants a more detailed analysis beyond the context of this article. Analyses of the episodes can be found, for example, in Brittany Lee Shelton’s Commenting on “Quality.” An Analysis of 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 157

The show’s core concept lays the foundations for 30 Rock’s meta-qualities: Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) is the head writer of The Girlie Show, a live variety program not only reminiscent of The Carol Burnett Show (1967-1978), but also Fey’s former workplace Saturday Night Live (1975-), produced just like 30 Rock and SNL by NBC, which is in turn owned by General Electric, creating a veritable mise-en-abyme of the TV industry. The complicated corporate structure of GE as well as the mutual entanglements of the different company subsidiaries are the object of frequent snubs. Liz Lemon’s socially as well as fiscally conservative boss (Jack Donaghy played by Alec Baldwin) is the personification of GE and her opponent, when it comes to defending “her show” against the demands of a multi-billion/multi-national corporate business. Their friendship as well as their employee-superior-relationship forms the center of the show as they discuss a variety of topics ranging from their respective private lives to questions of artistic integrity, audience demographics, product placement, and skirmishes with so called “Standards.” The legal department tries to protect GE from litigation over politically incorrect jokes on the fictional Girlie Show – all the while 30 Rock itself has earned the questionable reputation of “most unethical workplace-show on TV [for] routinely violating ethics in the workplace.”10 Other recurring characters in the workplace that due to its lack of ethical standards becomes a major plot point in its own right in the final season when NBC gets sued by a former employee, include: co-producer Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit), writers James “Toofer”11 Spurlock (Keith Powell), J.D. Lutz (John Lutz) and Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander), TGS stars Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) and Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), the assistants Jonathan (Maulik Pancholy) and Cerie Xerox (Katrina Bowden), Tracy’s entourage Warren “Grizz” Griswold (Grizz Chapman) and Walter “Dot Com” Slattery (Kevin Brown), as well as page Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer), who combines the character traits of TV-enthusiast and a Rose Nyland12-type naïve. Beyond the “behind the scenes”-setup, the connection to sketch shows in particular is central as a model for the shows’ use of intertextuality and metareferentiality, which,Entwurf as I argue, is as much part of the show’s complexity, and therefore its appeal, as its rejection of the sitcom’s traditionally episodic narrative structure. The adherence to the logics of sketch-comedy, a highly segmented and visually rather static genre at first glance seems to be at odds with

30 Rock, Parks and Recreation and Parenthood as Socially Constructed Tenants of the “Quality TV” Discourse. 10 | According to Global Compliance, “a group that promotes ethical standards in large companies and organizations” CBS Los Angeles 2011: n. pag. 11 | Toofer because “with him you get a two-for-one; he’s a black guy and a Harvard guy,” as Jack explains in “The Aftermath” (S1E02). 12 | Betty White’s character on Golden Girls (1985-1992). 158 Katrin Horn

the characterization as a narratively complex and stylistically innovative show. 30 Rock however combines these contradictory genre impulses to create what has been called the “the most meta of TV shows” (Irin Carmon in Traister 2011: n. pag.) – a characterization which defines not only the show’s aesthetics and narration, but also its politics. The show’s reflexive, rather than realistic qualities concerning narration and style extend to the show’s questioning of, rather than representation of postfeminism, racism, and numerous other contested fields in contemporary media. 30 Rock thus continues a model introduced by The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which “attached [its] feminism to a self-reflexive critique of the medium of television itself [… to] lend some dignity and prestige to a genre typically dismissed as hopelessly banal” (Lentz 2000: 47-48),13 supporting Jane Feuer’s claim that “Quality TV is liberal TV” (1984: 56).

ELEMENTS OF QUALITY TV

Among the most influential texts on quality TV is Robert Thompson’s monograph Television’s Second Golden Age. Thompson singles out Feuer’s elaborations on MTM as belonging to the few successful attempts to define “quality TV” and presents a list of characteristics which seek to assemble “a profile of ‘quality television’” (1997: 14). According to this list, shows regarded as quality TV must first of all be considered ‘not regular,’ i.e. venture a transformation of genres or aesthetics hitherto unprecedented. In addition, the creators of quality TV, Thompson argues, usually have a reputation won by their prior work in other (‘classier’) media. The shows attract a specific and desirable audience, are showered with awards and critical recognition, and are often caught in some kind of “art versus commerce”-bind threatening their continuation due to low ratings. Quality television additionally requires a rather large ensemble cast to keep topics and viewpoints fresh and varied while preserving ‘memory’ that allows characters to change and develop. Furthermore, the focus is on the (highly) complexEntwurf writing, which often allows for self-reflexivity and the treatment of controversial topics (14-16). While Robert Thompson excludes sitcoms from his discussion of quality television, since for him the concept is mainly associated with ‘quality drama’ (17), 30 Rock’s characteristics match all of these criteria. The only exception is Thompson’s final trait: a tendency towards ‘realism’ which is hard to reconcile with 30 Rock’s penchant for absurd stories and cliché-driven characters. This digression, however, can be explained by 30 Rock’s compliance with another item on Thompson’s list, namely the creator’s pedigree from another media – which in the case of 30 Rock is not a more

13 | See Lentz 2000 for a detailed discussion of the intersection between feminism and quality. 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 159 respectable, realistic medium like film or journalism, but Chicago’s improv group Second City and the variety show Saturday Night Live, leading to the aforementioned inclusion of sketch elements into the situational comedy and thus a heightened intertextuality and engagement with current events rather than enhanced realism per se. Related, but not restricted to this aspect of the incorporation of intertextual references, are Robert Thompson’s claims about quality TV’s ‘more complex writing’ (15), which has been discussed beyond the genre-divides of his interest in prime-time drama. Kristin Thompson, for example, argues that despite the sitcom genre’s emphasis on episodic narration, sitcoms can employ “complex narrative strategies” (2003: 85), which might consist only of the inclusion of multiple plots but can also be generated by a shift towards seriality and an emphasis on story arcs. This rationale stands in contrast to the traditional notion of sitcoms and their protagonists who were “considered characters who made some sort of mistake each week, learned a lesson, and promptly forgot about it and got into trouble again” (2003: 59). Instead, starting with shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show some sitcom characters were allowed at least minor changes in their living or professional situation, creating “story arcs, or threads that continue over more than one episode [and] present a source of potential complexity in a relatively simple format” (Thompson 2003: 58-59). 30 Rock stresses its awareness of this trope most apparently in “The Shower Principle” (S6E15), in which a conversation with her tax accountant prompts Liz to realize that her life is repeating itself in a “stagnant, monotonous hell.” To counter this, she uses previous knowledge retrieved from her diary to solve problems like Jenna’s neediness and Tracy’s refusal to work in the same manner but shorter time as she did the year before. In an ironic comment on its own adherence to the conventions of the genre, however, the diary, which has the capacity to solve all the ever-repeating problems, appears deus ex machina and disappears just as suddenly, never to beEntwurf used again. STYLE: ZERO DEGREE TO SINGLE CAMERA

30 Rock escapes the “stagnant, monotonous hell” of sitcoms not only narratively, but also stylistically, or as Robert Thompson puts it, it achieves ‘quality’ status among others by looking different than the majority of sitcoms (cf. 1997: 13). In the pilot’s opening sequence, shot like the rest of the series on film,14 the camera

