Despite the 50th episode of TGS airing, everyone is preoccupied with news of budget cuts. Jack has to dole out cutbacks while Kenneth has to take on extra duties. Meanwhile, Liz tries to save her staff and crew and Jenna and Tracy try to uncover Kenneth's secret.
Cutbacks forces 54 jokes into 23 minutes, sustaining absurdist chaos despite modest impact scores.
Directed by Gail Mancuso · Written by Matt Hubbard
WAR
49.7
Wins Above Replacement
“Cutbacks” ranks #123 of 138 30 Rock episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 79.0 — Elite. The episode packs 54 scored jokes at 2.4 per minute, averaging 7.1 on craft and 6.7 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
Jack: Good lord, lemon, that's your worst quadrant.
Jack Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Callback Jack · Liz: The days of your wild coke parties are over. / Well, if by 'coke,' you mean 'sodas'... / I do. It's really bad.
Jack Liz Misdirection Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jack · Liz: let's get this right. / i've got so tcks up my sleeve. / That's my girl. / No, trix, the cereal. Some fell in my sleeve. It's sticking to the fibers.
Jack Liz Misdirection Absurdist ★ Rewatch Brad · Liz: Being with a woman for the first time since my wife died. / Ah, snap. / It was just a transaction?
Liz · Brad: 30 minutes. sounds. Top front of my body is now in play. Deal? / Deal.
All Jokes — 54 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Liz: One unsolved crew death
Liz Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Various crew · Jack: They're all empty. What the hell? / Congratulations on 50 shows, everyone. Enjoy your decorative air holders. You deserve them.
Jack: Our parent company sheinhardt wigs is announcing losses this quarter For the first time since the civil war.
Jack Absurdist Setup/Punchline Jonathan · Jack: Can't leave if living is without you / okay, last verse, jonathan. / i can't live!
Jack · Liz: The days of your wild coke parties are over. / Well, if by 'coke,' you mean 'sodas'... / I do. It's really bad.
Jack Liz Misdirection Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Liz: Jack, i put on a live show every week Unless there's wrestling.
Liz Character Comedy Observational Jack · Liz: let's get this right. / i've got so tcks up my sleeve. / That's my girl. / No, trix, the cereal. Some fell in my sleeve. It's sticking to the fibers.
Jack Liz Misdirection Absurdist ★ Rewatch Kenneth: The assistants talked about last night At finnegan's, the bar we all go to after work... in my dreams.
Kenneth Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Jack: Discretion, docility, and don't use my bathroom.
Jack Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Kenneth: But you are here. I can see you.
Kenneth Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Kenneth: I feel like i'm the pelican brief! Do i already know too much?
Brad: brad halster.the himler group.A division of advantrix theconsulting.
Brad Wordplay/Pun Absurdist ★ Rewatch Liz: Actually, i thought we'd do this outside the box.
Liz Setup/Punchline Meta/Self-Referential Liz: we are the number one late night show among men 9-13 and the morbidly obese.
Liz Absurdist Character Comedy Liz: we're In final negotiations To create exclusive content for america's jails
Liz Absurdist Character Comedy TGS performer: Someone put too many farts in this engine! It's about to explode!
TGS performer: My name is suri cruise. Put your hands in the air. I came out of the womb with a full head of hair.
Tracy: Yeah, okay. Birds are like little dinosaurs. So what i'll be doing is actually pretty cool and brave.
Tracy Character Comedy Absurdist Kenneth · Tracy: Oh, and one thing, don't go into my bedroom. / What? / Do not go into my bedroom.
Sid: It's tergis with tracky ng-Jong And jimmy moop!
Sid Character Comedy Physical/Slapstick Liz: Or in sid's case, their much younger wife With whom they have an open relationship.
Liz Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Pete · Liz · Various: All right, what about straws? We spend $1,200 a year on straws. / Okay, fine. No straws. / Oh, no, we need straws. / Oh, god! That's its bathroom!
Matthew: We're not behind the times, we're groovy!
Matthew Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Kenneth: tashonda from time warner cable Is on the phone And she's offering three free months of showtime. But we have to act now.
Kenneth's bird · Tracy: don't go in the bedroom. / Don't go in the bedroom. / I wasn't going to! I wasn't going to! Bye!
Kenneth: I was wrong. That was not important enough.
Kenneth Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Cheryl · Liz: Do you happen to know If he's a boob man or a butt man? / What? Why would you ask that? / Because i don't want to get fired. So i'm gonna have to go in there And boink my way out of this
Cheryl: Maybe we could team up, go in there together, lez out, give him a show.
Cheryl Cringe/Discomfort Escalation Liz: I want to keep making free, long-Distance prank calls To people like seattle's richard sacmuncher.
Liz Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy Jack · Liz: Why is everyone talking about that movie? / It's playing on showtime.
Jack Liz Callback Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Callback Jack: Sexual bartering pays off. Salome. Mata hari. Deborah norville.
Jenna · Tracy: And all masked murderers share three characteristics: Cruelty to animals... / He grew up killing pigs! / Bedwetting. / No wonder he's fascinated when i do that! / And an inability to read human facial queues! / I admonished him for that earlier! / Three for three. He's a monster!
Jenna Tracy Setup/Punchline Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Frank: Do you have a cookie? Mommy's baby needs his yum-Yums.
Frank Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Lutz: I can't go back to teaching high school math. Those girls pretend they're not women yet, But they are.
Lutz Dark/Subversive Cringe/Discomfort Liz: Halster, you look hot in those trousers. how about we grab drinks tonight? Marissa, update my sched.
Liz Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Kenneth: I will be sure to let him know As soon as he's done firing steven lee from microwaves.
Kenneth Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Liz: Lee, i need that dress jenna wore for the hooker sketch, The heels tracy wears when he plays michelle obama, And double--Wait-- Triple spanx.
Liz Escalation Character Comedy Liz · Crew: They may take my dignity, But they will never take our straws! / Yeah!
Tracy · Jenna: Kenneth's a murderer and the riddler's coming! / no. it's a bug bomb. get out. get out. / It's poisonous. Ah! / Ah!
Tracy Jenna Misdirection Physical/Slapstick ★ Rewatch Callback Liz: We go upstairs.20 minutes. Open mouth.I will work your ears.
Liz Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Liz · Brad: 30 minutes. sounds. Top front of my body is now in play. Deal? / Deal.
Liz: I had to give him a little taste of the lemon. And it was not sour, my friend. Not sour.
Liz Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy Jack: Good lord, lemon, that's your worst quadrant.
Jack Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Callback Kenneth: it is not enough that you killed the bird I've had for almost 60 years.
Kenneth Absurdist Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Kenneth: it is not enough that you killed the bird I've had for almost 60 years.
Kenneth: I may just be a non-Special,
Kenneth Character Comedy Wordplay/Pun Callback Brad · Liz: Being with a woman for the first time since my wife died. / Ah, snap. / It was just a transaction?
Brad: Sharon! Angel! i swore to you the next one would be worthy, But she's not! she's a monster!
Brad Cringe/Discomfort Escalation HR representative: In the human resource world, We refer to that as 'being a filthy prostitute.'
Jack: I'm convinced that this sexual outburst Was brought on by menopause.
Jack Character Comedy Absurdist HR representative: When you harass sexually in the workplace, Things do not somehow just work out in the end.
Jenna: Not to name names, but it's so sad That a certain black individual Found it necessary to trick someone so pretty Into believing you were a murderer.
Jenna Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Kenneth: looks like i've got some naming to do. Pat. Balthazar. Donna. lorne. michael.
Kenneth Callback Character Comedy Callback 