Christmas Attack Zone

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"Christmas Attack Zone"
30 Rock episode
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 10
Directed byJohn Riggi
Written byTracey Wigfield
Production code510
Original air dateDecember 9, 2010 (2010-12-09)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"Chain Reaction of Mental Anguish" 		Next →
"Mrs. Donaghy"
30 Rock season 5
List of episodes

"Christmas Attack Zone" is the tenth episode of the fifth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 90th overall episode of the series. It was written by show story editor Tracey Wigfield and directed by co-executive producer John Riggi. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on December 9, 2010. Guest stars in this episode include Alan Alda, Elizabeth Banks, Will Forte, and Elaine Stritch.

In the episode, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and Avery Jessup (Banks) convince Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) to confide in and grow closer to his visiting mother Colleen Donaghy (Stritch) at Christmas time. At the same time, actor Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) tries to stop the release of his new film before it ruins his new serious persona, and Liz also tries to fix Jenna Maroney's (Jane Krakowski) relationship with her former boyfriend Paul L'Astname (Forte).

This episode of 30 Rock received generally positive reviews from television critics. According to Nielsen Media Research, "Christmas Attack Zone" was watched by 4.759 million households during its original broadcast, and received a 2.9 rating/5 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic.

On June 22, 2020, it was revealed that this would be one of three episodes being pulled from syndication due to a scene in which Jenna wears blackface.[1]

Plot

elope over New Year's and extends an invitation to everyone. After the announcement, Liz leaves and travels to White Haven, Pennsylvania
to spend Christmas with her family.

Meanwhile, actor

Golden Globe Award
for his role in the drama feature Hard To Watch, but realizes that in order to win the award, he needs to act as a serious actor. As a result, Tracy buys the rights to his new comedy movie, The Chunks 2: A Very Chunky Christmas, in order to block the distribution of the feature and improve his chances at winning the award. Later, Tracy decides to do a charity event by screening Hard To Watch—a story of an inner-city boy living in the ghetto—for a women's shelter. At the charity event, Tracy introduces the movie but decides against showing it, realizing that laughter is the best medicine and instead screens The Chunks 2: A Very Chunky Christmas. The people in the shelter find the movie hilarious, thus making Tracy happy.

At the same time, Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) is having a hard time dealing with her break-up with Paul L'Astname (Will Forte). Liz, seeing Jenna miserable, visits Paul and tells her that Jenna misses him. Paul visits Jenna, though not to resume their relationship, instead to tell her that he has come up with a brilliant costume for the New Queer's Eve party in which guests dress up as a pop culture phenomenon from the previous year. Unbeknownst to Paul, Jenna also has the same costume idea as his and as a result, the two get back together. At the party, Paul dresses like actress Natalie Portman's character in the 2010 movie Black Swan and Jenna dresses up as former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann.

Production

Elizabeth Banks guest starred in "Christmas Attack Zone" as the character Avery Jessup.

"Christmas Attack Zone" was written by 30 Rock story editor Tracey Wigfield,[2] her first episode for the fifth season, and her fourth writing credit overall after "Jackie Jormp-Jomp", "Future Husband", and "Don Geiss, America and Hope".[3] This episode was directed by co-executive producer and staff writer John Riggi,[2] making it his fifth for the series after directing "Goodbye, My Friend", "The Problem Solvers", "The Moms", and "Let's Stay Together".[4] This episode of 30 Rock originally aired in the United States on December 9, 2010, on NBC as the tenth episode of the show's fifth season and the 90th overall episode of the series.[5]

Co-

Hawkeye Pierce from the television series M*A*S*H.[7] Alda and Alec Baldwin have worked together, having appeared in the 2004 biographical drama film The Aviator.[8] This was Alda's third appearance on the show. After the airing of the season three finale episode "Kidney Now!', in which Jack organizes a benefit concert to get Milton a kidney,[9] it was unknown whether or not the benefit concert for Milton was a success, however, in the season four episode "Into the Crevasse", Milton is shown to have written his book From Peanut to President, a biography of United States President Jimmy Carter.[10] In this episode it is revealed that Jack sent Milton a kidney from British singer-songwriter Elvis Costello who participated in the benefit concert in "Kidney Now!".[11] In October 2010, it was confirmed that Alda would return as his 30 Rock character on the fifth season.[12] In an interview with TV Guide, Alda said that he first met Elaine Stritch twenty years ago "but never worked with her before. I always knew the reunion would be interesting. We kid with each other a lot, and our characters have a common enemy in their son."[13] This was Elaine Stritch's seventh appearance as Colleen Donaghy, Jack's mother, on the series. She guest starred in the episodes "Hiatus", "Ludachristmas", "Christmas Special", "Señor Macho Solo", "The Natural Order", and "The Moms".[14]

Avery Jessup, fiancée of Baldwin's character, was played by actress Elizabeth Banks, who first guest starred as the character in the show's fourth season. This was Banks' tenth time as the Avery character.[15] Banks told Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly that she approached the 30 Rock staff about making an appearance as she is a fan of the show. "I definitely put feelers out, like, 'I would love to be on your show.' And they did it. They made it happen! I'm a huge fan, so this is a dream come true." Banks also revealed that she has no intention on becoming a series regular, explaining that she has been having "too much fun" making films to commit to a television show full-time.[16] Comedian actor Will Forte made his fourth appearance in the show, having guest starred as a different character in the February 1, 2007, episode "Black Tie" from the show's first season.[17] In the previous season, Forte played Jenna Maroney's boyfriend and Jenna impersonator. Forte has appeared in the main cast of Saturday Night Live (SNL), a weekly sketch comedy series which airs on NBC in the United States. Tina Fey, the series creator and lead actress on 30 Rock, was the head writer on SNL from 1999 until 2006.[18] In June 2010, Jane Krakowski, who plays Jenna, confirmed that Forte would reprise his role as her boyfriend in the upcoming season.[19] Carlock also noted in the Entertainment Weekly interview that the Jenna and Paul characters "have some ups and downs. He wants to try to be a normal couple, and she is afraid of that level of commitment."[6] In the previous episode, "Chain Reaction of Mental Anguish", Jenna and Paul break-up.[20] In "Christmas Attack Zone", the two get back together.[21]