14 | 30 Rock has been nominated for several Creative Arts Emmy Awards such as Sound Mixing, Music Compilation, Editing, and Cinematography. For a detailed discussion of 30 Rock’s cinematography see the interview with initial DP Matthew Clark in Silberg 2009. The show’s editing will be discussed below. 160 Katrin Horn

pans down one of New York Midtown’s skyscrapers, moves through a crowd of people on the sidewalk, and just shortly settles on a medium shot of Tina Fey as lead character Liz Lemon waiting in line for a hot dog. As she gets into an argument with another person about cutting lines at the hot dog stand, the camera keeps the distance and the scene is depicted in a classic shot-reverse shot style, until a rather unusual high-angle long shot finally establishes the scene for the audience and shows other people getting in line behind the ‘cheating guy.’ Following another set of medium shots of several people by then involved in the conversation, extradiegetic music sets in as a dissolve, reminiscent of psychedelic 1960s editing style and seemingly introducing the theme song and opening credits sequence, transitions to several tracking shots of Liz happily handing out all the hot dogs available from the stand to random people in four locations in and around Rockefeller Plaza, and finally two locations (clerk desk and elevator) inside the Rockefeller building. As the elevator door closes, the show cuts to a studio stage where Josh intradiegetically performs the song hitherto understood as extradiegetic theme song.15 The scene ends with a medium shot of Jenna Maroney in costume, which the close-up of a monitor reveals to be “Pam – The Overly Confident, Morbidly Obese Woman,” followed by a long shot of the stage. From this a camera pans right to bring Kenneth into focus, the page, giving a studio tour, during which he introduces Liz to the tour guests as she walks by on her way to the office. The camera then follows Liz on her way to the writers’ office, talking to Pete Hornberger and finally the writers in a sequence intercut with medium shots and medium close- ups of several other characters. The rest of the episode features several more tracking shots of the characters walking down hallways, numerous additional locations including the offices of Liz and Jack Donaghy, two restaurants, a Brooklyn street corner at night and a strip club. Other noteworthy stylistic decisions include a conversations between Jenna and her make-up artist which is shown first via her reflection in a mirror – a circumstance the audience only realizes when the camera is turned around to show the actual scene –, and the cameraEntwurf positions during an argument between Jack and Liz which mimic their respective points-of-view as she lies down to wake up from her stress dream and he leans over her. The pilot also features a trademark of 30 Rock montage: cuts to short flashbacks or similar inserts (either imagined by a single person or a whole group) during conversations – in this case a newsreel of Tracy Jordan running down an L.A. freeway half-naked and screaming “I am a Jedi” – to either illustrate or contradict a point just made. The show thus employs the kind of “stylistic exhibitionism” John Caldwell has defined as the essential feature of ‘televisuality,’ which he argues the sitcom as a genre might

15 | The actual 30 Rock opening credits and theme song only get introduced in “The Aftermath” (S1E02). 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 161 have resisted “for ideological reasons; […] its inherently conservative cultural function” (1995: 18). Contradicting Caldwell’s statement that sitcoms “simply do not care about style” (ibid.), 30 Rock uses its single-camera setup not only to achieve a more cinematic quality of single takes (through lighting specific to each single camera position), but also to foreground its spatial flexibility and independence from the usual sitcom proscenium set as the show flaunts its numerous and diverse in- and outdoor sets, as well as a variety of shot distances, camera movements, positions and zooms which make for a highly sophisticated, but also fragmented and fast visual experience, which reflects the show’s humor and narrative style. Connected to this visual speed and flexibility is the show’s aforementioned decision to not include a laugh-track, which arguably “indicates a more sophisticated mode of comedy, where layers of humor strike different audiences depending on one’s familiarity with the subject matter and textual knowledge” (Bratslavsky 2009: 45-46). The point of the laugh track, which is still featured on the majority of contemporary sitcoms leading in ratings such as Two and a Half Men (2003-) and The Big Bang Theory (2007-), is to alert audiences when to laugh and what to think of as funny. Consequently, to omit the laugh track allows – but also forces – audiences to determine themselves which part of the series to regard as funny, and to a certain degree also whose side to take in arguments between characters who most often also present different political or ideological ideas. While 30 Rock employs musical cues, camera movement and other more subtle stylistic tropes to alert audiences to jokes, the decision to forego the laugh track underlines the series’ narrative non-closure and openness to different interpretations. Furthermore, the missing laugh-track allows for a much higher joke-per-minute ratio, as laugh-tracks inevitably slow down the narration when actors have to wait for the laughter to die down before continuing their dialogue. 30 Rock’s signature fast pace is thus a result of stylistic development away from generic sitcom markers through single- camera-shooting style on the one hand and the refraining from a laugh-track on the other. Entwurf Jason Mittell points out the relevance of pilot episodes “to establish serial norms and core concepts” (“Beginnings” par. 8), a formula 30 Rock essentially adheres to. “Pilot” not only establishes the basic premise and main characters of the show, but also introduces the comic interplay between inconsequential sketch elements, which often are reminiscent of the TGS style, and humor based in longer story arcs and intricate intertextual references respectively. Moreover, “Pilot” places 30 Rock in the genre-tradition of female-fronted sitcoms such as Murphy Brown and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, whose claim to ‘quality’ hinges not only on their narrative structure, but also their political involvement, “a.k.a” their status as “liberal TV.” When Liz Lemon hops down the streets of Manhattan, hands out “150 bucks worth of wieners” to strangers, 162 Katrin Horn

and finishes this upbeat performance with a familiar looking twirl, the scene can easily be read as an homage-cum-parody of The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s iconic opening sequence. The scene thus underlines the parallels between Liz Lemon and Mary Tyler Moore beyond the narrative of two women working behind the scenes of a television show as single women in their 30s trying to “make it” in the big city. This reference is only the first of many instances in which 30 Rock places itself and in particular its protagonist in the lineage of female-centered or feminist comedy, of which Lauren Rabinovitz in her article “Ms-Representation: The Politics of Feminist Sitcoms” considers The Mary Tyler Moore Show the starting point (1999: 146). As pointed out by Feuer, the feminist sitcom is relevant for the history of American TV as one of the first instances of a quality TV product which targeted a specific group (1984: 56). This subgenre is furthermore connected to the quality discourse through its frequent engagement with “controversial” topics that Robert Thompson included in his list of quality characteristics (1997: 15).

POLITICS OF/IN SITCOMS

Akin to both Murphy Brown and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the concept of a backstage comedy enables 30 Rock not only to comment on current incidents in popular culture and politics, but also to incorporate such events as NBC merging with other companies, and executives struggling to come up with ideas for new shows. Even a storyline about a government bail-out of NBC and foreign relations with North Korea are not off-limits. Thus, the show deviates drastically from what Bret Mills sees as one effect of television’s status as domestic entertainment, namely that the comedy routines presented in sitcoms “ignore the wider social circumstances of everyday existence, and instead focus on the local, the small-scale, the familial and the domestic” (Mills 2009: 23). To the contrary, 30 Rock’s embeddedness in the history of female-fronted sitcoms relates it to a traditionEntwurf of engaging with current issues, a connection that is stressed on several levels. Contentwise, The Mary Tyler Moore Show is a sitcom about a single woman (Mary Tyler Moore) working behind the scenes of a TV-news-show, paired in the first episode with a male, older boss (Lou Grant played by Edward Asner) and further at odds with an egomaniacal on-screen star (Ted Baxter played by Ted Knight) and a hyper-feminine blonde (Sue Ann Nivens played by Betty White). In comparison, 30 Rock is a sitcom about a single woman, producing a live-variety show, struggling with her newly introduced ultra-conservative boss, forced to work with an out-of-control star, and friends with a hyper-feminine blonde. 30 Rock’s conscious interaction with the older comedy text also extends to details in the paratext such as the two production companies’ logos, both of which spoof a bigger company’s logo (MTM’s is a 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 163 parody of MGM’s lion, featuring a kitten in a golden ring,16 where Tina Fey’s Little Stranger, Inc spoofs the NBC peacock with Fey’s daughter in a peacock costume); similarly, the non-name change in Tex Baxter/Ted Knight is picked up in naming Tracy Morgan’s character Tracy Jordan. More general engagements with its feminist history can be found on the plot-level, for example in “Rosemary’s Baby” (S2E04). In this episode Liz Lemon meets one of her icons, second-wave feminist Rosemary Howard (Carrie Fisher), who “broke barriers for her” when working as a (fictitious) writer on the (real) TV-show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. Other examples include short intradiegetic references such as the Designing Women-marathon in a season one-episode titled “The C Word” as well as almost every scene in the two live-broadcasts in season five and six respectively, both of which functioned as a tour-de-force through the history of television: re-staging sketches from I Love Lucy, referencing The Carol Burnett Show and its infamous on-screen breaking,17 as well as ridiculing the overt sexism of early news broadcasts. Finally, 30 Rock incorporates more paratextual elements for historicizing purposes such as the title of episode S6E17: “Murphy Brown Lied to Us!” The latter is especially interesting, as Rabinovitz points out that only a few months after its premiere and after winning three Emmy Awards “Murphy Brown had achieved all the criteria associated with ‘quality’ and an uncompromised status as a feminist product” (156). Arguably, Murphy Brown, starring Candice Bergen as the eponymous journalist and anchor, has been one of the most iconic feminist sitcom texts of recent years in the US and a major influence on 30 Rock. In accordance with Bratslavsky’s study on sitcoms as a potential site of “social critique, commenting on everything from current events and politics” (2009: 2), Murphy Brown was known to “thread topical relevancy into its narratives and comedy” (Rabinovitz 1999: 160). In fact, Rabinovitz claims that the show “so frequently confuses fact and fiction that it disrupts the boundaries of representation itself” (ibid. This tendency became especially apparent when Murphy Brown’s on-screen pregnancy and decision to raise her child as a single parent became the topic of heated off-screen debates in the 1992 election, Entwurfafter vice president Dan Quayle made a statement during a campaign-speech in California, in which he condemned the fictional Murphy Brown for “mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone and calling it just another lifestyle choice” (in Shipley 2012: n. pag.). A few months later a clip of this speech was incorporated into the fifth season’s pilot, to which Murphy responded: “Perhaps it’s time for the vice president to expand his definition and recognize that, whether by choice or

