Floyd (30 Rock)
Encyclopedia
"Floyd" is the sixteenth episode of the fourth season
of the American television comedy series 30 Rock
, and the 74th overall episode of the series. It was written by series producer Paula Pell, and directed by Millicent Shelton
. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) network in the United States on March 25, 2010. Cheyenne Jackson
, Kristin McGee, and Jason Sudeikis
guest star in this episode, and there are cameo appearances by Kathy Lee Gifford, Lester Holt, Hoda Kotb, and Meredith Vieira
.
In the episode, Liz Lemon
's (Tina Fey
) ex-boyfriend, Floyd DeBarber (Sudeikis), tells her that he is getting married. At the same time, Jack Donaghy
(Alec Baldwin
) helps Danny Baker (Jackson) get his revenge against the fictitious show The Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan (TGS) writers—Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander
), James "Toofer" Spurlock (Keith Powell
), and J. D. Lutz (John Lutz
)—after they play a practical joke on him. Meanwhile, Jenna Maroney
(Jane Krakowski
) and Tracy Jordan
(Tracy Morgan
) spend a long day listening to NBC page
Kenneth Parcell
(Jack McBrayer
) tell stories about his childhood.
"Floyd" received generally mixed reception from television critics. According to the Nielsen ratings
system, the episode was watched by 6.252 million households during its original broadcast, and received a 2.9 rating/8 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic.
(Tina Fey
) gets a surprise phone call from her ex-boyfriend, Floyd DeBarber (Jason Sudeikis
), who says he will be coming to New York and wants to have dinner with her. She begins to hope that the two can get back together, however, while watching The Today Show she discovers that he is getting married to a woman named Kaitlin (Kristin McGee). Her boss, Jack Donaghy
(Alec Baldwin
), warns her not to attempt revenge; nevertheless, Liz invites Floyd to a seafood restaurant where she had food poisoning on three separate occasions. He does not get food poisoning, but instead, Floyd, a recovering alcoholic, gets drunk off of the whiskey-based fish sauce. The two get into an argument, and after Floyd insults her, Liz leaves the restaurant. The next day, Floyd appears on The Today Show, but still drunk from the night before, refuses to leave the 30 Rock building. Liz apologizes to both Floyd and Kaitlin for getting him drunk. They accept the apology, and Kaitlin asks Liz to be a participant in their wedding, to which she agrees.
At the same time, jealous of the publicity that Danny Baker (Cheyenne Jackson
) is getting after receiving a Juno Award
nomination, Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander
), James "Toofer" Spurlock (Keith Powell
), and J. D. Lutz (John Lutz
), the staff writers from TGS with Tracy Jordan, print a fake, embarrassing New York Times
interview with him and circulate it throughout the 30 Rock building. Danny brings the upsetting article to Jack, but Jack quickly figures out that Frank, Toofer, and Lutz are the ones behind it. To get back at them, Jack and Danny trick them into stripping in front of the TGS dancers. Frank, Toofer, and Lutz, however, discover a secret code from a prank society that Jack belonged to while attending Princeton University
. Frank realizes he can use this to manipulate him, which works. As a result of this, Jack threatens to sleep with Frank's mother, which prompts them to ease off on their pranks.
Finally, to keep Jenna Maroney
(Jane Krakowski
) and Tracy Jordan
(Tracy Morgan
) distracted from Danny's fanfare, TGS producer, Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit
) sends them to the makeup department to have plaster face-prints made while NBC page
Kenneth Parcell
(Jack McBrayer
) talks to them. Jenna and Tracy are plagued by erotic dreams involving Kenneth, and to stop having them, they decide to stay awake. This fails, so they decide to deal with it à la A Nightmare on Elm Street
, by killing Kenneth in their dreams. They wake up (believing they are still dreaming) and attack Kenneth. Witnessing this, Pete tells them they are wide awake, and that it is morning, which prompts Jenna and Tracy to realize that they slept through the night without having any dreams of Kenneth. They apologize to Kenneth for attacking him, and he accepts their apology.
. This episode was Pell's first writing credit and the second episode for Shelton who had directed the March 26, 2009, season three
episode "Apollo, Apollo
". "Floyd" originally aired in the United States on March 25, 2010, on NBC as the sixteenth episode of the show's fourth season
and the 74th overall episode of the series. Pell has appeared on the show as the character Paula Hornberger, the wife of Pete Hornberger, played by Scott Adsit.
