While 30 Rock's brand of white neoliberal feminism hasn't necessarily aged well, the NBC show still provides hilarious and complicated insights into turn-of-the-decade gender and race politics. hands viewers an honest portrayal of the contemporary workplace. It also predicted the Trump era.
Tina Fey's Liz Lemon is an interesting main character. Liz's continued instance that she isn't racist and that she eschews mainstream ideas about feminity makes her the prototype of the know-it-all, privileged white woman who spends her life attempting to appease her own guilt. That being said, she's also a character who is forced to work her way through the patriarchal world of television.
While Liz and other female characters on 30 Rock endure some pretty awful things on behalf of their male colleagues, these women also, at times, do some awful things to each other. Here's a roundup of some ridiculous things the ladies of 30 Rock dealt with over the years.
10 Jenna Played A PMSing Hillary Clinton On TGS
In one of the most prescient episodes of the show, "TGS Hates Women," an online blog accuses TGS of being misogynistic due to its lack of female writers and its stereotypical portrayals of women.
Liz is furious over these accusations, but she realizes the blog, Joan of Snark, is right. In a flashback, Liz recalls that the last aired episode of TGS included a skit where Jenna played various famous women on their period. In one scene, Jenna plays then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "Oh no, my period!" she says. "Let's nuke England."
9 Liz Was The Punchline Of Multiple Body Image Jokes
While the insults fly from all the mouths on 30 Rock, Liz seemed to endure some of the worst commentaries, many of which focused on her body, eating habits, and sex appeal. From her boss Jack Donaghy to her male staff writers, Liz got it all.
"You are the sexual equivalent of a million Hindenburg's," Jack tells her in one episode. Her staff also take to writing insults on her door. Instead of Liz Lemon, they change her name to "Lez Lemon," somehow implying that being a lesbian degrades her status. Oof.
8 Cerie Dealt With Constant Ogling From Male TGS Writers
Liz's assistant Cerie is a young, attractive woman who wears what she wants at work, no matter how revealing. While she's portrayed as a bit airheaded, she's clearly a caricature of a "hot girl" who lacks intelligence. Throughout the series, this trope is toyed with, and Cerie proves to be much more than her body. Imagine that?
Despite this, the male TGS staff writers make it a thing to check out Cerie whenever they can. They continually objectify her. When he finds out she's engaged, Frank asks Cerie, "Hey, this isn't going to change the way you dress or eat lollipops is it?"
7 Devon Banks Manipulated Kathy Geiss
Devon Banks, the West Coast NBC executive competing with Jack for Don Geiss's top position at NBC, ingratiates himself in Don's world by seducing Don's mentally and emotionally stunted middle-aged daughter, Kathy. Kathy is obsessed with unicorns and beanie babies, and she's portrayed as an eccentric and disturbed woman who lives on an alternate plane of reality.
Devon, a closeted gay man, asks Kathy to marry him after Don falls into a coma without officially naming his successor. This storyline is a classic tale of power-hungry men taking advantage of women in order to get what they want.
6 Angie Endured Liz's Racial Stereotypes
"Did you just try to control my body with your white hand?" Liz likes to think of herself as a culturally sensitive, smart woman, but racial stereotypes run deep, and Liz's biases are put on full display around Tracy Jordan's wife Angie.
Angie, though, is ready to counter Liz's assumptions about her as a black woman. Angie, it seems, must always be on call. “Bling-bling! Ghetto fabulous!” Liz says about a piece of Angie's jewelry. In another scene, Liz assumes Angie and Tracy support Barack Obama because he's black. "No," Angie corrects her. "We Support Kucinich."
5 Avery And Nancy Were Caught In A Love Triangle With Jack
Jack has many lovers throughout 30 Rock's run, but his womanizing ways come to a head when he involves two women in a love triangle: his old high school flame Nancy and conservative news anchor Avery.
He sways back and forth between both of them. Eventually, Nancy and Avery run into each other in a public bathroom, and Nancy realizes Avery is the other woman in Jack's life. She also realizes Avery is pregnant. She tells Jack, and Jack decides to pursue a life with Avery.
4 Liz Saw Her Boyfriend Dennis On 'To Catch A Predator'
Liz's on-again/off-again boyfriend Dennis is a real loser, yet he seems to find ways to stay in Liz's life. Dennis loves to call Liz "dummy" and give her noogies. He's also an immature freeloader who convinces Liz she can't do any better than him.
Liz struggles with being labeled a lonely spinster, and she often invites Dennis back into her life when she's feeling down or vulnerable. Liz would have made better use of her time by focusing on her own self-worth outside of anyone else, especially men, and she finally realizes this when Dennis is featured on the show To Catch A Predator, where he's implicated in a plot to date an underage girl.
3 Sue Never Got A Word In During TGS Writer's Meetings
The TGS writers are a real cast of characters, and the writer's room is dominated by the male voices of Frank, Toofer, and Lutz. Sue, the lone female writer, is usually completely silent during meetings. While facets of her personality are exposed over the series, Sue has almost no dialogue in 30 Rock.
Frank is one of the most outspoken of the writers, and he's also the most misogynistic. When Liz asks, "I mean if you were to go on a date with a girl, how would you want her to act?" Frank's answer is, "Like she was in a porn." This kind of humor informs the nature of TGS, and it's also part of the reason why the show gets in so much trouble.
2 Jenna Was Mocked Because Of Her Overt Sexuality
Yes, she's a complete narcissist, and yes, she wants total fame at any cost, but Jenna is also the most self-aware of any cast member on 30 Rock. She's also the most sex-positive, but her confidence intimidates those around her, causing them to ostracize her for being honest about her sexuality.
Fortunately, Jenna finds true love with Paul, a "gender dysmorphic bi-genitalia pansexual" who works as a professional Jenna Maroney impersonator. While it's apropos that Jenna would basically fall in love with herself, she also eschews gender roles and identity, proving she's much more with it than other characters on 30 Rock.
1 Liz Attempted To "Empower" Abby Flynn
In the aforementioned "TGS Hates Women" episode, Liz hires a female writer named Abby Flynn to combat criticism about TGS being anti-woman. When the blonde and busty Abby seems to be a hypersexualized female stereotype, a frustrated Liz tries to "empower" her by giving her speeches about the value of her mind over her body.
Abby is actually in disguise in order to hide from her abusive ex-boyfriend. She's really a comedian named Abby Grossman, but Liz is so disturbed by Abby's fake appearance and nature she exposes her true identity, putting the young woman in danger. "Liz Lemon is a Judas to all womankind," Abby screams as she is forced to find a new hiding place and create a new identity for herself.
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