Winter Madness
Encyclopedia
"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 Broadcasting Company
(NBC) in the United States on January 21, 2010. Guest stars in this episode include Ray Bokhour, Cheyenne Jackson
, Kevin Meaney
, and Julianne Moore
.
In the episode, when head writer Liz Lemon
(Tina Fey
) decides to take the fictitious show The Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan (TGS) on the road to cure the staff's case of the winter madness, the anticipated trip does not exactly go as planned. Her boss, Jack Donaghy
(Alec Baldwin
), chooses Boston as the destination and travels with the show in order to visit Nancy Donovan (Moore), and while away from New York, the TGS crew blames Liz for all of their misfortunes. This episode also continued a story arc involving Nancy as a love interest for Jack, which began in the episode "Secret Santa
" that aired in December 2009.
"Winter Madness" received generally mixed reception from television critics. According to the Nielsen Media Research
, it was watched by 5.585 million households during its original broadcast, and received a 2.8 rating/7 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic.
(Tina Fey
), along with producer Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit
), decides to take the show's staff to Miami for a week, due to Liz's hate of the cold weather and the staff's case of "winter madness". Her boss, Jack Donaghy
(Alec Baldwin
), decides to take them to Boston instead, so he can see Nancy Donovan (Julianne Moore
), a woman Jack ponders having a possible romance with. He learns that Nancy's husband has left her as a way of getting her to ask for a divorce, but Nancy refuses to do so, fearing what others might think. Jack admits his true feelings to Nancy and insists that the two talk. She suggests that they should say four words to each other as a way of putting their relationship on hold; Jack says to her "I'll wait. Not forever", while Nancy tells him "I'll try. Wicked hard."
Meanwhile, the TGS staff—Jenna Maroney
(Jane Krakowski
), Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander
), James "Toofer" Spurlock (Keith Powell
), J. D. Lutz (John Lutz
), Sue Laroche-Van der Hout (Sue Galloway), Kenneth Parcell
(Jack McBrayer
), Cerie Xerox (Katrina Bowden
), and Danny Baker (Cheyenne Jackson
)—vent their anger at Liz; they complain that Boston is colder than New York, and they do not like sharing an office with the all-male staff of Boston Bruins
fans who write for the Bruins Beat. Liz gets a tip from Jack to find a common enemy in the Boston headquarters of NBC. Liz comes up with the name "Dale Snitterman", and tells the staff that Snitterman is causing all of their problems, not realizing until later that she had seen the name somewhere and did not make it up. At that point, the staff finds Snitterman (Ray Bokhour) and harass him.
At the same time, Tracy Jordan
(Tracy Morgan
) goes on Boston's Freedom Trail
. He accuses the actor playing John Hancock
(Kevin Meaney
) that his character did not actually set all Americans free. When he tells him "Patriots suck!", he inadvertently says it near a group of New England Patriots
fans. At the end of the episode, Hancock brings in the Crispus Attucks
character and tells Tracy he does have black friends. When Hancock says he met Attucks in 1775, Tracy is able to one up him as he knows that Attucks was killed in the Boston Massacre
in 1770.
"Winter Madness" was written by script co-coordinator Tom Ceraulo and co-producer Vali Chandrasekaran, and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller
. This episode was Ceraulo's second writing credit, having co-written season three
episode "The Funcooker
, and the first written episode by Chandrasekaran. This was McCarthy-Miller's tenth directed episode. "Winter Madness" originally aired in the United States on January 21, 2010, on NBC as the eleventh episode of the show's fourth season
and the 69th overall episode of the series.
In November 2009, it was announced that actress Julianne Moore
would guest star on 30 Rock as a love interest for Jack Donaghy, Alec Baldwin
's character. She made her debut as the character Nancy Donovan in the December 10, 2009, episode "Secret Santa
". This episode was Moore's second appearance on the show. "Winter Madness" was filmed on November 17, 2009. Comedian Kevin Meaney
guest starred as the actor portraying John Hancock
. This was actor Cheyenne Jackson
's fourth appearance as Danny Baker in the series. He made his debut in the November 12, 2009, episode "The Problem Solvers
", and would later guest star on the episodes "Secret Santa
", "Black Light Attack!
