Liz meets her longtime idol, Rosemary Howard, and invites her to be a guest writer on "TGS with Tracy Jordan". However, Rosemary's ideas turn out to be too much for the show, prompting Jack to pressure Liz into firing her. Meanwhile, Jack takes Tracy to a therapist to explain to him why he must do the opposite of what he is told, and Jenna ruins Kenneth's page jacket, causing him to compete in a page-off to keep his job.
Subversive character comedy sustains 81-point episode despite sparse standout moments.
Directed by Michael Engler · Written by Jack Burditt
WAR
63.1
Wins Above Replacement
“Rosemarys Baby” ranks #107 of 138 30 Rock episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 81.6 — Elite. The episode packs 61 scored jokes at 2.7 per minute, averaging 7.2 on craft and 6.9 on impact, with Jack landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Liz: Never go with a hippie to a second location.
Liz Setup/Punchline Observational ★ Rewatch Tracy: I don't need therapy. I'm just mentally ill.
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Kenneth: Please, I breast fed 'til I was 11. So I've forgotten more about a woman's chest than you'll ever know.
Kenneth Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Tracy: What? No! You idiots! I built a dog fighting pit in my basement for this?
Tracy Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Jack · Tracy: Tracy, what if I told you that the one thing you cannot do is therapy? You're not my dad! We're doing therapy!
Jack Tracy Callback Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback All Jokes — 61 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Liz · Jack: Wait, how could Liz win a fellowship award? She doesn't like people. No, followship.
Liz Jack Wordplay/Pun Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Jack: Presented annually to the woman... sorry, person, who best exemplifies a follower.
Jack Character Comedy Observational Liz: I'm not a follower. It also comes with ten grand. I accept this proudly on behalf of followers everywhere.
Liz Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Jack: So resistant to product integration, cross-promotion, and adverlingus.
Jack Wordplay/Pun Absurdist ★ Rewatch Jack · Liz: So what are you gonna do with your money, put it into a 401K? Yeah, I gotta get one of those. What?
Jack Liz Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Jack · Liz: Where do you invest your money, Liz? I have, like, 12 grand in checking. Are you an immigrant?
Jack Liz Character Comedy Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Jenna: If I can't be Monique fat, I have to be Teri hatcher thin. Either way, you're laughin'.
Jenna Character Comedy Observational ★ Rewatch Liz: Is she one of the ladies who tried to shoot Gerald Ford?
Liz Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Rosemary · Liz: Pardon me! Pardon you? You were already pardoned! It's funny 'cause it's true.
Liz: When I mean my friends, I mean my Fisher Price... My friend dolls. Because I didn't have a lot of friends.
Liz Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Liz: Oh, boy. Am I still talking? You're gonna kill me, aren't you?
Liz Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Rosemary: I grew up wanting to be Samantha Stevens on bewitched. Closest I got was being married to a gay guy for two years.
Rosemary Setup/Punchline Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Liz: And by heroine, I mean lady hero. I don't wanna inject you and listen to jazz.
Liz Wordplay/Pun Absurdist ★ Rewatch Tracy: If you desecrate something, is that bad?
Tracy Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Tracy: Who would have ever known there was so many words? It was like a mos def cd.
Tracy Character Comedy Observational Jack: Except no dog fighting, okay? That seems to be the one thing that's off limits these days.
Jack Setup/Punchline Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Tracy: Dog fighting it is. Make it happen.
Tracy Escalation Dark/Subversive Callback Kenneth: Man, this is Phil spector's entourage all over again.
Kenneth Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Rosemary: It's like sex, you know? It's almost better when everything goes horribly wrong.
Rosemary Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Rosemary · Liz: Does everyone still do blow in Joe Garagiola's office? Which one is blow again? Is that cocaine?
Donnie: Mr. Perfect, Mr. Jesus loves me Parcell finally messed up? Do you know how long I've been waiting to transfer that thumbhead to cnbc in paramus, New Jersey?
Donnie Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Jenna: You've probably never seen breasts before. So I'm gonna lean over this desk and you're gonna give me a new page jacket.
