Now that major changes have occurred on the The Girlie Show, Liz struggles to bring everyone and everything together. However, despite his erratic behavior, Tracy manages to bring everything to order.
Early 30 Rock finds its rhythm: 55 jokes in 20 minutes, anchored by character-driven absurdism.
Directed by Adam Bernstein · Written by Tina Fey
WAR
97.6
Wins Above Replacement
“The Aftermath” ranks #122 of 138 30 Rock episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 92.9 — Elite. The episode packs 71 scored jokes at 3.5 per minute, averaging 7.5 on craft and 7.3 on impact, with Tracy landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Tracy: Tracy: 'I got a solid gold jet-ski. Two Batmobiles. The AIDS monkey's bones...'
Tracy: Tracy: 'Like Batman and Robin. Like chicken and a chicken container.'
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist Tracy: Tracy corrects Toofer's grammar: 'Unh-unh. Superman does good. You're doing well. You need to study your grammar, son.'
Tracy Character Comedy Misdirection ★ Rewatch Liz · Jack: Liz: 'He bit Dakota Fanning on the face!' Jack: 'When you hear his version, she was kind of asking for it.'
Liz Jack Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement Liz · Tracy: Liz: 'And Toofer's just afraid of black people.' Tracy: 'Which one is Toofer?' Liz: 'The black guy.'
All Jokes — 71 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Jack: Jack mentions a chemical factory explosion outside Colorado Springs, then says 'Good' when Liz says she hasn't heard about it
Jack Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Jack · Liz: Jack: 'Lemon, to tread lightly is your job. My job is to keep Tracy Jordan happy.'
Jack Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Tour Guide: NBC tour guide calling it a 'cameo': 'That is what we in the show business like to call a cameo.'
Tracy: Tracy to the NBC tour group: 'How do you feel, NBC tour? 'Cause you look good, like a solid gold candy bar!'
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist Tracy: Tracy to a female tourist: 'Where else do you have those piercings on your body?'
Tracy Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Pete · Liz · Staff: Everyone springs to excited attention shouting 'This is it, here he comes!' — then it's only Jenna, and they visibly deflate: 'It's only Jenna. All right, it's just Jenna.'
Pete · Tracy: Pete criticizing Tracy: 'within his remunenerative body of work there's just nothing of value' — then Tracy's actual stand-up: 'Give up the butt, ladies. Give up the butt.'
Pete Tracy Setup/Punchline Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Tracy: Tracy's stand-up clip: 'Give up the butt, ladies. Give up the butt.'
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist Liz · Jack: Liz: 'He's an imbecile.' Jack: 'Well, he's our imbecile now.'
Liz Jack Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Liz · Tracy: Liz: 'I'm just surprised he's still got his shirt—' Tracy immediately removes his shirt mid-sentence.
Liz Tracy Physical/Slapstick Misdirection ★ Rewatch Jack · Tracy: Jack to Tracy: 'You have to teach me that handshake one day.'
Tracy's Entourage: 'Don't look at me! Do not look at me in the eyes. Do not look at Mr. Jordan! Do not look at him in the eye.'
Tracy · Pete: Tracy to Pete: 'You smoke weed, right, Pete?' Pete: 'Uh... No.' Tracy: 'Yeah, me neither.'
Tracy Pete Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Pete · Tracy: Pete: 'It's good to see you too. 'Cause that means I'm not fired anymore.' Tracy: 'I wasn't gonna mention that.' Pete: 'But I did. And now I'm talking about it.'
Tracy · Pete: Tracy to Pete: 'Relax your balls, Pete.'
Tracy Pete Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jack · Tracy: Jack introduces every single person in the writers room to Tracy — including 'Rupert Murdoch. Melinda Gates. Ziggy from the cartoon Ziggy. Anthony Pellano. Heidi Klum. The guy that sleeps with Heidi Klum.'
Tracy: Tracy's character pitch: 'Got another character named Ching Chong, who loves to play Ping Pong. I just made that up right now. 'Cause that's how I flow.'