", "Floyd
", and "The Moms
". In "Winter Madness", while venting their anger towards Liz, Danny admits his refusal to hit on
Jenna.
, a word game designed by using a plastic grid of lettered dice, in which players attempt to find words in sequences of adjacent letters. Later, Jack tells Liz that she is the female version of former Boston Celtics
basketball player Kevin McHale
. Jack's Boston office is a duplication of his New York one. When Liz enters, Jack asks her if she can tell which seven items are different, prompting the two to look into the camera and smile and thus breaking the fourth wall
, a term used when a character in a television show, film or on stage directly addresses the audience. In one scene, Jack says that many Boston residents have named their daughters "Belichick", after New England Patriots
head coach Bill Belichick
.
During one scene of "Winter Madness", Toofer tells the writing staff that he went to college in Boston, "Well, not in Boston, but nearby", mocking a common stereotype of Harvard students that they will not mention that they attend the University, for fear of intimidating anyone, but will still strongly hint to it. Later, Jack and Nancy imitate former Boston newscasters Chet Curtis
and Natalie Jacobson
, who were the most-watched news team in Boston for twenty years. Nancy tells Jack that her husband moved to New Orleans to rebuild houses that were affected by Hurricane Katrina
as part of actor Brad Pitt
's Make It Right Foundation
, an organization building affordable housing to help those families most in need following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
. It received a 2.8 rating/7 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic, meaning that 2.8 percent of all people in that group, and 7 percent of all people from that group watching television at the time, watched the episode. This was an increase from the previous episode, "Black Light Attack!
", which was watched by 5.014 million American viewers. "Winter Madness" ranked third in the timeslot and was the only episode getting more viewers, going up 22 percent from the previous week's episode rating.
The episode received generally mixed reviews from television critics. Robert Canning of IGN
said the episode was great and gave it an 8.8 out 10 rating, saying that he was "impressed" with how the ending handled Jack and Nancy's "not-quite romance." Canning enjoyed the "platonic romance" between them saying, "A lesser series could have simply had the pair hook up, break up and move on, but 30 Rock has drawn out the relationship with flirtation, what-ifs and possible future ex-husbands." Meredith Blake, writing for the Los Angeles Times
, found the episode "perfectly" and "well-timed". Leonard Pierce for The A.V. Club
said that the episode started "out wicked strong, with everyone in the cast getting great lines". In regards to the two plots, Pierce said that the Liz, TGS, and Dale Snitterman story was "stuffed with great comedic moments", while the Jack and Nancy angle just sat there and flopped "around like a dying fish." Bob Sassone
of AOL
's TV Squad enjoyed the Boston theme in "Winter Madness"; his only complaint was that the episode had nothing to do with TGS, the fictional show on 30 Rock. "I'm getting a little tired of that. I want more sketches and NBC network shenanigans."
Entertainment Weekly
' s Margaret Lyons reported that "Winter Madness" was "something of a letdown." She commented that Julianne Moore's Nancy was not "funny enough" as a "romantic foil for Jack", and that taking the show to Boston seemed off the mark. Television columnist Alan Sepinwall for The Star-Ledger
reported that "Winter Madness" fell into the category of an episode that featured "a lot of funny gags but aren't wholly satisfying" and added that it "just stopped, rather than building to a real conclusion". Sean Gandert of Paste
rated unfavorably the pairing of Alec Baldwin and Julianne Moore's characters, citing that they do not have "much rapport, so the scenes with the two of them together are a bit dead, as much as I usually enjoy seeing Julianne Moore in pretty much anything." Amos Barshad for New York
magazine criticized Moore's Boston accent, citing that it was "atrocious", while TV Guide Magazine
' s Bruce Fretts opined that the accent was "wicked bad". Regarding the episode itself, Fretts said that it was "weak".
