Liz struggles in her new role as mentor to Hazel. Kenneth has a difficult time letting go of his page duties and takes drastic measures to make sure Tracy is taken care of. Meanwhile, Jack and Jenna come up with a plan to get Avery back in the headlines.
67 jokes in 26 minutes: 30 Rock hits elite density with character-driven absurdism.
Directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller · Written by Sam Means
WAR
141
Wins Above Replacement
“Grandmentor” ranks #47 of 138 30 Rock episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 99.0 — Elite. The episode packs 82 scored jokes at 3.1 per minute, averaging 7.8 on craft and 7.7 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
Jenna: 'Would a dumb person be able to think of something amazing to say as she leaves?' — Jenna then stands there for ten seconds in silence, unable to think of anything
Jenna Setup/Punchline Awkward Silence Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Liz: Liz's bedroom advice: 'Put a bag of popcorn in the microwave beforehand. That way, when you're done, you have a treat.'
Liz Character Comedy Observational ★ Rewatch Jack: Jack: 'Avery had me committed to a mental hospital so she and her college roommate could use my Yankee tickets on opening day.'
Jack Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Hazel: 'If this were two years ago, I would sit on you till you died.'
Hazel Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Matt Lauer (implied) · Jack: Mine collapse in China — all miners are babies paid in yogurt; puppies lowered to bring supplies
All Jokes — 82 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Jack · Liz: Gassy Patsy walk-on contest callback — robotic voice saying 'keep the white house white'
Jack Liz Setup/Punchline Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Liz · Jack: 'You know who enters these walk-on contests? Weirdos.' — followed by an essay typed on the inside of a bloody halter top
Liz · Jack: 'I thought you said a man should never wear pastel unless he's a black guy on Easter.'
Liz Jack Character Comedy Observational ★ Rewatch Jack: 'I need to tone down my natural aura of strength and sexual dominance. Which wasn't going to happen with the tie I was going to wear.'
Jack Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jack · Liz: 'Amnesty International is nothing but a company that makes and sells candles. That explains all the vigils. That is a good scam.'
Jack Liz Absurdist Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Liz: 'Media is a plural noun. Put this tie on.'
Liz Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jack: Matt Lauer's band: 'Rhythm and News' — 'It's blues rock, Lemon.'
Jack Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Kenneth: Kenneth's confessional: 'I know I'm a big shot now with my suits and a desk lamp that I control'
Kenneth Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Gaylord Felcher: The Standards and Practices department is called out by name — its employee, Gaylord Felcher, presents the 'Employee of the F***ing Week' award while bleeping himself
Hazel · Kenneth: 'What's your problem?' / 'Oh my, well... my parents were technically brothers—' / 'Look, I'm trying to do my job here.'
Kenneth: 'He has a special place in my heart. Just like Nana Parcell, my heartworm.'
Kenneth Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Matt Lauer (implied) · Jack: Mine collapse in China — all miners are babies paid in yogurt; puppies lowered to bring supplies
Jack: 'Remember when we used to be the world leader in baby cuteness? I can't compete with that.'
Jack Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Jack: 'Yes, I didn't expect you to play for four hours.' (re: Matt Lauer's band, after four hours of blues rock)
Jack Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Callback Liz: Liz tells the writers not to write a sketch about Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — 'No one knows who Krang is. It would be a waste of time to talk about Krang on television. No more Krang!'
Liz Meta/Self-Referential Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Hazel · Liz: Hazel bursts through the door yelling 'Krang!' immediately after Liz's Krang rant
Hazel Liz Callback Visual Gag ★ Rewatch Callback Liz: Liz takes a 'Which Gossip Girl are you?' quiz and gets 'the dad's guitar'
Liz Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Hazel · Liz: Hazel: 'And look at your body. Your rack is like, "pow!"'
Hazel Liz Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Hazel: Kenneth 'undressed her with his eyes' — then: 'And then he had his way with me. With his eyes.'
Hazel Setup/Punchline Misdirection Liz · Hazel: Liz: 'The male gaze.' Hazel: 'Yeah, they're all a bunch of gays.'
Liz · Hazel: 'What do people call women who are tough and ambitious?' / 'Leslie or Courtney?' / 'What? No. A bitch.'
Liz Hazel Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Liz: Liz invokes 'the karate kid — Hilary Swank-arate Kid IV'
Liz Wordplay/Pun Absurdist ★ Rewatch Liz: Liz does a Mr. Miyagi impression: 'Julie-san, fighting not good. But if must fight, win.' Attributed to 'Kesuke Miyagi, Karate Kid IV.'
Liz Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Callback Jack: Jack calls CNN's Wolf Blitzer: 'Either CNN gets back on the Avery Jessup story, or I'll tell everyone your real name, Steel Hammerhands.'
