Famous fans of "30 Rock"

Being someone obsessed with both television and television actors, I find it somewhat rewarding when I learn that television actors love the same television shows I do! So welcome to a feature I like to call "Famous fans", wherein we learn that celebrities love the same shows that we love! Up today: "30 Rock".

Photo source: buddytv.com.

 

"Tina Fey is the goddess of comedy." - Candice Accola ("The Vampire Diaries")

"It just never fails to crack me up! Sometimes I rewind it and watch parts of it again because they are so packed with jokes and I don't want to miss any of it." - Alison Brie ("Community", "Mad Men")

"At the top of their game in smart, sophisticated, adult humor. Maybe that's why it's always been a ratings-challenged show. Can a show be too smart? Not for me. I appreciate how it makes me listen carefully to catch each innuendo, pop culture reference, and the inside political skewering. What run-of-the-mill comedies would use as a centerpiece set-up and punch line joke, 30 Rock tosses off within normal conversation. Brilliant. This show has always made me laugh." - Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad")

"That show is flawless. Tina Fey is a genius. Again, she's a woman who has changed television." - Summer Glau ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles")

"30 Rock is just so smart and so stupid. I love it." - Josh Hopkins ("Cougar Town")

"I love all things 30 Rock. It never fails to stay fresh and is laugh-out-loud funny." - Sarah Lancaster ("Chuck")

"Nobody writes better jokes than Tina Fey and her army of zinger-smiths. Watching Jack McBrayer is like eating the most delicious pecan pie with cornpone ice cream. Alec Baldwin has long been my hero, both in steely delivery and body hair." - Nick Offerman ("Parks and Recreation")

"The sexual tension between Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey is written so well. There is no doubt they must at some point do it -- just a matter of when." - Jeff Probst ("Survivor")

"I like everything about this show. They're all really funny. Tina Fey is brilliant. She's one of those people that I'm just happy she's doing comedy. I think the world is a better place with her making jokes." - Danny Pudi ("Community")

"It makes me nostalgic for NYC. As Liz Lemon says, 'I want to go to there.'" - Melissa Rausch ("The Big Bang Theory")

"It's so well written and hilarious, so relevant, and so perfectly absurd." - Gail Simmons ("Top Chef")






Check out my other stories about "30 Rock"!

Source: bossypants.tumblr.com.

Kindred Spirit: Kenneth Ellen Parcell, "30 Rock"

If ever there was a TV-lovin' bloke on our level, it's Kenneth the page from NBC's "30 Rock". In the pilot episode, he earnestly tells Pete, "I just love TV so much". Is he reading my diary?

Dedicated to his love of television, Kenneth works tirelessly for the writers, producers, and cast of "TGS", putting up with a lot of crap but always managing to remain optimistic. Some of Kenneth's best TV-related quotes include:

"There are only two things I love in this world - everybody, and television." (Episode 302, "Believe in the Stars")

"I studied TV theory at Kentucky Mountain Bible College." (Episode 114, "The C Word")

"What most people don't know is that NBC is still a network." (Episode 516, "TGS Hates Women")

"Bonus means extra. I know that. From game shows." (Episode 401, "Season 4")

"Do you know why I put up with this 'pitiful job', Mr. Donaghy? Why I fetch these folks' lunches and clean up their barfs? Cause they make television. And more than jazz, or musical theater, or morbid obesity, television is the true American art form." (Episode 111, "The Head and the Hair")

Costume idea: Liz Lemon of "30 Rock"

Halloween is right around the corner, and if you're looking for an easy, no-fuss TV costume, why not choose the First Lady of Couch Potatoes, Liz Lemon of "30 Rock"?

Dressing up like Liz Lemon is pretty simple. Start with her standard uniform of a button-down shirt under her "TGS with Tracy Jordan" hoodie.

Good news: you can snag the hoodie from the "30 Rock" NBC store. Bad news: it'll run you about $50. But come on, can't you think of a thousand other occasions you might have to wear it?! No? Well, come on, you can have it all! Including this sweatshirt. You can find a plaid-ish button-down anywhere, from the Gap to Goodwill, for not much cash. Throw 'em on with jeans and sneakers and you're ready to go!

