Gentleman's Intermission
Encyclopedia
"Gentleman's Intermission" is the sixth episode of the fifth season
of the American television comedy series 30 Rock
, and the 86th overall episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producer John Riggi
and directed by series producer Don Scardino
. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) network in the United States on November 4, 2010. Elizabeth Banks
and Buck Henry
guest star in this episode, and there are cameo appearances by Ann Curry
, Lester Holt, and Meredith Vieira
.
In the episode, Avery Jessup (Banks) becomes suspicious of the relationship her fiancé Jack Donaghy
(Alec Baldwin
) has with his employee and friend Liz Lemon
(Tina Fey
), so she orders Jack to set boundaries in their friendship. This proves a problem for Liz when her father, Dick Lemon (Henry) arrives in town on a break from his marriage. Meanwhile, actor Tracy Jordan
(Tracy Morgan
) is upset when he discovers that his pre-recorded NBC obituary
shows him to have done nothing worthwhile in his life, whilst Jenna Maroney
(Jane Krakowski
) learns of the video obituaries, she decides to make a video of her own.
The episode received generally good reviews from television critics, especially in regard to guest star Buck Henry. According to Nielsen Media Research
, "Gentleman's Intermission" was watched by 5.311 million viewers during its original broadcast and received a 2.4 rating/7 share among adults aged 18–49.
Jack Donaghy
(Alec Baldwin
) and Avery Jessup (Elizabeth Banks
) are trying to decide what to name their soon to be born daughter. However, when Avery suggests naming the baby Charlotte, Jack declines, saying that his employee and mentee Liz Lemon
(Tina Fey
) knew somebody called Charlotte in middle school and did not like her. This annoys Avery, who is concerned about the nature of Jack's relationship with Liz and tells him that he needs to put some boundaries in place. Despite Jack's argument that Liz is his mentee and that he does not choose such people lightly, Avery demands that he starts treating Liz like his other employees.
Meanwhile, Liz has her own problems when her father, Dick Lemon (Buck Henry
) calls her to say that he is coming to visit her in New York, but will not be bringing his wife and Liz's mother, Margaret Lemon (Anita Gillette
), with him. When he shows up at her apartment, he reveals that he and her mother are on a break. Liz, however, believes that he is just pretending that there are problems with his marriage and that he is actually in town for a "gentleman's intermission", so she refuses to let him stay with her. Unfortunately, her attempts to turn to Jack for help are thwarted by Avery, who is insistent that she work out her own problems instead of always coming to Jack.
At the 30 Rock studios, NBC page
Kenneth Parcell
(Jack McBrayer
) is shocked when he discovers a group of editors putting together an obituary
for actor Tracy Jordan
(Tracy Morgan
). However, he is calmed when they inform him that it is simply a routine procedure that NBC carries out for some of its more famous stars. Kenneth decides to show the obituary to Tracy himself, who, far from being pleased, laments the way that his legacy looks on television and declares that he does not want to be remembered the way he is. TGS co-star Jenna Maroney
(Jane Krakowski
) finds out about Tracy's obituary and is upset that one has not been made for her, so she decides to record one herself.
It transpires that both Liz and Jack have trouble functioning properly without each other—Liz is used to Jack helping her to deal with her personal life and work problems and struggles to cope on her own, whilst Jack finds that there is a void in his life without his mentee, and attempts to find somebody else to take Liz's place. Ultimately, after trying out his assistant Jonathan, Tracy, Jenna and Avery herself, Jack realizes that only Liz can be his mentee. Eventually, Avery realizes that there is nothing untoward about Jack's friendship with Liz and reunites the pair, saying that they both need the relationship. Jack is able to quickly sort out Liz's problem with her father, by calling him and pretending to be the angry boyfriend of one of the women he has picked up while in town.
Meanwhile, Tracy formulates a plan to make his legacy better—a masked Kenneth will pretend to attack a cat with a hammer, at which point Tracy will come to the rescue with a katana
. However, this plan goes wrong when Tracy hears that his film Hard To Watch is likely to win him an Oscar and becomes distracted. Instead, Jenna unwittingly ends up saving the cat and taking all the credit, managing to improve her own legacy after all.
"Gentleman's Intermission" was written by co-executive producer John Riggi
and directed by series producer Don Scardino
. This was Riggi's ninth writing credit, and Scardino's twenty-ninth helmed episode. "Gentleman's Intermission" originally aired in the United States on November 4, 2010, on NBC as the sixth episode of the show's fifth season
and the 86th overall episode of the series. This episode of 30 Rock was filmed on October 2, 2010.