16 | The MTM-logo was first brought to my attention by Lentz’ article. 17 | Cast member Harvey Korman in particular was known for regularly ‘breaking’ character, most often by laughing at inappropriate moments, during sketches with fellow comedian Tim Conway. 164 Katrin Horn

circumstance, families come in all shapes and sizes.”18 This direct attack on a prominent political figure caused a veritable media frenzy with coverage in major newspapers on the controversy dubbed “Murphy’s Revenge” (The Register Guard) or “The Murphy Brown Feud” (The New York Times). Though this was probably the most widely publicized instance of a sitcom integrating real life events and feminist issues, it was preceded for example by Maude (1972–1978), which in November 1971, several months prior to Roe vs. Wade, devoted a two-episode-arc (“Maude’s Dilemma”) to the titular character’s (Bea Arthur) unwanted pregnancy and subsequent abortion – a storyline which in today’s political climate has become almost unthinkable for a sitcom.19 In 1991 Designing Women (1986–1993) showed its cast discussing the Anita Hill vs. Clarence Thomas hearings concerning sexual harassment allegations against the Supreme Court nominee in the episode “The Strange Case of Clarence and Anita.” The episode ends with a plea for women’s rights presented by one of the protagonists dressed for a community theater production as the Bette Davis character from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane – one of the show’s most

18 | A similar issue had been brought up in 1984 during the second season of Kate & Allie (1984-1989), a sitcom following the lives of two divorced women and best friends, who move in together to support each other and raise their children. In the episode “Landlady” Kate and Allie face a substantial rent increase, because they live in a ‘one- family dwelling’ with two families. After their attempt to pass as a lesbian couple in order to convince their (gay) landlady that they are, in fact, one family living in a ‘one- family dwelling,’ falls through, the following dialogue summarizes the episode’s morale: Landlady: This apartment is a one-family dwelling. Kate: Sure, as long as you get to say what a family is. Landlady: Everybody knows what a family is. Kate: A lot of people wouldn’t consider a gay couple a family, but you two do. And nowEntwurf so do we. Allie: A family is anybody who wants to share their lives together. Kate: Right, raise their kids together. Put up with their craziness... Allie: It’s love that defines a family. And it can be any kind of love. Your kind, our kind, theirs… Kate: Who’s to say which kind of family is the best? You of all people ought to know that. 19 | In fact, the first show since Maude to portray the story of a financially secure, healthy and married woman who decides to have an abortion has been the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy in 2011. One of its storylines in season eight followed the unwanted pregnancy and subsequent abortion of Christina Yang, as well as the rift it caused between her and her husband. 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 165 well-known and widely discussed scenes.20 Six years later “The Puppy Episode” in season four of the sitcom Ellen (1994-1998) made headlines for outing its main character Ellen Morgan – making her the only recurrent gay character on US TV at the time – simultaneously with its star, Ellen DeGeneres. The one-hour special was complemented by a string of high-profile guest stars such as out singers k.d. lang and Melissa Etheridge, as well as influential talk show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who stars as Ellen’s therapist, voicing support for Ellen’s decision to come out that in all probability was directed less at the character and more at the actress who feared (and actually for several years faced) a severe career slump. 30 Rock’s most renowned treatments of such diegetic issues that can be placed in this tradition include the season six episode “Idiots Are People Too.” Here the show engages with the aftermath of a homophobic statement made by the fictional Girlie Show actor Tracy Jordan, played by Tracy Morgan who had spent the season break apologizing for his homophobic rant during a stand- up routine. Not quite as directly linked to the 30 Rock cast, but still closely connected to the show’s politics, is the season five episode “TGS Hates Women,” a thinly veiled treatment of the controversy between the popular feminist blog Jezebel and Jon Stewart’s fake-news program The Daily Show, which the former accused of sexist bias in its casting choices after appointing former model Olivia Munn as one of its correspondents. In the 30 Rock-episode, The Girlie Show is similarly attacked by the blog Joan of Snark for its portrayal of women – which is exemplified by a flashback to a TGS scene in which Amelia Earhart crashes into the ocean because she gets her period. Liz’ response:

That is an ironic re-appropriation. Kch. I don’t know anymore. This started as a show for women, starring women. At the very least we should be elevating the way women are perceived in society. Augh, my period! You’re all fired!

By repeating the offensive joke from the TGS sketch in a 30 Rock context, the show once more establishesEntwurf a difference between itself and more traditional comedy, which relies on sexist jokes and gender stereotypes, but it also forges a connection by questioning the effectiveness of “ironic re-appropriation.” Despite Liz’ later insistence “You’re wrong. I support women. I’m like a human bra!” the episode remains ambivalent about the validity of her feminist beliefs and her artistic decisions. “TGS Hates Women” combines self-reflexive comments

20 | See for example Alexander Doty’s Making Things Perfectly Queer, which offers a lesbian reading of the scene (1993: 43), or Jeremy Butler’s article “Redesigning Discourse: Feminism, The Sitcom, and Designing Women” (1993) and Pamela Robertson’s chapter “The Queens are Dead, Long Live the Queens” (1996) for readings from a feminist perspective. 166 Katrin Horn

such as the one quoted above with allusions to real-life female TV personalities like Courtney Thorne-Smith, a former colleague of Jane Krakowski’s on Ally McBeal, and comedienne Sarah Silverman, who has become one of the most controversial female comedians due to her excessively naïve stage persona and tendency towards sexual crudeness, thus further blurring the lines between 30 Rock’s intradiegetic universe and the audiences’. The show thereby claims its political relevance not only by engaging with “real life” events like homophobic celebrities, misogynistic programs and diverse political mishaps, but by additionally reflecting on media’s role in portraying and influencing such concerns and events.

