30 Rock - Creating a new genre?

Tina Fey’s new NBC show, “30 Rock,” for which Fey is also the creator, writer and lead actor, works on two distinct genre levels; it works both as a sitcom and also, due to the level at which the show references and parodies material from other shows it acts as a form of fictionalized sketch comedy in the vein of “Saturday Night Live,” for which Fey was previously head-writer. It both fits within the sitcom genre and combines elements of sketch comedy to create a show with heightened intertextuality and self-referentiality.
Several actors from “SNL” have joined the cast of “30 Rock” adding to the show’s intertextuality. Tracy Morgan plays a character with a strikingly similar name, Tracy Jordan, who is arguably both a version of himself and several other black actors. References are made to Martin Lawrence in the pilot episode with Jordan’s character having been in a movie where he plays a “fat grandma,” an obvious reference to “Big Momma’s House.” Jordan’s character also references Eddie Murphy with the red leather jacket worn in the pilot episode which is reminiscent of Murphy’s jacket from his “Delirious” tour. Lastly, in a flashback to Jordan’s film career, Morgan parodies the Danny Glover character from “Lethal Weapon” by stating, “I’m getting too old for this shit.”
The multiple actors that Morgan impersonates further the levels of reality at work in the show. Tracy Morgan the actor is a sketch-comedian, who is playing a sketch-comedian whose celebrity life is a combination of roles that are actually impersonations and parodies of other celebrities’ lives.
Actress Rachel Dratch (also from “SNL”) guest stars regularly on the show as well. Dratch is not playing one of the show’s main characters, but rather reappears in several episodes as different characters. (She plays a cat wrangler in the pilot episode, a maid in “The Aftermath,” and Elizabeth Taylor in “Jack Meets Dennis.”) Dratch’s appearances as changing characters points to the show’s relationship to sketch comedy; she is a regular cast member who is able to impersonate someone new every week. Alec Baldwin, though not an “SNL” cast member was a frequent host of the show, so his contribution here is both logical and fitting as “30 Rock” VP Jack Donaghy.
Tina Fey plays the main character of the show, Liz Lemon. Fey is the previous head-writer for “SNL” playing the head-writer for the sketch comedy show “The Girlie Show” on “30 Rock.” Her character is an obvious amalgamation of several other female sitcom characters and this contributes to the show’s ability to act both as sitcom and sketch comedy.
In the pilot episode, Liz Lemon (Fey) confronts a man who cuts in line at a hotdog stand, resulting in her buying all of the hotdogs and walking down the streets of New York passing them out. As she begins her walk down the city street a song begins to play with the lyrics, “Who’s that kicking it down the street causing a stir…that’s her…who’s got the kind of charisma the boys prefer…that’s her..” The lyrics and score to the song and the shots of Fey prancing down the New York streets are reminiscent of the opening sequence for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” The theme song lyrics for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (seasons two through seven) stated, “Who can turn the world on with her smile? Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? Well it's you, girl, and you should know it.”
This entire opening sequence works on the level of parodying “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” so as to make this a sort of parody “sketch,” but as Fey approaches her office building the camera shifts inside to a set where the theme song playing is being filmed. It is not the theme of “30 Rock” as we have been mislead to believe, but rather the theme song for one of “The Girlie Show’s sketches” titled “The Overly Confident Morbidly Obese Woman,” a screen parody of Kirstie Alley’s “Fat Actress” (replete with sequined dress). Again the show is providing two levels here: the sketch comedy that occurs within the narrative and also the sketch comedy that takes place as a part of the show that Fey as Liz Lemon is writing for. In a sense the show is able to parody two shows at once – one in the narrative and the other in the narrative’s own sketch comedy show. The idea of the show-within-a-show concept is also tied into “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”