"Floyd" was filmed on January 27 and February 3, 2010. Comedian actor Jason Sudeikis, who played Floyd DeBarber in this episode, has appeared in the main cast of Saturday Night Live
(SNL), a weekly sketch comedy
series which airs on NBC in the United States. Tina Fey, the series creator of 30 Rock, was the head writer
on SNL from 1999 until 2006. This was Sudeikis's tenth appearance on the show. Actor Cheyenne Jackson made his fifth appearance as Danny Baker. Jackson previously appeared in the episodes "The Problem Solvers
", "Secret Santa
", "Black Light Attack!
", and "Winter Madness
". In an interview with The New York Times
, Jackson revealed that the song he sings in the episode was composed by Jeff Richmond
, the show's composer, and said that the song was "actually a little longer" and that they shot a "whole" music video to accompany it.
"Floyd" featured cameo appearances from The Today Show correspondents Meredith Vieira
, Lester Holt, Kathie Lee Gifford
, and Hoda Kotb. In the episode, Vieira introduces Floyd and his fiancée, Kaitlin, as finalists competing to have their wedding featured on The Today Show. In one scene, Danny runs into the writers' room where Frank, Toofer, and Lutz are. He turns on the television to see Holt who reports, "We're now getting reports that the toxic leaks have created a Cloverfield
type monster in the building. The monster cannot detect the smell of human skin. Anyone still inside should disrobe immediately." Jack calls Liz into his office and shows her that Floyd, drunk from his dinner with her, is still in the 30 Rock building, where he is shown interrupting a segment featuring Gifford and Kotb.
web site, K-date. Pete congratulates Danny on his Juno Award
nomination for his Canadian pump-up song for the National Hockey League
team, the Ottawa Senators
. Danny replies, "It's an honor to be nominated in the same category as Sir Dave Coulier
", the latter is an American actor. Liz imitates singer-songwriter Christopher Cross
while singing "All my days I've been waiting, for you to come back home. Moonlight of New York City", after revealing that she hoped to end up with Floyd one day and Cross would sing a romantic song about them. Liz makes reference to the fact that once, on television, one could not say the word "crap", but "then they let that slide and now we can say whatever we want." She and Jack exchange the words, "Douchebag", "asswipe", and "Anal rot", as examples. Later, Liz tells Jack, "I don't care. I'll start my own group. Rejection from society is what created the X-Men
", which references the comic book superhero team, the X-Men, who are rejected from society due to their mutant special powers.
In the false breaking news story, Lester Holt references the 2007 monster movie Cloverfield
. After learning about the toxic leaks in the building, in which Frank, Toofer, and Lutz need to strip down, Frank says "So much of my life was wasted creating hats!" This is a reference to Judah Friedlander
, who portrays Frank in the show and who is known for his trademark trucker hat
s which he wears in and out of the Frank character. When Liz tells Floyd that she saw him on The Today Show, on which she learned he is getting married, Floyd says "Dammit! I could have sworn you watch The Early Show
on CBS
", to which Liz replies, "The Early Show? What am I, in a hospital?". Liz reveals that she once participated in a reenactment on America's Most Wanted
playing a woman who is strangled on a toilet. Jenna and Tracy, who are having strange dreams about Kenneth, decide they "have to Elm Street
this. We have to go to sleep and kill Kenneth in our dreams!" This references the A Nightmare on Elm Street
film series, in which the movie's main character—Freddy Krueger
—stalks and kills his victims in their dreams.
system. It received a 2.9 rating/8 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic, meaning that 2.9 percent of all people in that group, and 8 percent of all people from that group watching television at the time, watched the episode. This was a decrease from the previous episode, "Don Geiss, America and Hope
", which was watched by 6.9 million American viewers. "Floyd" has received mixed reception from television critics.
