Liz gives attention to her building relationship with Drew, and discovers that he has been granted special treatment in life due to his pleasing appearance. Meanwhile, Jack goes all out to re-sign Tracy now that his contract has expired. And Jenna's latest ploy to attract attention is to change her hairstyle.
61 jokes in 23 minutes—a hyperactive absurdist sprint that peaks at 89.6.
Directed by Tricia Brock · Written by Tina Fey
WAR
138.1
Wins Above Replacement
“The Bubble” ranks #30 of 138 30 Rock episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 99.8 — Elite. The episode packs 78 scored jokes at 3.4 per minute, averaging 7.8 on craft and 7.7 on impact, with Liz landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Jenna: Oh, no, Locks of Love turned me down. They said my hair was too processed for a sick person to wear. But this is for a wonderful charity called Merkins of Hope.
Jenna Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Kenneth: Oh, I know Mr. Jordan like the back of my stepfather Ron's hand.
Kenneth Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Tracy: I never thought of it like that. Thank you. I quit. Good-bye.
Tracy Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Drew · Liz: That's game. Your serve. That's it! I quit! This racket is a fart and you cheat! You're a cheating bitch!
Drew Liz Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Kenneth: I know all his A.T.M. P.I.N. codes. I know when he's cranky and needs his binky. I know that by 'binky' he means 1970s pornography.
Kenneth Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch All Jokes — 78 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Kenneth: Oh, is that code for some kind of older gal medical procedure?
Kenneth Character Comedy Observational Kenneth: A doctor? Well, don't get too attached. As soon as people realize his tonics don't work it's on to the next town.
Kenneth Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Tracy · Kenneth: Jerk chicken from that place in Mill Basin? And some... Catalog photos of expectant mothers in their swimming suits? You're my Radar O'Reilly, Ken. Now get in here and rub my feet till you hear a chopper coming.
Jack · Liz: Boy, we sure have done some crazy things with Tracy in the last three years. We sure have. I'm thinking about some of them now. Me too.
Jack Liz Meta/Self-Referential Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Jack: His video game made a fortune and he invested all of it in a company that dismantles bank signs. They're doing very well.
Jack Character Comedy Absurdist Jack · Tracy · Liz: Look, we got B.F.F. bracelets. You guys are best friends forever? That's not what that stands for.
Liz: Why would you celebrate that? [reaction beat — Liz staring at the bracelets]
Liz Reaction Beat Deadpan/Understatement Callback Drew · Officer · Liz: Oh, wait! No, no! Uh, that's my car! Meter's expired. I forgot to get quarters. You know what? I got quarters. Thanks, Officer. You're welcome.
Calvin Klein · Drew · Liz: Excuse me. I'm Calvin Klein and I think you should be my next underwear model. Whoa, thanks! You don't wanna get a card or... a phone number? He'll figure it out.
Pete · Liz: How did you get a table? The chef sent over food. Ladies sent drinks. Mayor Bloomberg asked him to dance.
Jack: They live in a bubble... a bubble of free drinks, kindness and outdoor sex.
Jack Setup/Punchline Escalation ★ Rewatch Jack · Liz: The bubble isn't always a bad thing. Look at me. I turned out okay, didn't I? [Liz does an over-the-top eye-roll]
Liz · Jack: Jack, I want you to pay close attention to the following over-the-top eye-roll. Oh, brother.
Liz Jack Meta/Self-Referential Character Comedy Jack · Liz: Lemon, I don't share this often... but this is a photo of me when I was 25 years old. What the what?! You have a Superman chest!
Liz: Oh, my God, the lady will have two tickets to the gun show!
Liz Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun Liz: And your eyes were so much bluer. What happened to your eyes?
Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jenna: Actor announcement. As you probably know, especially if you read page six... of my publicist's e-mails...
Jenna Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Jenna: Well, because, Kenneth, I am a selfless person who can't get arrested in this town.
Jenna Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Liz: That was a police sketch of a flasher who happened to look like Tracy... we hope.
Liz Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Pete: You've got buzz. You were in that magazine that time.
Pete Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Jenna: I don't even know what you're referring to and that was two years ago.