Despite the criticism towards Moore's Boston accent in the series, executive producer Robert Carlock
, who is from Boston, defended Moore. In an interview with New York magazine, Carlock said, "I grew up with people like that. Not everyone talks like that in Boston, but I think she's enough of an actress to pull it off." When asked if her accent "sounded realistic", he noted, "I'm going to go with that. I know people who sound like that." In response to the accent, Moore explained "I went to school in Boston and worked with a lot of guys from Dorchester, so that's where [the accent] came from. We made it thick ... for humor's sake, but then again, not really. There are folks with seriously heavy accents there, and they are proud of it."
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 69th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by Tom Ceraulo and Vali Chandrasekaran, and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller
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...
. It 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) in the United States on January 21, 2010. Guest stars in this episode include Ray Bokhour, 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...
, Kevin Meaney
Kevin Meaney
Kevin Gerard Meaney is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He has been involved in a number of television programs, having been featured on Dr. Katz, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Garfield and Friends, Rocko's Modern Life, London Underground, and Duckman, among others...
, and Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
.
In the episode, when head writer 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...
) decides to take the fictitious show The Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan (TGS) on the road to cure the staff's case of the winter madness, the anticipated trip does not exactly go as planned. 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...
), chooses Boston as the destination and travels with the show in order to visit Nancy Donovan (Moore), and while away from New York, the TGS crew blames Liz for all of their misfortunes. This episode also continued a story arc involving Nancy as a love interest for Jack, which began in the episode "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 ...
" that aired in December 2009.
"Winter Madness" received generally mixed reception from television critics. According to the Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, it was watched by 5.585 million households during its original broadcast, and received a 2.8 rating/7 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic.
Plot
TGS head writer 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...
), along with 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,...
), decides to take the show's staff to Miami for a week, due to Liz's hate of the cold weather and the staff's case of "winter madness". 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...
), decides to take them to Boston instead, so he can see Nancy Donovan (Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
), a woman Jack ponders having a possible romance with. He learns that Nancy's husband has left her as a way of getting her to ask for a divorce, but Nancy refuses to do so, fearing what others might think. Jack admits his true feelings to Nancy and insists that the two talk. She suggests that they should say four words to each other as a way of putting their relationship on hold; Jack says to her "I'll wait. Not forever", while Nancy tells him "I'll try. Wicked hard."
Meanwhile, the TGS staff—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...
), 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...
), 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...
), Sue Laroche-Van der Hout (Sue Galloway), 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"...
), Cerie Xerox (Katrina Bowden
Katrina Bowden
Katrina Bowden is an American actress. She is known for her short role as Britney Jennings on One Life to Live and for her role as Cerie in 30 Rock .- Education :...
), and 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...
)—vent their anger at Liz; they complain that Boston is colder than New York, and they do not like sharing an office with the all-male staff of Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
fans who write for the Bruins Beat. Liz gets a tip from Jack to find a common enemy in the Boston headquarters of NBC. Liz comes up with the name "Dale Snitterman", and tells the staff that Snitterman is causing all of their problems, not realizing until later that she had seen the name somewhere and did not make it up. At that point, the staff finds Snitterman (Ray Bokhour) and harass him.
At the same time, 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:...
) goes on Boston's Freedom Trail
Freedom Trail
The Freedom Trail is a red path through downtown Boston, Massachusetts, that leads to 16 significant historic sites. It is a 2.5-mile walk from Boston Common to Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. Simple ground markers explaining events, graveyards, notable churches and other buildings, and a...
. He accuses the actor playing John Hancock
John Hancock
John Hancock was a merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...
(Kevin Meaney
Kevin Meaney
Kevin Gerard Meaney is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He has been involved in a number of television programs, having been featured on Dr. Katz, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Garfield and Friends, Rocko's Modern Life, London Underground, and Duckman, among others...
