If you didn’t know, there’s a bunch of us clackers that hail from in or around Boston, so when I saw that TGS was going to be taking a trip to Boston in this week’s episode, I got a little excited. Of course, the real idea was to go to Miami to get away from the winter madness, but Jack saw the opportunity to go visit his quasi-girlfriend, Nancy, as played by Julianne Moore.
I was excited to see Moore back on the show, even with her mediocre Boston accent. Jack’s girlfriend’s have always been a great part of 30 Rock, and Moore is doing a great job. Indeed, this was another strong episode for 30 Rock.
It’s clear that 30 Rock must have a writer or two from Boston. There were quite a few nice local details put into the episode, including a shout out to legendary Boston newscasters Chet Curtis and Natalie Jacobson. I probably took a little too much pleasure from all the nods to everything Boston: the bruins, patriots, and even the freedom trail.
Enough about Boston, though, that wasn’t the only thing going on in this episode. Tonight was really heavy on Jack, which is always a good thing. Alec Baldwin is the man, as his recent continued dominance at the Golden Globes proved.
The other thing I enjoyed about this episode was the inclusion of the whole writing team. I love the play between Liz and the group of misfits who work for TGS (especially Lutz, how can you not love Lutz?). This episode featured a lot of Liz trying to manipulate and motivate the group, and in general Liz fashion, she failed with hilarious consequences.
There is one important question that remains unanswered, however: were you able to find the seven different items in Jack’s Boston office?
Here are some great quotes from the episode:
“Think about it Liz: Florida! I can rent a convertible, you can complain about the heat with elderly people!” – Pete
“For a dude that has the most hilarious last name I ever heard, you suck!” – Tracy, to an actor playing John Hancock on the freedom trail
“Stop trying to send dirty text messages to my landline, Jenna!” – Danny
“Down in New York people are like ‘Let’s get divorced. You marry the butler and I’ll be a gay octomom'” – Nancy
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Jan 21, 2010 @ 22:15 EST5EDT
Nutmeg!
Is that what Sue and others were yelling last night?
Nope. That’s the R-rated-hypnotist command for Liz to take her top off. The counter-command is “Rodeo!” :-)
Oh and the girls aren’t shouting anything german. It’s either Scandinavian or completely made up.
Man, I’m off my game. Shame on me.
It did sound scandinavian, didn’t it?
Yeah I think so. Time to get some traffic from Norway/Sweden/Finland/Denmark and ask those visitors about it :-)
Guys! The fake swear being bandied around was “Vondruke”, and unless I’m mistaken, it originated in a Saturday Night Live sketch featuring Will Ferrell, Chris Parnell, and Molly Shannon (found on the best of Ferrell DVD). Ferrell played a doctor who lost the child of Parnell and Shannon. Line went something like this:
Parnell: “You have completely let us down! I’m so angry at you right now! You… vondruke!”
Ferrell: “Is that a real curse word?”
Parnell: “I think so… I’m very upset.”
Ferrell then uses it later in the sketch (“son of a vondruke”).
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=vondruke
I loved the nod to SNL in 30 Rock last night.
Thanks, Adam! I never saw that sketch.
Fey was on staff at SNL when that sketch aired, so “vondruke” may be her creation.