Jenna Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Jack · Tracy: Tracy, I hope you know how much we value you here at T.G.S. I like to think of this staff as a family. This is better than a family. No one around here asks me for my damn bone marrow.
Jack Tracy Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Tracy: Okay. Sorry it took me so long to answer. I was just thinking about how weird it is that we eat birds.
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Tracy: I never thought of it like that. Thank you. I quit. Good-bye.
Tracy Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Jack · Dotcom: Had he really not put that together? Tracy's is a tactile-kinesthetic learning style... Dotcom... so help me God.
Drew · Liz: It's nice of those guys to give up their court for us. Yes... for us.
Drew: So I should probably warn you, I was pro in college.
Drew Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Liz · Drew · Stranger: It's been a long time since college, huh? [Drew plays poorly; a stranger approaches to ask for lessons]
Liz · Drew: Now what is this? Dr. Drew's salmon bourguignon. What is this orange-y taste? Gatorade.
Liz Drew Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Drew · Liz: Are you choking? Are you choking? I'm a doctor. Stay calm, stay calm. I just need... I just need to shake it loose. Wait, don't panic. I just need to find something to push it down with. Do you have a chopstick or a fireplace match or something?
Drew Liz Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Jack: That is the danger of being super-handsome. When you're in the bubble, nobody ever tells you the truth. For years... I thought I spoke excellent French.
Jack Character Comedy Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Jack · Liz: Did you tell him that he was no good in tennis? No, I let him win 'cause I wanted to make out with him in the cab.
Jack Liz Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Jack: Be careful, Lemon. You wake a sleepwalker, you risk getting urinated on. Or thanked... on.
Jack Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jack: Oh, no! When I get upset my accent come out. And when it gets to comin' out, I can't get to talkin', nuh-uh!
Jack Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Jack: Don't cling to this, Lemon. Be a manager. Control your people. Buy better clothes.
Jack Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jack: Nope, I lost it, that was Batman.
Jack Character Comedy Meta/Self-Referential ★ Rewatch Pete: This is serial killer language.
Pete Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Jenna · Writer: Before 'The Rachel,' Jennifer Aniston was just a chunky nobody who couldn't get a job. Wasn't she already on Friends?
Jenna: Richard Esposito, move to the back.
Jenna Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jenna: I could end up like Keri Russell, Felicity, season two.
Jenna Character Comedy Observational Jenna · Writers: Everyone shout out words that describe my beauty. Fading. '80s. 1880s.
Jack · Tracy · Bill Cosby: Tracy, this is Bill Cosby. [Tracy:] Bill Cosby, you got a lot of nerve getting on the phone with me after what you did to my Aunt Paulette. [Cosby:] I think you're confusing me with someone else. [Tracy:] 1971, Cincinnati. She was the cocktail waitress with the droopy eye.
Tracy: I'm the guy with the pudding... Try to tell me what to do? Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable... with your light-ass kids!
Tracy Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Jack · Billy Dee Williams: Tracy, this is Billy Dee Williams. I just wanna say I love your work. It's very smooth.
Liz · Drew: Well, I put our name in, but it's gonna be a 45-minute wait. What? I'll go talk to the hostess. No. I want to show you something. We're going to wait for the table.
Liz Drew Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Drew · Liz: I hate this. Yeah, this is gonna be unpleasant.
Drew Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Tracy Jr. · Jack: You wanna see what he packed me for lunch today? Mayonnaise... and a pack of cigarettes. That is unfortunate.
Tracy Jr. · Tracy (via recording): He set up a home recording studio in our rec room! # My girl has a fat neck?
Tracy Jr. · Jack: She said she had to take a spa week at Canyon Ranch before my dad broke it in half. What that even supposed to mean? I shouldn't have to hear that! I'm a child!
Tracy Jr.: I didn't come here to hear more excuses. I came here to see the dumbest cracker in all of New York.
Tracy Jr. Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Tracy Jr. · Jack: You know, I don't see it on the menu but I would love a catfish po'boy and a diet raspberry Fanta. Oh, that is a great idea. Let me order that for you.
Waitress · Jack: I'm gonna come back in five minutes. You try to order off the menu again I will smack those glasses off your face. Okay, thank you. You're welcome.