Elizabeth Banks reprised her role in this episode as Avery Jessup, who calls into focus the strange nature of the relationship between Jack Donaghy and Liz Lemon. The unusual friendship between the pair has been a focus of much fan speculation, however Tina Fey, the series creator and lead actress on 30 Rock, had previously promised fans that she would never put them together, commenting: "They're never going to do it [...] I just think it's lazy, when you get to season five or season six [of a TV show] and everyone just starts doing it". Alec Baldwin, who plays Jack Donaghy, was asked if the two characters will ever hook-up, he responded "I sincerely doubt it, and I think the show is better off that way. Once they cross that line, all the tension goes out of those relationships. And I think the lesson we learned about both those characters is that they are married to their jobs and they are married to their work."
Actor/screenwriter Buck Henry made his second appearance as Dick Lemon, Liz's father. Henry played the role in the December 13, 2007, episode "Ludachristmas
" which aired during the show's second season
. This episode of 30 Rock featured cameo appearances from The Today Show correspondents Ann Curry
, Meredith Vieira
, and Lester Holt. "Gentleman's Intermission" was Viera's fifth guest appearance as herself, having appeared in the episodes "Greenzo
", "Larry King
", "The Bubble
", and "Floyd
". This was Holt's fourth cameo on the show. In "Gentleman's Intermission", Tracy Jordan sees his eulogy with Holt reporting it. Holt appeared in the episodes "Cleveland
", "Hiatus
", and "Floyd". Curry reports that Tracy's movie Hard To Watch, a story of an inner-city boy living in the ghetto, is garnering Oscar buzz which makes Tracy happy. This was Curry's first appearance on 30 Rock. In addition,
Tracy's fictitious film Hard To Watch was mentioned during this episode. The film originally appeared as part of the plot in the fourth season
episode "Emanuelle Goes to Dinosaur Land
".
is the idiot millionaire they are talking about and says that Cuban tried to run her over with a jet ski. Cuban is an entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks
, an NBA
team. Later, Jenna says that she played Arts and Literature in the film version of Trivial Pursuit
. The latter is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions.
. The show claimed a 2.4/7 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic. This means that it was seen by 2.4 percent of all 18–49 years olds, and 7 percent of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. The figure was an increase over the previous episode, "Reaganing
", which was seen by 5.182 million American viewers.
Juli Weiner for Vanity Fair
wrote "This may have been our favorite episode of the season so far!" Weiner said that the main plot "didn't quite track." Johnny Firecloud of CraveOnline
wrote that the episode was a strange one in the 30 Rock world "but the emotional component that actually makes us care about the status quo being threatened worked as planned. The uncle/niece-mentor/protégé bond between Jack and Liz was restored with minimal sentimentality, but the emotional weight was palpable between the two." The A.V. Club
s Nathan Rabin was complimentary towards Buck Henry's role as Liz's father. "It helps that the two look like they could conceivably be products of the same sturdy/nerdy Midwestern gene pool, but iconically, it makes all the sense in the world." He was also very positive toward the episode, commenting that it "[had] the emotional component that separates a merely good 30 Rock episode from a pretty great one [...] and Liz and Jack's strange father/daughter mentor/protégé bond was reaffirmed with zero sentimentality but plenty of well-earned emotional resonance." Ciara Moyna of Daemon's TV was also positive towards "Gentleman's Intermission" describing it as "another highly quotable chuckle fest from a high quality fifth season" and lauding the appearance of Buck Henry as "a stroke of genius casting", adding "His entire storyline, from the phone call etiquette to the night club [...] and his search for the nice bar with rainbow colors, neared top notch 30 Rock standards. Den of Geek writer Ian McDonald described Henry as "hilarity personified". He also went on to praise Jane Krakowski, commenting that "[she] certainly nails the insane act pitch-perfectly. It's kind of frightening how believably insane she can appear". Meredith Blake for the Los Angeles Times
wrote "Pop culture would have us believe that most male-female friendships are destined to turn into romance by Season 5. Jack and Liz are the rare exception. Not only have they never 'gone there,' the very idea of anything other that a friendship seems, well, gross. They represent that rare thing in TV land: A completely platonic friendship between two heterosexual people."
Television columnist Alan Sepinwall for HitFix wrote that the Tracy/Kenneth/Jenna obituary subplot was "more hit-and-miss". Scott Eidler of The Cornell Daily Sun
wrote that the Tracy and Jenna plots were "slightly less believable". Bob Sassone
of TV Squad opined in his recap that the Jack and Avery characters will not last as Elizabeth Banks "is too busy to be on a sitcom every week, so you know that Jack and Avery are going to separate at some point." Sassone also added that the pregnancy story "complicates the plot a bit, so maybe she will stay on in some way." Sassone was positive towards Tracy's obituary story but disliked "Liz's dad getting tired of his 45-year marriage and wanting to go to clubs." He explained that Henry returning as Tina Fey's father and doing this plot "was, well, unnecessary."