In the following episode, “The Aftermath,” Fey parodies Mary Richards again. Here she throws a party for her co-workers on a yacht and worries throughout the entire episode about the party failing. She is constantly asking the party-goers, “It’s going well, isn’t it? I mean it has to go well.” After the party ends in disappointment Fey admits, “It was a disaster. I can’t do this.”
In the next episode, “Blind Date,” Fey moves us into another “female” sitcom parody, the obvious choice of parody since Lemon (Fey’s character) is a writer for “The Girlie Show,” described by the NBC page as “a real fun ladies’ comedy show for ladies.” (Fey’s friend and star of “The Girlie Show,” Jane Krakowski is also from “Ally McBeal,” the quintessential “girlie” show.) This time Fey parodies entire aspects of the HBO show “Sex and the City.” As Lemon points out in the pilot, though, referencing the HBO tagline, this is “not HBO, it’s TV.”
In “Blind Date,” Jack tells Liz she needs to date and that her “biggest fear should be choking to death in [her] own apartment.” Liz states she isn’t afraid, only to be plagued by it the entire episode, and at her apartment while eating Chinese take-out she chokes and has to perform the Heimlich on herself with the help of a chair. This entire scene is taken from the “Sex and the City” episode “Four Women and a Funeral.” Therefore, in this episode, Fey is parodying Miranda’s character from “Sex and the City.” This is later confirmed again when Liz finally agrees to be set up on a blind date with a friend of Jack’s, only to find that the blind date is a woman; Jack has made the assumption that she is a lesbian. Miranda also experienced this exact same pratfall on “Sex and the City.”
In the latest episode, “Jack Meets Dennis,” “Sex and the City” is referenced again. Guest star Dean Winters plays Fey’s boyfriend, Dennis Duffy. When asked by Jenna (Jane Krakowski) how the sex is, Fey replies “fast and only on Saturdays; it’s perfect.” Winters also played in an episode of “Sex and the City” titled “Fuck Buddy,” where he played Carrie’s “friend with benefits.” Since the show acts as a sort of sketch comedy in the vein of “SNL,” Winters is the host/guest star of this show and he parodies in it the work he has done before (as is customary for “SNL” hosts.) He plays again the role of the “boyfriend of convenience” here and also later references his role as Ryan O’Reily on “Oz” when he discusses “rat kings,” referencing a discussion about Governor Devlin on that show.
In “Jack-Tor,” Fey raises the level of intertextuality even more. The opening scene of the show addresses product placement and the characters discuss how annoying it is as they themselves participate in obvious product placement for Snapple. This scene parodies a scene from the film “Wayne’s World” (where the same is done with Pepsi), which also happens to be an “SNL” film. And, this scene is also self-referential because NBC had actually required more product placement in the show, so Fey wrote it into the show as an instrument of comedy (like Wayne’s World) and this is also what Liz Lemon proposes for the GE products they are required to write in.
In the same episode, Jenna performs her international hit song “Muffintop,” a theme and joke that continues throughout the show. The lyrics of the song, “Everyone knows the top of the muffin is the best part,” are a reference to a “Seinfeld” episode where Elaine uses that exact phrase (and later a store called “Top of the Muffin to you” is opened up.)
“30 Rock” features incessant parodies of other shows and styles while retaining the plot conventions and drive of the normal sitcom. In creating a show with several levels of reality and references to prior (and current) shows, Fey has created a new multi-layered genre; the sitcom and the sketch comedy coalesce to form the “sketch sitcom.”

