The Funcooker
Encyclopedia
"The Funcooker" is the fourteenth episode of the third season
of the American television comedy series 30 Rock
. It was written by Tom Ceraulo and Donald Glover
, and directed by Ken Whittingham
. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) on March 12, 2009. Guest stars in this episode include Jackie Hoffman
, Nancy O'Dell, and Chris Parnell
.
In the episode, Liz Lemon
(Tina Fey
) leaves the The Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan (TGS) crew unmanaged as she must participate in jury duty for the trial of an oddly familiar woman (Hoffman). NBC page
Kenneth Parcell
(Jack McBrayer
) tries to assert control over the crew in her stead and Jack Donaghy
(Alec Baldwin
) uses the writers to develop a new name for a General Electric
product. Meanwhile, Jenna Maroney
(Jane Krakowski
) seeks Dr. Leo Spaceman's (Parnell) help so she can work on TGS and her movie.
"The Funcooker" received generally positive reviews from television critics. According to the Nielsen ratings
system, it was watched by 6.4 million households during its original broadcast. For his performance in this episode, Tracy Morgan
, who plays Tracy Jordan
on 30 Rock, received a Primetime Emmy Award
nomination in the category for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Ken Whittingham won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for "The Funcooker".
(Tina Fey
) is assigned to solve a public relations
problem caused by the show's stars, Tracy Jordan
(Tracy Morgan
) and Jenna Maroney
(Jane Krakowski
), during their hosting duties of the St. Patrick's Day parade, in which Jenna passed out and Tracy cursed during the live television broadcast. To make things worse, Liz is summoned to jury duty and cannot avoid it despite claiming to be Princess Leia. When she leaves for jury duty, she does not leave anyone in charge and allows the staff to go without direction—until later when she puts NBC page
Kenneth Parcell
(Jack McBrayer
) in charge after learning that the staff has gotten out of hand. Liz is on a court case about a woman, named Rochelle Gaulke (Jackie Hoffman
), whose work life and frustrations parallel her own; the two both have employees named Tracy and Jenna, both believe their employees waste their time, and make their lives difficult.
Meanwhile, Jenna, worn out from working on TGS during the day and on her unlicensed Janis Joplin
biopic at night, visits Dr. Leo Spaceman (Chris Parnell
) for help so she can work on both. He gives Jenna a military-grade experimental drug currently being tested on rats to stay awake. At the same time, Tracy believes that having enough money to pay FCC
fines means that he can say anything on television. As a result, Tracy curses on The Martha Stewart Show
, and after learning that the show's advertisers are pulling out, due to his actions, decides to sponsor the show. Meanwhile, Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric
, Jack Donaghy
, desperately tries to find a name for a pocket microwave oven that is not offensive in any language. With Liz gone, Jack assigns the TGS writing staff, Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander
), James "Toofer" Spurlock (Keith Powell
), J. D. Lutz (John Lutz
), Josh Girard (Lonny Ross
), and Sue LaRoche-Van der Hout (Sue Galloway), to this task. After their unsuccessful attempts, Kenneth suggests "The Funcooker" which Jack decides is the perfect name.
Back at the studios, the taping of TGS is interrupted by Dr. Spaceman who desperately forces Jenna to sleep because she might die like one of his test rats. Tracy creates a diversion by dropping his trousers and exposing his buttocks, which he refers to the "Funcooker". Everyone realizes that this is where Kenneth heard the name. Fed up with the chaos, Liz sends the entire show's staff—including Kenneth and Dr. Spaceman—to her office. Liz ponders over a box of matches and thinks of the woman in court, in which she admitted to committing arson
as a way of getting back at her out-of-control employees. She accidentally does start a small fire which is quickly put out but scares everyone out of their bad behavior.
, and was directed by Ken Whittingham
. This episode was Ceraulo's first writing credit, and second written episode by Glover. This was Whittingham's first 30 Rock directed episode, and would later return to helm the fourth season
episode "Anna Howard Shaw Day
". "The Funcooker" originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 12, 2009.
