Liz's scripted version of Jack and Avery's love story leaves Jack confused and frustrated by his feelings for Diana. Meanwhile, Jenna and Tracy attempt to beat Weird Al Yankovic at his own game, and Kenneth gets an unexpected new job at NBC.
Absurdist character comedy sustains 61 jokes across 42 minutes despite middling impact scores.
Directed by Claire Cowperthwaite · Written by Tina Fey
WAR
105.9
Wins Above Replacement
“Kidnapped By Danger” ranks #61 of 138 30 Rock episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 98.1 — Elite. The episode packs 60 scored jokes at 2.4 per minute, averaging 7.8 on craft and 7.8 on impact, with Jack Donaghy landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Diana Jessup: Diana: 'And I didn't dream that I was a sex slave to a squid-like alien with your head.'
Tracy Jordan · Jenna Maroney: Normal Al's parody: Weird Al reverses the parody strategy, turning Jenna's pizza fart song into a touching song about a soldier returning home.
Jack Donaghy: Jack: 'I turned down intercourse with Harvey Weinstein on no less than three occasions... out of five.'
Jack Donaghy Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Kenneth Parcell: Kenneth's secret: '[whispers] I lie to myself. Every morning, when I wake up, I say, everything's gonna be okay. But I'm lying. And I don't know how much longer I can do it.' [piercing inhalation] 'Have a swell night, sir.'
Kenneth Parcell Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Diana Jessup: Diana: 'The train was disgusting.' [exits] [beat] 'I flew here, but I saw a train from the window.'
All Jokes — 60 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Liz Lemon: The full title read aloud: 'Kidnapped by Danger, colon, The Avery Jessup Story, comma, brought to you with limited commercial interruptions by Pride Bladder Control Pads. Pride: Make Every Room a Bathroom.'
Jack Donaghy: Jack's summary of the love story: 'Boy meets girl. Girl gets kidnapped by asian dictator. Boy makes movie to get girl back. Girl's so grateful she does birthday things to boy. Boy falls asleep.'
Liz Lemon: Liz: 'You're forgetting boy meets girl's mother. They are creepily attracted to each other.'
Jack Donaghy: Jack: 'If you get this right, gay men will be dressing up like Avery for Halloween the next 20 years.'
Liz Lemon · Jack Donaghy: Liz: ''Cause I'm gonna be Mitt Rom-mummy. I call it. You can't steal it.' / Jack: 'Why wouldn't you be Mitt-zombie?' / Liz: 'Because I'm an idiot! Oh, come on, Liz. Think for, like, one second before you buy all that gauze.'
Jenna Maroney: Jenna's manager is named 'Gary Greasy' — mentioned deadpan in exposition.
Jenna Maroney: Jenna: 'I need to thank my co-writers, Gary Greasy and Jesus, a homeless man I stole the melody from.'
Tracy Jordan · Jenna Maroney: The Weird Al parody reveal: Tracy plays a Weird Al parody of Jenna's 'Kidnapped' song called 'Knapsack' — about a broken zipper and a lost Bakugan toy.
Tracy Jordan · Jenna Maroney: Tracy: 'It's a huge honor. Like, when people wanna see your boobs at Mardi Gras.' / Jenna: 'It's nothing like that.'
Jenna Maroney: Jenna: 'Weird Al corrupted something beautiful that was written to distract Gary Greasy while he came down from meth.'
Jenna Maroney Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Callback Kenneth Parcell: Kenneth: 'My father wore this to his high school prom. The theme was Enchantment Under the Jim Crow Laws.'
Kenneth Parcell Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Kenneth Parcell: Kenneth: 'But if anything comes up, put a message in a bottle and throw it in the river. That's where I go every day to fish for shoes.'
Old Janitor: The old janitor's advice: 'Throw your resume away on the fourth floor and we'll be in touch.'
Liz Lemon: The updated title tagline at the table read: 'Pride Pad. Pride: The World Is Your Toilet.' (revised from the earlier 'Make Every Room a Bathroom')
Liz Lemon: The table read screenplay description: 'We smash cut to a night of passion in a completely dark room. Bathing suit areas get a workout.'