Tracy Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Tracy · Liz: Tracy suggests: 'I thought me and you could play Seinfeld and Bill Cos--' Liz cuts him off: 'No. I don't like that.'
Tracy Liz Meta/Self-Referential Misdirection Tracy: This man's a genius. / Let me just say, I'm excited to be here. It's an honor for you to meet me.
Tracy Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Tracy: Got another character named Ching Chong, who loves to play Ping Pong. I just made that up right now. 'Cause that's how I flow.
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist Liz · Jack: Liz: 'He bit Dakota Fanning on the face!' Jack: 'When you hear his version, she was kind of asking for it.'
Liz Jack Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement Liz · Jack: Jack lists his previous advice to Liz: Liz says 'Not to freak out?' Jack confirms, then Liz says: 'Stop falling in love with gay guys?'
Liz Jack Character Comedy Misdirection Jack: Jack on a German phone call: 'Glaub mir. Diese Advantium Microwaves sind die beste.' (Trust me. These Advantium Microwaves are the best.)
Jack Character Comedy Observational ★ Rewatch Jack: Yeah, wunderbar. Plowchops.
Jack Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jack · Liz: Jack: 'It tested very well with the focus groups.' Liz protests the name change. Jack: 'If you say you like it, you can have some pizza.'
Jack Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jack: Jack: 'Then we could sit around and braid each other's hair until we get our periods at the same time.'
Jack Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Jack · Liz: Jack's extended pool metaphor: '...build the house, add on a pool, and throw yourself into the deep end.' Liz: 'What if I can't swim?' Jack: 'Then I'll do what my father did when I was two. Lure you to the edge of the pool with a puppy, and push you in.'
Jack: Jack's story: 'So I said, Rick, this chick's got an Adam's apple. And Rick said, I'll never forget this: Freaky deakies need love too.'
Jack Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Tracy: Tracy corrects Toofer's grammar: 'Unh-unh. Superman does good. You're doing well. You need to study your grammar, son.'
Tracy Character Comedy Misdirection ★ Rewatch Toofer: Toofer's reaction after being corrected by Tracy: 'Wow. That was embarrassing for you.'
Toofer Reaction Beat Irony/Sarcasm Callback Tracy · Jenna: Right, Jenna Mulvaney? / Maroney. Rhymes with Baloney.
Jenna: Maroney. Rhymes with Baloney.
Jenna Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun Liz · Frank: Frank defends Tracy: 'Frank likes his movies.' Liz reframes: 'Frank also loves that video of the monkey smelling his own butt.'
Jenna: Jenna: 'Nobody wants Tracy Jordan here except for certified non-genius Jack Donaghy.'
Jenna Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Callback PA · Jenna: PA to Jenna: 'The sound guys want their microphone back. So everyone can hear everything you are saying.'
PA Jenna Setup/Punchline Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Jenna: Jenna's first response to learning she was on mic: 'Oh my God. I didn't use the N word, did I?'
Jenna Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Jack · Liz: Jack sees Liz in what she calls her office; Jack: 'I guess you bring a little feminine magic to everything you touch.'
Jack · Liz: Jack: 'No, he's not your employee, he's your product. Like it or not, you're in the Tracy Jordan business now.'
Jack Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jack · Liz: Jack: 'How do I do that?' Liz asks. Jack: 'I don't know. I'm a non-genius.'
Jack Liz Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Callback Tracy: A crowd once threw a motorcycle at me.
Tracy Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Liz: I'm just trying to calm Jenna down... your being is just bringing out all of her crazy.
Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Liz · Tracy: Liz: 'And Toofer's just afraid of black people.' Tracy: 'Which one is Toofer?' Liz: 'The black guy.'
PA · Liz: PA interrupts: 'Y'all are on the monitors right now. Everyone can hear you and see you.' Liz: 'Son of a mother!'
PA Liz Callback Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Callback Sound Guy · Liz: Ms. Lemon? I just wanted to let you know y'all are on the monitors right now. Everyone can-- / Hear you and see you. Yes, ma'am. / Son of a mother!