Don't forget Liz Lemon's trademark glasses! Bonus if you already wear them (or, like me, are required by law to wear them while you operate a motor vehicle or take more than five steps in a row), but if not, just grab some cheapies from a drug store or dollar store and pop out the lenses if they're prescription. I was also "blessed" with naturally Liz-ish brown hair, so when I threw this costume together last year it didn't take much extra effort:

For good measure, I bought a cheapie "backstage pass" lanyard at iParty and wrote "Liz Lemon" on it, for any certified non-geniuses who couldn't already figure out who I was supposed to be. And voila! Suck it, nerds.

"30 Rock" vocab lesson: "mind grapes"

"Mind grapes"; expression:

• the fruit of one's mind, from which "juices" (ideas, concepts, etc.) may be produced.

Origin: Jack Donaghy, portrayed by Alec Baldwin, and Tracy Jordan, portrayed by Tracy Morgan, in "30 Rock" episode 107, "Tracy Does Conan" (written by Tina Fey).

Screen cap credit: Lore-85.

In "Tracy Does Conan", Jack Donaghy is trying to write a speech about Jack Welsh, saying that Welsh "squeezes... juice out of his workers' mind grapes". Liz and Jack agree it doesn't make sense, and moments later Tracy says, "what else is on my mind grapes?" ... perhaps confirming that it does not, indeed, make sense. But I dare you not to use it in your everyday life.


Use it in a sentence: "I'm on a deadline and I've got to squeeze every last drop of juice out of my mind grapes."

Wise words: Tracy Jordan of "30 Rock"

Tracy's keys to success:

Screencap credit: lore-85.

1. Live every week like it's Shark Week.

2. Dress every day like you're going to be murdered in those clothes.



Origin: "30 Rock" episode 104, "Jack the Writer", written by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock.

"30 Rock" daily diversion: one-minute dance party

Daily diversion: One-minute dance party.
Origin: "30 Rock" episode 104, "Jack the Writer", written by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock.


Sometimes we all need a little break from the day-to-day dullness. What better way to bust out of a funk than to bust a move? Liz Lemon and her staff of "TGS" writers like to take a quick dance break when frustration sinks in.

Incorporate it into your life: throw together a quick playlist of awesome songs to break it down to. (Use songs that start strong; you've only got a minute, so don't choose anything that builds up to a crescendo. You want it to bump all the way through.)  Then, when you're having an "ugh" moment, play a random song from the list on your iPod, iPhone, computer, or boom box (props for goin' old school) and dance your little heart out for a full minute. Even more fun if you bring friends or coworkers into the mix!

Song suggestions: Liz and her team "love the music of Chamillionaire" and dance to "Grown and Sexy". Some other good options are: "Gonna Make You Sweat" by C&C Music Factory, "Beat It" by Michael Jackson, "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa, "Lose My Breath" by Destiny's Child, "Bust a Move" by Young MC, and anything by Girl Talk.

"30 Rock" vocab lesson: "buying all the hot dogs"

"Buying all the hot dogs"; expression:

• overreacting to a situation and doing something illogical or grandiose just to prove a point; impulsively enacting an over-the-top solution to a not-so-major problem.

Origin: Liz Lemon, portrayed by Tina Fey, in the pilot episode of "30 Rock" (written by Tina Fey).

Screen cap credit: Lore-85.

In the pilot episode of "30 Rock", Liz Lemon gets upset that a man cuts in line at the hot dog stand, and further incensed when people in line behind her leave to start a second line behind him. Infuriated, Liz buys all of the hot dogs so that the cutter and his followers can't have them. She proceeds to hand them out to the "good people" who stayed in her line, as well as random strangers, homeless people, and the writers on her show. She also eats four of them herself. She later explains to Pete that she hates it when people cheat or break rules, so her solution was to buy all the hot dogs. She realizes that it was irrational, impulsive, and over-the-top, but it proved her point and the "bad" people didn't get hot dogs.


Use it in a sentence: "Joey wouldn't stop chewing on the pens I lent him, so I bought all the hot dogs and threw away all the pens in the office."