Liz Lemon Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy Liz Lemon: The screenplay stage direction description of Liz's character: 'Jack's friend Liz — think Courteney Cox — dances with a handsome pilot — think a young Fred Grandy.'
Liz Lemon Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Deadpan/Understatement Nancy Donovan: Nancy's Boston accent and line: '[ridiculous Boston accent] Jack, who's calling ya at such a wicked late hour? Ya mother?'
Unknown Man · Liz Lemon: The unnamed man's come-on to Liz: 'I got four inches of steel that might change your mind.' (after she says he's married to a woman)
Jack Donaghy: Jack: 'I turned down intercourse with Harvey Weinstein on no less than three occasions... out of five.'
Jack Donaghy Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Tracy Jordan · Jenna Maroney: Tracy: 'What do you think Phil Collins was trying to do with Sussudio?' / Jenna: 'Which Weird Al famously parodied with Soup Soupy-o.'
Tracy Jordan: Tracy: 'I'll make coffee. You also make coffee. After the coffee contest, we'll start working.'
Jack Donaghy: Jack complains that Liz twisted the facts 'like Chubby Checker took the traditional standing dance and made a mockery of it with The Twist.'
Liz Lemon: Liz: 'You wouldn't say that if you read my MythBusters fan fiction. It is sexy. And you're welcome.'
Diana Jessup: Diana Jessup's entrance line to Liz: 'I'm glad to see the endgame of feminism is women dressing like Dennis the Menace at work.'
Diana Jessup Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Diana Jessup: Diana: 'Because it's crass, Jack. Like personalized wedding vows or standing up in a pool.'
Diana Jessup: Diana: 'To hear about it the way I did. My housekeeper started screaming.'
Diana Jessup: Diana: 'And I didn't dream that I was a sex slave to a squid-like alien with your head.'
Jack Donaghy: Jack: 'I'd love to have you. Uh, I mean, as a guest, not, uh, under a waterfall.'
Jack Donaghy Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Diana Jessup: Diana: 'The train was disgusting.' [exits] [beat] 'I flew here, but I saw a train from the window.'
Jack Donaghy · Liz Lemon: Jack's reaction: 'What are you doing? Leave.' / Liz: 'No. This is weird and I am not letting it get any weirder. All my life, I have been the third wheel that prevents people from having sex.'
Liz Lemon: Liz: 'I'm sorry, but you're stressed and you're lonely and that woman has flawless skin, like an organic chicken. I haven't had lunch.'
Kenneth Parcell: Kenneth's janitor interview speech: '...only small people, like children, or a giant who's very far away from you.'
Kenneth Parcell: Kenneth sings the NBC jingle ('I love this') during his pitch to get his job back.
Liz Lemon · Jack Donaghy: Liz interrupts the fitting with STD statistics: 'One in four Americans has an STD. Chlamydia, herpes, garden variety genital swelling—' / Jack: 'That's quite enough, Lemon.' / Liz: 'Rectal fissures.'
Lance Drake Mandrell: Lance Drake Mandrell introducing himself as 'method acting, staying in character at all times. It's a technique invented by Constantin Stanislavski when he was four years old and wanted to act like a pirate.'
Lance Drake Mandrell · Diana Jessup: Lance to Diana: 'Diana, are you a time-traveler? Because I don't know how my mother-in-law could be younger than my wife.'
Jack Donaghy: Jack: 'Was that supposed to be me saying that? Because I would never use that much math in complimenting a woman. Their brains can't handle it.'
Lance Drake Mandrell: Lance: 'Hey, quick question, Jack. Our underwear, is it regular black bikini cut? Or is it silk boxers with Tweety Bird on them? Because I have both.'
Diana Jessup: Diana's description of Lance/Jack: 'The fighter pilot wrists, the hair like a mature otter's pelt, shoulders you could ride bareback.'
Diana Jessup Character Comedy Absurdist Cringe/Discomfort ★ Rewatch Wardrobe Coordinator: The wardrobe coordinator to Diana about Lance: 'Every woman here would love to slip it to your son-in-law... Drill him against a wall... Give him the old skin flute.'