SERIALIZATION AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

The basis for such a commentary on contemporary issues via a reflexion on mass media lies in its contextualization, and thus partially at least in serialization. Both Lentz and Feuer, for example, point out how The Mary Tyler Moore Show set itself apart from other sitcoms not only by its politics, but also by presenting more character development and heightened structural complexity (Lentz 2000: 48, Feuer 1984: 34-43). Murphy Brown is equally shaped by a combination of serialization and political relevance. Similarly, 30 Rock allows its protagonists an unusual amount of personal growth and change, most notably of course, its protagonists Liz and Jack, both of whom change professional positions within TGS’ numerous parent companies, live through several relationships, start families over the course of the series, and – maybe most importantly – transform the dynamics of their relationship with each other from antagonists to mentor-mentee, and finally to a decisively non-romantic exchange of “I love you” in the last episode. Next to this main relationship, Liz’ story of adoption is continued over several seasons, as it first takes up several episodes in season two and three, when she decides to have a baby on her own and subsequently is reviewed by anEntwurf adoption agent played by Megan Mullally (S3E01 “Do-Over”). After this plan falls through, Liz considers adopting the baby of a teenage mum, who – after reconciling with her boyfriend thanks to Liz’ intervention – decides to keep the baby (S3E13 “Goodbye, My Friend”). Subsequently, the topic is more or less dropped without further explanation. The storyline’s lack of continuity is later mocked in season five, when Kenneth makes an off-hand comment about how he could not leave “the memo in [Liz’] mailbox because it’s full of unread adoption materials,” to which Liz barely reacts (S5E12 “Operation Righteous Cowboy Lightning”). In season six, however, the very same “unread adoption material” brings the story back into full swing, as Liz’ new boyfriend discovers them and the couple tentatively thinks about raising kids together (S6E17 “Murphy Brown Lied to Us”). The arc finally comes to its conclusion in the 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 167 series’ penultimate episode (S7E11 “A Goon’s Deed in a Weary World”): Liz goes through with the adoption (at the original agency, thus giving Megan Mullaly a chance to reprise her role) of the two 6-year-old bi-racial twins Terry and Janet. In a nod to the anti-realist tone of the series they turn out to be two younger versions of her show’s stars, Jenna Maroney and Tracy Jordan, not only in their looks, but also their mannerisms to the extent that they almost verbatim quote their grown-up alter egos. For Jack, season-bridging story arcs include his feud with arch-nemesis Devon Banks (Will Arnett), which spans all seven seasons.21 Banks first competes for the same positions at GE as Jack, later for the same prime education for his children that Jack tries to secure for his daughter Liddy, and finally for the trust of Kabletown (NBC’s latest owner) heir Kaylie Hooper (Chloë Grace Moretz), who also adds continuity to the series by appearing in several episodes throughout seasons five and seven. In his private life, Jack’s most important development besides raising his daughter and finding/loosing several lovers and wives is the love-hate relationship with his mother, Colleen Donaghy (Elaine Stretch). She is introduced in the first season’s finale “Hiatus” but shapes his son and his plotlines even beyond her death in “My Whole Life Is Thunder” (S7E08), when her late-in-life affair with her female housekeeper is revealed posthumously and inspires Jack to re-think his stance on happiness – which he until then had regarded with the same cynicism he had suspected in his mother, who however was secretly truly happy and content. While Liz’ family is also featured in several episodes, they are neither as relevant to her personality nor as fully fleshed out. Other characters’ parents, however, such as Jenna’s white trash mum, or their absence, such as Tracy’s history of foster care, are repeatedly brought up to characterize protagonists, for example Jenna’s obsession with Christmas carols. As such, elaborate background stories and emotional and professional growth are not limited to the show’s main characters. Jenna’s relationship with a female impersonator, Paul L’Astnamé (Will Forte), whose main act is Jenna Maroney, spans several seasons (four to seven), as does Tracy’s attempt to EGOT.22 His strive for immortal fame is launched in “DealbreakersEntwurf Talk Show #0001” (S4E07), while his dealing with the fame of actually winning an Oscar, which destroys his reputation as the entertainment industry’s ‘loose canon,’ is traced throughout season five. It is not always the A-plot which serves continuity. Rather, B- and even C-plots are often utilized to show character development, while the A-plot might focus on topical issues, which bear no relevance for future episodes – other than reflecting on the B- or C-plots, as those storylines are usually intertwined. Yet even “topical episodes” can serve to create continuity and present examples of serial rather

21 | Devon Banks first appears in S1E18 “Fireworks” and for the last time in S7E09 “Game Over.” 22 | Acronym for winning Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. 168 Katrin Horn

than of episodic narration by focusing on the same topic. In 30 Rock the most prominent instance of such ‘episodic seriality’ occurs in the trilogy of the episodes “Rosemary’s Baby” (S2E04), “TGS Hates Women” (S5E16), and “Stride of Pride” (S7E03), which are linked thematically to create an almost series- encompassing story arc that discusses the “problem” of female comedians and whether women can be funny.23 The trilogy serves as a particularly illustrative example of the combination of the seemingly disparate ‘quality characteristics’ character development and complex narrative structures on the one hand, and the interest in controversial issues and reflexivity on the other. By revisiting the same or similar (non-fictional) concerns from different points of view, at different times, and with different contextualizing plot structures, 30 Rock provides a much more layered and informed commentary, which furthermore accounts for the change in the dynamics between and personal growth of its protagonists.

ELEMENTS OF COMPLEX NARRATION

Beyond such considerations of growing serialization and intricate story arcs, the study of narrative complexity in television has recently gained momentum through the work of Jason Mittell. Rather than explaining the developments in American TV via “cross-media comparisons [which] do more to obscure than reveal the specificities of television’s storytelling form” (“Complexity in Context”: par. 3) such as ‘cinematic style’ and ‘novelistic storytelling,’ Mittell argues that “complex TV” is the approach best suited to understand contemporary quality programming. More than mere “primetime episodic seriality,” narrative complexity for Mittell includes all of television’s options to break episodic conventionality, serial plotting, and other conventionalized forms of storytelling (“Complexity in Context”: par. 8-9). In this broad definition, he also includes significant sitcoms that “use television’s episodic form to undercut conventionalEntwurf assumptions of returning to equilibrium and situational continuity” (ibid.). First and foremost, he refers to Seinfeld, which “offers a wealth of narrative complexity, often through its refusal to conform to episodic norms of closure, resolution, and distinct storylines,” and Arrested Development, “a more explicitly serialized comedy” that nonetheless consciously frustrates audiences’ expectations via for example its fake “next week on”-teasers.

23 | A discussion spurred by Christopher Hitchens’ Vanity Fair-article “Why Women Aren’t Funny” in 2007. 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 169

Thus these complex comedies selectively engage serial norms, weaving certain events into their backstories while ambiguously discarding other moments into the more commonplace realm of forgotten episodic histories, a distinction that viewers must either overlook as inconsistency or embrace as one of the sophisticated traits of narrative complexity; evidence of fan practices online suggest that the latter is more common once viewers accept the shifting rules as one of the sophisticated pleasures offered by these complex comedies. (“Complexity in Context”: par. 8-9)

One moment reminiscent of Arrested Development’s teaser practice in 30 Rock occurs in the final season’s fourth episode “Unwindulax,” which features a storyline that is continued seamlessly in the next episode. In the first part, TGS with Tracy Jordan-star Jenna is established to be the decisive factor in the upcoming election, whereas the following episode “There Is no I in Team” solves the question of whether she is going to influence her undecided Florida- based fans to vote Democrat or Republican. As liberal Liz and conservative Jack realize Jenna’s influence simultaneously and rush off to get her on their respective political sides, the episode ends with Kenneth, former page demoted to janitor, turning to the camera and stating “to be continued.” Before the credits roll, however, he moves to reveal he was intradiegetically referring to his fight with a spider rather than breaking the fourth wall to address 30 Rock’s audience. In the tag after the credits, illustrated with scenes and stills from current instead of upcoming episodes, a voice-over begins a “next week on”- segment. The incorporation of such a segment is already highly unusual for 30 Rock, as its tag segments tend to consist of short scenes missing from the respective episode rather than relating to future episodes. Moreover, the use of this TV convention is instantly mocked, as the voice-over goes completely off topic, and rather than teasing future storylines, retrospectively changes the focus of the series, as it introduces a murder mystery out of the blue:

