Dennis becomes a New York City celebrity after jumping in front of a train and saving someone who fell on the tracks. Meanwhile, Jack desperately tries to persuade Tracy to become the celebrity face of the Republican Party.
Subway setting fuels 66 jokes in 24 minutes, anchoring character comedy to absurdist New York observations.
Directed by Don Scardino · Written by Jack Burditt, Robert Carlock
WAR
145.4
Wins Above Replacement
“Subway Hero” ranks #54 of 138 30 Rock episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 98.4 — Elite. The episode packs 92 scored jokes at 3.8 per minute, averaging 7.6 on craft and 7.6 on impact, with Dennis landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Jenna: Love is hiding who you really are at all times, even when you're sleeping. Love is wearing makeup to bed and going downstairs to the Burger King to poop, and hiding alcohol in perfume bottles. That's love.
Jenna Character Comedy Escalation Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jack: Dennis is off the show. I booked the 911 bird. Winston dialed 911 with his beak and said fire, but only because he didn't know the word for rape.
Jack Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Tracy: My fellow black Americans, Dr. King once had a dream, a dream that we all share: To build a 200 foot high wall to keep Mexico out. And he also hated the estate tax.
Tracy Absurdist Dark/Subversive Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Jack: My cologne is distilled from the bilge water of Rupert Murdoch's yacht.
Jack Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Bucky Bright: Who is Conan O'Brien, and why is she so sad?
Bucky Bright Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Callback All Jokes — 92 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Jack: I need some women to attend so it doesn't turn into another giant sausage fest.
Jack Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Liz: What's the Committee to Reinvade Vietnam?
Liz Observational Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jack: C. Nor and I had a falling-out after I switched to another dojo.
Jack Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Liz: I'm saving that money for new humidifiers. The same model that's keeping Larry King alive.
Liz Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement Liz: Food network doesn't have a news show.
Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Dennis: Thank you, mayor Bloomberger.
Dennis Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Dennis: Stern rules! Baba booey!
Dennis Character Comedy Absurdist Jack · Liz · Dennis: Dennis Duffy, beeper salesman and your ex-boyfriend. And Dateline predator. Exonerated Dateline predator. The whole thing was one big silly misunderstanding. Like the Giuliani campaign.
Jack: Jonathan, why don't you put on more of that cologne? — delivered by Jack as a way of dismissing the conversation
Jack Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Dennis: When I say subway, you say hero. Subway. Hero?
Dennis Character Comedy Absurdist Dennis: I now declare this store open for all mankind.
Dennis Character Comedy Absurdist Dennis: We're like Ross and Rachel, but just not gay.
Dennis Character Comedy Absurdist Dennis: Dennis singing: '* I just want to rock *'
Dennis Character Comedy Visual Gag Dennis: I knew that girl was 18. She told me that her last boyfriend was Asian. And that crap doesn't start until college.
Dennis Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jonathan: He was a major TV star in the '40s, '50s and the fall of 1972.
Jonathan Deadpan/Understatement Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Jonathan: He insists on singing. / He insists on singing.
Jonathan Running Gag Deadpan/Understatement Jack: Good god. When did the party become so boring? The Democrats have all the good celebrities.
Jack Irony/Sarcasm Observational Kenneth · Jack: Oh, no, sir, I don't vote Republican or Democrat. Choosing is a sin, so I always just write in the lord's name. / That's Republican — we count those.
Bucky Bright: And an inside monogrammed pocket, you know, for your opium pipe and your switchblade.
Kenneth · Bucky Bright: I'm sorry — what now? / Say, why don't you show me around the old studio?
Liz: 400% of my sodium? I should not be eating these.
Liz Character Comedy Observational TGS Announcer / Jack: Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the bravest New Yorker since Bernie Goetz, Mr. Dennis Duffy.
Dennis: It's the Stanley Cup, honey. It's hockey's ultimate prize. And me and it, we're teaming up to fight illiteracy.
Dennis Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Toofer: I've watched seven different people die in subway stations.
Toofer Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement Dennis: All I could think about was Derek Jeter. And it was like, check this out, Jeter, you think you're better than me?