Feminist critique of TV show "Heroes"

I recently wrote a feminist critique of the television show "Heroes" for my Methods of Criticism class. I used post-structuralist feminism as a basis for critique, and discussed the various gender stereotypes employed by the show in constructing its female characters. Specifically, the three main female characters Niki (Ali Larter), Claire (Hayden Panettiere) and Eden (Nora Zehetner).

While I'm not posting my actual paper here in my blog, here are some interesting things I noticed:

For those unfamiliar with the show, it is about a group of everyday people who wake up to realize that they have special powers. In terms of mere content analysis, the men with special powers far outweigh the women with powers on the show. There are currently two women alive with superpowers (two have been killed) and there are eight men with powers. Only two main character “heroes” have been killed and both were women. The first, Charlie (Jayma Mays) had the ability to memorize and learn facts at astonishing rates, and though the male character Hiro tried to save her from being murdered, she ends up being the stereotypical female victim. The other dead hero is Eden, who was killed off in the latest episode (to be discussed more later).
The show’s tagline, “Save the cheerleader, save the world,” refers to the character Claire, a high school cheerleader with the ultimate power of indestructibility. The show’s tagline alone posits Claire, even though she is arguably one of the show’s most powerful characters, as someone who needs to be saved. Women are often represented as either vulnerable or as victims and the show’s tagline heightens this notion. The “heroes” that band together to “save the cheerleader” are all male characters on the show. Yes, Claire may be the key to saving the world, but the fact that she holds one of the highest powers on the show begs the question of why she needs to be saved instead of doing the saving herself.
Claire’s character is fraught with gender stereotypes. We first see Claire in the pilot through the screen of a handheld camera which “controls” her by making her captive to the small screen and also heightens the notion of her as an object for the male gaze (the camera is being operated by a male character, Zach). As a cheerleader she is almost always seen in her cheerleading uniform (short skirt with v-split and tight top) which puts her natural beauty at conflict with her unnatural power. Her objectification is most obvious in the opening sequence of the episode “Collision” where the show’s title is literally printed on her abdomen.
While the male “heroes” are delighted with their new powers or generally feel blessed by them, Claire sees her new power as a curse; she is concerned with still appearing feminine and dainty and her power threatens that. When asked by Zach if she is being overdramatic, Claire responds emphatically, “No, I don’t think.” This sort of dialogue continues for Claire as she is portrayed as a mere object, incapable of real thought – her sole purpose, it seems, is to be “saved” by the other characters. When asked by one of the heroes, Peter, who comes to her rescue, “By saving you, did I save the world?” Claire frankly replies, “I don’t know. I’m just a cheerleader.”
In a sense, Claire’s power is actually a disadvantage rather than a benefit. When the football captain Brody tries to rape her, and eventually pushes her down, he kills her, but Claire’s regenerative powers actually redeem Brody for his crime. Since she heals, he is not a murderer. Her power is of great benefit to everyone around her, but not to herself.
The show’s use of female gender constructs is most obvious in the character Niki Sanders. Just like Claire, Niki is first introduced to the audience through the screen of a camera, but her “confined” appearance continues throughout the show. Niki is an internet stripper – she sells her image for money – who realizes that she has a split-personality that is unnaturally strong and murderous. Niki’s character represents woman’s double bind; she is punished both for being good and when she strays from cultural norms. Here, as a superhero she has the double identity, but her power is completely out of her hands (she blacks out and doesn’t remember what happens).
Her violent personality is named Jessica, after her sister who died when Niki was young. Niki blacks out anytime she feels threatened or vulnerable and Jessica takes over, resulting in men with torn limbs and random sexual encounters. A later episode reveals that Niki has developed this split personality as a result of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father; Jessica was created to protect her from the evils around her – this is a common comic book superheroine trait where women get their powers as a result of abuse or rape. One could argue that Niki is not even a superhero, just a woman with mental illness. Even her super-human strength is used only to protect or save her son, Micah, which could be argued as the phenomenon that sometimes occurs when women’s children are endangered.
In order to portray Niki’s split-personality, she is often seen in mirrors (or otherwise reflected in water, glass and other means) showing that she is visually split and therefore not to be trusted. The mirror shots both represent her feminine self-absorbed narcissism and her duplicitous nature. The idea of her being visually split is constantly thrown in the audience’s face; we see her reflection in an elevator door with the line down the middle, in three-piece mirrors where her image is extended over the panels and in broken mirrors where she is fragmented into pieces. The mirrors also work to contain her threat and danger; it is when Jessica breaks free from containment of the mirror that she is real trouble to those around her.
The character Eden, who kills herself in the most recent episode, “Fallout,” as a sacrificial act (she did not want the villain, Sylar, to steal her powers) is a more complex, yet equally gendered character. Her name alone evokes The Garden of Eden, the place of woman’s sin and of the convincing, yet evil, snake. Eden as a modern-day siren, endowed with the power of persuasion and evil tendencies represents both Eve and the snake.
While her power is also more potent and likely more desirable than any of the male’s power, she is controlled by the men in the show. Claire’s father, Mr. Bennett, commands Eden and uses her as a tool for his means. Her power is muted by Mr. Bennett’s other “acquisition,” an unnamed Haitian character who has the ability to block other’s powers.
The women in “Heroes” are always either wearing the color red or are otherwise surrounded by it (red cheerleading uniform, red umbrellas, red blankets, etc.) The color red is used to signify Niki’s duplicity (as both a color of anger or rage and of passion), Claire’s burgeoning sexuality (her cheerleading uniform, the red blanket covering her naked body at the morgue) and Eden’s tendencies toward evil. Subsidiary female characters are also often seen in the color red, whereas the male characters only wear or are surrounded by this color in times of weakness (Hiro, when he loses his power is mysteriously changed into a red shirt). Therefore, in “Heroes” the color red represents lack – lack of phallus (and therefore power and control) for the women or sudden lack of power for the men.
It is obvious that the men are the real “heroes” in this show. Even the narration of the show is done by a male, therefore giving the authority of interpretation here to the men. While the show does create complex and strong female characters, it employs stereotypes to do so and finds ways to contain their power throughout the show (typically by men). Instead of working as a postfeminist text, where feminist critique would no longer be relevant, this show is laden with stereotypes that perpetuate female gender constructs.
This may sound like just another "angry feminist rant," but in actuality I find the show is still an enjoyable, if guilty, pleasure. I am not suggesting that creator Tim Kring wrote his characters this way intentionally, this critique is more about pointing out the gender constructs/stereotypes that are still at work in society that we may not even notice.