Next week on 30 Rock: Will Jenna Maroney choose the next leader of the free world? Will Jack or Liz manipulateEntwurf her into doing the thing we just said? Will Cerie ever wear a piece of clothing for its intended use? Will Pete drop the whole Panama thing and have a totally different story? [music stops] Spoiler Alert: Yes! [music continues] Is Tracy actually a wer-otter? Will Cullen Lutz fill his tummy with marshmallows? Will the invisible murderer who is in every scene finally strike? Will NBC’s head of promotions ever get that mousetrap off his penis? Will Kenneth finally defeat his nemesis, Mr. Spider? Will your DVR cut this pro- 170 Katrin Horn

While this tag is unusual in its “what’s next”-framing, it is consistent with 30 Rock’s constant comments on NBC and its own low rating24 as well as the show’s frequent break in serial storytelling for non-sequiturs and sketch-scenes, which are not dependent on the series’ frame to make sense. Particularly noteworthy in this context are 30 Rock’s frequent flashbacks, which further connect the show to Arrested Development and what Brett Mills describes as the show’s rejection of the linear norm of the sitcom:

The notion that comedy characters are self-deluding and untruthful runs through much sitcom, but the editing together of actions from different times and places in the programme’s diegesis is quite at odds with traditional sitcom’s linear narrative structure. Sometimes, Arrested Development also contradicts its characters’ statements through voiceovers or captions, resulting in a text which uses a wide-range of communicative techniques in order to construct its comedy. […] A series such as Arrested Development therefore appears textually rich, and its mixture of rapid edits, voiceovers, captions and action can be seen as a visual aesthetic which distinguishes it quite noticeably from either the realist/naturalist form or the traditional form of the sitcom. (2009: 130)

As this quote makes clear, it is certainly no coincidence that 30 Rock as well as almost all comedies referred to by Mittell as complex, or by Butler as part of the resurrection of comedy, are single-camera shows: complex narration is almost inevitable connected to complex style. The sitcom’s traditional set-up of proscenium stage with multi-camera recording in front of a live audience lacks the visual flexibility to match the narrative speed. In 30 Rock, this ‘old- school’ aesthetic is alluded to through the inclusion of sketches from TGS in oversaturated colors and repetitive shot sizes. While these additions serve as a visual contrast, they also complement 30 Rock’s overall style insofar as they add to the break in linearity described by Mills, enhance the overall narrative complexity of 30 Rock and constitute the genre mix R. Thompson names as one characteristic of ‘quality TV,’ although in this case the mix consists of seemingly low qualityEntwurf ingredients.

IF SNL MET TMTMS – GENRE-MIX IN 30 ROCK

30 Rock’s ties and references to the kind of highly-segmented, memory-free comedic variety show exemplified by Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1967-1973), The Carol Burnett Show (1967-1978) as well as Saturday Night Live (1975-) are numerous: TGS with Tracy Jordan is itself a (low-quality) sketch comedy show,

24 | Studies show that 30 Rock’s ratings rise by around 30%, if DVR “plus seven” viewers are included (Gorman 2011: n. pag.). 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 171

30 Rock’s cast and crew is full of Saturday Night Life alumni (ranging from head writer Tina Fey to cast member Rachel Dratch to executive producer Michael Lorne, director Beth McCarthy-Miller, and repeated host Alec Baldwin), Liz Lemon’s boyfriend in later seasons, played by Matt Damon, is named Carol Burnett after one of the US’ most successful female comedians, and allusions to famous sketches and sketch shows range from a Laugh-In-tribute (S2E04 “Rosemary’s Baby”) to the re-enactment of the SNL scandal of Sinead O’Connor ripping apart a picture of the pope during the live broadcast on 3 October 1992 (S6E19 “Live from Studio 6H”). Rather than simply referencing sketch comedy, however, 30 Rock abounds with examples of comedy tropes established in sketch rather than situational comedy, “material not usually included in a classic definition of sitcom, such as vaudeville performances, direct address to the camera, a disregard for plot and a refusal to create characters distinct from the performer’s personalities” (Mills 2009: 35). Beside the casting of Tracy Morgan more or less as himself in the role of Tracy Jordan and the repeated inclusion of actors, news anchors and other celebrities as themselves (such as Conan O’Brian as Liz’ ex-boyfriend and Al Gore as NBC’s Green Week sponsor), the direct address of the audience is probably among 30 Rock’s most overt disregards for the genre-conventions of the sitcom. These occurrences range from short off-hand comments and looks into the camera to whole tag segments framed as direct addresses, such as the end of “What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year?” (S6E22), in which Kim Jong Il (Margaret Cho) muses over the fate of 30 Rock’s protagonists in the following season. While the latter is an example of dealing with intradiegetic developments, the former is moreover connected to metareferential comments which include either industry conventions, such as Liz turning around after a particularly blatant product placement to ask “Can we have our money now?” (“Somebody to Love” S2E06), or addressing Tina Fey’s own reputation in “Hardball” (S1E15). Here Liz Lemon winks into the camera after a patriot- themed episode of TGS causes Jack to compliment her on “doing a good job,” to which she replies:Entwurf “Why do you sound so surprised? I love America. Just because I think gay dudes should be allowed to adopt kids and we should all have hybrid cars doesn’t mean I don’t love America.” In this case, the direct address further underlines the many parallels between Liz Lemon and Tina Fey and thus the aforementioned sketch-trope of neglecting to differentiate between character and actor. Moreover, 30 Rock is characterized by a heavy reliance on intertextuality, the unmatched frequency of its guest stars, and the casting of the same actor in different roles. According to Brett Mills, coherent narrative and a stable set of characters are the most important features to distinguish the sitcom from other forms of TV comedy, as sketch shows do not have a coherent narrative and characters are only stable insofar as sketches are picked up in later episodes (cf. 172 Katrin Horn

2009: 37). Similarly, Jason Mittell emphasizes that even highly episodic shows still maintain at least a consistent set of characters and that it is subsequently “rare for a program to violate such serialized characters and world-building” and noteworthy if such a disturbance should occur (“Complexity in Context”: par. 10).25 On 30 Rock, the coherent story world is most frequently disrupted by the casting of Rachel Dratch, the original Jenna Maroney from the discarded pilot, among others as a cat trainer and janitor for TGS, Barbara Walters and Elizabeth Taylor, as well as the little blue monster Liz and Tracy see on different occasions (during season one and five) under the influence of prescription drugs, a gas leak, and hunger respectively. Other examples include John Anderson playing Liz Lemon’s almost-date on her ex-boyfriend’s wedding, her dream boyfriend ‘Astronaut Mike Dexter,’ her mother’s teenage boyfriend Buzz Aldrin, and TV anchor for Jack’s ‘Porn for Women’ channel. On the other hand, the same character is repeatedly played by different actors: Jack’s younger selves, for example, are played by Alec Baldwin himself, a CGI-version of a younger Alec Baldwin from The Hunt for Red October (1990) and Jimmy Fallon, whereas Liz Lemon is played most often by Tina Fey – even in flashbacks in which she is nine –, but also by Tina Fey’s daughter, several child actors (Michal Antonov and Marcella Roy) as well as Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Amy Poehler in the two live-episodes. Further devices which define the variety-show more than the sitcom but are frequently presented in 30 Rock are double entendres and non-sequiturs, the incorporation of musical numbers as well as visual gags such as Jenna’s TGS costumes. The following ‘spit take’ includes a ‘laying bare the devices’- type utterance equally typical of sketch comedy, as it breaks the verisimilitude of the ongoing narrative (where does the water in Liz’ mouth come from?) and references a standard routine of physical comedy:

Jenna: Liz, do you think I’d be a good mother? Liz: [spits out water]Entwurf NO! … And I wasn’t even drinking anything! (“100” S5E20) 26 The scene occurs in the first of two extended one-hour shows (the other being the finale), the 100th episode of 30 Rock, which also celebrates the 100th of TGS with Tracy Jordan. In the episode, TGS is threatened with cancellation upon its

25 | Mittell refers to one example from Louis C.K.’s show Louie “when Louie plays with the form by having the same actress play Louie’s date in one episode and his mother in another episode’s flashback” (“Complexity in Context”: par. 10). 26 | The opposite approach – referring to the sketch technique in name rather than actually employing it – is highlighted in “Problem Solvers” (S4E05), when Liz reacts to Jack’s proposal of turning her book into a TV show by saying “Spit take! … Are you serious?” 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 173 anniversary because the ratings are going down due to the absence of Tracy Jordan who had forsaken his TV job after receiving an Oscar for his role in Hard To Watch: Based on the Book “Stone Cold Bummer” by Manipulate. Like all of Tracy Jordan’s films, Hard To Watch is a parody of an actual movie, in this case Oscar-contestant Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire (2009). His filmography furthermore includes a string of films which spoof the generic confinements of roles for black actors, such as Black Cop/White Cop (Shawn and Marlon Wayans in White Chicks, 2004), Who Dat Ninja (Chris Rock in Beverly Hills Ninja, 1997), and Honky Grandma be Trippin’ (Martin Lawrence in Big Momma’s House, 2000). As Tracy Jordan struggles with his new-found respectability, the rest of the cast prepare the 100th episode, which gives them ample opportunity to talk and think about the past five years of the show. Furthermore, it allows 30 Rock to broach the issue of how TV shows present their past. During Jenna’s first flashback, which Kenneth seems to be able to see, new cast member Danny (played by Cheyenne Jackson), who had filled the role of her former co-star Josh Girard, thus asks them to “reminisce about something that’s happened since I’ve been here? Cause I couldn’t see any of that.” Following another of Jenna’s flashbacks, however, Danny panics “Wait, I saw that. I am dead?” before finally, presumably under the influence of the gas leak, singing “These are my memories” over scenes featuring sketches by Josh. Other occurrences of discussing the flashback as one of 30 Rock’s trademark devices include a disagreement between Jack and Liz, during which Jack claims he had originally planned to fire Liz instead of Pete when they first met. To dispute that statement, Liz exclaims “What? Flashback please!,” upon which the audience is presented with an alternative version of the firing of Pete in the pilot episode. These instances of flashbacks work to dispute the show’s serialized narration by alerting the audience to disruptions, manipulations, and the inevitably selective ‘memory’ of sitcoms and their protagonists. This is underscored by scenes in which the flashback is averted, such as a moment between Liz and Jack in which they both stare into the distance as if experiencing a flashbackEntwurf that is withheld from the audience, Jack stopping Pete as he introduces a flashback of all the “crazy guest stars we had” (“100”) or Liz interrupting Jenna and Tracy by saying “Yeah, I get it. You went shopping. I don’t need the montage” (3.08 “Flu Shot”). Jenna nonetheless continues to act out the flashback, “Sometimes I was like this [shakes head], but other times I was like this [thumbs up],” emphasizing the redundancy of this trope. 30 Rock’s metareferential treatment of its trademark – a “master-video” of Liz Lemon’s flashbacks was used by NBC to promote the final season – is noteworthy insofar as it complicates audiences’ expectations about the level of seriality the show is willing to admit to. Mittell argues that 174 Katrin Horn

norms for how much narrative continuity viewers should expect in a given program [… are] generally established by the degree to which characters reference previous events and the storyworld displays the impacts – the more the show reminds us that narrative events have a cumulative impact, the more we expect strict continuity and consistency. (“Complexity in Context”: par. 11)

This begs the question of what cumulative impact to attest to flashbacks which frequently are either given without context, contradict each other, use “wrong” actors, or are simply played for laughter in a series which nonetheless allows for extreme continuity even in its smallest details. These include the recurrence of guest stars in the same role after more than four seasons, the recycling of quotes over similar time spans, or the reference to a show by a character who appeared once, five years prior, in the background of a laptop screen, such as the advertisement for Rosemary Howard’s (Carrie Fisher) one-woman show in “TGS Hates Women.” Among those flashbacks arguably simply played for laughter are such scenes as Liz Lemon’s early foray into acting, which resulted in a video commercial telephone sex hotline “1-900-OK-FACE Commercial,” and her “wild exchange student time” in Germany – most of which she seemingly spent in a bird museum musing in a bad American accent about “so viele verschiedene Arten von Spatzen.” Such scenes work just as well out-of-context as some of the fictional shows proposed on 30 Rock, which consist of the aforementioned Tracy Jordan blockbusters but also the more fully fleshed out fake NBC products, which get their own “sketch” like MILF Island (a mixture of Cougar Town and Survivor), Homonym (an impossible to win version of Who wants to be a Millionaire?), and Bitch Hunter, featuring SNL alumnus Will Ferrell, as a gun-yielding misogynist who caused such a stir among female audiences that the diegetic version of NBC aired a Mother’s Day Special of TGS to appease this demographic.

ERISIMILITUDEntwurfE VS ETAREFERENTIALITY V . M

This fusion of styles has consequences not only for the kind of humor favored by the show, but more importantly changes the way in which narration works in 30 Rock in comparison to traditional sitcoms. For all its ability to comment on current affairs and to bring humor to common concerns, the sitcom is bound – like all serial storytelling – to a certain amount of verisimilitude and narrative coherence. As Steve Neale and Frank Krutnik elaborate in their study of TV comedy, the “presence of a narrative, whether confined to episodes or not, means that the segmental units of broadcast television are here developmental rather than just sequential. This in turn tends to entail forms of indirect address” (1995: 148). Variety formats on the other hand are marked by “sequential 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 175 segmentation and direct address.” Moreover, sketch comedy has a long tradition of employing a “markedly ‘self-reflexive’ style” (1995: 201): its humor is based on the mocking and parody of other formats and programs rather than creating a unique narrative which might result in a punch line or funny situation. Thus, Neale and Krutnik further remark about the metareferential qualities of variety TV shows: the sense is created not only of a distinctive and extensive comic world but a world that pertains to TV. The […] effect is not just to expose the limits of conventional formats but to link their absurd arbitrariness to institutions and representatives of institutional power, [mocking] the powers of the broadcasting institutions (a mocking which nevertheless recognizes that these powers are real). (1995: 201-202)

As this observation explains, 30 Rock’s trademark status as the “the most meta of TV shows” (Carmon) is partially created by its blending of sitcom and sketch- comedy, as this particular genre-mixture opens up new ways of engaging with metareferentiality. Thus, the show often mocks audiences’ expectations of continuity and cliché character developments, such as the opening scene of the show’s final season, which references the visual style of the pilot by once again panning down a New York Skyscraper. Rather than revealing a grumpy Liz Lemon in line at a hot dog stand, however, this time Liz Lemon is seen smiling, happily holding a baby in her arm, while orchestrated music plays to underscore the scene’s cheery mood, as she states “After all these years I finally have it all. I’m gonna miss this place” (“The Beginning of the End” S7E01). Thereby, Liz additionally refers to her earlier failed attempts to “have it all,” when she wanted to reconcile her love for food with her love for her ex-boyfriend Floyd at an airport security check but could not pass with her dipping sauce in time to catch Floyd before he got on a plane (“Sandwich Day” S2E14). The mood quickly changes, however, when Liz angrily states “That’s how you do it! It’s two lines!” and throws the baby away, as a cut reveals that Liz is actually on set, explaining a scene toEntwurf Tracy. While this scene frustrates audience’s likely first reading of the scene as the fulfillment of Liz Lemon’s hopes of motherhood, it does stay within the genre’s verisimilitude. On other occasions, however, the show breaks away from these conventions to make their points, such as in the following conversation between Jack and Liz.

