The Head and the Hair
"The Head and the Hair" | |
---|---|
30 Rock episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 11 |
Directed by | Gail Mancuso |
Written by | Tina Fey John Riggi |
Production code | 112[1] |
Original air date | January 18, 2007 |
"The Head and the Hair" is the eleventh episode of the first season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock. It was written by series creator Tina Fey and co-executive producer John Riggi. The director of this episode was Gail Mancuso. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 18, 2007. Guest stars in this episode include Katrina Bowden, Craig Castaldo, Peter Hermann, Brian McCann, John McEnroe, Maulik Pancholy, Keith Powell, and Lonny Ross.
In the episode, two men, one a cerebral nerd (McCann) and the other a gorgeous hunk (Hermann), capture the attention of
Plot
Liz and Jenna keep running into the same two men in the elevator at the 30 Rock building, and find themselves interested in them. Not knowing their names, Liz and Jenna refer to them as "The Head" (
Meanwhile, Tracy panics in the TGS with Tracy Jordan staff office, as his autobiography is due to a publisher the next day but he has not yet begun to write it. He engages Frank and
Finally, General Electric Executive Vice-President Jack and NBC page Kenneth are participating in "Bottoms Up" day at the office. Jack must work in Kenneth's job for a day, to help him be a better manager. Disillusioned by the menial nature of Kenneth's job, Jack tries to get Kenneth a better role in another division, but insults Kenneth in the process. Kenneth reveals that he adores television and those who make it more than anything, and he puts up with the menial job to support the industry. Jack admires Kenneth's passion and asks his opinion on television content, something Jack has been struggling with. Inspired by Kenneth's idea, a game show called Gold Case, Jack helps him sell it to NBC, but the show quickly runs into problems when the immense weight of the gold reveals its location to the contestants. The show is quickly cancelled.
Production
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/John_McEnroe_by_David_Shankbone.jpg/170px-John_McEnroe_by_David_Shankbone.jpg)
"The Head and the Hair" was written by series' creator, executive producer and lead actress Tina Fey and co-executive producer John Riggi. The director of this episode was Don Scardino.[2] This was Fey and Riggi's first script collaboration, and they later co-wrote the season three episode "The Natural Order".[3] "The Head and the Hair" originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 18, 2007 as the eleventh episode of the show's first season and overall of the series.
This episode featured guest appearances from actors Brian McCann and Peter Hermann, in which McCann played "The Head" and Hermann "The Hair".[4][5] Former professional tennis player John McEnroe played himself in the episode, in which he hosts the game show Gold Case.[6] McEnroe would later guest star as himself in the November 20, 2008, 30 Rock episode "Gavin Volure".[7] In one scene of this episode, Kenneth runs into a man named "Moonvest", and tells him that he got an idea for a television game show, but Moonvest tells him "Give me your fingernails".[4][5] Moonvest was played by Craig Castaldo, who is also known as Radio Man.
One filmed scene from "The Head and the Hair" was cut out from the airing. Instead, the scene was featured on 30 Rock's season 1 DVD as part of the deleted scenes in the Bonus feature. In the scene, Pete is visibly upset that someone added paper in the regular garbage and demands to know who did it, as NBC recycles. Jack and Kenneth show up. Jack apologizes for throwing the paper in the regular garbage, which results in Pete telling him to go through the garbage by hand and "fish out anything that's recyclable", as Jack is dressed as a page, in which he is participating on "Bottoms Up" day.[8]
In the scene where Tracy is on his bacon run, every mention of January 17 is either shot so the actor's mouth is hidden or dubbed over. This can be seen most clearly when Cerie says January 17. It seems the original was February 17 but later changed to match the release date of the episode. Closed captioning still shows February 17.
Cultural references
In one of the scenes of the episode, Kenneth is in news anchor Brian Williams's dressing room. There, Kenneth is seeing cleaning out a half-cleaned graffiti that reads "Kat Cou Suc", a reference to fellow news host Katie Couric.[4] Williams' has been on the series, having appeared in the season three episode "The Ones", in which Tracy has been giving out Williams's phone number instead of his.[9] He next appeared in the season four episode "Audition Day", as he is auditioning to become a cast member on TGS.[10] Williams appeared in "Future Husband" in which he tells the CNBC staff that his news program Nightly News "rules".[11]
There are frequent references to
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "The Head and the Hair" was watched by 5.0 million households, according to the
Television columnist Alan Sepinwall for
References
- ^ "(#112) "The Head and the Hair"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
- ^ "30 Rock: Episodes". London: Screenrush (AlloCiné). Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ "30 Rock — The Natural Order". Yahoo! TV. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ a b c d e Mitovich, Matt (2007-01-18). "January 18, 2007: "So... You Guys Been Watching Heroes?"". TV Guide. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ NBC Universal. NBC.
- ^ Macaskill, Sandy (2009-02-16). "Former world No 1 John McEnroe at 50". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- TV Squad. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- Universal Studios Home Entertainment. 2007. Bonus Features — Deleted Scenes.
- The Huffington Post. 2009-04-24. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
- ^ Rabin, Nathan (2009-11-05). "Audition Day". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^ Fretts, Bruce (2010-03-11). "30 Rock: You Don't Know Jack!". TV Guide Magazine.
- NBC Universal. NBC.
- NBC Universal. NBC.
- NBC Universal. NBC.
- NBC Universal. NBC.
- CraveOnline. Archived from the originalon 2009-08-21. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
- ^ "The Top-Rated 'Golden Globes' Telcast In Three Years Pace NBC's Week Of Jan. 15-21". The Futon Critic. 2007-01-23. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ "'My Name Is Earl' And 'The Office' Score Their Highest 18-49 Ratings And Total Viewership Of The Season, With Both Comedies Winning Their Slots In Adults 18-49 And Other Key Demos". The Futon Critic. 2007-01-17. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ Sepinwall, Alan (2007-01-19). "Earl & 30 Rock: Kat Cou Suc". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- TV Squad. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
- ^ Canning, Robert (2007-01-19). "30 Rock: "The Head and the Hair" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
External links
- "The Head and the Hair" at IMDb