When Liz's apartment building is converted to condos she has to make a drastic change to her living arrangements. Meanwhile, Jack and Tracy reevaluate their plans for parenthood and Kenneth is on a mission to make "TGS" greener during NBC's annual "Green Week."
Season 4's densest episode: 56 jokes in 41 minutes fuel Liz's chaotic spiral.
Directed by Gail Mancuso · Written by Josh Siegal, Dylan Morgan
WAR
125.1
Wins Above Replacement
“Sun Tea” ranks #112 of 138 30 Rock episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 94.8 — Elite. The episode packs 86 scored jokes at 3.5 per minute, averaging 7.5 on craft and 7.4 on impact, with Liz Lemon landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Tracy Jordan: Tracy says he'll never tell the strip club story because 'it's demeaning to women. Especially if they've had their boobies sneezed on by a tiger.'
Jack Donaghy: 'Geiss also invented the abrupt conversational segue. Talk about your thing now.'
Jack Donaghy Meta/Self-Referential Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Liz Lemon · Frank Rossitano: 'You told me that was sun tea.' / 'Some of them are sun tea, and some of them were sun tea.'
Jack Donaghy · Kenneth Parcell: 'Same people who'd have you believe that my great grandfather was a monkey.' / 'If he was a monkey, then why was he killed by a monkey?'
Kenneth Parcell: 'I'll do it if you insist, sir. But I'm gonna be grumpy until the end of this sentence.'
All Jokes — 86 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Liz Lemon · Wendy: Liz mistakes a real estate agent for the cleaning lady, then reacts with confusion when told her building is going condo
Jack Donaghy · Cindy: Jack's exercise trainer seamlessly continues the aerobics instruction, bleeding into Jack's dialogue: 'Jack will tell you what to do next.' / 'Thanks, Cindy. All right, now we're gonna work those glutes.'
Liz Lemon: 'They could've done, "Geiss screams, son pay!" You know, like, ice cream sundae.'
Liz Lemon Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jack Donaghy: 'Holding up one finger to get someone to stop talking... He invented that.'
Jack Donaghy: 'Geiss also invented the abrupt conversational segue. Talk about your thing now.'
Jack Donaghy Meta/Self-Referential Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Jack Donaghy: Jack describing his apartment empire — buying floor by floor above him for a family he never had, and now having 'a walk-in humidor, a lap pool, and a replica of the Irish pub where my grandmother was born.'
Jack Donaghy: 'Make him an offer he can't refuse. Trademark 1974, Don Geiss.'
Jack Donaghy: 'It's like check in at an Italian airport.'
Frank Rossitano · Liz Lemon: Frank is caught about to pee in a jar in the office — 'I didn't know anyone was here.'
Liz Lemon · Frank Rossitano: 'You told me that was sun tea.' / 'Some of them are sun tea, and some of them were sun tea.'
Pete: 'He gets the jars, and in return he's agreed to let a Yale sweatshirt be our designated fart dampener.'
Pete Absurdist Character Comedy Liz Lemon · Writers: 'What would it be like if Cerie and Sue and I were not here?' / 'We'd have a room dog named Meatus.' / 'I'd take my pants off and eat chicken wings.'
Frank Rossitano: 'Fine, but I'm gonna recycle them, and then one day as you drink some apple juice, you'll wonder, "where has this jar been?"'
Bertram Geiss: Bertram Geiss's deposition: 'I, Bertram Geiss, am still daddy's fancy boy.'
Kathy Geiss's lawyer: Kathy Geiss's lawyer's rebuttal: 'My name is Teddy Ruxpin. Can you and I be friends?'
Jack Donaghy · Kenneth Parcell: Kenneth says 'Global warming, sir? I'm sorry, that's just a bunch of scientist talk.'
Jack Donaghy · Kenneth Parcell: 'Same people who'd have you believe that my great grandfather was a monkey.' / 'If he was a monkey, then why was he killed by a monkey?'
Jack Donaghy: Jack describes his kadupul blossoms flown in from Sri Lanka daily on a private jet as 'the definition of green.'
Jack Donaghy · Kenneth Parcell: 'What have children ever done for us?' / 'Well, they make our shoes and wallets.'
Kenneth Parcell: 'I'll do it if you insist, sir. But I'm gonna be grumpy until the end of this sentence.'
Brian: 'I have a view because that dentist blew up his townhouse.'
Brian Deadpan/Understatement Dark/Subversive Brian: Brian's fireplace is 'kind of annoying' because the apartment smells like Burger King all day and Cinnabon all night.
Brian Observational Absurdist Liz Lemon: Liz mentions her imaginary children with her imaginary husband, 'astronaut Mike Dexter.'