IGN
contributor Robert Canning gave the episode a 7.4 out of 10 rating, writing that he "merely" liked the episode. "It wasn't nearly has fun as I had hoped it would be. I mean, if you were going to bring Floyd back and name the episode after him, it would have been nice to give [Liz and Floyd] a little spark." The A.V. Club
' s Nathan Rabin gave it a C rating, calling it a disappointing episode. In regards to Jason Sudeikis, Rabin commented that he is a "gifted comic actor" but this episode "found him at his hammy, embarrassing worst." Meredith Blake, writing for the Los Angeles Times
, remarked that the episode "may have been the worst one yet", and said that when Floyd called Liz a "badger", her heart broke into smithereens, "There's mean-funny, and then there's plain old mean. [...] Liz's love life has become the central butt of the joke on 30 Rock ... and it's starting to feel like the writers have run out of ways to be funny without being sadistic." Sean Gandert of Paste
said that "Floyd" was not a great episode, "but it's still pretty good by this season's standards, if a somewhat disappointing use of Floyd's return." He explained that part of the episode's problem was that Liz's relationships not succeeding "has become pretty old hat for the show since we've seen it time and time again", and hoped to see her "find a good man and let the show move onto something else for a while." TV Guide
' s Adam Mersel wrote that it "really didn't do it for me. I didn't really laugh out loud much, and the cameo from one of my favorite SNL players came off a bit forced."
Bob Sassone
of AOL
's TV Squad gave a positive review of both Liz and Jack's plot, but was not favorable towards Jenna and Tracy's, opining that "Floyd" was one of those episodes of 30 Rock where their plot "really dragged the show down." He reported that he felt bad for Liz "because of all the guys [she] has dated over these four seasons, [Floyd]'s the one she should end up with." Sassone hoped the episode would have concluded with the two finding out "something horrible" about Floyd's fiancée "or maybe we'd find out that Floyd did all of this just to get close to Liz again in some weird way". Like Sassone, Time
contributor James Poniewozik
said that the Floyd character "was one of the better drawn boyfriends for Liz". Further in his recap, Poniewozik was "a little disappointed" that the episode brought him back "to get sloppy drunk, to tell off Liz ... and to get engaged to a vapid-seeming 'ab model.'" Television columnist Alan Sepinwall for The Star-Ledger
commented that Sudeikis's return gave Tina Fey's Liz "one of her more down-to-earth and relatable stories in a while", and enjoyed the Frank, Toofer, and Lutz rivalry with Jack and Danny, as well as Pete's involvement in the Jenna and Tracy story. Overall, Sepinwall said that the episode did not "really hang together for me."
30 Rock (season 4)
The fourth season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, consists of 23 episodes and began airing on October 15, 2009, on the National Broadcasting Company network in the United States...
of the American television comedy series 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
, and the 74th overall episode of the series. It was written by series producer Paula Pell, and directed by Millicent Shelton
Millicent Shelton
Millicent B. Shelton is an American music video, television and film director.Shelton has directed over a hundred music videos for artists such as Mary J. Blige, R...
. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
(NBC) network in the United States on March 25, 2010. Cheyenne Jackson
Cheyenne Jackson
Cheyenne Jackson is an American actor and singer. He started in regional theater when he moved to Seattle, and after moving to New York City, made his 2002 Broadway theatre debut understudying both male leads in the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie...
, Kristin McGee, and Jason Sudeikis
Jason Sudeikis
Daniel Jason Sudeikis is an American actor and comedian currently starring as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:Sudeikis was born Daniel Jason Sudeikis in Fairfax, Virginia, the son of Kathryn , a travel agent who was president of the American Society of Travel Agents, and Dan...
guest star in this episode, and there are cameo appearances by Kathy Lee Gifford, Lester Holt, Hoda Kotb, and Meredith Vieira
Meredith Vieira
Meredith Louise Vieira is an American journalist, television personality, and game show host. She is best known for her roles as the original moderator of the ABC talk program The View and co-host of the long-running NBC News morning news program, Today...
.
In the episode, Liz Lemon
Liz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.-Personal history:...
's (Tina Fey
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
) ex-boyfriend, Floyd DeBarber (Sudeikis), tells her that he is getting married. At the same time, Jack Donaghy
Jack Donaghy
John Francis "Jack" Donaghy is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He is the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric and later Kabletown....
(Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
) helps Danny Baker (Jackson) get his revenge against the fictitious show The Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan (TGS) writers—Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander
Judah Friedlander
Judah Friedlander is an American actor and comedian, known for his trademark trucker hats, oversized glasses and unkempt appearance, which he retains in many of his screen roles.-Early life:...
