The Rural Juror

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Rural Juror
Series = 30 Rock


Caption = "Toofer" reacts to the title of Jenna's movie, "The Rural Juror".
Season = 1
Episode = 10
Airdate = Start date|2007|01|11
Production = 111
Writer = Matt Hubbard
Director = Beth McCarthy
Photographer =
Guests = 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
Episode list = "30 Rock" (season 1)
List of "30 Rock" episodes
Prev = The Baby Show
Next = The Head and the Hair

"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.cite web |url=http://www.variety.com/profiles/Episode/main/171713/61872/The%20Rural%20Juror.html?dataSet=1 |title=30 Rock – The Rural Juror – Synopsis, Credits, Companies – Variety Profiles|accessdate=2008-05-01 |publisher="Variety"] cite web |url=http://www.hollywood.com/tvepisode/30_Rock_Season_2006_2007_The_Rural_Juror/5134727 |title=The Rural Juror at Hollywood.com |accessdate=2008-05-01 |publisher=Hollywood.com ] The episode first aired on January 11, 2007 on the NBC network in the United Statescite press release |title="30 Rock" 'The Rural Juror' 01-11-2007 9:31PM |publisher="NBC Universal Media Village" |url=http://www.nbcumv.com/entertainment/listing_detail.nbc/nbc-20070111213100.html|accessdate=2008-04-29] and December 13, 2007 on Five in the United Kingdom. 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.

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.

Production

"The Rural Juror" was filmed in early November 2007.cite web |url=http://images.nbcmv.com/photos/thumb/30rock/NUP_103946_0094.jpg|title="30 Rock" – "The Rural Juror" Episode 109 – Pictured: (l-r) Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan, Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy |accessdate=2008-07-01 |last=Sherwood|first=Virginia |date=2007-04-05 |work=Set Photos |publisher="NBC Universal Media Village" Save Picture as → Right click file → Properties → Summary → Advanced → Date Picture Taken] 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."

Rachel Dratch, longtime comedy partner and fellow "Saturday Night Live" alumna of Fey, was originally cast to portray Jenna. Dratch played the role in the show's original pilot, but in August 2006, Jane Krakowski was announced as Dratch's replacement. [cite news | url=http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-janekrakowskijoins30rock,0,1779072.story | title="Ally" Cat Krakowski Joins "30 Rock" | accessdate=2007-10-16 | date=2006-08-17 |publisher="Zap2it"] Executive producer Lorne Michaels announced that while Dratch would not be playing a series regular, she would appear in various episodes in a different role.cite news |first=Michael |last=Schneider |title=Inside Move: Dratch latched to multiple "Rock" roles |url=http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=story&articleID=VR1117948462&cs=1 |publisher="Variety" |date=2006-08-14 |accessdate=2008-03-02] In this episode, Dratch played Barbara Walters, a recurring character who she played on "Saturday Night Live". [cite web |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A731-2004Apr9?language=printer |title="SNL", Giving Janet Jackson A Chance To Redress |accessdate=2008-07-27 |author=Britt, Bruce |date=2004-04-10 |publisher="The Washington Post"]

Jenna's film, "The Rural Juror", was first mentioned in "Tracy Does Conan"cite episode |title=Tracy Does Conan |series=30 Rock |serieslink=30 Rock |credits=Writer(s): Tina Fey; Director: Adam Bernstein |network=NBC Universal |station=NBC |airdate=2006-12-06 |season=1 |number=7] and referenced several times later.cite episode |title=The Break Up |series=30 Rock |serieslink=30 Rock |credits=Writer(s): Dave Finkel & Brett Baer; Director: Scott Ellis |network=NBC Universal |station=NBC |airdate=2006-12-14 |season=1 |number=8] cite episode |title=The Baby Show |series=30 Rock |serieslink=30 Rock |credits=Writer(s): Jack Burditt; Director: Michael Engler |network=NBC Universal |station=NBC |airdate=2007-01-04 |season=1 |number=9] 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.cite web|first=Frazier|last=Moore|title=Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin help make '30 Rock' funny|url=http://nwitimes.com/articles/2007/01/19/entertainment/entertainment/371a8d51218c1834862572660075efb8.txt|publisher="The Times of Northwest Indiana"|date=2007-01-19|accessdate=2008-04-30] This episode also features the first mention of Mitch Lemon (Andy Richter), Liz's brother. Mitch has a form of amnesia, named Trauma Induced Niveaphasia, due to a skiing accident in December 1985.cite episode |title=Episode 209 |series=30 Rock |serieslink=30 Rock |credits=Tami Sagher (writer); Don Scardino (director) |network=NBC Universal |station=NBC |airdate=2007-12-13 |season=2 |number=9]

Character Development

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".cite web|first=Robert |last=Canning|title=30 Rock: "The Rural Juror" Review|url=http://au.tv.ign.com/articles/755/755047p1.html|publisher="IGN"|date=2007-01-12|accessdate=2008-04-30] 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.cite web|first=Matt|last=Webb Mitovich |title=January 11, 2007: "Meat Is the New Bread"|url=http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TV-Show-Blog/30-Rock/January-11-2007/700016451|publisher="TV Guide"|date=2007-01-11|accessdate=2008-04-30] 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.

Reception

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. [cite press release |title=I. T. R. S. Ranking Report 01 thru 99 (out of 99 programs) Daypart: Primetime Mon-Sun |publisher="ABC Medianet" |date=2007-01-17 |url=http://abcmedianet.com/web/progcal/dispDNR.aspx?id=011707_08 |accessdate=2008-05-01] 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.cite news |first=Chris |last=Tryhorn |title=Viewers not sold on estate agent drama |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/dec/14/tvratings.television |publisher="The Guardian" |date=2007-12-14 |accessdate=2008-05-01]

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. 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, which he did at the 64th Golden Globe Awards for .cite web |url=http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/year/2006 |title=Nominations And Winners 2007 |accessdate=2008-03-07 |publisher="Hollywood Foreign Press Association"] 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".cite web|first=Julia|last=Ward|title=30 Rock: The Rural Juror|url=http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/01/12/30-rock-the-rural-juror/|publisher="TV Squad"|date=2007-01-12|accessdate=2008-04-30] 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.

References

External links

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