Jack: Uh, Lemon, what did you once say to me about acting? Liz: Just hit your marks, stay in your light, and do the same thing every take for continuity. [As the camera cuts back to Liz, she is wearing a bright red scarf and holds a coffee cup, both of which were not there before] Jack: See, anyone can do it. (“Problem Solvers” S4E05) 176 Katrin Horn

Such sketch comedy elements add to both 30 Rock’s meta-qualities and its structural porousness, enhancing the narrative complexity at the same time as it diminishes serial continuity. As Neale and Krutnik have claimed for the equally metareferential sketch comedy Monty Python, 30 Rock manages “to inscribe [itself] firmly within the familiar world of television while also marking it[self] as at one step removed from that world” (201-202). Sketch comedies are referential, intertextual and quite simply “about” other TV and media events, formats and clichés,27 to which 30 Rock often also pays visual tribute. There are, for example, several episodes whose style deviates clearly from 30 Rock’s own visual identity. “Succession” (S2E13), which focuses on Tracy’s attempt to create a porn-video game in order to achieve immortal fame and thus impress his children, borrows on visual as well as audio-level and plot- structure from the Mozart-biopic Amadeus (1984, Milos Forman), including darker lighting, capes flowing in slow-motion, and dialectic montages with classical music scores. In clear opposition to such high-brow aspirations, “Queen of Jordan” (S5E17) and its sequel “Queen of Jordan 2: The Mystery of the Phantom Pooper” (S6E20) extends its plot comprising of the creation of a docu-soap for Tracy’s wife, Angie Jordan (Sherri Shepherd) to the visual overhauling of two 30 Rock episodes in the style of reality shows like The Real Housewives of-franchise. Hence, these ‘reality’-themed episodes include on- screen banners which introduce characters (“Jenna: Former Child Star,” “Pete: Bald, Powerless,” “Liz: Another Person”) and emotionally manipulative staring to slow-rock songs, which Liz Lemon claims “never work,” but also constant quips at genre conventions, such as D’Fwan, the gay hair-dresser, answering questions by saying “D’Fwan forgot his catchphrase.” In “The Tuxedo Begins” (S6E08) a Dark Knight parody transforms Liz into a joker-caricature who has lost faith in the Big Apple and roams the streets (and subway) in a cat-lady costume, while similarly disillusioned Jack tries to restore its former glory by running for mayor, including a showdown between the two opposing forces on the 30 Rock rooftop. The sketch show remains 30 Rock’s most significant intertext throughoutEntwurf all seven seasons. Yet the series’ genre mix prioritized over diegetic cohesion is regularly expanded to include (parodies of) other TV genres as well as media formats to convey meaning and underscore metareferentiality, to the extreme that such references not only go beyond the scope of a traditional sitcom, but beyond those of TV as a medium.

27 | Additionally, variety shows are closely connected to the diva through Bette Midler’s live shows in Vegas as well as Cher’s and Judy Garland TV shows (The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, 1971-1976; The Cher Show, 1975; The Judy Garland Show, 1963-1964). 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 177

TRANSCENDING FORMATS, TRANSCENDING MEDIA

The most obvious instances of 30 Rock putting mediality rather than plot development front and center are moments in which characters acknowledge on-screen commercials and information. Among the targets of these jokes is NBC’s Green Week initiative, which is for example mocked (along with the quality of NBC’s programming more generally) in “The One with the Cast of Night Court” (S3E03), when Jack introduces a woman to Liz, stating: “She owns the largest alternative energy company in Asia. As part of the NBC Green initiative they’re doing a reality show about her quest to find a boyfriend.” The theme is picked up again in “Sun Tea” (S4E06), when Kenneth approaches Liz about the reduction of TGS’ carbon footprint by pointing out that it is once again Green Week at NBC, to which Liz replies “Oh, brother, are they actually going to do something this year? Or are they just going to put that stupid green peacock in the corner of the screen?” As Liz leaves, Kenneth turns his head to wink in the direction of the green peacock at the corner of audiences’ screen, acknowledging not only the audience and thus his own fictionality, but also the technical aspects of his character’s mediation. An even more overt version of this inclusion of supposedly invisible on-screen information occurs in the series’ finale, when the commercial for a show called Grizz & Herz appears at the bottom of the screen while Liz is talking to Dot Com and Grizz. Liz reacts in panic by trying to shove the banner away and yelling “What is that? Does everyone see that?,” though no one else seems to notice the commercial. Only more than ten minutes later, in the finale’s tag, the audience learns that Grizz & Herz is the name of the sitcom which Liz will be working on after the end of TGS, thus further blurring the lines between show and reality as a usually nondiegetic on-screen commercial advertises a not-yet-existing intradiegetic show. Even if there is no direct acknowledgement of the on-screen information, however, the information presented there can still interact with the intradiegetic storyline to create a comment on TV-conventions, such as the opening of “The FabianEntwurf Strategy” (S5E01). In the episode’s B-plot, Jenna gets a producer credit at TGS as part of her contract’s automatic changes in TGS’ 5th season. Just as Jack calms Liz by explaining “it’s just a vanity credit, Lemon. A low cost way to make someone feel more important. Like executive producer Ashton Kutcher or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” the credits “executive producer: Alec Baldwin” appear. As most of 30 Rock’s visual jokes are only seen for a few seconds and furthermore often overlap with dialogues which even might include separate jokes, the show is in many ways dependent on technology which extends beyond television to unfold its full potential. The show is thus on the one hand in line with Mittell’s observation that many of the current examples of complex TV are designed to be either watched more often than once, or rather on a device which 178 Katrin Horn

allows pauses, slow-motion and rewind (“Complexity in Context”: par. 29-32). On the other hand, 30 Rock encourages transmedial reception to support and extend the show’s narrative. Henry Jenkins defines transmedial storytelling as

a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. (2011: n. pag.)

30 Rock’s entertainment factor is among others enhanced via the show’s Facebook-page, which regularly released screenshots, whose full meaning was impossible to get during the split-second it was seen during the original airing of the show. These include close-ups of magazine articles, which were mentioned but not shown in the respective episode, relevant lists such as “CrissPoints” (things Liz’ boyfriend brought to their relationship instead of the money he did not have) and Jenna’s “Sexual Walkabout Checklist” (sexual experiences she wants to have during her relationship break with Paul, such as “Cause an impeachment” and “Yoko a band”).28 Beyond that, 30 Rock’s official website offers several videos, which range from standard ‘behind-the-scenes’- material to small spin-offs, such as 30 Rock: Frank vs Lutz and the animated Jack Donaghy: Executive Superhero. The NBC-homepage also offers several links which continue stories started on 30 Rock, such as a website that proves that Lutz’ Canadian girlfriend exists (jdlutz.com/karen/proof), the unfortunately- named blog Jenna tries to promote during her appearances on Queen of Jordan (nbc.com/30-rock/exclusives/jennas-side), and a website dedicated to Liz Lemon’s sketch idea turned book turned TV show which never aired: That’s A Dealbreaker, Ladies (nbc.com/30-rock/exclusives/dealbreaker). These instances not only increase the complexity of narration, but also underscore the show’s

28 | Arguably, regular reviews and comments on such popular blogs as A.V. Club, Television Without Pity, Bitch Magazine, Slate, L.A. Times, PopMatters and PopWatch also add to the show’sEntwurf narrative – though in this case without being actively influenced by the show’s creators – as they provide the background necessary to understand some of the more obscure references. One crucial example is the comment made by Jack Donaghy’s new found father, played by Alan Alda, who visits the TGS set and complains: “A guy crying about a chicken and a baby? I thought this was a comedy show!” (“Kidney Now” S3E22). This is a direct reference – though potentially hard to understand for younger audiences – to his role in M.A.S.H. (1972-1983), in which his character did just that in the finale. 30 Rock’s high level of intertextuality has also led to the creation of fan-maintained websites, whose sole purpose is the explanation of the show’s numerous references, such as pregnantcornbread.com and whatthewhat.tv, and a collection of transcripts of all episodes, 30rockquotes.net, which makes it easier to trace intra-series references. 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 179 refusal to clearly differentiate between diegetic and non-diegetic events and stories, while also making the show’s metareferentiality more apparent, as the intricate connection between commerce and art, show and product is brought to the fore.