Jack Setup/Punchline Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jack: Jack hangs up, then tries calling back: 'Hello? Steel? Mr. Hammerhands?'
Jack Callback Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Callback Jenna · Jack: Jenna asks Jack to hire a giant to stand in every scene she's in to make her look daintier — 'It's why Lamar Odom married that giant Kardashian girl.'
Jack: Jack's fantasy of Avery returning: 'I'm home, Jack. And I brought back a bunch of oriental sex powders.'
Jack Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Jenna: 'I played Italian party whore in The Amanda Knox Story.'
Jenna Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jenna: 'Every kidnapped woman I've ever played has been released.'
Jenna Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement Jenna · Jack: 'Oxygen is already working on a movie about the baby miners.' / 'Then we'll have to slow them down. Gabriel... send a bunch of pies to the Oxygen network.'
Hazel · Kenneth: Hazel is making Tracy's food easier to eat because 'his jaw is tired from pretending to be Pac-Man'
Kenneth: 'He just got his cholesterol down to triple digits.'
Kenneth Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Hazel · Kenneth: 'You think you can push me around just because you have a penis?' / Kenneth: 'I definitely have a penis.'
Hazel: 'I'm not delicate. I've been in tons of car wrecks.'
Hazel Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Tracy · Hazel · Kenneth: Tracy: 'Hazel, I just peed this. Could you take care of it for me?' — holding up something (implied urine-adjacent object) mid-argument
Kenneth · Hazel · Tracy: Kenneth launches a 'getting-your-act-together montage' song for Tracy — immediately interrupted by Hazel with a piñata
Hazel · Tracy: Hazel offers Tracy: 'Do you wanna do whatever you want with a sexy, fun bitch who just bought you a piñata?' Tracy: 'Awesome!'
Kenneth · Liz: Liz: 'Are you busy regretting your life choices, for example, missing your window for having children?'
Liz · Kenneth: 'I bet even Hillary Clinton has to put up with this crap from whoever was Secretary of State before her.' / 'You mean Condoleezza—' / 'Shut up.'
Liz Kenneth Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Liz: Liz quotes Mr. Miyagi at Kenneth: 'Leave girl alone or you deal with me, surf shop owner.'
Liz Callback Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Liz: Liz's bedroom advice: 'Put a bag of popcorn in the microwave beforehand. That way, when you're done, you have a treat.'
Liz Character Comedy Observational ★ Rewatch Hazel: Hazel's boyfriend Razmig was 'banging the fattest chick I've ever seen. And you know, I used to weigh 800 pounds.'
Hazel Setup/Punchline Dark/Subversive Escalation Hazel: Hazel's alternative 'mentorship': 'Helping me would be teaching me how to spice things up. Like by greeting him at the front door wearing nothing but false teeth.'
Hazel Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Hazel: 'If this were two years ago, I would sit on you till you died.'
Hazel Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Callback Jack: Wardrobe scene: Jack dresses up as Gabriel the PA — 'No wigs. I said no wigs. You're not a lead, Gabe. At best, you're a featured extra with no lines.'
Jack Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Liz: Liz: 'You mean Lois Lane's love affair with journalism?' — responding to Jack asking if she'd write 'the greatest love story ever told'
Liz Character Comedy Misdirection Jack · Liz: 'I would consider it a personal favor after six years of listening to you complain about how there are so few women on death row.' / 'Is it a coincidence, or is the system sexist?'
Jack Liz Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Liz · Jack: Liz: 'Oh! Speaking of our amazing dynamic, I have taken on a mentee of my own, Jack — a page named Hazel.' Jack: 'You're a mentor? But that makes me a grand-mentor. And I'm still so young.'
Liz Jack Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Jack: Jack reveals he let Liz fail at the Apollo: 'Sometimes, they have to learn the hard way. If Hazel rejects your advice, let her. She'll get there on her own just like you did after the crowd at the Apollo chased you into the river.'
Jack Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Liz: Liz: 'Okay, I understand the irony of what I'm about to say, but I reject that advice. Don't worry, I'll bring you back a t-shirt from successtown. Ow! My groin!'
Liz Character Comedy Physical/Slapstick Kenneth · Tracy: Kenneth: 'You were wrong. They do still make crossbows.' — Tracy arrives with crossbow and motorcycle ramp but no motorcycle
Tracy: Tracy (off his medication): 'We on a show within a show! My real name is Tracy Morgan!'
Tracy Meta/Self-Referential Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Hazel: Hazel took Tracy off his medication — 'I'm not an idiot, Kenneth. I took him off his medication.'
Hazel Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Hazel: Hazel shows Kenneth a Page Six photo: 'Those are my toes he's sucking on. And he did not want to.'
Hazel Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jenna · Jack: Jenna tries to play Avery by sneaking into Jack's office pretending to be her — 'No, don't turn on the light.'