), James "Toofer" Spurlock (Keith Powell
Keith Powell
Keith Powell is an American television actor who is best known for his role as James "Toofer" Spurlock on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock.-Career:Powell was the Producing Artistic Director of Contemporary Stage Company, a summer theater in Wilmington, Delaware...
), and J. D. Lutz (John Lutz
John Lutz (television writer)
John Lutz is an American actor, writer and comedian.-Biography:The son of a Lutheran minister, Lutz grew up in suburban Chicago and Detroit. He attended Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, majoring in psychology and minoring in...
)—after they play a practical joke on him. Meanwhile, Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, played by Jane Krakowski.-Fictional biography:Jenna was born Ystrepa Grokovitz on February 24, 1969 and grew up in Bakersfield...
(Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
) and Tracy Jordan
Tracy Jordan
Ogbert Jordan, better known by his stage name, Tracy, is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, based on and played by Tracy Morgan.-Brief overview:...
(Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
) spend a long day listening to NBC page
NBC page
An NBC page is a person usually in his or her early twenties working in various departments of the NBC television network during a one-year period as a training ground for careers in television broadcasting and entertainment...
Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth Ellen Parcell is a fictional character in the comedy television series 30 Rock. He is portrayed by actor Jack McBrayer and first appeared on television in the 30 Rock episode "Pilot" on October 10, 2006...
(Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his characters on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"...
) tell stories about his childhood.
"Floyd" received generally mixed reception from television critics. According to the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
system, the episode was watched by 6.252 million households during its original broadcast, and received a 2.9 rating/8 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic.
Plot
Liz LemonLiz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.-Personal history:...
(Tina Fey
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
) gets a surprise phone call from her ex-boyfriend, Floyd DeBarber (Jason Sudeikis
Jason Sudeikis
Daniel Jason Sudeikis is an American actor and comedian currently starring as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:Sudeikis was born Daniel Jason Sudeikis in Fairfax, Virginia, the son of Kathryn , a travel agent who was president of the American Society of Travel Agents, and Dan...
), who says he will be coming to New York and wants to have dinner with her. She begins to hope that the two can get back together, however, while watching The Today Show she discovers that he is getting married to a woman named Kaitlin (Kristin McGee). Her boss, Jack Donaghy
Jack Donaghy
John Francis "Jack" Donaghy is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He is the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric and later Kabletown....
(Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
), warns her not to attempt revenge; nevertheless, Liz invites Floyd to a seafood restaurant where she had food poisoning on three separate occasions. He does not get food poisoning, but instead, Floyd, a recovering alcoholic, gets drunk off of the whiskey-based fish sauce. The two get into an argument, and after Floyd insults her, Liz leaves the restaurant. The next day, Floyd appears on The Today Show, but still drunk from the night before, refuses to leave the 30 Rock building. Liz apologizes to both Floyd and Kaitlin for getting him drunk. They accept the apology, and Kaitlin asks Liz to be a participant in their wedding, to which she agrees.
At the same time, jealous of the publicity that Danny Baker (Cheyenne Jackson
Cheyenne Jackson
Cheyenne Jackson is an American actor and singer. He started in regional theater when he moved to Seattle, and after moving to New York City, made his 2002 Broadway theatre debut understudying both male leads in the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie...
) is getting after receiving a Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
nomination, Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander
Judah Friedlander
Judah Friedlander is an American actor and comedian, known for his trademark trucker hats, oversized glasses and unkempt appearance, which he retains in many of his screen roles.-Early life:...
), James "Toofer" Spurlock (Keith Powell
Keith Powell
Keith Powell is an American television actor who is best known for his role as James "Toofer" Spurlock on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock.-Career:Powell was the Producing Artistic Director of Contemporary Stage Company, a summer theater in Wilmington, Delaware...
), and J. D. Lutz (John Lutz
John Lutz (television writer)
John Lutz is an American actor, writer and comedian.-Biography:The son of a Lutheran minister, Lutz grew up in suburban Chicago and Detroit. He attended Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, majoring in psychology and minoring in...