Brian · Liz Lemon: Brian reveals there are two bedrooms in his apartment, and Liz's reaction: 'There's two of them? Oh! Is that bad? Oh, god.'
Jenna Maroney: 'That sounds like something I'd come up with if I was smarter.'
Liz Lemon: Liz's justification for not feeling guilty: 'Brian sucks. He doesn't have a TV and he wears political T-shirts.'
Jenna Maroney: 'Like check in at an Italian sex party.'
Jack Donaghy · Mrs. Gerstein: Jack's neighbor Mrs. Gerstein: 'I mean, do you know how long I've been waiting for the lady next door to finally join her husband in hell?' / 'Hello, Mrs. Gerstein.' / 'Oh, my heart... is getting stronger every day.'
Jack Donaghy: Jack says 'Oh, you ancient bitch!' after Mrs. Gerstein leaves.
Jack Donaghy · Jenna Maroney: Jack reveals that Jenna was his horrible roommate in Chicago — and she demonstrates by yelling 'I know it's my turn to do the dishes, but I'm in character, and if you make me do the dishes I will kill myself!'
Jenna Maroney: 'Because guys hate drama. And I'm gonna teach you how to be a drama queen.' / 'And if I fail, I'm gonna take a bunch of pills, and it's gonna be your fault!' / 'Still got it.'
Liz Lemon: 'Don't worry, Jack. Our topical cold open is about Omarosa borrowing Bjork's swan dress.'
Tracy Jordan: 'It's take your black kid to work day.'
Tracy Jordan: Tracy's Cosby Show critique: 'Oh, no, Vanessa into a concert! Oh, no, Rudy and I are making a sandwich for 25 minutes!'
Tracy Jordan: Tracy's strip club story preamble: 'For example, I have this strip club story from this weekend I need to tell you, Jackie D. It is disgusting. But I can't because I got this little d-bag, here.'
Tracy Jordan: 'Now, what if a girl tries to trap you like Nicole tried to do me on the band trip? Bitches can be tricky.'
Jack Donaghy · Tracy Jordan: Jack says having a family is 'the best thing a man could—' and is immediately gone when Tracy looks up.
Tracy Jordan: Tracy's strip club story: 'So I'm in the strip club with Charles Barkley and one of the hobbits.'
Tracy Jordan · Tracy Jr.: Tracy Jr. returns. Tracy: 'Damn it! I ain't live like this! I'm getting a vasectomy too!'
Jenna Maroney · Kenneth Parcell: Jenna: 'Kenneth, I'm doing my kegels right now. What is it?' — delivered completely matter-of-factly.
Jenna Maroney · Kenneth Parcell: Jenna: 'Kenneth, I once took a low volume shower with Ed Begley Jr. What more can I do?'
Jenna Maroney · Kenneth Parcell: Jenna's charger inventory: 'Kenneth, I need all of these. This one's for my cell phone, this one's for my laptop, this one's for my erotic massager, and this one's for something personal.'
Dr. Spaceman: The vasectomy doctor says: 'I should warn you that general anesthesia can cause powerful hallucinations. So I highly recommend it.'
Dr. Spaceman: Dr. Spaceman: 'Now, this is surgery, so don't eat anything before you come in, because I'll have a big breakfast waiting for you.'
Dr. Spaceman: Dr. Spaceman looks around after everything is settled and asks: 'We all see the little, black boy in the corner, right?'
Liz Lemon · Brian: Liz as a drama queen: makes a mailbox key the inciting incident. 'So is that all you have to say to me? That's how you apologize?' / 'What? What did I do?'
Liz Lemon: 'I will put on a wedding dress and jump in front of a subway!'
Brian: Brian's response to Liz's drama: 'Honey, you don't need to tell me how much men suck. Sit down and tell me everything while I make us raspberry mojitos.'
Brian Misdirection Setup/Punchline Liz Lemon: Liz reveals her imaginary boyfriend's name to Brian: 'Astronaut Mike Dexter.'
Jenna Maroney: 'Well, of course not. Drama is like gay man Gatorade. It replenishes their electrolytes.'
Tracy Jordan · Liz Lemon: Tracy's suggestion for getting neighbors to leave: 'Black person moved in, scared 'em off.' / 'Huh. That's not a bad idea, Tracy.'
Tracy Jordan: 'I have to take my son to my vasectomy because the Cosby show lied to me and I cannot tell an amazing strip club story.'
Liz Lemon: Liz's mini fridge inventory: 'What about my fresh fruit?... flavored toaster cheesecakes?'
Liz Lemon Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Kenneth Parcell: 'Oh, so I guess you can make other people stuff up, but you're too good to make a sacrifice yourself.'
Liz Lemon · Kenneth Parcell: Liz gives up mini fridge: 'Fine, I'll give up my mini fridge because unlike Frank I am a good and decent person.' / Kenneth: 'Is that my cell phone?' / 'Oh, no, sorry. It's in my hand.'