Drew: What was that? Why didn't she call you 'sweetheart'? And where's the complimentary apps sampler? What's going on?
Drew Character Comedy Observational Drew: Actually, they used footage of me from my high school swim team to draw Prince Eric.
Drew Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Drew · Liz: Oh, yes, you can. The hot Italian lady from the Food Network told me so. Did she say it on TV? No, she said it to me when she jumped escalators to try to talk...
Drew Liz Character Comedy Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Drew · Liz: That's game. Your serve. That's it! I quit! This racket is a fart and you cheat! You're a cheating bitch!
Drew Liz Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Kenneth: Oh, I know Mr. Jordan like the back of my stepfather Ron's hand.
Kenneth Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Kenneth: I know all his A.T.M. P.I.N. codes. I know when he's cranky and needs his binky. I know that by 'binky' he means 1970s pornography.
Kenneth Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Kenneth: tonight I have to ride my bike over to his house in New Jersey to hold his hand during Lost.
Kenneth/Cranston · Tracy: Hello, Studio 6-H. This is... Cranston. Oh, hey, Cranston. I was looking for Kenneth. He's not here. But I'm sure wherever he is, he loves you very much.
Liz · Jenna: I just hope it's not a mistake. Well, maybe it is, but you have to listen to your heart. Yeah, but, why meddle with something that was great? Oh, Liz. It'll grow back. What? We're talking about my hair, right?
Liz Jenna Misdirection Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Tracy: # Fat-necked girl, let me count your neck rings?
Tracy Character Comedy Running Gag ★ Rewatch Callback Tracy: I'm thirsty! Family? Who's in charge of my thirst?
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist Tracy · Kenneth/Cranston: Cranston, why hasn't Kenneth called me back yet? [beat] I miss him! Cranston... why are you crying?
Kenneth: Plus, I've started to dream as Cranston.
Kenneth Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Callback Jenna: Thank you, Meredith. But, please... I'm not a hero.
Jenna Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Jenna: Oh, no, Locks of Love turned me down. They said my hair was too processed for a sick person to wear. But this is for a wonderful charity called Merkins of Hope.
Jenna Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Meredith Vieira · Jenna: So what about that crazy news that Tracy Jordan has quit T.G.S.? [Jenna:] What? Oh, yeah. Word is he quit over a contract dispute. Guess you're the only star left on that show! [Jenna:] No! No, stop! Stop cutting my hair! I don't need this anymore!
Hairdresser: Oh, my God! It's okay, it's okay. I can fix this!
Jack: Security told me that he's in the building, Pete. So it's working. Now it's all up to Kenneth Ellen Parcell.
Jack Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Tracy: All right, I guess that's everything. But I want you to know, if I walk out that door... Ken, I'm not gonna call again. It's over. You understand?
Tracy Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Tracy · Kenneth: So you used Cranston as his gatekeeper! I'm very disappointed, Kenneth. I know, I blew it. I guess I'm only farm-strong, and not heart-strong.
Jack · Kenneth: But I will need you to turn in your page jacket. What? Well, your main duty was taking care of Tracy. Tracy no longer works here. Therefore, your services are no longer required. As a page? Oh, no...
Tracy · Jack · Kenneth: Wait a minute, you want to fire my boy, Ken? Stay out of this, Tracy. It's not your concern. Unless? Unless what? You say Kenneth can't work here because I don't work here. But if I work here so can Kenneth. I don't understand. Of course you don't, you idiot. I'm coming back to work, Jack... with Kenneth. Damn you and your meddling.
Kenneth: Sir, you are pulling that look off.
Kenneth Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Drew · Liz: I wanted to apologize for my behavior the other day on the tennis court. That is not who I am. But you made me feel like a loser. 'Cause you lost.
Drew Liz Setup/Punchline Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Callback Liz · Drew: No, it wasn't. That's not how you use that word... No, stop it. I want to use 'ironic' however I want.
Liz Drew Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Drew · Liz: Or as the French say... [long beat, Drew says nothing/speaks poorly] Yeah. I'll see you around.
Drew Liz Callback Awkward Silence ★ Rewatch Callback 