), the staff writers from TGS with Tracy Jordan, print a fake, embarrassing New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
interview with him and circulate it throughout the 30 Rock building. Danny brings the upsetting article to Jack, but Jack quickly figures out that Frank, Toofer, and Lutz are the ones behind it. To get back at them, Jack and Danny trick them into stripping in front of the TGS dancers. Frank, Toofer, and Lutz, however, discover a secret code from a prank society that Jack belonged to while attending Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. Frank realizes he can use this to manipulate him, which works. As a result of this, Jack threatens to sleep with Frank's mother, which prompts them to ease off on their pranks.
Finally, to keep Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, played by Jane Krakowski.-Fictional biography:Jenna was born Ystrepa Grokovitz on February 24, 1969 and grew up in Bakersfield...
(Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
) and Tracy Jordan
Tracy Jordan
Ogbert Jordan, better known by his stage name, Tracy, is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, based on and played by Tracy Morgan.-Brief overview:...
(Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
) distracted from Danny's fanfare, TGS producer, Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit is an American actor, writer and improvisational comedian. He is currently co-starring as Pete Hornberger in the hit NBC comedy 30 Rock and worked in the Adult Swim stop-motion animation programs Moral Orel and Mary Shelley's Frankenhole.-1990s:After attending Columbia College Chicago,...
) sends them to the makeup department to have plaster face-prints made while NBC page
NBC page
An NBC page is a person usually in his or her early twenties working in various departments of the NBC television network during a one-year period as a training ground for careers in television broadcasting and entertainment...
Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth Ellen Parcell is a fictional character in the comedy television series 30 Rock. He is portrayed by actor Jack McBrayer and first appeared on television in the 30 Rock episode "Pilot" on October 10, 2006...
(Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his characters on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"...
) talks to them. Jenna and Tracy are plagued by erotic dreams involving Kenneth, and to stop having them, they decide to stay awake. This fails, so they decide to deal with it à la A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise)
A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American horror franchise that consists of nine slasher films, a television show, novels, and comic books. The franchise began with the film series created by Wes Craven. The franchise is based on the fictional character Freddy Krueger, introduced in A Nightmare on...
, by killing Kenneth in their dreams. They wake up (believing they are still dreaming) and attack Kenneth. Witnessing this, Pete tells them they are wide awake, and that it is morning, which prompts Jenna and Tracy to realize that they slept through the night without having any dreams of Kenneth. They apologize to Kenneth for attacking him, and he accepts their apology.
Production
"Floyd" was written by series producer Paula Pell and directed by Millicent SheltonMillicent Shelton
Millicent B. Shelton is an American music video, television and film director.Shelton has directed over a hundred music videos for artists such as Mary J. Blige, R...
. This episode was Pell's first writing credit and the second episode for Shelton who had directed the March 26, 2009, season three
30 Rock (season 3)
The third season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, consists of 22 episodes and began airing on October 30, 2008 on the NBC network in the United States...
episode "Apollo, Apollo
Apollo, Apollo
"Apollo, Apollo" is the sixteenth episode of the third season of American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 52nd episode of the series overall. It was written by executive producer Robert Carlock and directed by Millicent Shelton. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting...
". "Floyd" originally aired in the United States on March 25, 2010, on NBC as the sixteenth episode of the show's fourth season
30 Rock (season 4)
The fourth season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, consists of 23 episodes and began airing on October 15, 2009, on the National Broadcasting Company network in the United States...
and the 74th overall episode of the series. Pell has appeared on the show as the character Paula Hornberger, the wife of Pete Hornberger, played by Scott Adsit.
"Floyd" was filmed on January 27 and February 3, 2010. Comedian actor Jason Sudeikis, who played Floyd DeBarber in this episode, has appeared in the main cast of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(SNL), a weekly sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
series which airs on NBC in the United States. Tina Fey, the series creator of 30 Rock, was the head writer
Head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
on SNL from 1999 until 2006. This was Sudeikis's tenth appearance on the show. Actor Cheyenne Jackson made his fifth appearance as Danny Baker. Jackson previously appeared in the episodes "The Problem Solvers
The Problem Solvers
"The Problem Solvers" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 63rd overall episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producer Ron Weiner and directed by co-executive producer John Riggi. It originally aired on the National...
", "Secret Santa
Secret Santa (30 Rock)
"Secret Santa" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 66th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by series' creator Tina Fey and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller. It originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company ...
", "Black Light Attack!
Black Light Attack!
"Black Light Attack!" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 68th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by Steve Hely and directed by series producer Don Scardino. It originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company ...