30 Rock (season 5)
The fifth season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series on the NBC network in the United States, began airing on September 23, 2010. NBC announced on March 5, 2010 that 30 Rock would be returning for a fifth season in the 2010–2011 television season...
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 86th overall episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producer John Riggi
John Riggi
John Riggi is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor who has worked on various television shows.He has worked as a writer on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock...
and directed by series producer Don Scardino
Don Scardino
Don Scardino is an American television director and producer and a former actor.-Acting:Born in New York City, Scardino began his career as an actor. His first Broadway credit was as an understudy in The Playroom in 1965. Additional Broadway acting credits include Johnny No-Trump, Godspell, and...
. 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 November 4, 2010. Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
and Buck Henry
Buck Henry
Henry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...
guest star in this episode, and there are cameo appearances by Ann Curry
Ann Curry
Ann Curry is an American television news journalist and co-anchor on NBC's morning television program Today. She is the former news anchor on Today, a role she began in March 1997, and was the host of Dateline NBC from 2005-2011.Curry is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Biography:Curry was born in...
, Lester Holt, 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, Avery Jessup (Banks) becomes suspicious of the relationship her fiancé 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...
) has with his employee and friend 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:...
(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...
), so she orders Jack to set boundaries in their friendship. This proves a problem for Liz when her father, Dick Lemon (Henry) arrives in town on a break from his marriage. Meanwhile, actor 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:...
) is upset when he discovers that his pre-recorded NBC obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
shows him to have done nothing worthwhile in his life, whilst 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...
) learns of the video obituaries, she decides to make a video of her own.
The episode received generally good reviews from television critics, especially in regard to guest star Buck Henry. According to Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, "Gentleman's Intermission" was watched by 5.311 million viewers during its original broadcast and received a 2.4 rating/7 share among adults aged 18–49.
Plot
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...
) and Avery Jessup (Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
) are trying to decide what to name their soon to be born daughter. However, when Avery suggests naming the baby Charlotte, Jack declines, saying that his employee and mentee 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:...
(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...
) knew somebody called Charlotte in middle school and did not like her. This annoys Avery, who is concerned about the nature of Jack's relationship with Liz and tells him that he needs to put some boundaries in place. Despite Jack's argument that Liz is his mentee and that he does not choose such people lightly, Avery demands that he starts treating Liz like his other employees.
Meanwhile, Liz has her own problems when her father, Dick Lemon (Buck Henry
Buck Henry
Henry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...
) calls her to say that he is coming to visit her in New York, but will not be bringing his wife and Liz's mother, Margaret Lemon (Anita Gillette
Anita Gillette
Anita Gillette is an American actress, most notable for her work on Broadway and as a celebrity guest on various game shows....
), with him. When he shows up at her apartment, he reveals that he and her mother are on a break. Liz, however, believes that he is just pretending that there are problems with his marriage and that he is actually in town for a "gentleman's intermission", so she refuses to let him stay with her. Unfortunately, her attempts to turn to Jack for help are thwarted by Avery, who is insistent that she work out her own problems instead of always coming to Jack.
At the 30 Rock studios, 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"...
) is shocked when he discovers a group of editors putting together an obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
for actor 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:...
). However, he is calmed when they inform him that it is simply a routine procedure that NBC carries out for some of its more famous stars. Kenneth decides to show the obituary to Tracy himself, who, far from being pleased, laments the way that his legacy looks on television and declares that he does not want to be remembered the way he is. TGS co-star 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...
) finds out about Tracy's obituary and is upset that one has not been made for her, so she decides to record one herself.
It transpires that both Liz and Jack have trouble functioning properly without each other—Liz is used to Jack helping her to deal with her personal life and work problems and struggles to cope on her own, whilst Jack finds that there is a void in his life without his mentee, and attempts to find somebody else to take Liz's place. Ultimately, after trying out his assistant Jonathan, Tracy, Jenna and Avery herself, Jack realizes that only Liz can be his mentee. Eventually, Avery realizes that there is nothing untoward about Jack's friendship with Liz and reunites the pair, saying that they both need the relationship. Jack is able to quickly sort out Liz's problem with her father, by calling him and pretending to be the angry boyfriend of one of the women he has picked up while in town.