A ‘QUALITY’ GOODBYE

A very different version of transmedial storytelling occurs during, or rather after, the series’ finale. In “Last Lunch,” aired on January 31, 2013, Jack and Liz argue over who ruined whose life, when Liz comes to Jack for advice one last time and he refuses to help her, because he has just quit his job and is about to reevaluate his life. Since Liz can “hold a grudge,” as Jenna emphasizes with yet another visualized flashback, Jack leads Liz to believe he is about to commit suicide, in order to force her to make up with him before he leaves New York for his inspirational boat trip. In his goodbye-video he suggests to search for the video “Hamlet The Mini Pig Goes Down Stairs” to cheer her up – if audiences do as Jack tells ‘them’ (his video is presented as direct address), they arrive at an actual Youtube-video of the same name, under which the comment section says: “Jack Donaghy commented […]: ‘Most of you are probably here because of me... And I just want to say, You’re welcome.’” With this final blurring of lines between the nondiegetic and diegetic, Jack’s Youtube-comment fits right into a finale which is as much concerned with providing closure for its audience and characters as it is with keeping its mocking, metareferential tone. As pointed out before, a planned finale in a sitcom can be considered a privilege and sign of quality in and of itself, and thus it should not be surprising that the double episode “Hogcock”/“Last Lunch” makes the discussion of quality one of its central topics. In this double episode TGS with Tracy Jordan has been cancelled, after a lawsuit with a former page has made it unprofitable to the network. Liz Lemon, now jobless motherEntwurf of two, therefore pitches another show to the newly appointed head of NBC, former page Kenneth, suggesting there might be a show in her own life – Kenneth rejects the idea, because the pitch includes words from his “Kenneth’s TV No-No Words,” namely “woman,” “writer,” and “New York.” The audience gets a quick glance at the rest of the list, in order to read them all, however, audiences would once again have to turn to reviews or NBC’s Facebook-page to see the enlarged screenshot. In an hour full of call- backs to earlier scenes, references to overarching storylines, and comments on the shows itself, the scene stands out as one of the most overtly self-reflexive moments, as other ‘forbidden’ pitch ideas include: “high concept,” “quality,” “niche,” “complex” and “shows about shows.” Not only do these words describe 30 Rock itself, they moreover relate to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, whose finale 180 Katrin Horn

is considered the first planned finale of a sitcom and can be seen as a blueprint for the final hour of 30 Rock. Similar to Liz Lemon, Mary Tyler Moore looses her job in the final episode and has to come to terms with saying goodbye to her colleagues of several years. The final scene shows all major characters come together in the newsroom, where they group-hug and sing “It’s a long way to Tipperary” as they leave and turn off the lights. The parallels are obvious, yet in this case the differences between the two finales are actually more interesting as they trace the development of “quality sitcom.” While 30 Rock, for example, also features a song to accompany the characters’ goodbye, it is not some well-known tune, but rather the theme- song from Jenna’s film The Rural Juror, which had been a recurring joke in season one – yet without any mention in the meantime. The scene thus establishes continuity over seven seasons, while it simultaneously breaks the continuity of the episode itself, as it is not actually connected to anything that happens in the finale. Rather, it serves as one final proof of TGS’ low quality, which lacks the ability to achieve closure. Another show, which 30 Rock clearly distances itself from, is Liz Lemon’s next project, the aforementioned Grizz & Herz. The show is established as a rather traditional multi-camera sitcom with a laugh-track, which relies on such uncreative gender-switch jokes such as “Wait, you are Sam?,” when the protagonist realizes that who he thought would be a man is actually an attractive woman. The scene quickly cuts from Liz talking on the phone with Jack to his office. Jack has returned as head of GE after the 3-minute boat trip inspired him to come up with the best idea of his life: clear dishwashers. As he hangs up, he turns around and meets his new assistant Sam – who is revealed to be a very attractive woman rather than the man Jack expected. He then repeats the Grizz & Herz joke written by Liz Lemon, written by Tina Fey: “Wait, you are Sam?” To that 30 Rock for the first time in seven years reacts by playing a laugh-track – which serves not only to underscore one last time 30 Rock’s own style as opposed to that of the traditional sitcom but also to introduce the alternative reality established in the following, veryEntwurf last scene. Here, a zoom out of a snow globe – referencing St. Elsewhere – showing the familiar façade of 30 Rockefeller center cuts to a close-up of Kenneth holding said snow-globe while listening to another pitch: Liz’ great-granddaughter’s idea for a show based on her grandmother’s time at TGS With Tracy Jordan. Rather than disavowing the last seven years of the series, like other shows have done by revealing at the very end that everything had just been a dream or hallucination, 30 Rock refers to such instances of fan disappointment while giving its “quality fans” the answer to the show’s final mystery: Kenneth’s hinted immortality. His ostensive agelessness had been a story arc since the third season, yet one only addressed in seemingly naive “blurts,” such as his answer “Who said I’ve been alive forever?,” when Tracy asks him, whether he wants to be a page forever, or visual gags, such 30 Rock: Complexity, Metareferentiality and the Contemporary Quality Sitcom 181 as a short glimpse of his tomb stone during a flash-forward in “100” and him packing a box labeled “NBC Memories 1945-1967” in “When It Rains, It Pours” (S5E02). By admitting to Kenneth’s super-human characteristics, 30 Rock discards any remaining claims to the realism aspired toward in quality drama (acc. to R. Thompson 1997: 15), even as it emphasizes its dedication to continuity and refusal of “out of character”-writing. At the same time the last thirty seconds of the show once again draw attention to genre (laugh-track), industry (pitch), and the series itself (Kenneth’s final breaking of the fourth wall), while accentuating the show’s signature style and editing techniques. 30 Rock’s final moments thus condense the show’s larger scale claim to visual as well as narrative complexity, metareferentiality and ultimately quality. The introduction of Liz’ great-granddaughter adds a final twist to the ongoing self- reflexive commentary of a show which strived on self-deprecation and jokes about NBC’s (lack of) programming expertise and its own low ratings: the belated triumph of a show based on “Kenneth’s TV No-No Words.” As immortal NBC-president Kenneth acknowledges the meta-aspect of the pitch and, rather than rejecting it a second time, states “I love it” (“Lust Lunch” S7E13), 30 Rock’s goodbye to its audiences proves not only optimistic with regards to the fate of its protagonists, but also concerning the future (revenue) of quality sitcoms.

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FILMOGRAPHY

30 Rock. NBC, 2006-2013. Ally McBeal. Fox, 1997-2002. Community. NBC, 2009-. Designing Women. CBS, 1986-1993. Ellen. ABC, 1994-1998. Frasier. NBC, 1993-2004. Friends. NBC, 1994-2004. Grey’s Anatomy. ABC, 2005-. Kate & Allie. CBS, 1984-1989. Mad Men. AMC, 2007-. Murphy Brown. CBS, 1988-1998. Parks and Recreation. NBC, 2009-. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. NBC, 1968-1973. St. Elsewhere. NBC, 1982-1988. The Big Bang Theory. CBS, 2007-. The Carol Burnett Show. CBS, 1967-1978. The Mary Tyler Moore Show. CBS, 1970-1977. The Office. NBC, 2005-. The Sopranos. HBO, 1999-2007. The West Wing. NBC,Entwurf 1999-2006. Saturday Night Live. NBC, 1975- . Scrubs. NBC, 2001-2008. ABC, 2009-2010. Seinfeld. NBC, 1989-1998. Two and a Half Men. CBS, 2003 -.