", and "Winter Madness
Winter Madness
"Winter Madness" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 69th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by Tom Ceraulo and Vali Chandrasekaran, and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller. It originally aired on the National...
". In an interview with The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Jackson revealed that the song he sings in the episode was composed by Jeff Richmond
Jeff Richmond
Jeffrey "Jeff" Wayne Richmond is an American composer, actor and television producer. Richmond currently produces and composes the music for 30 Rock, a sitcom created by and starring his wife Tina Fey.-Career:...
, the show's composer, and said that the song was "actually a little longer" and that they shot a "whole" music video to accompany it.
"Floyd" featured cameo appearances from The Today Show correspondents Meredith Vieira
Meredith Vieira
Meredith Louise Vieira is an American journalist, television personality, and game show host. She is best known for her roles as the original moderator of the ABC talk program The View and co-host of the long-running NBC News morning news program, Today...
, Lester Holt, Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathie Lee Gifford is an American television host, singer, songwriter and actress, best known for her 15-year run on the talk show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, which she co-hosted with Regis Philbin...
, and Hoda Kotb. In the episode, Vieira introduces Floyd and his fiancée, Kaitlin, as finalists competing to have their wedding featured on The Today Show. In one scene, Danny runs into the writers' room where Frank, Toofer, and Lutz are. He turns on the television to see Holt who reports, "We're now getting reports that the toxic leaks have created a Cloverfield
Cloverfield
Cloverfield is a 2008 American disaster-monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams and written by Drew Goddard.The film follows six young New Yorkers attending a going-away party on the night that a gigantic monster attacks the city...
type monster in the building. The monster cannot detect the smell of human skin. Anyone still inside should disrobe immediately." Jack calls Liz into his office and shows her that Floyd, drunk from his dinner with her, is still in the 30 Rock building, where he is shown interrupting a segment featuring Gifford and Kotb.
Cultural references
In the beginning of the episode, Liz tells Jenna about a bad date that she had with someone she met on the personals section of the Kraft FoodsKraft Foods
Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...
web site, K-date. Pete congratulates Danny on his Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
nomination for his Canadian pump-up song for the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
team, the Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
. Danny replies, "It's an honor to be nominated in the same category as Sir Dave Coulier
Dave Coulier
David Alan "Dave" Coulier is an American stand-up comedian, impressionist, television and voice actor, and television host. He is well-known for his role as Joey Gladstone on the ABC sitcom Full House, which ran from 1987 to 1995....
", the latter is an American actor. Liz imitates singer-songwriter Christopher Cross
Christopher Cross
Christopher Cross is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. His debut album earned him five Grammys. He is perhaps best known for his Top Ten hit songs, "Sailing", "Ride Like the Wind", and "Arthur's Theme ", the last of which he performed for the film Arthur starring Dudley Moore...
while singing "All my days I've been waiting, for you to come back home. Moonlight of New York City", after revealing that she hoped to end up with Floyd one day and Cross would sing a romantic song about them. Liz makes reference to the fact that once, on television, one could not say the word "crap", but "then they let that slide and now we can say whatever we want." She and Jack exchange the words, "Douchebag", "asswipe", and "Anal rot", as examples. Later, Liz tells Jack, "I don't care. I'll start my own group. Rejection from society is what created the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
", which references the comic book superhero team, the X-Men, who are rejected from society due to their mutant special powers.
In the false breaking news story, Lester Holt references the 2007 monster movie Cloverfield
Cloverfield
Cloverfield is a 2008 American disaster-monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams and written by Drew Goddard.The film follows six young New Yorkers attending a going-away party on the night that a gigantic monster attacks the city...
. After learning about the toxic leaks in the building, in which Frank, Toofer, and Lutz need to strip down, Frank says "So much of my life was wasted creating hats!" This is a reference to Judah Friedlander
Judah Friedlander
Judah Friedlander is an American actor and comedian, known for his trademark trucker hats, oversized glasses and unkempt appearance, which he retains in many of his screen roles.-Early life:...
