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Somebody to Love (30 Rock)
Encyclopedia
"Somebody to Love" is the sixth episode of the second season
of 30 Rock
, and the twenty-seventh episode overall. It was written by Kay Cannon
and the series' creator, Tina Fey
, and was directed by Beth McCarthy
. The episode first aired on November 15, 2007 on the NBC
network in the United States. Guest stars in this episode include Hamza Ahmed, Fred Armisen
, Kevin Brown
, Chris Caniglia, Grizz Chapman
, Matthieu Cornillon, Michael Devine, Edie Falco
, John Lutz
, Maulik Pancholy
, Christianne Tisdale and Kristen Wiig
.
The episode focuses on Jack Donaghy
's (Alec Baldwin
) first meeting with Celeste "C.C." Cunningham (Edie Falco); Liz Lemon
(Tina Fey) believes that her new neighbor, Raheem Haddad (Fred Armisen), is a terrorist; and Kenneth Parcell
(Jack McBrayer
) accidentally loses a pair of Jack's trousers.
, which is being thrown by John McCain
and Jack Bauer
, Jack Donaghy
meets C.C., the Democratic
congresswoman for Vermont
. After the party, Jack and C.C. go back to Jack's apartment and have sex together. The following morning, Jack discovers that C.C. is suing the Sheinhardt Wig Company, the fictional subsidiary of General Electric
(GE) and owner of NBC, the company that Jack works for. This is because the company is allegedly leaking Auburn Fantasy Dye Number 260 into the Chicktaugua River, causing the children of Chickataugua to turn orange. After discovering that Jack works for GE, C.C. leaves and goes to work at Bill Clinton
's office in Harlem
. Jack and Tracy Jordan
(Tracy Morgan
), follow her there and Jack and C.C. decide to carry on their relationship in secret.
Liz is worried when she smells maple syrup
in her apartment and Jack tells her that it could be the chemical agent Northrax
. She suspects that her new neighbour, Raheem (Fred Armisen
), is a terrorist because he has maps in his apartment and she has seen him and his brother, Hakeem (Hamza Ahmed), on an agility
course in the park. Liz is shocked to discover that the pair are auditioning for The Amazing Race
and, in fact, not terrorists.
After bringing Jack's suit back from the dry cleaners, Kenneth discovers that he has lost the suit's trousers. Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander
), James "Toofer" Spurlock (Keith Powell
) and Josh Girard (Lonny Ross
) pay him to complete various dares so that he can pay for a new pair of trousers.
and Kristen Wiig
, who play Raheem and Candace Van der Shark in the episode, have both appeared in the main cast of Saturday Night Live
, a weekly sketch comedy
series which airs on NBC
in the United States. Tina Fey was the head writer
on Saturday Night Live from 1999 until 2006. Various other cast members of Saturday Night Live have appeared on 30 Rock, including Rachel Dratch
, Will Forte
, Jason Sudeikis
, Molly Shannon
and Chris Parnell
. Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan have both been part of the main cast of Saturday Night Live. Alec Baldwin has also hosted Saturday Night Live fifteen times, the highest amount of episodes of any host of the series.
This episode was the second episode, after "Greenzo
," to air since the start of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
, which began on November 5, 2007 and ended on February 12, 2008, 100 days later. This episode was the first to contain reference to the strike. The reference occurs when C.C. is being interviewed on MSNBC
and the news crawl
below reads "News crawl affected by writers strike. Using repeat text from previous season." This episode was filmed in early October, 2007. This was the ninth episode written by Tina Fey and the second written by Kay Cannon. It was the third episode directed by Beth McCarthy.
_(cropped).jpg)
"Somebody to Love" brought in an average of 6.4 million viewers. The episode also achieved a 3.2/8 in the key 18–49 year old demographic, the highest result in that demographic since the episode "SeinfeldVision
" aired on October 4, 2007. The 3.2 refers to 3.2% of all 18–49 years olds in the U.S., and the 8 refers to 8% of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast in the U.S.. 30 Rock ranked in first place in the male 18–34 demographic, for its 8:30 p.m9:00 pm timeslot.