Actor Chris Parnell
, who played Dr. Leo Spaceman in this episode, has appeared in the main cast of Saturday Night Live
(SNL), a weekly sketch comedy
series which airs on NBC in the United States. Series' creator, executive producer and lead actress Tina Fey
was the head writer
on SNL from 1999 until 2006. Fey and Tracy Morgan
have both been part of the main cast of SNL. This was Parnell's tenth appearance as Dr. Spaceman. Actress and stand-up comedian Jackie Hoffman
also guest starred, as Rochelle Gaulke, on this episode. Nancy O'Dell, then-anchor of the entertainment news program, Access Hollywood
, played herself in "The Funcooker" in which she reads an apology written by NBC on Tracy Jordan
's behalf. O'Dell had previously appeared in the 30 Rock episode "Señor Macho Solo
".
Star Wars
is frequently referenced in 30 Rock, beginning with the pilot episode
in 2006 where Tracy is seen shouting that he is a Jedi
. Liz Lemon
admits to being a huge fan of Star Wars, saying that she had watched it many times with Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit
), and dressed up as the Star Wars character Princess Leia
during four recent Halloweens, and while trying to get out of jury duty in Chicago. Star Wars is also referenced when Tracy takes on the identity of the character Chewbacca
. Fey, a fan of Star Wars herself, said that the weekly Star Wars joke or reference "started happening organically" when the crew realized that they had a Star Wars reference "in almost every show". Fey said that from then on "it became a thing where [they] tried to keep it going", and that even though they could not include one in every episode, they still had a "pretty high batting average
". Fey attributed most of the references to executive producer and writer Robert Carlock
, whom she described as "the resident expert".
", which was watched by 7.3 million American viewers. "The Funcooker" was the ninth highest-rated show on the NBC network during the week of March 9–15, 2009. Tracy Morgan
received a Primetime Emmy Award
nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards
for his work in this episode, but lost it to actor Jon Cryer
. Ken Whittingham
, director of this episode, won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series at the 41st NAACP Image Awards ceremony.
The episode received generally positive reviews. IGN
contributor Robert Canning praised "The Funcooker" writing that it was fantastic and "never felt like a moment was wasted or that a scene was extraneous." He enjoyed all the storylines in the episode, writing they were interesting and funny enough, and complimented the way they all tied together with such ease. Canning enjoyed Tracy's actions writing that they fit perfectly for the Tracy character, and gave the episode a 9.6 out of 10 rating. "Holy normalsauce, did I ever love this episode", wrote Entertainment Weekly
' s Margaret Lyons. Her only complaint about this episode was Scott Adsit
's absence. Bob Sassone
of AOL
's TV Squad was grateful that the episode focused on NBC, TGS, and the work of the staff. Sassone wrote that despite "The Funcooker" not being "the most laugh-out-loud episode" he believed it was still funny. The A.V. Club
' s Nathan Rabin praised Jackie Hoffman's performance, noting that her monologue in court was brilliant. He enjoyed all of the episode's storylines, except for Tracy's, which he opined fell flat. In conclusion, Rabin gave this episode a B+ rating. Television columnist Alan Sepinwall wrote that an episode like "The Funcooker" is "really instructive about why a lot of other shows ... haven't quite worked. Even when they have lots of funny things in them, they never really build to a climax in the way that this one did, as everything went wrong at once." Sepinwall enjoyed Tina Fey's Liz in the episode, noting that her craziness worked well, but his concern was that when Liz loses it "there's nobody sane for her to push against."
30 Rock (season 3)
The third season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, consists of 22 episodes and began airing on October 30, 2008 on the NBC network in the United States...
of the American television comedy series 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
. It was written by Tom Ceraulo and Donald Glover
Donald Glover
Donald McKinley Glover is an American actor, writer, comedian, and musician. Glover first came to attention for his work in the sketch group Derrick Comedy, and is best known for his role as community college student Troy Barnes on the NBC comedy series Community...
, and directed by Ken Whittingham
Ken Whittingham
Ken Whittingham is an American television director.His most notable directorial work includes a number of episodes from each of the television series 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Suburgatory, The Middle, Parenthood, The Bernie Mac Show, Scrubs, Everybody Hates Chris, The Office, My Name Is Earl,...
. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
(NBC) on March 12, 2009. Guest stars in this episode include Jackie Hoffman
Jackie Hoffman
Jacqueline Laura Hoffman , known as Jackie Hoffman, is an American actress and stand-up comedian known for her facially-contorting expressions, and one-woman shows of Jewish-themed original songs and monologues...
, Nancy O'Dell, and Chris Parnell
Chris Parnell
Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
.
In the episode, Liz Lemon
Liz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.-Personal history:...
