The Rural Juror

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“The Rural Juror”
30 Rock episode
"Toofer" reacts to the title of Jenna's movie, The Rural Juror.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 10
Written by	Matt Hubbard
Directed by	Beth McCarthy
Guest stars	Lonny Ross Keith Powell Maulik Pancholy Kevin Brown Grizz Chapman Chris Parnell Rachel Dratch Whoopi Goldberg Charlie Grandy Bob Wiltfong Matt Oberg Vickie Schmitt Eric Engleman
Production no.	111
Original airdate	January 11, 2007 (2007-01-11)
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "The Baby Show" "The Head and the Hair"
30 Rock (season 1) List of 30 Rock episodes

"The Rural Juror" is the tenth episode of the first season of 30 Rock and tenth episode of the series. It was written by Matt Hubbard and was directed by Beth McCarthy.^[1][2] The episode first aired on January 11, 2007 on the NBC network in the United States^[3] and December 13, 2007 on Five in the United Kingdom.^[4] Guest stars in the episode include Lonny Ross, Keith Powell, Maulik Pancholy, Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman, Chris Parnell, Rachel Dratch, Whoopi Goldberg, Charlie Grandy, Bob Wiltfong, Matt Oberg, Vickie Schmitt and Eric Engleman.

The episode focuses on the release of Jenna Maroney's (Jane Krakowski) long-anticipated indie film, The Rural Juror, the tongue-twisting title of which Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and the writers of TGS with Tracy Jordan cannot even grasp. Meanwhile, Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), desperate for some financial help, heeds Jack Donaghy's (Alec Baldwin) advice and creates his own celebrity product to endorse.^[3]

[edit] Plot

Jenna anticipates the opening of her new film The Rural Juror. The film, based on a "Kevin Grisham novel" (John Grisham's brother), revolves around a Southern-born lawyer named Constance Justice. Jenna wants Liz to give her an honest opinion on the film, as she is nervous about how it will be received by the public. Liz sees the film in private, and her reaction is not very positive, but she hesitates to tell Jenna the truth. When Jenna finds out that Liz did not enjoy the film, the two start fighting and accusing each other of not being truthful. Meanwhile, ignoring Liz's warnings, Josh Girard (Lonny Ross) manages to break into Liz's office to steal the film, which he watches with the rest of the TGS with Tracy Jordan writing staff. Much to Liz's shock, the staff likes the film. As the argument between Liz and Jenna escalates, Jack intervenes and convinces them to work things out. Liz admits that she was jealous of Jenna's success, and they forgive one another.

Jack is on the phone with Maureen Dowd when Tracy shows up asks him for $100,000. Jack tells him that this is not possible, but says that he has a better idea: use his celebrity image to endorse a product. After Tracy agrees, he comes up with "The Tracy Jordan Meat Machine". Armed with an "endorsement" from Dr. Spaceman (Chris Parnell) and hook-ups from Jack, the product is finally ready for sale. Soon after, a series of product defects prompts Tracy to tell Jack that he does not wish to endorse the product anymore. Jack finds a way to make it work: by rebranding it as a Whoopi Goldberg-endorsed product targeted for Ukraine.

[edit] Production

Regarding the episode's title, Tina Fey explained that "it came out of a discussion in the writers' room" when she asked, "you know what two words I cannot pronounce properly?" After a few abortive efforts by Fey's co-writers, who also made "rural juror" sound akin to "ruhhr-juhhrr," everyone was so pleased that "[they] wanted to hurry up and get it on the air before someone else did."^[5]

[edit] Continuity

Jenna's film, The Rural Juror, was first mentioned in "Tracy Does Conan"^[6] and referenced several times later.^[7][8] A running joke throughout the series was the difficulty in pronouncing the film's title, so that everyone thought it was called something different. Throughout the episode, the film was called "Roar Her, Gem Her" by Liz; and "Oral Germ Whore" by Pete.^[5] This episode also features the first mention of Mitch Lemon (Andy Richter), Liz's brother who has a form of amnesia, named Trauma Induced Nivea Faisia, due to a skiing accident in December 1985.

[edit] Character development

Many critics praised the character development in this episode, especially in the relationship between Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski).

Several critics praised this episode for its character development, something that they said was missing in the previous episodes. Robert Canning of IGN said that though there was still plenty of room for growth, the episode gave a better understanding of Liz, Jenna and their long-lasting friendship. He said that Liz's admittance to being somewhat jealous of Jenna's success was a much needed storyline for the show, and one that gave the 30 Rock audience something deeper to latch onto. He went on to say that prior to the episode, the most known about Liz and Jenna's longtime friendship was that Liz and Jenna had a longtime friendship, and that there was no depth to it. He felt that small hints of what their friendship was like in the past were played for laughs as opposed to establishing any sort of history. He also said that their verbal sparring really "solidified their bond", and that by the end of the episode the audience had seen their "human side" and the "characters had become people".^[9] Matt Webb Mitovich of TV Guide said that he was finally starting to understand Jenna, and how she fits into the show. He said that even though she was supposed to come off as flighty and disillusioned at times, he realized that in reality she was not completely flighty and disillusioned. He also noted the development in Liz and Jenna's friendship, learning that they go "way back" as friends and as a comedy team.^[10] Julia Ward of AOL's TV Squad disagreed, however. She felt that the show had too many storylines and that this episode made it seem as if the show was about the relationship between Liz and Jenna, rather than the storylines introduced in the pilot. She said that having several ongoing storylines is possible, but the show needs some kind of center.^[11]

[edit] Reception

[edit] Ratings

According to the Nielsen Ratings system, "The Rural Juror" was viewed by an average of 6.10 million American viewers. The episode achieved a rating of 2.9 in the key adults 18-49 demographic, which refers to 2.9% of all 18-49 years olds in the U.S.. The episode was ranked sixty-third in Nielsen's prime-time television rankings for the week.^[12] Upon its original broadcast in the United Kingdom, this episode was viewed by 200,000 viewers, which was 2% of the viewing audience at the time of the broadcast.^[4]

[edit] Critical response

Robert Canning of IGN said the episode "was a well-crafted half-hour with a solid main storyline". He said that the episode took 30 Rock in the "right direction" with a good story structure and a "successful effort at developing its characters". Canning rated the episode 8 out of 10.^[9] Julia Ward of AOL's TV Squad started her review by saying if Alec Baldwin did not win the Golden Globe for his performance, she would have no choice but to resign from her post at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,^[11] which he did at the 64th Golden Globe Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical.^[13] She enjoyed Tina Fey's performance and liked Tracy's meat machine endorsement, Liz's "singles yoga" and "scalp pain" Google searches and Dr. Leo Spaceman's "reds, yellows, purples". She criticized several guest appearances, saying Goldberg's guest appearance was "underwhelming," and felt that Jane Krakowski was still "an odd fit for the show".^[11] Matt Webb Mitovich of TV Guide also gave a positive review, saying the episode "moved so dang fast and was so crackling" that it was very entertaining.^[10]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

30 Rock

• "The Rural Juror" at the Internet Movie Database
• "The Rural Juror" at TV.com