Robert Canning of IGN
thought that the episode "was 30 Rock' s best episode of the season [so far], if not the best episode ever from this young series." Canning also said that "this was just a fantastic, funny episode of 30 Rock. It was also an episode that once again proved the character of Jenna Maroney
(Jane Krakowski
), who was completely absent from this half hour, simply isn't necessary when you've got Tracy Jordan talking to a pigeon on a trash can." Canning rated this episode "9.5 out of 10." Matt Webb Mitovich of TV Guide
wrote that "it's not surprising that – in my opinion, at least – it fell juuuuuuust a bit short. It's almost as if the funniest parts of the Edie Falco
story were played by [Kristen] Wiig in the Lifetime movie." He thought that "the 'Liz suspects the neighbor is a terrorist' story played out rather well." Jeff Labrecque of Entertainment Weekly
wrote that "Overall, [this was] another splendid [episode]. My only beef was with the Verizon bit. 30 Rock normally does a splendid job of balancing the corporate elements of television, often utilizing it for comic fodder. But the winking cell phone banter lacked subtlety, and it seemed to me like the show was trying to have its cake and eat it, too."
Beth McCarthy was nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award in the category of "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series". Edie Falco, who portrayed Celeste Cunningham, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award
in the category of "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
".
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...
of 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 twenty-seventh episode overall. It was written by Kay Cannon
Kay Cannon
Kay Cannon is an American television writer and actress who is best known for her work as an Emmy nominated writer and producer for the NBC series 30 Rock.-Biography:...
and the series' creator, 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...
, and was directed by Beth McCarthy
Beth McCarthy-Miller
Beth McCarthy or Beth McCarthy-Miller was the director of NBCs Saturday Night Live starting in 1995. She left SNL in 2006 at the end of season 31, replaced as director by Don Roy King...
. The episode first aired on November 15, 2007 on the NBC
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...
network in the United States. Guest stars in this episode include Hamza Ahmed, Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and portraying off-color foreigners in various comedy films such as EuroTrip, Anchorman and Cop Out...
, Kevin Brown
Kevin Brown (actor)
Kevin 'Dot Com' Brown is an American comedian, film and television actor, best known for his role on the series 30 Rock as "Dot Com".Brown also appeared as the lead in Marq Overton's one-man play Die Laughing in 2008 at the Diversity Players of Harlem and as an actor and executive producer of the...
, Chris Caniglia, Grizz Chapman
Grizz Chapman
Grizzwald "Grizz" Chapman is an American television actor best known for his recurring role as Grizz on the NBC series 30 Rock. A June 2007 interview with rollingout.com lists Chapman's height as 6'10". In his commentary for the episode "Tracy Does Conan," Tracy Morgan revealed that they met when...
, Matthieu Cornillon, Michael Devine, Edie Falco
Edie Falco
Edith "Edie" Falco is an American television, film and stage actress, known for her roles in Oz as Diane Wittlesey, as Carmela Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos, and as the titular character on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie...
, 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...
, Maulik Pancholy
Maulik Pancholy
Maulik Pancholy is an American actor. He is best known for his recurring role as Sanjay on Weeds from 2005 to present, and his role as Jonathan on 30 Rock, which he has played since the show began in 2006....
, Christianne Tisdale and Kristen Wiig
Kristen Wiig
Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American film and television actress who currently appears as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Wiig was a member of improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings, and has appeared in several films and television series, including Bridesmaids, MacGruber, Flight of...
.
The episode focuses on 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....
's (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...
) first meeting with Celeste "C.C." Cunningham (Edie Falco); 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) believes that her new neighbor, Raheem Haddad (Fred Armisen), is a terrorist; and 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"...
) accidentally loses a pair of Jack's trousers.
Plot
At a party in honor of Robert NovakRobert Novak
Robert David Sanders "Bob" Novak was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving for the U.S. Army in the Korean War, he became a reporter for the Associated Press and then for...
, which is being thrown by John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
and Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer is the main protagonist of the American television series 24. His character has worked in various capacities on the show, often as a member of the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit based in Los Angeles, and working with the FBI in Washington, D.C...
, 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....
meets C.C., the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
congresswoman for Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
. After the party, Jack and C.C. go back to Jack's apartment and have sex together. The following morning, Jack discovers that C.C. is suing the Sheinhardt Wig Company, the fictional subsidiary of General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
(GE) and owner of NBC, the company that Jack works for. This is because the company is allegedly leaking Auburn Fantasy Dye Number 260 into the Chicktaugua River, causing the children of Chickataugua to turn orange. After discovering that Jack works for GE, C.C. leaves and goes to work at Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's office in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. Jack 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:...
), follow her there and Jack and C.C. decide to carry on their relationship in secret.
Liz is worried when she smells maple syrup
Maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species such as the bigleaf maple. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then...
in her apartment and Jack tells her that it could be the chemical agent Northrax
Anthrax
Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the disease are lethal, and it affects both humans and other animals...
. She suspects that her new neighbour, Raheem (Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and portraying off-color foreigners in various comedy films such as EuroTrip, Anchorman and Cop Out...