Jenna Jack Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Jenna: Jenna: 'You think I'm stupid, just because my college got tipped over by those Miami Heat fans.'
Jenna Absurdist Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jack: Jack: 'Jenna, there are many kinds of intelligence. Practical, emotional, and there's actual intelligence, which is what I'm talking about.'
Jack Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Jack: 'Let's set aside how idiotic that plan was and imagine a world where it actually worked.'
Jack Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Jenna: 'Would a dumb person be able to think of something amazing to say as she leaves?' — Jenna then stands there for ten seconds in silence, unable to think of anything
Jenna Setup/Punchline Awkward Silence Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Liz · Jack: Contest winner is 'Joren van der Sloot' — 'We can't fly someone from Peru now.'
Liz Jack Dark/Subversive Setup/Punchline Razmig · Hazel · Liz: Razmig appears: 'What? Who is this, hah-zel? I no permit you talk other woman.' — caricatured Armenian accent and possessive control framed comedically
Razmig · Hazel: Razmig: 'Oh, where is toilet pail? Razmig must make mud.' — Hazel laughs
Razmig · Liz: Razmig: 'You are a big woman. You have pictures? Fat nudes?'
Razmig Liz Cringe/Discomfort Character Comedy Callback Jenna · Kenneth: Jenna to Kenneth: 'Oh, I thought you were someone famous. You sound a lot like Reese Witherspoon.'
Kenneth · Gaylord Felcher: Kenneth quits his job at Standards and Practices to enter the walk-on contest — the Standards and Practices employee responds: 'I may f***ing hate you right now, you little f***, but f***ing damn it I respect you.'
Kenneth: Kenneth, in a disguise/costume as a contest winner, enters as 'Leminem' — a portmanteau of Liz Lemon and Eminem.
Kenneth Physical/Slapstick Wordplay/Pun ★ Rewatch Gaylord Felcher · Kenneth: Kenneth quits his Standards and Practices job to enter the walk-on contest. The Standards employee's send-off: 'I may [bleep] hate you right now, you little [bleep], but [bleep] damn it I respect you.'
Kenneth · Liz: Kenneth explains his motivation for quitting: 'Have you ever loved something so much that you would sacrifice anything for it?' Liz: 'Nope.'
Kenneth Liz Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Jack · Jenna: 'The second cruelest thing anyone has ever done to me.' / 'When I went to the bathroom on the hood of your car before I thought of this plan?'
Jack Jenna Setup/Punchline Dark/Subversive Escalation ★ Rewatch Jack: Jack: 'Avery had me committed to a mental hospital so she and her college roommate could use my Yankee tickets on opening day.'
Jack Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Jenna: Jenna: 'That's a nice story, Jack, but I don't hear my name in it.'
Jenna Character Comedy Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Jack · Jenna: Jack concludes Jenna has 'Avery's essence' — 'the ruthless pursuit of self-interest. It's the heart of capitalism. And the beautiful black heart of my wife.' — then congratulates Jenna and she accepts 'the part.'
Jack Jenna Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Callback Jenna: 'Now if you'll excuse me, I have a female condom to take out. Unless... Going once...'
Jenna Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Tracy: Tracy's presidential address: 'Goo-goo, ga-ga, my fellow ah-meh-ri-cans.'
Tracy Absurdist Character Comedy Kenneth · Tracy: Kenneth to Tracy: 'I won't do that' (quoting Meat Loaf's 'I'd Do Anything for Love') — Tracy: 'The girl in that video was hot in an early '90s kind of way.'
Liz · Jack: 'That was a real commercial for an erectile dysfunction drug.' / Jack: 'Well, I laughed.'
Liz Jack Meta/Self-Referential Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Jack: 'That's how the banking industry learned its lesson. And now they're doing amazing, and everyone's honest.'
Jack Irony/Sarcasm Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Liz · Jack: Liz: 'Why aren't there more female serial killers? What does that say about our society—' Jack: 'Liz!'
Liz Jack Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Callback Hazel: Hazel's garbled summary of Liz's mentorship advice: 'Hazel, you're a beautiful flower. Let yourself bloom. What are you doing this weekend, Hazel? Are there still bath houses? Let's go to one!'
Hazel Character Comedy Misdirection ★ Rewatch Hazel: 'And all the while lighting a fire with that hot ass.' — Hazel to Liz
Hazel Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Jack: Jack looks at Liz warmly after Hazel leaves: 'I'm your grand-mentor. Liz?' — she's gone. He looks at the empty space: 'She's beautiful.'
Jack Character Comedy Reaction Beat ★ Rewatch Tracy · Announcer: End tag: 'Please welcome to the stage: Leminem!' — scattered applause and booing, then Tracy begins poorly doing the sprinkler dance while rapping badly
Tracy Announcer Character Comedy Physical/Slapstick Meta/Self-Referential ★ Rewatch