(Tina Fey
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
) leaves the The Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan (TGS) crew unmanaged as she must participate in jury duty for the trial of an oddly familiar woman (Hoffman). NBC page
NBC page
An NBC page is a person usually in his or her early twenties working in various departments of the NBC television network during a one-year period as a training ground for careers in television broadcasting and entertainment...
Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth Ellen Parcell is a fictional character in the comedy television series 30 Rock. He is portrayed by actor Jack McBrayer and first appeared on television in the 30 Rock episode "Pilot" on October 10, 2006...
(Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his characters on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"...
) tries to assert control over the crew in her stead and Jack Donaghy
Jack Donaghy
John Francis "Jack" Donaghy is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He is the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric and later Kabletown....
(Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
) uses the writers to develop a new name for a General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
product. Meanwhile, Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, played by Jane Krakowski.-Fictional biography:Jenna was born Ystrepa Grokovitz on February 24, 1969 and grew up in Bakersfield...
(Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
) seeks Dr. Leo Spaceman's (Parnell) help so she can work on TGS and her movie.
"The Funcooker" received generally positive reviews from television critics. According to the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
system, it was watched by 6.4 million households during its original broadcast. For his performance in this episode, Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
, who plays Tracy Jordan
Tracy Jordan
Ogbert Jordan, better known by his stage name, Tracy, is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, based on and played by Tracy Morgan.-Brief overview:...
on 30 Rock, received a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nomination in the category for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Ken Whittingham won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for "The Funcooker".
Plot
TGS head writer Liz LemonLiz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.-Personal history:...
(Tina Fey
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
) is assigned to solve a public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
problem caused by the show's stars, Tracy Jordan
Tracy Jordan
Ogbert Jordan, better known by his stage name, Tracy, is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, based on and played by Tracy Morgan.-Brief overview:...
(Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
) and Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, played by Jane Krakowski.-Fictional biography:Jenna was born Ystrepa Grokovitz on February 24, 1969 and grew up in Bakersfield...
(Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
), during their hosting duties of the St. Patrick's Day parade, in which Jenna passed out and Tracy cursed during the live television broadcast. To make things worse, Liz is summoned to jury duty and cannot avoid it despite claiming to be Princess Leia. When she leaves for jury duty, she does not leave anyone in charge and allows the staff to go without direction—until later when she puts NBC page
NBC page
An NBC page is a person usually in his or her early twenties working in various departments of the NBC television network during a one-year period as a training ground for careers in television broadcasting and entertainment...
Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth Ellen Parcell is a fictional character in the comedy television series 30 Rock. He is portrayed by actor Jack McBrayer and first appeared on television in the 30 Rock episode "Pilot" on October 10, 2006...
(Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his characters on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"...
) in charge after learning that the staff has gotten out of hand. Liz is on a court case about a woman, named Rochelle Gaulke (Jackie Hoffman
Jackie Hoffman
Jacqueline Laura Hoffman , known as Jackie Hoffman, is an American actress and stand-up comedian known for her facially-contorting expressions, and one-woman shows of Jewish-themed original songs and monologues...
), whose work life and frustrations parallel her own; the two both have employees named Tracy and Jenna, both believe their employees waste their time, and make their lives difficult.
Meanwhile, Jenna, worn out from working on TGS during the day and on her unlicensed Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
biopic at night, visits Dr. Leo Spaceman (Chris Parnell
Chris Parnell
Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
) for help so she can work on both. He gives Jenna a military-grade experimental drug currently being tested on rats to stay awake. At the same time, Tracy believes that having enough money to pay FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
fines means that he can say anything on television. As a result, Tracy curses on The Martha Stewart Show
Martha (TV series)
Martha, also known as The Martha Stewart Show, is an American, weekday one-hour talk show hosted by Martha Stewart. Previously airing in first-run syndication, the show began exclusively airing on cable network Hallmark Channel since September 13, 2010.-History:The program originally debuted on...
, and after learning that the show's advertisers are pulling out, due to his actions, decides to sponsor the show. Meanwhile, Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
, Jack Donaghy
Jack Donaghy
John Francis "Jack" Donaghy is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He is the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric and later Kabletown....
, desperately tries to find a name for a pocket microwave oven that is not offensive in any language. With Liz gone, Jack assigns the TGS writing staff, Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander
Judah Friedlander
Judah Friedlander is an American actor and comedian, known for his trademark trucker hats, oversized glasses and unkempt appearance, which he retains in many of his screen roles.-Early life:...
