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Character Analysis

James Marsden

Criss

Played by James Marsden

90 jokes across 13 episodes of 30 Rock

WAR

42.9

Total Jokes

90

Avg Craft

7.2

Avg Impact

6.9

Comedy Style

Character Comedy

Criss delivers 90 scored jokes across 13 episodes of 30 Rock, averaging 7.2 on craft and 6.9 on impact for a career WAR of 42.9. Their comedy leans toward character comedy. The highest-scoring line is below.

Funniest Criss Lines

All Jokes — 129 total

S6E02

Criss · Liz:It's Terry, the gender-neutral doll I had when I was a kid. And he/she has his/her baseball glove and baby. And both sets of genitals!

7.77.7
S6E02

Criss:That was hard to track down. Today, almost all of them are in police evidence lockers.

7.97.8
S6E02

Liz · Criss:Fine, I'll stay! Gyah. Do you want a smiley face? German flag, please.

7.67.3
S6E02

Criss:I think I saw Billy Dee Williams in Riverside Park this morning when I was meeting dogs.

7.67.5
S6E02

Criss · Liz:Which totally supports your theory that the Phillie Phanatic is biologically a female. Oh, yeah, if you watch those games, that thing definitely has a menstrual cycle.

7.57.3
S6E03

Criss:How fresh is that dog? Yesterday, that was the face, feet and colon of a pig.

7.17.2
S6E03

Criss:All right, kids. Who wants some? Get in my van.

6.77.0
S6E03

Criss:Is there a problem, officer?

6.66.7
S6E03

Liz · Criss:He inserts himself into my business whether I want him to or not and now he's inserting himself into this. Well, that's what she said, but...

5.85.8
S6E03

Criss · Liz:Wesleyan is the Harvard of central Connecticut. / Yale is the Harvard of central Connecticut.

8.18.3
S6E03

Criss:Had that locked and loaded, didn't you?

6.86.5
S6E03

Criss:You're a 41-year-old woman who cheats at board games.

7.36.8
S6E03

Criss:You don't use the tab closures on cereal boxes. If you think those are doing anything to seal in freshness, you are living in a fantasy world, pal.

7.98.3
S6E03

Criss:This was a good day, Liz. I'm gonna be in the park meditating. What would Jack say about that? He'd say, 'Good God, Lemon.' Locked and loaded.

8.08.2
S6E03

Criss:I'm sorry, is this guy breaking up with me?

7.67.5
S6E03

Criss:You can listen to Jack, we can call it quits and I go back to sleeping on the floor of my Uncle's mattress store.

7.77.8
S6E03

Criss:It's already, like, turning itself. But I feel like I still have to turn it. Oh, oh, my God, mustard just came out my nose. It's burning the backs of my eyes.

6.26.3
S6E03

Jack · Criss:All right, I'm putting you on probationary approval. / Okay, I don't really care. / I'll tell you what changed my mind, Criss: a conversation I had with Tracy Jordan.

7.67.3
S6E06

Criss:Criss's Valentine's song with placeholder chorus: '# and the chorus goes here / yeah this is where the chorus goes #' and '# I didn't have time to write it / but the chorus goes here #'

8.38.2
S6E06

Criss · Liz:Criss proposes dinner at home with 'mashed potatoes in a Martini glass, we'll open some of that wine we didn't give the super for Christmas because you decided it would come off as racist. Oh, I'm glad we gave him those G.E.D. books instead.'

7.87.7
S6E06

Criss · Liz:'We'll play the soundtrack to Major League.' / 'You're making fun of me, but that love song is awesome.'

7.06.7
S6E06

Liz · Criss · Ikea Couple:Liz and Criss pass a fighting couple in Ikea: 'I wish I'd died on Iwo Jima and never met you.' Criss: 'Whoa. What was that?' Liz: 'Not us.'

7.77.8
S6E06

Stranger · Liz · Criss:After tension between Liz and Criss in Ikea, a stranger says 'So tense. Just like my mom's back.' Then immediately: 'I'm going back to those cute bowls.' / 'I swear to God, I will stab you!'

7.17.3
S6E06

Criss:Liz finds salt-and-pepper shakers: 'You put them together, it makes a heart. Take them apart, two red sperms.'

