30 Rock

2351 Words5 Pages

The typical episode of the critically acclaimed, indie-darling, sitcom 30 Rock focuses on the lives of the writers, producers, executives and love interests of those involved in the production of a fictional sketch comedy television show called TGS with Tracy Jordan. 30 Rock is widely known as a show that deals with race, gender and class issues from multiple, humorous perspectives. Yet watching Season Five, Episode Twenty, a viewer could grow uncomfortable at the racial generalizations. The episode is entitled “Queen of Jordan” and is intended to parody the Real Housewives franchise of reality television. The episode was shot and aired as if it were a Bravo network reality show, entirely separate from 30 Rock, although it features the antics of the usual cast of 30 Rock. Although the critically acclaimed television show 30 Rock parodies the characterization of personhood on reality television, characters such as Angie Jordan (Sherri Shepherd) and her crew are still derivatives of these three classical African American stereotypes. 30 Rock’s uses these stereotypes to parody reality television and the humor stems from laughing at the racists rather than the race of the characters.
Queen of Jordan is both the title of the episode and the name of the reality television show starring, TGS star, Tracy Jordan’s (Tracy Morgan) wife (“Queen of Jordan”). The episode is a mockumentary, filmed in the docudrama style of all Bravo reality television shows. The show still continuing the 30 Rock plotline where the head writer of TGS, Liz Lemon, begs Angie to bring her husband back after Tracy has abandoned TGS for a charity trip to Africa, leaving the show without a star and the whole cast’s jobs at stake.
The idea for the show was first prese...

... middle of paper ...

... costume Angie for her debut performance of her single, “My Single is Dropping.” The song is a direct parody of Countess Luann’s single release in Season 5 of RHW-NY (“Countess Luann” Bravtotv.com). When Liz first sees Angie trying on a ruched gold leotard, she tries an warped emotional appeal by imitating Tracy’s voice with a stereotypical black intonation and saying, “If only Tracy were here he’d be like “Damn, woman, I want to make love to your neck!”” To which Angie simply replies “Don’t do impressions of other races.” Angie’s calm rebuttal gives her more dimension than just an “angry black woman” and allows her to show her frustration with the racism she encounters from her coworkers. The audience may find humor in Liz’s terrible accent

Works Cited

Gillon, Josh. "Why 30 Rock is Not Funny (it's Metafunny)." Philosophy & Literature 35.2 (2011): 320-37. Print.

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