), James "Toofer" Spurlock (Keith Powell
Keith Powell
Keith Powell is an American television actor who is best known for his role as James "Toofer" Spurlock on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock.-Career:Powell was the Producing Artistic Director of Contemporary Stage Company, a summer theater in Wilmington, Delaware...
), J. D. Lutz (John Lutz
John Lutz (television writer)
John Lutz is an American actor, writer and comedian.-Biography:The son of a Lutheran minister, Lutz grew up in suburban Chicago and Detroit. He attended Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, majoring in psychology and minoring in...
), Josh Girard (Lonny Ross
Lonny Ross
Lonny Ross is a comedy actor and writer. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for his work as Josh Girard on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock...
), and Sue LaRoche-Van der Hout (Sue Galloway), to this task. After their unsuccessful attempts, Kenneth suggests "The Funcooker" which Jack decides is the perfect name.
Back at the studios, the taping of TGS is interrupted by Dr. Spaceman who desperately forces Jenna to sleep because she might die like one of his test rats. Tracy creates a diversion by dropping his trousers and exposing his buttocks, which he refers to the "Funcooker". Everyone realizes that this is where Kenneth heard the name. Fed up with the chaos, Liz sends the entire show's staff—including Kenneth and Dr. Spaceman—to her office. Liz ponders over a box of matches and thinks of the woman in court, in which she admitted to committing arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
as a way of getting back at her out-of-control employees. She accidentally does start a small fire which is quickly put out but scares everyone out of their bad behavior.
Production
"The Funcooker" was written by script co-coordinator Tom Ceraulo and that season's executive story editor Donald GloverDonald Glover
Donald McKinley Glover is an American actor, writer, comedian, and musician. Glover first came to attention for his work in the sketch group Derrick Comedy, and is best known for his role as community college student Troy Barnes on the NBC comedy series Community...
, and was directed by Ken Whittingham
Ken Whittingham
Ken Whittingham is an American television director.His most notable directorial work includes a number of episodes from each of the television series 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Suburgatory, The Middle, Parenthood, The Bernie Mac Show, Scrubs, Everybody Hates Chris, The Office, My Name Is Earl,...
. This episode was Ceraulo's first writing credit, and second written episode by Glover. This was Whittingham's first 30 Rock directed episode, and would later return to helm the fourth season
30 Rock (season 4)
The fourth season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, consists of 23 episodes and began airing on October 15, 2009, on the National Broadcasting Company network in the United States...
episode "Anna Howard Shaw Day
Anna Howard Shaw Day
"Anna Howard Shaw Day" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 71st episode of the series overall. It was written by supervising producer Matt Hubbard and directed by Ken Whittingham. The episode originally aired on the National...
". "The Funcooker" originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 12, 2009.
Actor Chris Parnell
Chris Parnell
Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
, who played Dr. Leo Spaceman in this episode, has appeared in the main cast of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(SNL), a weekly sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
series which airs on NBC in the United States. Series' creator, executive producer and lead actress Tina Fey
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
was the head writer
Head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
on SNL from 1999 until 2006. Fey and Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
have both been part of the main cast of SNL. This was Parnell's tenth appearance as Dr. Spaceman. Actress and stand-up comedian Jackie Hoffman
Jackie Hoffman
Jacqueline Laura Hoffman , known as Jackie Hoffman, is an American actress and stand-up comedian known for her facially-contorting expressions, and one-woman shows of Jewish-themed original songs and monologues...
also guest starred, as Rochelle Gaulke, on this episode. Nancy O'Dell, then-anchor of the entertainment news program, Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
, played herself in "The Funcooker" in which she reads an apology written by NBC on Tracy Jordan
Tracy Jordan
Ogbert Jordan, better known by his stage name, Tracy, is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, based on and played by Tracy Morgan.-Brief overview:...
's behalf. O'Dell had previously appeared in the 30 Rock episode "Señor Macho Solo
Señor Macho Solo
"Señor Macho Solo" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 43rd overall episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producer Ron Weiner and directed by Beth McCarthy. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting...
".
Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
is frequently referenced in 30 Rock, beginning with the pilot episode
Pilot (30 Rock)
The pilot episode of the American situation comedy series 30 Rock premiered on October 10, 2006 on the CTV Television Network in Canada, and October 11, 2006 on NBC in the United States...
in 2006 where Tracy is seen shouting that he is a Jedi
Jedi
The Jedi are characters in the Star Wars universe and the series's main protagonists. The Jedi use a power called the Force and weapons called lightsabers, which emit a controlled energy flow in the shape of a sword, in order to serve and protect the Republic and the galaxy at large from conflict...
