Jack Donaghy

No, I was just phenomenal.

The John Locke versus Jack.

Desmond, isn't it? Desmond as well, yeah.

The whole thing of like putting in the numbers, science versus, just properly brilliant show.

It's never really permeated amongst, like, my friends, has it? It's a shame.

And I also think because it's like, 30 Rock, what is that? Yeah, yeah.

It is, every episode is so... layered with so many jokes and Anna and I are kind of watching it and there'll be a line and it'll take us maybe like 10 seconds and we'll go oh my god rewind five jokes that joke that person said over there was really really good and Alec Baldwin is like it's the best performance it's his best role in his entire career as Jack Donaghy and Tina Fey it's fantastic and I love the fact that like you know that they have this great chemistry in it but they're not it's not a romantic relationship it's kind of like uh almost fraternal fatherly he looks after her oh yeah honestly if you still haven't seen 30 rock which i realize a lot of people haven't it's on netflix at the moment just just just go and enjoy it i was talking to a friend the other day she's into comedy she's actually just started doing stand-up comedy and she was like i've never seen it and i was like you have to see it you have to see it yeah it's also like a satire of snl and it's oh it's so good it's so so good i it and i can see why it's at number eight because like it's about television it's about media it's just brilliant i will say i'm on seven seasons i'd say seasons six and seven it's like they they did so much they they kind of ran out of ideas and it gets really really wacky and i'm like okay i don't love all these storylines still funny don't love all the storylines but my god so good such a good show some comedies came to mind, which I know are massive.

The Chuck Lorre comedy, so I'd like to say Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory.

Roles like Pete and Kenneth the Page were written with Faye's old Second City castmates Scott Adsit and Jack McBrayer in mind.

Frequent SNL host Alec Baldwin was the first choice for the role of Jack Donaghy, and marked a substantial shift into television for the Oscar nominee.

Notably, the role of Jenna Maroney was originally portrayed by Rachel Dratch, who does appear in today's pilot as a professional cat wrangler, along with a multitude of supporting roles throughout the series.

Although she filmed the original unaired pilot at NBC, the decision was made that sketches would play less of a role in the show moving forward, and a call was made to find an actress as more straight-ahead sitcom chops.

Hell yeah.

We mentioned Lorne Michaels and we mentioned the idea of there being a big boss who has a plan as far as how he's going to make things better.

And in walks a mysterious man, Jack Donaghy.

And I would love for the two of you to tell me your thoughts about the East Coast president of television and microwave programming who comes in like a bat out of hell.

[laughs]

Whatever that line from Jack Donaghy is.

I'm not a farmer.

You got it wrong.

in both shows, the quote unquote "liberal conscience" and its hypocrisies are ruthlessly mocked throughout.

And although you're not encouraged to think of Jack Donaghy or Ron Swanson as being right necessarily-

No, they're terrible people

...

Oh.

And he's incredibly loyal to Leslie.

And Jack Donaghy mentors Liz Lemon.

And yes, he says things like, "Of course I'm wearing a tuxedo after 6:00.

And because they have this like tension.

We have to mention Jack Donaghy.

That's the main character we've not mentioned.

So he's like the Lorne Michaels who started Saturday Night Live to Tina Fey's head writer, but obviously like ridiculous.

who would it be? Can I create a dangerous threesome that might end in death?

yes please do please do yeah expand yeah

so i was thinking i was watching clips the other day so obviously jack donaghy i'm gonna have to date him yeah but there was that his rival played by he's in arrested development he plays jobe he's married to amy poehler you mean so he played he used to be married

to amy poehler now divorced yeah and so

Because their values.

So you have that moment where anyone can go like, what did Kenneth say about growing up in Stone Mountain, Georgia? You know, like, what did he say about what like what did Jack Donaghy just say about how wealthy he is? Every single one of them can turn to that.

And what's so great is you'll get in those runs in 30 Rock where characters will be reacting to the strangeness, framing what is strange about what just happened.

Right.

I know I said Andre Brower's the TV performance of the century, but you could give it to any number of people on 30 Rock, but specifically Tracy Morgan or Alec Baldwin.

The Jack and Liz dynamic on 30 Rock is the golden goose that they rode to success.

And I think similarly to New Girl and to Parks and Rec, like I was talking about, late season 30 Rock is so funny.

It never loses a step.

Even season four, when you can start to feel it aging a little bit, it cleverly rejiggers its formula a little bit.

And rejiggers kind of some of the power dynamics, like Jack is up and down.

I don't know.

The show never found a way to feel stale.