The C Word

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This article is about the 30 Rock episode. For other uses, see C-word.
"The C Word"
30 Rock episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 14
Directed byAdam Bernstein
Written byTina Fey
Production code106[1]
Original air dateFebruary 15, 2007 (2007-02-15)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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30 Rock season 1
List of episodes

"The C Word" is the 14th episode of the first season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock. It was written by series creator Tina Fey and directed by Adam Bernstein. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on February 15, 2007. Guest stars in this episode include Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman, Rachel Dratch, John Lutz, Keith Powell, Lonny Ross, Rip Torn, and Charlyne Yi.

In the episode, after being criticized for her working habits by her co-workers, head writer

Don Geiss (Torn), the CEO of General Electric
(GE), but his plan backfires when Tracy decides to drop "truth bombs".

"The C Word" has received generally positive reviews from television critics. According to the

Nielsen ratings
system, the episode was watched by 5.0 million households during its original broadcast, and received a 2.5 rating/6 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic.

Plot

diabetes charity golf event. Jack hopes that bringing Tracy along can help him get close to GE CEO Don Geiss (Rip Torn). At the event, Tracy becomes the hit of the party, but quickly begins to feel that the reason he was brought along was to be "the funny black man". Tracy insults Geiss by accusing him of not hiring more black people, which results in Tracy and Jack not being invited to golf along with Geiss. Jack blames Tracy for this, but Tracy doesn't care, as he tells Jack that he cannot help but drop "truth bombs". Jack explains to Tracy that his failure to "play the game" with movie producers in the past has ended his movie career. Later, to make amends with both Jack and Geiss, Tracy gives a heartfelt speech about his daughter battling diabetes, which moves Geiss. This results in Geiss inviting Jack, Tracy, and Tracy's daughter to the Vineyard
. Tracy admits to Jack that he does not have a daughter, which prompts Jack to say, "Let's have a casting session on Monday."

Meanwhile, at the 30 Rock studios, TGS with Tracy Jordan head writer

Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander
) about what Lutz called her and wants to fire him. Frank reveals that Lutz's poor behavior is due to the passing of his grandmother. After it is pointed out that she has been a terrible boss to the staff, Liz begins acting nice, but this backfires when they take advantage of her. Angered by this, Liz confronts the writers about their actions, and tells Lutz she knows what he called her. Liz warns all of them that if they call her that "horrible word" she will fire them.

At the same time, Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer) struggles with his feelings for another page, Grace Park (Charlyne Yi) who demonstrates affection for him. Kenneth explains to Pete that he is afraid of "disgracing the peacock" by becoming romantically involved with her. Throughout the episode, it is shown to be sexually awkward for the two of them during their job, though towards the end, Kenneth confronts her with his feelings about her. Their kiss is interrupted by Kenneth's work, which allows him to abruptly forget about her.

Production

"The C Word" was written by series creator Tina Fey.

"The C Word" was written by series creator, executive producer and lead actress

The Head and the Hair", "Black Tie", and "Up All Night".[3] The episode was directed by supervising producer Adam Bernstein, making it his fifth for the series.[2] "The C Word" originally aired on NBC in the United States on February 15, 2007, as the fourteenth episode of the show's first season
.

In an April 2007 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Fey revealed that she was once called "the c word" by one of her writers at Saturday Night Live. In discussion of this, she said, "That C-word thing actually did happen. I was furious, and I had this weird reaction where I kept saying, 'You can't say that! My parents love me!'"[4] She said the episode "was a little bit based on the experience of having someone call you that and not knowing how to deal with it."[5] In December 2015, Fey revealed that the writer who had called her "the c word" was Colin Quinn.[6]

"The C Word" was actor Rip Torn's debut as GE CEO Don Geiss.[7]

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "The C Word" was watched by 5.0 million households, according to the

Nielsen ratings system. It earned a 2.5 rating/6 share in the 18–49 demographic.[8]
This means that it was seen by 2.5 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 6 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. This was a decrease from the previous episode, "Up All Night", which was watched by 5.2 million American viewers.[9]

TV Squad wrote that putting Alec Baldwin and Rip Torn together "was a genius move." She was complimentary towards Tina Fey, citing that it was "another great week" in her "continuing portrayal of what being a hard-working gal is actually like." Ward enjoyed Tracy's speech, noting that it was "priceless", and was glad to see him having "ample screen time ... which was a nice change of pace."[11] TV Guide's Matt Mitovich wrote he enjoyed all of the episode's storyline pairings, but much enjoyed Jack and Tracy. Further in his recap, Mitovich reported that Liz's plot could have been better had the comedy show How I Met Your Mother "not gone there with the C-word" in an episode. Though, he said that Liz's story "had a fitting message – that she is held to a different standard, yet shouldn't be, as a female head writer. Plus, her story gave us that winning flurry of flashbacks to times when she was a... not very nice lady."[12]

References

  1. ^ "(#106) "The C Word"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "30 Rock: Episodes". London: Screenrush (AlloCiné). Archived from the original on 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  3. ^ "Tina Fey — Filmography by TV series". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
  4. ^ Baldwin, Kristen (2007-04-10). "One Fine Fey". Entertainment Weekly. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2007-04-16. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  5. CraveOnline. 2007-09-16. Archived from the original
    on 2009-08-21. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  6. ^ "Mystery Revealed Tina Fey Busts Colin Quinn For Calling Her The "C-Word" At SNL". Decider.com. 2015-12-15. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
  7. ^ "Rip Torn — Filmography by TV series". IMDb. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
  8. ^ "NBC Ratings Results For The Week Of Feb. 12-18". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  9. ^ "NBC Ratings Results For The Week Of Feb. 5-11 -- The #1 New Show Of The Season In 18-49, 'Heroes,' Is The Top-Rated Program On Television Monday And The Top-Rated New Series Of The Week In Adults 18-49, 18-34 And 25-54". The Futon Critic. 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  10. ^ Canning, Robert (2007-02-16). "30 Rock: "The 'C' Word" Review". IGN TV. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  11. TV Squad
    . Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  12. ^ Mitovich, Matt (2007-02-15). "February 15, 2007: "When You Said Hello, You Had Me"". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 2013-02-08. Retrieved 2010-03-28.

External links

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