7.57.3
S6E06

Criss · Liz:Ikea table fight becomes a relationship metaphor: 'Maybe a more fun table would be a better table for me.' 'Well, maybe a more fun table wouldn't be as supportive.' 'No no no, we are not letting this table be a metaphor for our relationship. That's what Ikea WANTS us to do.'

8.18.3
S6E06

Liz · Criss:The table metaphor fight: Liz and Criss argue about the table being 'uptight' vs. 'fun', then: 'I'm just not sure my chair wants to be with this table.' / 'Why, because deep down your chair would rather be with other chairs?'

7.57.0
S6E06

Criss:Liz and Criss walk through the Ikea warehouse and Criss sees a T-shirt: 'Seriously? Zoo York.'

6.76.2
S6E06

Criss:Criss: 'Seriously? Zoo York.' — reacting to something Liz is wearing in Ikea

6.16.0
S6E06

Liz · Criss:The Kurtz table is sold out. Criss: 'This is why you don't just choose one option.' Liz: 'No, this is why you don't waste 45 minutes wandering around the Valentine's marketplace.'

7.06.8
S6E06

Liz · Criss:Liz: 'You didn't finish law school, it's why you still aren't done filling out your 2010 census.' Criss: 'Well what race am I supposed to check? We all come from Africa.'

7.67.5
S6E06

Criss:Criss (to Liz, in the fight): 'You have no kids. The only thing you like about your job is taking home free sodas.'

7.87.8
S6E06

Criss · Ikea Employee:Criss: 'That's why I get out of the nidurgangur in the morning.' Ikea employee: 'It's one of our cheaper beds.'

7.67.7
S6E06

Criss · Store Employee:Criss in a lingerie store: 'Are you shopping for someone? Do you know what size she is? / No. I don't know. Maybe. No.' / 'I see. It's okay. I have an Uncle who uses my discount here all the time.'

7.47.2
S6E06

Criss · Liz:Criss's ringtone: 'My ringtone is the sounds of cooking. Which is perfect, because I love cooking. But when I'm cooking...'

8.07.8
S6E06

Criss · Liz:Criss reveals the table he built from 'fallen tree branches from Riverside Park' — where they first met — topped with a Herman Cain poster found in a dumpster.

7.87.7
S6E06

Liz · Criss:Liz: 'But how are we ever going to break up?' Criss: 'I don't know, maybe we never will. Maybe we'll still be celebrating Valentine's together 100 years from now.' Liz: 'Do you think our ape overlords will let us?'

8.58.3
S6E06

Criss · Liz:The table Criss made: 'I gathered fallen tree branches from Riverside Park. That's where we first met.' / 'Yeah. And the top is a Herman Cain poster I found in a dumpster.'

8.28.5
S6E06

Criss · Liz:Just as Liz wants to have sex: 'Finally, I can say, happy Valen— Ow! My legs! Aah! This get me out of sex.'

7.77.8
S6E09

Criss · Liz:So another woman? / Victoria's Secret model.

6.66.3
S6E09

Jenna · Criss:It's Leap Day. Real life is for March. / Nothing that happens on Leap Day counts.

8.18.2
S6E09

Criss · Liz · Criss · Liz · Tracy:Seriously, 20 million bucks? I would sleep with Thad Warmald for that. / Couldn't go through with it. You know, I just kept seeing your face. Also, I have too much dignity. / So another woman? / Victoria's Secret model. / Feast, homeless, feast!

8.08.0
S6E12

Liz · Criss · Radio Host (Ira Glass parody):This American Life, Saturday, March 17th... Hey, what are you doing? Get out of my studio! Happy St. Patrick's day! Let go of me! Didn't you hear my show on bullying?

7.47.5
S6E12

Liz · Criss:Look at them spin around. They're so confused. It's too many Megans, right?

6.86.5
S6E12

Criss:I just ordered thai food. How much do you love me now?

7.47.2
S6E12

Dennis · Criss:I tried to steal beer from a Duane Reade, and some black guy cold-cocked me. / Ooh, like a security guard? / I don't know, pal. I don't see people that way.

8.18.0
S6E12

Criss · Liz:I was a volunteer EMT. At Burning Man. And we agreed never to talk about that. At sunset, the cacti start to resemble people looking for hugs. It gets ugly, Liz.

