Jack recommends that Liz start seeing a therapist when she worries that Carol is getting bored with their relationship. In an attempt to take Jack's advice, Liz begins talking to Kenneth about her problems. Jack also finds himself caught up in one of Tracy's schemes when Tracy tries to convince him to invest in his son's theme restaurant in Times Square. Meanwhile, Jenna and Paul celebrate their six month anniversary.
Absurdist escalation sustains 84-point score across 71 jokes in 23 minutes.
Directed by Ken Whittingham · Written by Kay Cannon
WAR
74.5
Wins Above Replacement
“Chain Reaction Of Mental Anguish” ranks #79 of 138 30 Rock episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 84.4 — Elite. The episode packs 71 scored jokes at 3.1 per minute, averaging 7.1 on craft and 7.0 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
Kenneth: It was Harold, and I ate all of him... even the face, in case of a tie.
Kenneth Dark/Subversive Escalation ★ Rewatch Paul: I'm saying adopting a dog so it can watch us make love and then returning it, claiming that it bit our imaginary child, is everything that I need.
Paul Escalation Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jack: I... am a protein! All living organisms need me to function! A basic building block of the human body, I am made from amino acids found in ribosomes.
Jack Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Kenneth: Why, I once ate an entire witch. A pig was nothing!
Kenneth Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Kenneth: I would have recognized those eyes anywhere.
Kenneth Dark/Subversive Character Comedy All Jokes — 71 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Jack · Tracy · Donald: It was opportunity knocking. / No one knocked. You just barged in. / Knock, knock!
Tracy: You remember Donald, my son who's two years older than me.
Tracy Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jack: As I recall, you own the Tracy Jordan Institute for Black Karate.
Jack Absurdist Character Comedy Donald: You wouldn't believe this, but that business failed. / I blame Obama.
Donald Misdirection Observational Jack: NASCAR's Fat Load Café is a gold mine.
Jack Absurdist Observational Donald: Señor Mexico, hola. Sí, sí. Yo soy Donald, sí. ¿ Ãndale, ándale? ¿ Arriba, arriba?
Donald Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Paul · Jenna: Jenna and I are mirroring until we achieve touchless orgasm. / And... finished.
Jenna: I might as well be working at a roller-skating drag-queen restaurant under Taliban rule!
Jenna · Liz: And I will say yes when Paul proposes... that we make a sex tape and leak it on the Internet. / Oh. I thought you meant marriage.
Jenna: God, no! Marriage is like death. You settle into a routine, you lose all the spark.
Jenna Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Jenna: No, relationships are like sharks, Liz. If you're not left with several bite marks after intercourse, then something's wrong.
Jenna Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Liz: Because we are not sharks. We are legless turtles rotting on the beach.
Jack: That's an excellent question. The answer is questions like that.
Jack Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jack: I believe that, when you have a problem, you talk it over with your priest or your tailor or the mute elevator porter at your men's club.
Jack Character Comedy Escalation Jack: Then you take that problem and crush it with your mind vise.
Jack Character Comedy Absurdist Jack: But for lesser beings, like curly-haired men and people who need glasses, therapy can help.
Jack Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Jack: Because, and I mean this, I'm tired of talking this much to a woman I'm not having sex with.
Jack Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Jack · Donald: Why did you choose that name? / Because 'staples' means 'the basics.' / Staples is also a giant office-supply chain. / Well, we'll see who's still in business 200 years from now.
Jack: Donald, I'm going to pick a problem at random. Is the theme of your restaurant Not Enough Tables?
Jack Observational Deadpan/Understatement Donald: Well, I took that model and replaced the knights with unlicensed versions of Japanese monsters.
Donald Absurdist Character Comedy Restaurant performer: Witness the primeval might that is Godzila, with one 'L' for trademark reasons!
Unknown performer · Donald: Donald, George punched my crotch! / You liked it!
Kenneth: Stewart, Brenda, Amber, Crystal. Also, in the background, I heard lady giggles and the sound of a beautiful sunset.
Kenneth Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Liz: everyone I ever dated in high school turned out to be either gay or a girl dressed as a guy to get a journalism scholarship.
Liz Escalation Character Comedy Liz: When I was seven, I asked for a CB radio for Christmas so I could track gas prices around the state for a cool chart I was making.
Liz Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Young Liz: You're a bigger disappointment than our current president, Jimmy Carter!
Mall Santa: I am a fraud, little boy! My wife still thinks I work at the bank!
Kenneth: Miss Lemon, there's a reason God gave us two ears and only one mouth. Listening is twice as important as talking.
Kenneth Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Liz: But He gave us ten fingers. He must really want us to poke things! Poke, poke, poke!
