Monday, November 14, 2016

TV Quote of the Day (‘30 Rock,’ on What It Takes to Enter High Society)



(Jenna Maroney, anxious to meet Austrian royalty, the last of the Hapsburg line, crashes a very classy party.)

Jenna (played by Jane Krakowski) (to Liz Lemon):  “Oh, hello.”

Liz (played by Tina Fey): “Hi. How did you get in here?”

Jenna: “Oh Liz, if you dress well and enter with confidence, you can get in anywhere.”

Liz:  “You showed the security guy your boobs, didn't you?”

Jenna: “Just one. It’s not the White House.” —30 Rock, Season 1, Episode 12, “Black Tie,” original air date Feb. 1, 2007, teleplay by Kay Cannon and Tina Fey, directed by Don Scardino

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a decade now since 30 Rock hit the air. Smart and fast-paced, it was exquisitely attuned both to television (it was set, of course, on the set of a Saturday Night Live-style show) and to the ways that urban life could leave its inhabitants (like Jenna here) at least slightly unhinged.

I’ve wondered recently what this great show might have made of the improbable journey of Donald Trump from New York fixture to new White House occupant. It turns out that I’m not the only one. Madison Malone Kircher of New York Magazine has paired pictures of Trump with lines from 30 Rock’s unstoppable Jenna to produce campaign scenarios that, in this surreal election year, sound eerily close to reality.

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