7.87.8
S6E12

Dennis · Criss:I should take the hot dog truck out after the parade, and sell empty buns to drunk people.

7.77.5
S6E12

Liz · Criss:And once again, the puppet will become the puppet master. / What does that mean, 'once again'? That's not a thing.

7.77.5
S6E12

Criss:Dude, you missed the end of the lez movie. Their daughter, she goes off to college, and Mark Ruffalo, he's just gonna do his own thing with the restaurant.

7.06.7
S6E12

Liz · Criss · Dennis:Liz realization: 'Wait, Megan is real?' followed by explaining she said 'I love you' to Dennis as a tactical bluff.

7.67.8
S6E12

Criss:All right, mustard only. There you go. Enjoy your bun.

7.57.2
S6E12

Criss · passerby:Wait, is now the time on St. Patrick's day when we talk about our feelings? / I don't understand your art, Kevin.

7.37.0
S6E12

Liz · Criss:I love you. / I know. / You solo-ed me.

8.28.2
S6E18

Liz · Criss:The door closes on the woman Liz was talking to (likely trying to adopt).

6.76.8
S6E18

Liz · Criss:cigarfan@nbcuni.com / 'Avail 4 javamanana per Jack. Deets 2 follow. Kev'

6.96.5
S6E18

Criss:'Sent from one of my four iPads'? This guy sounds amazing.

7.06.5
S6E18

Criss:No, if you don't go, you're not gonna be able to tell Jack how wrong he is. If you do go, just have coffee with this guy, maybe Jack will shut up, and I'll finally get the acceptance that, you know, every 39-year-old man craves from his girlfriend's boss.

7.36.8
S6E18

Criss:Where is he? Where is 'Kev'? It's game go.

7.57.3
S6E18

Liz · Criss:Game go is not a phrase. / I don't know. I just got really wound up at the thought of you getting checked out by some creep.

7.97.8
S6E18

Criss:I watched some boxercise videos on demand before coming down here.

7.57.0
S6E18

Liz · Criss:Why are you so out of breath? / 'Cause I ran all the way down here. / Why didn't you just take the subway? / 'Cause that's not romantic. Watch a movie, Liz.

7.67.2
S6E18

Liz · Criss · Cat:Oh, thank God. / That is not funny, young lady. / It's a little funny.

7.47.3
S6E18

Liz · Criss:I think maybe I still... / I don't think you should... / want to be a mom. / give up on having a kid. / Okay. We're on the same page.

7.46.8
S6E18

Criss · Liz:I think we've talked about it enough. Maybe we just put a pin in that and have some fun. / I'll open a puzzle. / I'll make a stew.

8.07.7
S6E21

Criss:If it's a nursery, then you can hear the baby. Or the plant. It's your body.

7.26.8
S6E21

Criss:Well, I could chip in. If you take my profits from the hot dog truck and add 'em to the $300 my aunt gave me for Christmas, I'd have $200.

8.08.3
S6E21

Criss:Boy, I sound just like my dad. Which, I guess, makes me Mrs. Lemon.

7.27.0
S6E21

Liz · Criss:You went out and bought a Fedora. This? I finally watched the premiere of Prime Suspect on Hulu. It's really very good. Anyway, I thought I would treat myself.

7.67.5
S6E21

Criss:I'm a man. I'm a man, I'm a man! I'm an adult man! You think I like you having to pay for everything? It's humiliating.

7.17.2
S6E21

Criss:Only because liking the crisspoints system is one of the ways I earn crisspoints!

8.68.8
S6E21

Liz · Criss:You're the one who chose to sell hot dogs out of a car. / It is a van with a car engine, Liz, okay?

7.88.0
S6E21

Criss:NBC just becomes a web site that sells used office supplies.

7.67.7
S6E21

Criss:Of course, because you're the person who has to krang that plant for nine months, poop it, and then go back to work to support both of you!

7.97.8
S6E21

Criss:Somebody with money that's probably named Spencer or Grant. And he has a watch, and an office with a trash can and a little basketball hoop on it. And he plays as hard as he works because, damn it, he deserves to blow off a little steam.