) that his character did not actually set all Americans free. When he tells him "Patriots suck!", he inadvertently says it near a group of New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
fans. At the end of the episode, Hancock brings in the Crispus Attucks
Crispus Attucks
Crispus Attucks was a dockworker of Wampanoag and African descent. He was the first person shot to death by British redcoats during the Boston Massacre, in Boston, Massachusetts...
character and tells Tracy he does have black friends. When Hancock says he met Attucks in 1775, Tracy is able to one up him as he knows that Attucks was killed in the Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre, called the Boston Riot by the British, was an incident on March 5, 1770, in which British Army soldiers killed five civilian men. British troops had been stationed in Boston, capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, since 1768 in order to protect and support...
in 1770.
Production
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...
. This episode was Ceraulo's second writing credit, having co-written 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 "The Funcooker
The Funcooker
"The Funcooker" is the fourteenth episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock. It was written by Tom Ceraulo and Donald Glover, and directed by Ken Whittingham. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company on March 12, 2009...
, and the first written episode by Chandrasekaran. This was McCarthy-Miller's tenth directed episode. "Winter Madness" originally aired in the United States on January 21, 2010, on NBC as the eleventh 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 69th overall episode of the series.
In November 2009, it was announced that actress Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
would guest star on 30 Rock as a love interest for Jack Donaghy, 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...
's character. She made her debut as the character Nancy Donovan in the December 10, 2009, episode "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 ...
". This episode was Moore's second appearance on the show. "Winter Madness" was filmed on November 17, 2009. Comedian Kevin Meaney
Kevin Meaney
Kevin Gerard Meaney is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He has been involved in a number of television programs, having been featured on Dr. Katz, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Garfield and Friends, Rocko's Modern Life, London Underground, and Duckman, among others...
guest starred as the actor portraying John Hancock
John Hancock
John Hancock was a merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...
. This was actor 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...
's fourth appearance as Danny Baker in the series. He made his debut in the November 12, 2009, episode "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...
", and would later guest star on the episodes "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 ...
", "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 ...
", and "The Moms
The Moms
"The Moms" is the twentieth episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 78th overall episode of the series. It was written by co-producer Kay Cannon and co-show runner and executive producer Robert Carlock. The episode was directed by co-executive producer...
". In "Winter Madness", while venting their anger towards Liz, Danny admits his refusal to hit on
Flirting
Flirting is a playful, romantic, or sexual overture by one person to another subtly indicating an interest in a deeper relationship with the other person, and can involve verbal communication as well as body language...
Jenna.
Cultural references
In the beginning of the episode, Liz complains about the cold weather saying that she has been stuck inside her apartment playing online BoggleBoggle
Boggle is a word game designed by Allan Turoff and trademarked by Parker Brothers, a division of Hasbro. The game is played using a plastic grid of lettered dice, in which players attempt to find words in sequences of adjacent letters.-Rules:...
, a word game designed by using a plastic grid of lettered dice, in which players attempt to find words in sequences of adjacent letters. Later, Jack tells Liz that she is the female version of former Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
basketball player Kevin McHale
Kevin McHale
Kevin Edward McHale is a retired American professional basketball player and current head coach of the Houston Rockets. After his playing career, he worked for the Minnesota Timberwolves as the team's general manager and later its coach. He was fired as coach in June 2009...
. Jack's Boston office is a duplication of his New York one. When Liz enters, Jack asks her if she can tell which seven items are different, prompting the two to look into the camera and smile and thus breaking the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
, a term used when a character in a television show, film or on stage directly addresses the audience. In one scene, Jack says that many Boston residents have named their daughters "Belichick", after New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
head coach Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick
William Stephen "Bill" Belichick is an American football head coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. After spending his first 15 seasons in the league as an assistant coach, Belichick got his first head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns in 1991...
.