Meanwhile, Tracy formulates a plan to make his legacy better—a masked Kenneth will pretend to attack a cat with a hammer, at which point Tracy will come to the rescue with a katana
Katana
A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...
. However, this plan goes wrong when Tracy hears that his film Hard To Watch is likely to win him an Oscar and becomes distracted. Instead, Jenna unwittingly ends up saving the cat and taking all the credit, managing to improve her own legacy after all.
Production
John Riggi
John Riggi is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor who has worked on various television shows.He has worked as a writer on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock...
and directed by series producer Don Scardino
Don Scardino
Don Scardino is an American television director and producer and a former actor.-Acting:Born in New York City, Scardino began his career as an actor. His first Broadway credit was as an understudy in The Playroom in 1965. Additional Broadway acting credits include Johnny No-Trump, Godspell, and...
. This was Riggi's ninth writing credit, and Scardino's twenty-ninth helmed episode. "Gentleman's Intermission" originally aired in the United States on November 4, 2010, on NBC as the sixth episode of the show's fifth season
30 Rock (season 5)
The fifth season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series on the NBC network in the United States, began airing on September 23, 2010. NBC announced on March 5, 2010 that 30 Rock would be returning for a fifth season in the 2010–2011 television season...
and the 86th overall episode of the series. This episode of 30 Rock was filmed on October 2, 2010.
Elizabeth Banks reprised her role in this episode as Avery Jessup, who calls into focus the strange nature of the relationship between Jack Donaghy and Liz Lemon. The unusual friendship between the pair has been a focus of much fan speculation, however Tina Fey, the series creator and lead actress on 30 Rock, had previously promised fans that she would never put them together, commenting: "They're never going to do it [...] I just think it's lazy, when you get to season five or season six [of a TV show] and everyone just starts doing it". Alec Baldwin, who plays Jack Donaghy, was asked if the two characters will ever hook-up, he responded "I sincerely doubt it, and I think the show is better off that way. Once they cross that line, all the tension goes out of those relationships. And I think the lesson we learned about both those characters is that they are married to their jobs and they are married to their work."
Actor/screenwriter Buck Henry made his second appearance as Dick Lemon, Liz's father. Henry played the role in the December 13, 2007, episode "Ludachristmas
Ludachristmas
"Ludachristmas" is the ninth episode of the second season of the television series 30 Rock and was first broadcast on December 13, 2007 on the NBC network in the United States. The episode was written by Tami Sagher and directed by Don Scardino...
" which aired during the show's second season
30 Rock (season 2)
The second season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, originally aired between October 4, 2007 and May 8, 2008 on NBC in the United States. 30 Rock takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy series depicted as airing on NBC; the name refers to 30 Rockefeller...
. This episode of 30 Rock featured cameo appearances from The Today Show correspondents Ann Curry
Ann Curry
Ann Curry is an American television news journalist and co-anchor on NBC's morning television program Today. She is the former news anchor on Today, a role she began in March 1997, and was the host of Dateline NBC from 2005-2011.Curry is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Biography:Curry was born in...
, 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...
, and Lester Holt. "Gentleman's Intermission" was Viera's fifth guest appearance as herself, having appeared in the episodes "Greenzo
Greenzo
"Greenzo" is the fifth episode of NBC's second season of 30 Rock and twenty-sixth episode overall. It was written by Jon Pollack and directed by series producer Don Scardino. It aired on November 8, 2007 in the United States...
", "Larry King
Larry King (30 Rock)
"Larry King" is the twelfth episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 48th overall episode of the series. It was written by supervising producer Matt Hubbard and directed by Constantine Makris. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting...
", "The Bubble
The Bubble (30 Rock)
"The Bubble" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of the American television series 30 Rock. It was written by series' creator Tina Fey and directed by Tricia Brock. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company in the United States on March 19, 2009. Jon Hamm and...
", and "Floyd
Floyd (30 Rock)
"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 ...
". This was Holt's fourth cameo on the show. In "Gentleman's Intermission", Tracy Jordan sees his eulogy with Holt reporting it. Holt appeared in the episodes "Cleveland
Cleveland (30 Rock)
"Cleveland" is the twentieth episode of the first season of 30 Rock. It was written by one of the season's co-executive producers, Jack Burditt, and one of the season's executive producers, Robert Carlock. It was directed by Paul Feig. It first aired on April 19, 2007 on the NBC network in the...
", "Hiatus
Hiatus (30 Rock)
"Hiatus" is the twenty-first and season finale episode of NBC's first season of 30 Rock. It was written by series creator and executive producer Tina Fey, and was directed by Don Scardino. It first aired on April 26, 2007 in the United States...