, who portrays Frank in the show and who is known for his trademark trucker hat
Trucker hat
A trucker hat or mesh hat is a type of baseball cap. It is also sometimes known as a "gimme cap" or a "feed cap" because this style of hat originated as a promotional give-away from feed or farming supply companies to farmers, truck drivers, or other rural workers.The design of a trucker hat is...
s which he wears in and out of the Frank character. When Liz tells Floyd that she saw him on The Today Show, on which she learned he is getting married, Floyd says "Dammit! I could have sworn you watch The Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
", to which Liz replies, "The Early Show? What am I, in a hospital?". Liz reveals that she once participated in a reenactment on America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
playing a woman who is strangled on a toilet. Jenna and Tracy, who are having strange dreams about Kenneth, decide they "have to Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American slasher film directed and written by Wes Craven, and the first film of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The film features Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Robert Englund, and Johnny Depp in his feature film...
this. We have to go to sleep and kill Kenneth in our dreams!" This references the A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise)
A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American horror franchise that consists of nine slasher films, a television show, novels, and comic books. The franchise began with the film series created by Wes Craven. The franchise is based on the fictional character Freddy Krueger, introduced in A Nightmare on...
film series, in which the movie's main character—Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger
Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger is a fictional, horrifying character from the Nightmare on Elm Street series of horror films. He first appears in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street as a disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams,...
—stalks and kills his victims in their dreams.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Floyd" was watched by 6.252 million households, according to the Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
system. It received a 2.9 rating/8 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic, meaning that 2.9 percent of all people in that group, and 8 percent of all people from that group watching television at the time, watched the episode. This was a decrease from the previous episode, "Don Geiss, America and Hope
Don Geiss, America and Hope
"Don Geiss, America and Hope" is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 73rd overall episode of the series. It was directed by Stephen Lee Davis, and written by Jack Burditt and Tracey Wigfield. The episode originally aired on the...
", which was watched by 6.9 million American viewers. "Floyd" has received mixed reception from television critics.
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
contributor Robert Canning gave the episode a 7.4 out of 10 rating, writing that he "merely" liked the episode. "It wasn't nearly has fun as I had hoped it would be. I mean, if you were going to bring Floyd back and name the episode after him, it would have been nice to give [Liz and Floyd] a little spark." The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, remarked that the episode "may have been the worst one yet", and said that when Floyd called Liz a "badger", her heart broke into smithereens, "There's mean-funny, and then there's plain old mean. [...] Liz's love life has become the central butt of the joke on 30 Rock ... and it's starting to feel like the writers have run out of ways to be funny without being sadistic." Sean Gandert of Paste
Paste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
said that "Floyd" was not a great episode, "but it's still pretty good by this season's standards, if a somewhat disappointing use of Floyd's return." He explained that part of the episode's problem was that Liz's relationships not succeeding "has become pretty old hat for the show since we've seen it time and time again", and hoped to see her "find a good man and let the show move onto something else for a while." TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
Bob Sassone
Bob Sassone
Bob Sassone is an American writer. He was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, to Italian and Portuguese parents. He is the youngest of seven children....
of AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
's TV Squad gave a positive review of both Liz and Jack's plot, but was not favorable towards Jenna and Tracy's, opining that "Floyd" was one of those episodes of 30 Rock where their plot "really dragged the show down." He reported that he felt bad for Liz "because of all the guys [she] has dated over these four seasons, [Floyd]'s the one she should end up with." Sassone hoped the episode would have concluded with the two finding out "something horrible" about Floyd's fiancée "or maybe we'd find out that Floyd did all of this just to get close to Liz again in some weird way". Like Sassone, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
contributor James Poniewozik
James Poniewozik
James Poniewozik is an American journalist and television critic. He writes Times Tuned In column and has a blog with the same name.Originally from Monroe, MI, Poniewozik attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, graduating with a BA in English. He subsequently attended the graduate program...
said that the Floyd character "was one of the better drawn boyfriends for Liz". Further in his recap, Poniewozik was "a little disappointed" that the episode brought him back "to get sloppy drunk, to tell off Liz ... and to get engaged to a vapid-seeming 'ab model.'" Television columnist Alan Sepinwall for The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
commented that Sudeikis's return gave Tina Fey's Liz "one of her more down-to-earth and relatable stories in a while", and enjoyed the Frank, Toofer, and Lutz rivalry with Jack and Danny, as well as Pete's involvement in the Jenna and Tracy story. Overall, Sepinwall said that the episode did not "really hang together for me."