Cultural references

Liz says that she watches the

Proactiv Solution, an over-the-counter topical treatment for mild to moderate forms of acne and the fact that the product has many celebrity spokespeople.[24] At the New Queer's Eve, in which guests dress up as a pop culture phenomenon from the previous year, Paul dresses as actress Natalie Portman's character in the 2010 psychological thriller Black Swan, and Jenna dresses up as former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann.[22][25] Their a cappella rendition of "O Holy Night" with which the episode concludes is an homage to Episode 4:11 of The West Wing
, "O Holy Night."

Reception

Alan Alda (left) and Elaine Stritch's (right) guest appearances on this episode were well received.

According to Nielsen Media Research, this episode of 30 Rock was watched by 4.759 million viewers during its original United States broadcast. The show claimed a 2.9 rating/5 share among viewers aged 18 to 49,[26] meaning that 2.9 percent of all people in that group, and 5 percent of all people from that group watching television at the time, watched the episode. This was a decrease from the previous episode, "Chain Reaction of Mental Anguish", which was watched by 5.034 million American viewers.[27]

Zack Handlen of

CraveOnline enjoyed Stritch and Alda's "wonderfully funny roles".[29]

TV Squad wrote that this episode of 30 Rock "wasn't the best Christmas episode that [the show] has had. Past episodes like 'Ludachristmas,' 'Christmas Special' and 'Secret Santa' were put together better and had more heart". Sassone noted that the problem with "Christmas Attack Zone" was Tracy's subplot "as it wasn't very funny" and the one that dragged the episode down.[11]

References

  1. ^ Adalian, Josef (June 22, 2020). "30 Rock Is Pulling Blackface Episodes From Streaming Platforms and TV Reruns". Vulture. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  2. ^
    NBC Universal. NBC
    .
  3. ^ "Tracey Wigfield — Filmography by TV series". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  4. Internet Movie Database
    . Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  5. ^ Lady Lola. "30 Rock — Christmas Attack Zone — Recap". Yahoo! TV. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Armstrong, Jennifer (November 23, 2010). "'30 Rock' holiday episode scoop: Exec producer Robert Carlock teases a family reunion -- and wedding?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  7. ^ Mitchell, Kerrie (November 14, 2007). "I, Hawkeye". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  8. Universal Studios Home Entertainment
    .
  9. ^ Canning, Robert (May 15, 2010). "30 Rock: "Kidney Now!" Review". IGN. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  10. NBC Universal. NBC
    .
  11. ^
    TV Squad
    . Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  12. ^ Kit, Borys (October 5, 2010). ""Heist," "Wanderlust" in cards for Alan Alda". The Hollywood Reporter. Reuters. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  13. ^ Keck, William (November 16, 2010). "First Look: A 30 Rock Family Reunion". TV Guide. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  14. Internet Movie Database
    . Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  15. Internet Movie Database
    . Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  16. ^ Ausiello, Michael (January 4, 2010). "'30 Rock' scoop: Elizabeth Banks channels Sean Hannity, romances Alec Baldwin". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
  17. ^ Mitovich, Matt (February 1, 2007). "February 1, 2007: "It Feels Good to Laugh"". TV Guide. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  18. ^ Goodwin, Christopher (May 11, 2008). "And funny with it". The Guardian. London. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  19. ^ dos Santos, Kristin (June 21, 2010). "Spoiler Chat: Glee, 30 Rock, True Blood and More". E! Online. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  20. ^ Fretts, Bruce (December 3, 2010). "Cheers & Jeers: 30 Rock — What a Drag!". TV Guide. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  21. ^ a b c Blake, Meredith (December 10, 2010). "'30 Rock' recap: 'No one can escape the horror of Christmas'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  22. ^ a b Kandell, Steve (December 10, 2010). "30 Rock Recap: The Mentaliz". New York. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  23. ^ a b Handlen, Zack (December 9, 2010). "Christmas Attack Zone". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  24. ^ Barrett, Annie (December 10, 2010). "30 Rock recap: When Holidays Attack!". Entertainment Weekly. p. 2. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  25. ^ a b Sanders, Brad (December 11, 2010). "30 Rock, "Christmas Attack Zone"". Indiana Daily Student. Archived from the original on December 11, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  26. ^ Gorman, Bill (December 10, 2010). "Thursday Final Ratings: Bones, Fringe, Community, 30 Rock, Office, Apprentice Adjusted Down; Big Bang Theory, Walters: Oprah Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 13, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  27. ^ Gorman, Bill (December 3, 2010). "Thursday Final Ratings: Private Practice, Bones, Nikita Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  28. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (December 10, 2010). "30 Rock — Christmas Attack Zone: Rick rolls". HitFix. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  29. CraveOnline. Archived from the original
    on July 29, 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
  30. ^ Barrett, Annie (December 10, 2010). "30 Rock recap: When Holidays Attack!". Entertainment Weekly. p. 1. Retrieved January 17, 2011.

External links

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