Tracy Jordan · Jenna Maroney: Tracy rejects 'these lonely eyes' by instantly hearing 'baloney thighs': 'I'm sorry, did you just say baloney thighs? Because that's the name of the boat Weird Al's gonna buy with the money he makes off you... dumb bitch! I'm sorry. I just care too much.'
Jenna Maroney · Tracy Jordan: The pizza song epiphany: 'We might as well just write a song about pizza... Oh, my god. If we did that, he'd be powerless. There's nothing you can change pizza to.' / Tracy: 'Because it's already weird.' / Jenna: 'Exactly. Weird Al's about to get a taste of his own medicine.'
Lance Drake Mandrell: Lance practicing being Jack: 'I'm Jack Donaghy.' [pause] 'I am Jack Donaghy.' [retches] 'Oh, god. This iced tea is so strong.'
Diana Jessup · Lance Drake Mandrell: Diana: 'Rose wine?' / Lance: 'Pairs well with failed suicide.'
Lance Drake Mandrell: Lance, staying in character as Jack: 'There hasn't been a good non-boat painting in 5,000 years.'
Liz Lemon: Liz's voice-over/realization: 'Sometimes to prevent monkey business, we must create it. The blocker.'
Liz Lemon Character Comedy Meta/Self-Referential Callback Lance Drake Mandrell · Jack Donaghy: Lance to Jack: 'How is taking your mother-in-law out on a date acting like you?' / Jack: 'Uh, it's not, obviously.'
Diana Jessup: Diana: 'It's impossible not to have a great time at Planet Hollywood.'
Jack Donaghy: Jack's confrontation with Liz: 'An idea that's off the charts, kemosabe.'
Jack Donaghy: Jack's table read script: 'I've never been kissed like that, Jack.' / 'It's because we're so in love, Avery. That's why we're perfect, Avery.' / 'Make love to me... Now.' [Jack: 'This is garbage.']
Kenneth Parcell · Mr. Subhas: Kenneth, dressed as a janitor, is asked 'Why are you dressed like a janitor?' / 'It's my new job.' / 'But you just got promoted.' / Kenneth explains: 'Not the dream where those two tennis sisters chase me.'
Jack Donaghy: Jack's speech to Kenneth conflates their situations: 'Even if other people say to you, your life is a mess. Stop looking at your mother-in-law. I can't write your movie.'
Kenneth Parcell: Kenneth's secret: '[whispers] I lie to myself. Every morning, when I wake up, I say, everything's gonna be okay. But I'm lying. And I don't know how much longer I can do it.' [piercing inhalation] 'Have a swell night, sir.'
Kenneth Parcell Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Jenna Maroney: Jenna after the Fallon performance: 'Let me guess, you're all watching my triumph on Fallon last night?'
Tracy Jordan · Jenna Maroney: Normal Al's parody: Weird Al reverses the parody strategy, turning Jenna's pizza fart song into a touching song about a soldier returning home.
Liz Lemon: Liz: 'Everyone lies to themselves. I mean, I refuse to buy larger underwear, and it looks like when you tie a string around a roast.'
Liz Lemon Character Comedy Observational Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Jack Donaghy · Lance Drake Mandrell: The movie's climax: 'I'll never let you capture my wife from here, on the top of the Empire State Building!' / 'Korean freeze ray!' / 'Jack!' / 'Nothing can keep us apart! Our love is off the charts, kemosabe.'
Lance Drake Mandrell · Jack Donaghy: Lance's debriefing about Diana: 'She's a real hotshot at boinking. She boinks like a dog. I'm not a writer. She made me boink her this morning and at first, I was like, please—'
Lance Drake Mandrell: Lance: 'Get back to doing the things I love, like getting high and going to the planetarium.'
Liz Lemon · Jack Donaghy: Liz: 'Hey, when this movie airs, can my name be the first credit that comes up at the end?' / Jack: 'This is a group process, Lemon. Don't be an egomaniac.'