. Liz Lemon
Liz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.-Personal history:...
admits to being a huge fan of Star Wars, saying that she had watched it many times with Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit is an American actor, writer and improvisational comedian. He is currently co-starring as Pete Hornberger in the hit NBC comedy 30 Rock and worked in the Adult Swim stop-motion animation programs Moral Orel and Mary Shelley's Frankenhole.-1990s:After attending Columbia College Chicago,...
), and dressed up as the Star Wars character Princess Leia
Princess Leia Organa
Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe...
during four recent Halloweens, and while trying to get out of jury duty in Chicago. Star Wars is also referenced when Tracy takes on the identity of the character Chewbacca
Chewbacca
Chewbacca, also known as Chewie, is a character in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed by Peter Mayhew. In the series' narrative chronology, he appears in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi...
. Fey, a fan of Star Wars herself, said that the weekly Star Wars joke or reference "started happening organically" when the crew realized that they had a Star Wars reference "in almost every show". Fey said that from then on "it became a thing where [they] tried to keep it going", and that even though they could not include one in every episode, they still had a "pretty high batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
". Fey attributed most of the references to executive producer and writer Robert Carlock
Robert Carlock
Robert Carlock is an American television producer and screenwriter most widely known for his work as a writer for several NBC television comedies, particularly his work with Tina Fey as show runners for 30 Rock.-Early years:...
, whom she described as "the resident expert".
Reception
According to the Nielsen ratings system, "The Funcooker" was watched by 6.4 million households in its original American broadcast. It earned a 3.9 rating/6 share in the 18–49 demographic. This means that it was seen by 3.9% of all 18–49 years olds, and 6% of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. This was a decrease from the previous episode, "Goodbye, My FriendGoodbye, My Friend
"Goodbye, My Friend" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 49th overall episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producer Ron Weiner and directed by co-executive producer John Riggi. The episode originally aired on the...
", which was watched by 7.3 million American viewers. "The Funcooker" was the ninth highest-rated show on the NBC network during the week of March 9–15, 2009. Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
received a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards
61st Primetime Emmy Awards
The 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards took place on September 20, 2009. CBS broadcast the Primetime event and E! the Creative Arts event; both take place at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The nominations for the Awards were announced on July 16....
for his work in this episode, but lost it to actor Jon Cryer
Jon Cryer
Jonathan Niven "Jon" Cryer is an American actor, screenwriter and film producer. He is the son of actress–singer Gretchen Cryer. He made his motion picture debut in the 1984 romantic comedy No Small Affair, but gained greater fame as "Duckie" in the 1986 John Hughes-scripted film Pretty in Pink...
. Ken Whittingham
Ken Whittingham
Ken Whittingham is an American television director.His most notable directorial work includes a number of episodes from each of the television series 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Suburgatory, The Middle, Parenthood, The Bernie Mac Show, Scrubs, Everybody Hates Chris, The Office, My Name Is Earl,...
, director of this episode, won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series at the 41st NAACP Image Awards ceremony.
The episode received generally positive reviews. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
contributor Robert Canning praised "The Funcooker" writing that it was fantastic and "never felt like a moment was wasted or that a scene was extraneous." He enjoyed all the storylines in the episode, writing they were interesting and funny enough, and complimented the way they all tied together with such ease. Canning enjoyed Tracy's actions writing that they fit perfectly for the Tracy character, and gave the episode a 9.6 out of 10 rating. "Holy normalsauce, did I ever love this episode", wrote Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit is an American actor, writer and improvisational comedian. He is currently co-starring as Pete Hornberger in the hit NBC comedy 30 Rock and worked in the Adult Swim stop-motion animation programs Moral Orel and Mary Shelley's Frankenhole.-1990s:After attending Columbia College Chicago,...
's absence. Bob Sassone
Bob Sassone
Bob Sassone is an American writer. He was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, to Italian and Portuguese parents. He is the youngest of seven children....
of AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
's TV Squad was grateful that the episode focused on NBC, TGS, and the work of the staff. Sassone wrote that despite "The Funcooker" not being "the most laugh-out-loud episode" he believed it was still funny. The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
External links
- "The Funcooker," at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...