8.08.2
S6E21

Liz · Criss:God, I don't wanna be with Spencer! / And yet you're silent about Grant.

8.18.2
S6E21

Criss:Well, guess what... I'm gonna become Grant. That's right, tomorrow I'm gonna take my truck out, and I'm gonna start pulling my weight, like a man. Now, get in that bed, and let's watch Dance Moms.

8.08.0
S6E21

Criss:It's a brand new location, Liz. I got a subway entrance right here, and I got a tour bus stop right there. Also, FOX News is right across the street, and word is Greta Van Susteren eats hot dogs like Slimer.

7.57.3
S6E21

Criss · Liz:Right, those creepy, off-brand Sesame Street characters that harass tourists into paying them to take pictures. I hate those guys. As a Sesame Street purist, I don't think Elmo usually tells passing women they have a sweet dumper.

8.08.0
S6E22

Liz · Criss:You didn't whisper in my ear and kiss me to wake me up like you always do. / I've never done that.

7.67.0
S6E22

Liz · Criss:You named your van after the guy from Dawson's Creek? / I've seen everything he's ever been in except for that.

7.77.5
S6E22

Criss:I had no idea the Shmuley Israel Memorial Parade was a predominantly Jewish event.

7.67.5
S6E22

Criss:You know what kind of women in their 40s have never been married, Liz? Uggos, crazies, and bailers. You're not an uggo. And you're 'ha-ha' crazy, not 'oh, boy' crazy, which means you bail.

8.08.0
S6E22

Liz · Criss:Planty, no! / I don't care about that.

7.16.5
S6E22

Criss:I sold the van this morning... to a really nice young guy on meth.

7.97.8
S6E22

Liz · Criss:You sold Van Der Beek? For me? / I sold Van Der Beek... For us.

7.47.0
S6E22

Criss:I don't wanna wait for our lives to be over.

8.38.2
S6E22

Liz · Criss:Have you ever had a girlfriend willing to Thelma and Louise with you? / No. Never. / But come on, Bonnie and Clyde. Okay, I'm a boy. I'm a boy, Liz.

7.47.2
S6E22

Liz · Criss:This would make a great room for a baby. / You said 'baby' instead of 'plant.' / Now say 'man cave.' / Never!

7.47.0
S7E02

Criss · Liz:Because you kept saying your Aunt Flo was in town. She was. Remember? I took her to MoMA and the Cloisters. I assumed those were all vaginal euphemisms.

8.48.8
S7E02

Liz · Criss:Great. So we had sex for no reason. No reason at all. — Wow. Thank you.

7.57.3
S7E02

Criss:I surprised you at the office. I wrote you that song. ♪ Your body is my garden of Eden ♪

7.47.2
S7E02

Criss · Liz:You just spoke in German. I don't think so, Criss.

7.06.3
S7E02

Criss · Liz:Hey! That was ten dollars. I think I figured out what's been missing from my sex life. Organizing it.

8.58.8
S7E07

Criss:If it's positive, 'Awesome! We're having a baby! I wanna name it Frisbee!' If it's negative, 'Awesome. We're not gonna fight about the name Frisbee, and we get disco fries for breakfast 'cause we're sad.'

8.07.7
S7E07

Criss:I bet it's me. All those years trying to get on 'America's Funniest Home Videos'.

7.36.8
S7E07

Criss:Physical comedy reaction: Criss gets hit/scared by something offscreen. 'Aah! Oh! Aah!'

5.45.0
S7E07

Liz · Criss:Jeez, I feel like we're at a deli. / Deli? Save it for the honeymoon.

6.35.8
S7E07

Criss · Liz:You okay? / Yeah. I just thought there'd be more people here in gym clothes, carrying bags full of toilet paper.

7.77.0
S7E07

Criss:You know, I always imagined getting married right when they take your picture on Splash Mountain.

8.38.2
S7E07

Criss:Great. 'Cause I forgot my birth certificate.

7.47.3
S7E07

Criss:And even though Shanice said she'd let it slide if I sat on her hand --

7.57.3
S7E07

Liz · Criss · Liz · Criss:What are you doing? Why did you change your clothes? / Well, this is what I was wearing when we met in Riverside Park. Remember? You said, 'Nice turtleneck'. / No, I said, 'Nice turtleneck.' / Thank you again!