", and "Floyd". Curry reports that Tracy's movie Hard To Watch, a story of an inner-city boy living in the ghetto, is garnering Oscar buzz which makes Tracy happy. This was Curry's first appearance on 30 Rock. In addition,
Tracy's fictitious film Hard To Watch was mentioned during this episode. The film originally appeared as part of the plot in the 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...
episode "Emanuelle Goes to Dinosaur Land
Emanuelle Goes to Dinosaur Land
"Emanuelle Goes to Dinosaur Land" is the twenty-first episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 79th overall episode of the series. It was written by supervising producer Matt Hubbard and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller. The episode originally aired on...
".
Cultural references
In one scene from the episode, Tracy tells Kenneth that when he dies he does not want to be known as an idiot millionaire. After saying this, Jenna enters Tracy's dressing room and asks if Mark CubanMark Cuban
Mark Cuban is an American business magnate and investor. He is the owner of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures, and the chairman of the HDTV cable network HDNet....
is the idiot millionaire they are talking about and says that Cuban tried to run her over with a jet ski. Cuban is an entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...
, an NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
team. Later, Jenna says that she played Arts and Literature in the film version of Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports...
. The latter is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, this episode of 30 Rock drew in 5.311 million households, according to Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
. The show claimed a 2.4/7 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic. This means that it was seen by 2.4 percent of all 18–49 years olds, and 7 percent of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. The figure was an increase over the previous episode, "Reaganing
Reaganing
"Reaganing" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 85th overall episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producer Matt Hubbard and directed by Todd Holland. It originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company network in...
", which was seen by 5.182 million American viewers.
Juli Weiner for Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
wrote "This may have been our favorite episode of the season so far!" Weiner said that the main plot "didn't quite track." Johnny Firecloud of CraveOnline
CraveOnline
CraveOnline is a male lifestyle website based in Los Angeles with sales offices in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. The site is owned by media company AtomicOnline, the publishing division of Evolve Media Corp.- History :...
wrote that the episode was a strange one in the 30 Rock world "but the emotional component that actually makes us care about the status quo being threatened worked as planned. The uncle/niece-mentor/protégé bond between Jack and Liz was restored with minimal sentimentality, but the emotional weight was palpable between the two." 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...
s Nathan Rabin was complimentary towards Buck Henry's role as Liz's father. "It helps that the two look like they could conceivably be products of the same sturdy/nerdy Midwestern gene pool, but iconically, it makes all the sense in the world." He was also very positive toward the episode, commenting that it "[had] the emotional component that separates a merely good 30 Rock episode from a pretty great one [...] and Liz and Jack's strange father/daughter mentor/protégé bond was reaffirmed with zero sentimentality but plenty of well-earned emotional resonance." Ciara Moyna of Daemon's TV was also positive towards "Gentleman's Intermission" describing it as "another highly quotable chuckle fest from a high quality fifth season" and lauding the appearance of Buck Henry as "a stroke of genius casting", adding "His entire storyline, from the phone call etiquette to the night club [...] and his search for the nice bar with rainbow colors, neared top notch 30 Rock standards. Den of Geek writer Ian McDonald described Henry as "hilarity personified". He also went on to praise Jane Krakowski, commenting that "[she] certainly nails the insane act pitch-perfectly. It's kind of frightening how believably insane she can appear". Meredith Blake for the Los Angeles Times
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....
wrote "Pop culture would have us believe that most male-female friendships are destined to turn into romance by Season 5. Jack and Liz are the rare exception. Not only have they never 'gone there,' the very idea of anything other that a friendship seems, well, gross. They represent that rare thing in TV land: A completely platonic friendship between two heterosexual people."
Television columnist Alan Sepinwall for HitFix wrote that the Tracy/Kenneth/Jenna obituary subplot was "more hit-and-miss". Scott Eidler of The Cornell Daily Sun
The Cornell Daily Sun
The Cornell Daily Sun is an independent daily newspaper published in Ithaca, New York by students at Cornell University. It is the oldest independent college daily in the United States....
wrote that the Tracy and Jenna plots were "slightly less believable". 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 TV Squad opined in his recap that the Jack and Avery characters will not last as Elizabeth Banks "is too busy to be on a sitcom every week, so you know that Jack and Avery are going to separate at some point." Sassone also added that the pregnancy story "complicates the plot a bit, so maybe she will stay on in some way." Sassone was positive towards Tracy's obituary story but disliked "Liz's dad getting tired of his 45-year marriage and wanting to go to clubs." He explained that Henry returning as Tina Fey's father and doing this plot "was, well, unnecessary."