), is a terrorist because he has maps in his apartment and she has seen him and his brother, Hakeem (Hamza Ahmed), on an agility
Agility
* Agility is a physical trait of an animal or person, and a component of physical fitness. It is the ability to change the body's position and direction with speed and precision.Agility may also refer to:In Sport:...
course in the park. Liz is shocked to discover that the pair are auditioning for The Amazing Race
The Amazing Race
The Amazing Race is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams...
and, in fact, not terrorists.
After bringing Jack's suit back from the dry cleaners, Kenneth discovers that he has lost the suit's trousers. 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 Josh Girard (Lonny Ross
Lonny Ross
Lonny Ross is a comedy actor and writer. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for his work as Josh Girard on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock...
) pay him to complete various dares so that he can pay for a new pair of trousers.
Production
Fred ArmisenFred Armisen
Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and portraying off-color foreigners in various comedy films such as EuroTrip, Anchorman and Cop Out...
and Kristen Wiig
Kristen Wiig
Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American film and television actress who currently appears as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Wiig was a member of improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings, and has appeared in several films and television series, including Bridesmaids, MacGruber, Flight of...
, who play Raheem and Candace Van der Shark in the episode, have both 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...
, 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
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...
in the United States. Tina Fey 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 Saturday Night Live from 1999 until 2006. Various other cast members of Saturday Night Live have appeared on 30 Rock, including Rachel Dratch
Rachel Dratch
Rachel Susan Dratch is an American comic actress best known for her roles as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...
, Will Forte
Will Forte
Orville Willis Forte IV, better known as Will Forte , is an American actor, voice actor, comedian and writer best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2002–2010 and for starring in the SNL spin-off film MacGruber.-Early life:Forte was born in Alameda County, California, the son of...
, 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...
, Molly Shannon
Molly Shannon
Molly Helen Shannon is an American comic actress best known for her work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995–2001 and for starring in the films Superstar and Year of the Dog. More recently, she starred in NBC's Kath & Kim from 2008–2009 and on the TBS animated series Neighbors from...
and Chris Parnell
Chris Parnell
Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
. Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan have both been part of the main cast of Saturday Night Live. Alec Baldwin has also hosted Saturday Night Live fifteen times, the highest amount of episodes of any host of the series.
This episode was the second episode, after "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...
," to air since the start of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
, which began on November 5, 2007 and ended on February 12, 2008, 100 days later. This episode was the first to contain reference to the strike. The reference occurs when C.C. is being interviewed on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
and the news crawl
News ticker
A news ticker resides in the lower third of the television screen space on television news networks dedicated to presenting headlines or minor pieces of news. It may also refer to a long, thin scoreboard-style display seen around the front of some offices or public buildings...
below reads "News crawl affected by writers strike. Using repeat text from previous season." This episode was filmed in early October, 2007. This was the ninth episode written by Tina Fey and the second written by Kay Cannon. It was the third episode directed by Beth McCarthy.
Reception
SeinfeldVision
"SeinfeldVision" is the first episode of the second season of 30 Rock and the twenty-second episode of the series. It was written by the series' creator, executive producer and lead actress, Tina Fey and directed by producer Don Scardino...
" aired on October 4, 2007. The 3.2 refers to 3.2% of all 18–49 years olds in the U.S., and the 8 refers to 8% of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast in the U.S.. 30 Rock ranked in first place in the male 18–34 demographic, for its 8:30 p.m9:00 pm timeslot.
Robert Canning of 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...
thought that the episode "was 30 Rock
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...
), who was completely absent from this half hour, simply isn't necessary when you've got Tracy Jordan talking to a pigeon on a trash can." Canning rated this episode "9.5 out of 10." Matt Webb Mitovich of 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...
wrote that "it's not surprising that – in my opinion, at least – it fell juuuuuuust a bit short. It's almost as if the funniest parts of the Edie Falco
Edie Falco
Edith "Edie" Falco is an American television, film and stage actress, known for her roles in Oz as Diane Wittlesey, as Carmela Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos, and as the titular character on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie...
story were played by [Kristen] Wiig in the Lifetime movie." He thought that "the 'Liz suspects the neighbor is a terrorist' story played out rather well." Jeff Labrecque of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
wrote that "Overall, [this was] another splendid [episode]. My only beef was with the Verizon bit. 30 Rock normally does a splendid job of balancing the corporate elements of television, often utilizing it for comic fodder. But the winking cell phone banter lacked subtlety, and it seemed to me like the show was trying to have its cake and eat it, too."
Beth McCarthy was nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award in the category of "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series". Edie Falco, who portrayed Celeste Cunningham, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
in the category of "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series
This is a list of winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.-1970s:Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series...
".