8.28.0
S7E07

Criss:Ergo. Affleck's finally gonna get that Oscar.

7.57.0
S7E07

Criss · Liz:Guess what? You wasted a lot of money on that dress. / Oh, actually, it was my grandmother's. She made it out of parachute silk while hiding from the Germans.

8.48.3
S7E07

Criss:Shut up!

7.67.5
S7E07

Criss · Liz:Liz, it's okay to be a human woman. / No, it's not! It's the worst! Because of society!

7.97.7
S7E07

Liz · Criss:And why did I find this hidden under your underwear ball? / Oh, Rosenbear. He never got enough time in his garden before he passed.

8.28.0
S7E07

Criss · Liz:I want today to be special. God, do you have any idea how hard it was to get you to admit that? 'I forgot my birth certificate. Let's invite Dennis.' Oh, you were playing me. / 'I'll wear my stupid turtleneck!'

7.87.5
S7E07

Liz · Criss · Liz:What? It's the only white dress I own. / But your hair! / I'm a princess!

8.18.3
S7E07

Liz · Criss · Liz:Tito was a drug dealer the police shot in the face. / In Riverside Park. Where we first met. / It's perfect.

8.48.7
S7E07

Criss:"'But you see,' said Roark quietly, 'I've chosen the work I want to do. And I can find joy only if I do my work in the best way possible to me.'"

7.57.3
S7E11

Criss · Liz Lemon:hotjuggsbev2@adoption.Gov

8.08.5
S7E11

Criss:Guess there's another full-figured Bev at the office there.

7.67.7
S7E11

Liz Lemon · Criss:It's not my airport! / Let it go, Liz.

7.67.3
S7E11

Liz Lemon · Criss:How big is an eight-year-old's head? I'm thinking, like, a bowling ball? No, bowling ball's too small. It's like a basketball. A small basketball that you win at the fair. You're describing a bowling ball.

7.98.0
S7E11

Criss:Upstairs, I want to paint a mural of Houston for the kids, but I'm terrible at drawing swamp humidity.

7.67.3
S7E11

Liz Lemon · Criss:Sex on the couch? / That's a good one, Criss. I'll call you later. [Laughs]

7.26.7
S7E11

Criss:Did you know that every year more people die from disease and accidents combined than from just trampoline accidents?

8.48.7
S7E11

Criss:I'm the only single guy here, Liz, except for Ladarius, whose wife died in a trampoline accident.

8.18.5
S7E11

Criss · Unknown Character:No. / Guys, I'm worried about Todd.

8.08.2
S7E11

Liz Lemon · Criss · Bystander:Hang on. Is that them? / Is that the twins? / No way! So it is possible. / Yeah, I saw it on Maury.

8.28.7
S7E12

Liz Lemon · Criss:Liz struggles to get her kids ready — 'Criss, shoes and socks!' while also managing comic books and jackets — establishing she's now a stay-at-home mom in chaotic domestic mode

6.96.3
S7E13

Liz Lemon · Criss:Opening scene: Liz Lemon wrangling kids named 'Janet' and 'Criss' — then telling her husband Criss 'shoes and socks' like a third child

6.66.0
S7E13

Criss · Liz Lemon:Criss at the park to fight: 'Liz, you don't want to be here right now, 'cause I got to go smack that woman in the face.' — it's Liz

7.67.7
S7E13

Criss · Liz Lemon:'Oh, my god! Since when do you listen to T.I.?' / 'That message board is for moms. I thought you were a lady. You said you had amazing cheekbones.'

7.67.5
S7E13

Criss:Criss explains he hates work: keeps getting up for coffee and is now 'all jittery and weird and... bird!'

7.77.5
S7E13

Liz Lemon · Criss:'Or that one where your hands are spiders.' 'Hand spiders.'

7.77.3
S7E13

Criss:'Oh, my god, if you were a dude, you would not even be thinking that [that you're a terrible mother for wanting to work].'

6.76.5
S7E13

Criss:Criss suggests Liz pitch a show about 'a dentist's office where the sassy hygienist says things like I'm turning 30... Again.' 'I will miss Tyrell.'

7.47.0