Jack · Tracy: What about Brown and Folderson? / That's what I call my wallet!
Jack Tracy Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Tracy: Come on. The boy's only 43 years old.
Tracy Absurdist Character Comedy Jack: For example, curly-haired men and people who need glasses.
Jack Callback Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Tracy: And I bankrolled that, too! Thank God we tested it with a monkey first!
Tracy Escalation Dark/Subversive Kenneth: So far, I have 8 'nos' and 25 'shove it up your goon-holes.'
Aunt Linda: Here's a fun game! Put on Harry's cologne and give me a back rub in the bath!
Liz: Oh, my God. My trust issues and my food issues are connected! Uncle Harold is the reason eggs make me gag!
Liz Character Comedy Observational Liz: Kenneth, you're the perfect therapist. I can dump all of my problems on you, walk away, and move on with my life! It's a win-win!
Liz Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Kenneth: Why did she have to say 'Harold'?
Kenneth Reaction Beat Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Jenna · Liz: He said they live in a 'soo-borb'? / Suburb. Come on, Jenna.
Jenna: Call me old-fashioned, but I think that's the man's job.
Jenna Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Jack: I know it means this conversation is disgusting.
Jack Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Jack: Tracy, do not laugh at the word 'duty.'
Jack: For the love of God, stop calling him 'Daddy.'
Jack Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Donald: I'm gonna call it Microsoft.
Donald Absurdist Character Comedy Jack: Look at his head shape. He has no brain pan!
Jack Character Comedy Visual Gag Kenneth: And so am I! I'm Cheryl.
Jack: You dump your problems on some half-baked Barney Fife, and you can start a chain reaction of mental anguish.
Jack Character Comedy Observational Jack: Put your mental burden in my mind vise, and I will crush it.
Jack Callback Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Jack · Kenneth: Please let Harold be human. / Harold was a pig.
Kenneth: But I needed $300 for the river ferry-train-oxcart-train-bus ticket.
Kenneth Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Kenneth: Why, I once ate an entire witch. A pig was nothing!
Kenneth Escalation Absurdist ★ Rewatch Kenneth: I would have recognized those eyes anywhere.
Kenneth Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Kenneth: It was Harold, and I ate all of him... even the face, in case of a tie.
Kenneth Dark/Subversive Escalation ★ Rewatch Jack: His sacrifice made you what you are today, which is... the lowest-level employee at the last-place network in America.
Jack Deadpan/Understatement Irony/Sarcasm Paul: During Nude Hour, I got custard all over my penis.
Paul Cringe/Discomfort Absurdist Paul: I mean, come on, why can't we just paint each other's toenails, watch vintage pornography, and then go to bed in our swing like a normal couple?
Paul Escalation Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jenna: Well, there's a sex resort in Japan where white people are treated like slaves.
Jenna Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Paul: I'm saying adopting a dog so it can watch us make love and then returning it, claiming that it bit our imaginary child, is everything that I need.
Paul Escalation Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Paul: I'll trust you to fairly divide up our panties.
Paul Character Comedy Absurdist Liz · Kenneth: Look how small my head is. / Oh, my! It's so tiny!
Tracy: Too late. Look how we're positioned.
Tracy Physical/Slapstick Character Comedy Jimmy Donaghy: Well, looky here. Doctor Jack, the boy who wants to be a scientist. Chowderhead can't even say the words. You'll never be nothin'!
Young Jack: I am a protoin! Protein! All living orgasms... I mean orgasms!
Jack: says they're beautiful even when they're ugly, thinks they're smart even when they go to Arizona State.
Jack Observational Character Comedy Donald: That's a nice long speech and all, but your daddy was right. You couldn't be a scientist. You couldn't even be protein in a school play.
Donald Dark/Subversive Callback Callback Jack: I... am a protein! All living organisms need me to function! A basic building block of the human body, I am made from amino acids found in ribosomes.
Jack Character Comedy Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Jack: Proteins give energy to everything from flowers and butterflies to heroes who turn in Communists.
Jack Escalation Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Donald: Daddy, can I have $50,000 to start a business where people can call in and get air-quality reports from all across the United States? I'm gonna call it... American Airlines!
Donald Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Liz: This is what happens when you work at being happy! Godzilla sits next to you while you're eating an egg-salad sandwich.
Liz Observational Absurdist ★ Rewatch Callback Godzilla performer: I've got no real skills, a degree in Theater Tech, so you move back to Pennsylvania, live with your parents. All of your old friends have kids and careers, and what do you have? Maybe your name on a TV show that no one will even remember.
Godzilla performer: Damn you, Gojira!