Tracy Jordan: Tracy, going under anesthesia, yells: 'You lied to me, Bill Cosby! You lied to me!'
Tracy Jordan · Cosby Show characters: Tracy's Cosby Show hallucination: 'Denise. Vanessa? Sondra the boring one. He's your father.'
Tracy Jordan: Tracy's realization in the hallucination: 'That's why my life is not like the Cosby Show. I only have boys, and boys are disgusting! I need a baby girl.'
Tracy Jordan: 'Don't snip my vas deferens!' screamed in the operating room.
Liz Lemon: 'Oh, no. It's my crazy black boyfriend, astronaut Mike Dexter.'
Dotcom (as Astronaut Mike Dexter): 'Better not be with a man! Even if he's gay!'
Dotcom (as Mike Dexter) · Liz Lemon: 'Like Warren Moon must've felt back in 1995.' / 'As I have told you many times during our relationship, no one gets that reference.'
Liz Lemon: After the chaos: 'A gay hipster cop. You're an interesting guy, Brian.'
Liz Lemon Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jack Donaghy: 'The Geiss name used to be synonymous with success, power, funny incidents where women died at barbecues.'
Tracy Jr.: Tracy Jr. reads his acrostic: 'T is for terrific, R is for rad, A is for awesome, C...' cause he's my dad.'
Jack Donaghy: Jack's reaction to the acrostic: 'Damn you, Tracy Jr.'
Jack Donaghy: Jack: 'Damn you, Tracy Jr.' — quietly, after being moved by the acrostic.
Kenneth Parcell · Masi Oka (quoted): Masi Oka's PSA quote: 'Conserve electricity. Don't be a zero, be a good guy.'
Kenneth Parcell · Frank Rossitano: Kenneth presents Frank as TGS's greenest person. 'He never wastes anything. I've seen him eat food from the trash.' / 'What's a trash barrel but a big salad bowl filled with trash?'
Kenneth Parcell · Frank Rossitano: 'He never wastes water by doing his laundry. This shirt started out white.'
Liz Lemon · Kenneth Parcell: Liz accuses Kenneth of encouraging Frank's sun tea system and Kenneth says: 'Don't talk to me like that. You look like a turtle who lost its shell.'
Kenneth Parcell: Frank has been pouring his jars out the window. Kenneth's reaction: 'Oh, that is... Beautiful.'
Kenneth Parcell: Kenneth's Sophie's Choice for Liz: give up the mini fridge, or let Frank keep his 'sun tea system.'
Dr. Spaceman: Dr. Spaceman stops the surgery: 'If a patient's friend runs into the operating room and yells at you, you have to stop. It's the doctor's code.'
Jack Donaghy: Jack: 'I didn't have my vasectomy either. Tracy, I want to have children. I want those memories, no matter what the cost.' / 'And I have to pass on this head of hair.'
Tracy Jordan: 'Well, I hope he makes me an across helmet so I don't get hurt playing across!'
Jack Donaghy: 'Now, come on, that's pretty solid for a guy who just came out of a hallucination.'
Liz Lemon: Liz: 'I can't Jack, Jenna, or Tracy this guy out of the apartment.' / '...I'm out of ideas.'
Liz Lemon Meta/Self-Referential Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Liz Lemon · Jenna Maroney: Liz got the apartment. How? Jenna figures it out and is horrified: 'You didn't!' / 'Manhattan real estate. No rules, right?' / 'You think I'm disgusting?' / 'I used the sun tea system to stop global warming. You used it to kick a gay cop out of his apartment.'
Liz Lemon · Frank Rossitano: Liz: 'I have no regrets!' Frank: 'No regrets!'
Liz Lemon · Jenna Maroney: Jenna: 'I have no regrets!' / Liz: 'No regrets!' — both simultaneously, with full conviction.
Tracy Jordan: Tracy says he'll never tell the strip club story because 'it's demeaning to women. Especially if they've had their boobies sneezed on by a tiger.'
Al Gore · Kenneth Parcell: Al Gore appears and delivers environmental advice, then says: 'You know, there's an old African proverb that I made up. If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. We need to go far. Quickly.'
Al Gore · Kenneth Parcell: Gore tells Kenneth to 'recycle everything. Including jokes.' Kenneth: 'I'm sorry, sir, what?' Gore: 'Quiet.'
Al Gore: Gore exits: 'A whale is in trouble. I have to go.'
Jack Donaghy · Kenneth Parcell: Jack replaces his Sri Lanka flowers with terrace azaleas, then says: 'Oh my. They're still sprinkled with morning dew, Kenneth. Smell them.' / 'Smell my flowers, Kenneth.'