During one scene of "Winter Madness", Toofer tells the writing staff that he went to college in Boston, "Well, not in Boston, but nearby", mocking a common stereotype of Harvard students that they will not mention that they attend the University, for fear of intimidating anyone, but will still strongly hint to it. Later, Jack and Nancy imitate former Boston newscasters Chet Curtis
Chet Curtis
Chet Curtis is best known as the former husband and co-anchor of Natalie Jacobson, both Boston newscasters.Chet Curtis is a primetime anchor at NECN. He anchors The Chet Curtis Report and co-anchors New England Business Day. Before joining NECN in the spring of 2001, Curtis was an anchor and...
and Natalie Jacobson
Natalie Jacobson
Natalie Jacobson was for a quarter-century a well-regarded and popular television newscaster with WCVB-TV in Boston, Massachusetts....
, who were the most-watched news team in Boston for twenty years. Nancy tells Jack that her husband moved to New Orleans to rebuild houses that were affected by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
as part of actor Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
's Make It Right Foundation
Make It Right Foundation New Orleans
- Organization Overview :In December 2006, Brad Pitt founded Make It Right to rebuild 150 safe, energy-efficient and affordable homes for families from New Orleans Lower 9th Ward who lost everything to Hurricane Katrina...
, an organization building affordable housing to help those families most in need following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Winter Madness" was watched by 5.585 million households, according to the Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
. It received a 2.8 rating/7 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic, meaning that 2.8 percent of all people in that group, and 7 percent of all people from that group watching television at the time, watched the episode. This was an increase from the previous episode, "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 ...
", which was watched by 5.014 million American viewers. "Winter Madness" ranked third in the timeslot and was the only episode getting more viewers, going up 22 percent from the previous week's episode rating.
The episode received generally mixed reviews from television critics. 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...
said the episode was great and gave it an 8.8 out 10 rating, saying that he was "impressed" with how the ending handled Jack and Nancy's "not-quite romance." Canning enjoyed the "platonic romance" between them saying, "A lesser series could have simply had the pair hook up, break up and move on, but 30 Rock has drawn out the relationship with flirtation, what-ifs and possible future ex-husbands." Meredith Blake, writing 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....
, found the episode "perfectly" and "well-timed". Leonard Pierce for 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...
said that the episode started "out wicked strong, with everyone in the cast getting great lines". In regards to the two plots, Pierce said that the Liz, TGS, and Dale Snitterman story was "stuffed with great comedic moments", while the Jack and Nancy angle just sat there and flopped "around like a dying fish." 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 enjoyed the Boston theme in "Winter Madness"; his only complaint was that the episode had nothing to do with TGS, the fictional show on 30 Rock. "I'm getting a little tired of that. I want more sketches and NBC network shenanigans."
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...
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...
reported that "Winter Madness" fell into the category of an episode that featured "a lot of funny gags but aren't wholly satisfying" and added that it "just stopped, rather than building to a real conclusion". 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:...
rated unfavorably the pairing of Alec Baldwin and Julianne Moore's characters, citing that they do not have "much rapport, so the scenes with the two of them together are a bit dead, as much as I usually enjoy seeing Julianne Moore in pretty much anything." Amos Barshad for New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine criticized Moore's Boston accent, citing that it was "atrocious", while TV Guide Magazine
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...
Despite the criticism towards Moore's Boston accent in the series, executive producer Robert Carlock
Robert Carlock
Robert Carlock is an American television producer and screenwriter most widely known for his work as a writer for several NBC television comedies, particularly his work with Tina Fey as show runners for 30 Rock.-Early years:...
, who is from Boston, defended Moore. In an interview with New York magazine, Carlock said, "I grew up with people like that. Not everyone talks like that in Boston, but I think she's enough of an actress to pull it off." When asked if her accent "sounded realistic", he noted, "I'm going to go with that. I know people who sound like that." In response to the accent, Moore explained "I went to school in Boston and worked with a lot of guys from Dorchester, so that's where [the accent] came from. We made it thick ... for humor's sake, but then again, not really. There are folks with seriously heavy accents there, and they are proud of it."
External links
- "Winter Madness," at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...