Jenna Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Kenneth: Please, I breast fed 'til I was 11. So I've forgotten more about a woman's chest than you'll ever know.
Kenneth Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jenna · Kenneth: But... I'm on TV. I said, 'good day.' No, you didn't. Well, I meant to.
Rosemary · Liz: I have an idea. We open on a new Orleans abortion clinic. A beautiful mulatto... Uh, I don't think we're allowed to use any of those words.
Rosemary · Liz: Don't you get it? The mailbox was haldeman. Is that a person who lived?
Rosemary: We get Josh in blackface, right? And then we get Tracy to call him a!
Tracy Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Rosemary: We would have done that on the Mandrell sisters!
Rosemary Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Liz · Frank: Frank, what do you have this week? Uh, Barry the humping dog is shopping for a ge washer and dryer.
Tracy: What? No! You idiots! I built a dog fighting pit in my basement for this?
Tracy Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Jack · Tracy: Tracy, don't play with matches! You're not my dad! Tracy, don't stare directly at the sun. It'll make you crazy. You're not my dad.
Writer: Hey, props gave me a bunch of dog penises for you to look at.
Writer Absurdist Visual Gag Callback Jack: Fire her. And don't ever make me talk to a woman that old again.
Jack Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jack: You know who uses that phrase? People who don't have the guts or the brains to work inside the system. Letter writers, radicals, Howard Dean.
Jack Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Jack: You got into this business because you're funny and you're weird and you're socially retarded.
Jack Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Jack · Liz: What's a triangle graph? I don't know! It sounded real.
Jack Liz Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Jack Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Tracy: I don't need therapy. I'm just mentally ill.
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Jack · Tracy: Tracy, what if I told you that the one thing you cannot do is therapy? You're not my dad! We're doing therapy!
Jack Tracy Callback Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Kenneth: It's a savage contest. Mixing physical stamina with NBC trivia.
Kenneth Absurdist Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Rosemary: Yeah, we can start our own network called bitch TV! Or the second idea that we think of.
Rosemary: Oh, they call it little chechnya. So gritty and real. More murders per capita than Detroit.
Liz · Rosemary: Is that guy carrying a gun? Yeah, but don't worry. He's not a cop.
Tracy: Like my wife and I do? Cool. You be the maid. I want you to scream. Donaghy, you play the matador.
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist Jack: Hey, dummy! I'm mad at you too. Why you gotta act out that way? Now, pass me them damn collard Greens!
Jack Character Comedy Escalation Jack · Therapist: Dyn-o-mite! I think we're just doing good times now.
Jack: Lady, just because I'm an ignorant black man. And you paid me a nickel to bust up your chifforobe, doesn't give you the right to call me ridiculous just 'cause I'm proud of my son.
Jack Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Jack · Tracy: They got me. The honkeys shot me. No, dad! Don't die! I love you, dad!
Jack: You know, it's too bad you didn't know Howard Cosell when you were growing up. 'Cause I had that one in my pocket the whole time.
Jack Character Comedy Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Rosemary: Women in their 50s join the army and get laid by a bunch of grateful 18 year olds. I predict opening weekend, a million dollars.
Rosemary: Oh, come on, Liz. It's the 90s!
Rosemary Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Rosemary: You pick up guys that are smart and funny. And they leave you for someone less complicated. You're never gonna get married, Liz.
Rosemary · Liz: You obsess about the Jamaican man across the hall. Oh, my god. I lost my job.
Rosemary: Help me, Liz Lemon! You're my only hope!
Pete: What, are you kidding me? This is a billion dollar company! Demerits?
Pete Observational Escalation Liz: Never go with a hippie to a second location.
Liz Setup/Punchline Observational ★ Rewatch Jack: You make enough money, you can pay people to look at you naked.
Jack Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jack: Oh, and by the way, ge has a problem with the dog penis sketch.
Jack Callback Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Callback Liz: Hey, what about cat penises?
Liz Escalation Character Comedy Callback 