Dennis Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Jenna: Uh, why is this movie called 'The Hours' when it feels so much longer? They should call this thing 'The Weeks'.
Jenna Observational Deadpan/Understatement Liz · Jenna: Reaction beat: Liz processes 'The Weeks' comment in silence.
Liz Jenna Reaction Beat Awkward Silence Callback Jenna · Liz: Dennis is like those off-brand Mexican Cheetos. My 'Sabor de soledad'? I only have Spanish delis in my neighborhood.
Jenna Liz Character Comedy Observational ★ Rewatch Jack: Tracy. My friend. Have you ever considered becoming the celebrity face of the Republican party?
Jack Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Tracy: Black people supporting Republicans? Does hot support cold? Does rain support the earth?
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist Jack · Tracy: Do you like lower taxes? / If I paid taxes, I sure would.
Jack Tracy Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jack · Tracy: How about gun ownership? / Go on.
Jack Tracy Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jack · Tracy · Dotcom · Jack: And let none of us forget the GOP is the party of Lincoln. / Lincoln was a Republican? / Actually, today's Republican party would be unrecognizable to Lincoln. He fought a war to preserve federal authority over the states. That's not exactly small government. / Dotcom, this need you have to be the smartest guy in the room is... off-putting.
Dotcom: I guess that's why I'm still single.
Dotcom Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Tracy: Damn. The Republican party sounds pretty attuned to my unique way of life.
Tracy Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Bucky Bright: For five bucks I will.
Dennis: Hey, dummy, I was just telling these dummies how we used to go in the park and make fun of all the joggers.
Dennis Character Comedy Observational Dennis: Oh, I'm gonna run in a circle, so I can live longer.
Dennis Character Comedy Observational Dennis: Hold on a second. Who orders a salad from a burger joint? You watching your figure there, sweetheart? What, are you gearing up for swimsuit season?
Dennis Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Liz · Dennis: Very funny. / Very funny? How would you know?
Bucky Bright: We used to call this 'the jew room.'
TGS Crew Member: Hey, chief, the kid's birthday party that hired the Urkel impersonator is down around the hall.
Dennis · TGS Crew: Are you gonna cry? / Yeah, he's gonna cry.
Dennis · Liz: Elizabeth Conworthy Lemon. / Okay, that's not my middle name.
Dennis Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Liz: Entertaining a guest of the show is called being professional. It wasn't a date or whatever — I paid for dinner.
Liz Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Liz: He can't get credit cards, Jenna, because his cousin Teddy used Dennis' social to get a cell phone that Teddy then couldn't pay for because this Indian guy that he was working for... You know what, I don't have to explain myself to you.
Liz Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Bucky Bright: I just wandered around the building all night. I didn't run into another single living soul, except one gigantic lesbian.
Bucky Bright: Who is Conan O'Brien, and why is she so sad?
Bucky Bright Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Callback Tracy · Nixon's Ghost: It's purgatory, Tracy. / Richard Nixon? / I can't believe I'm dead. There was still so much left on my bucket list. So many different kind of buckets I wanted to own. Buckets.
Nixon Ghost · Tracy: We've lost some prestige because of the Bush administration. / And Watergate. / I'm trying to keep that on the DL around here.
Nixon Ghost: Black, Jewish, one eye, a white wife. It was a big tent back then, Tracy.
Tracy Character Comedy Reaction Beat Dennis: Social conservative, fiscal liberal.
Dennis Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Liz: I don't like a lot of people, Jenna, but that dumb creep makes me laugh.
Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Liz: Do I? I might be an idiot. I know I'm supposed to make myself nice meals, instead of eating junk.
Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Liz · Jenna: Do you know what I use my oven for? / Warming your jeans in the morning? / That's right, and it feels good.
Liz Jenna Character Comedy Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Jack: My cologne is distilled from the bilge water of Rupert Murdoch's yacht.
Jack Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Dennis: And when I grab on, I do not let go. Like a killer whale going nuts on his trainer at Sea World.
Dennis Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jenna: Love is hiding who you really are at all times, even when you're sleeping. Love is wearing makeup to bed and going downstairs to the Burger King to poop, and hiding alcohol in perfume bottles. That's love.
Jenna Character Comedy Escalation Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Liz · Jenna: If you give into it, you just start to feel kind of numb and warm, and then you just get sleepy. That's not that bad. / That's exactly what they say it's like when you freeze to death.
Liz Jenna Setup/Punchline Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Liz Character Comedy Reaction Beat Bucky Bright: You wanted to do something private with another man, it wasn't gay. No, it was just two men celebrating each other's strength.
Tracy: Nixon's ghost convinced my ghost to help the GOP. God bless that wiretapping bastard.
Tracy Absurdist Dark/Subversive Tracy: I can't talk now. I gotta get my wallet out of the toaster.
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Dennis · Liz: Elizabeth Sarah Lemon — / That's not my middle name.
Dennis Liz Callback Running Gag ★ Rewatch Callback Dennis · Liz: Will you marry me? / Oh, god.
Liz: You don't know this guy. He is not the man you think he is.
Liz Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Dennis: I could get any girl here I want. And not just the fatties and the butterfaces.
Dennis Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Dennis: Shut up, crowd. I command you as the subway hero — shut up.
Dennis Character Comedy Absurdist Dennis: You know, a stripper offered to give me a squeezer last night. A white stripper.
Dennis Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Dennis: I'm the loser. I guess I'm the one who totally missed catching the puck at that Islanders game.
Dennis Character Comedy Misdirection Dennis: And so do all New York based sports teams.
Dennis Character Comedy Escalation Tracy · Jack: My fellow blackmericans— / Can I just say black Americans? There's no such thing as blackmericans.
Tracy: My fellow black Americans, Dr. King once had a dream, a dream that we all share: To build a 200 foot high wall to keep Mexico out. And he also hated the estate tax.
Tracy Absurdist Dark/Subversive Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Tracy: I get it. The Republican party means less taxes, more guns, and the end of the gun tax.
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist Tracy · Jack · Tracy: No matter what, blackmericans are gonna always vote Democrat. / They will, won't they? / Unless... black people, don't vote. Just don't do it.
Tracy: In the amount of time it'd take for you to vote, you could play three games of pool. Three. And that's fresh.
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Tracy: I'm Tracy Jordan, and I improve this message. Paid by the committee to reinvade Vietnam.
Tracy Absurdist Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Tracy: Now if you'll excuse me, Nixon asked me to take some stuff out of his Wikipedia page.
Tracy Absurdist Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jack: Dennis is off the show. I booked the 911 bird. Winston dialed 911 with his beak and said fire, but only because he didn't know the word for rape.
Jack Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Bucky Bright: Well, when we sobered up, we realized we'd eaten the peacock and we put the ham in Pat Weaver's office.
Jack: Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to Chinatown to pick up some human growth hormones so that Mr. Jordan's tigers don't realize that he's aging.
Jack Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Kenneth: Oh my... there's your weird.
Kenneth Reaction Beat Callback Callback Dennis: It seems like all that stuff you said came true. I am a loser. My mall appearance got canceled. The mighty ducks are mad at me because I left the Stanley Cup on a water taxi.
Dennis Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Dennis: I can only imagine the classic song I'm gonna write after this.
Dennis Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Callback Bucky Bright · Liz: Oh, well this one's dating a Dateline predator. Exonerated. And we're not dating.
Bucky Bright: Boy, that's one mouthy sandwich girl, isn't it?
Dennis · Liz: It was on a subway platform just like this. On a night just like this. / It's still daytime. And we're inside.
Dennis Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Liz · Dennis: You failed the firefighter exam? / Yeah, it's totally biased against the Irish, you know.
Liz: If reality TV has taught us anything, it's that you can't keep people with no shame down.
Liz Observational Dark/Subversive Liz · Dennis: Dennis, don't you dare. / Liz, work with me now. Just go limp. / It'll be phenomenal, Liz, come on. / Ah, damn, it's the wrong track. It's stupid express. / You thought it was this track too, didn't you?
Liz Dennis Character Comedy Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Dennis: You'll be back, Liz Lemon. You'll be back. / You'll be back, dummy.
Dennis Character Comedy Running Gag