Sound Guy Liz Callback Running Gag Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Callback Tracy: Tracy's reaction after learning he was on monitors: 'Well, that just confirms all my suspicions.'
Tracy Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Liz · Writers: Writers throw things at Liz; she says: 'All right. Okay, fine. Get it out of your system. Nothing that plugs in, you guys! Nothing that could really hurt me!'
Jack · Liz: Jack asks how things are in the deep end. Liz says 'Fine.' Jack: 'The staff is meshing together well?' Liz: 'Oh, yes, yeah.' Cut to: writers throwing things at Liz.
Jack Liz Irony/Sarcasm Visual Gag Callback Tracy: Tracy to Liz: 'Let's crash my car to see if the air-bags go off.'
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist Tracy: Tracy: 'I got a solid gold jet-ski. Two Batmobiles. The AIDS monkey's bones...'
Tracy: Tracy hosting: 'Welcome! Welcome to your fantasy!'
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist Liz: Liz: 'We're both hosting. The ice cream bar was my idea.'
Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Tracy: Tracy: 'I've taken this boat to Miami, Tokyo, Denver.'
Tracy Absurdist Setup/Punchline Tracy · Liz: Liz asks what 'Avanti Domani' means. Tracy: 'Oh, that's Spanish for remember your mother.'
Tracy Liz Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Tracy · Jenna: Tracy to Jenna: 'I read your interview in Amtrak Magazine.' Jenna: 'Really? You saw that?' Tracy: 'Did you know that all the writers in that magazine are also conductors?'
Jenna · Tracy: Yes, how did you know that? / I read your interview in Amtrak Magazine.
Tracy · Toofer: Toofer opens a bottle: 'Good gravy. This is a Dunwoody '62.' Tracy: 'It's for you. Take it, my friend.'
Tracy · Toofer: Tracy and Toofer doing impressions: 'What's the deal with pudding? I'm Bill Cosby. Jell-o! Sweaters!'
Tracy Toofer Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Pete · Tracy: Pete: 'That doesn't even sound like the Cos.' Tracy: 'I'm gonna go lay down.' Pete: 'Got you on that one, man. He got you again, man. Get better references.'
Tracy: Tracy: 'Like Batman and Robin. Like chicken and a chicken container.'
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist Boat Owner: Por favor, no me dueles. Me llamo María.
Liz: Liz, realizing: 'It's Spanish for Remember Your Mother. I've taken this boat to Denver. You can have that scotch. Grizz was in the Navy!'
Liz Callback Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Liz: It's Spanish for 'Remember Your Mother.' I've taken this boat to Denver. You can have that scotch. Grizz was in the Navy!
Liz Callback Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Liz · Crew: Liz: 'This is not his boat! We gotta get off this thing!' Running and jumping off the yacht.
Liz Crew Physical/Slapstick Escalation Jack · Liz: Jack to Liz the next morning: 'What are you talking about? Everybody loved your little Lemon party. I think it brings the team together like a harrowing experience.'
Jack Liz Irony/Sarcasm Deadpan/Understatement Jack · Liz: Jack resolves the Peabody boat theft by giving them 'free rides on the NBC jet.' — when Liz asks about the newspaper coverage, he reveals he 'had to give them something.'
Jack Liz Irony/Sarcasm Setup/Punchline Jack: No, I took care of that. The Peabodys will be getting some free rides on the NBC jet. There won't be anything in the papers at all.
Jack Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jack · Liz: Don't worry. She's gonna love it. / That's just insulting.
Jack Liz Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Jenna: Jenna seeing the embarrassing Post photo of Liz: 'Liz, did you see me in the Post? Oh, my God, it's so embarrassing. Look how thin I look.'
Jenna Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Jack Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Jenna: Jenna: 'Look how many emails I've gotten. It's not even 8:00 AM in L.A. Should I call Stern?'
Jenna Character Comedy Escalation Jack: Jack, to Liz's disgust at the Post photo: 'You're welcome.'
Jack Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy 