Josh Girard

Infobox character


caption=Josh Girard
name = "Josh Girard"
first = "Pilot"
gender = Male
age = 20s or 30s
born =
occupation = Actor, impressionist
portrayer = Lonny Ross
creator = Tina Fey
religion = Judaism ("Hard Ball")

Josh Girard is a fictional character portrayed by Lonny Ross in the NBC sitcom "30 Rock". A recurring character in the first season, he was promoted to series regular at the beginning of season two.

Role on the show

Josh was the male star of the show before Tracy was hired. Liz found him while he was opening for a puppet. He, Tracy and Jenna Maroney are the three main actors on the show. It has also been said that his character is based on SNL alumnus Jimmy Fallon. [cite web |url=http://www.tv.com/30-rock/show/58326/news.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=tabssh&tag=tabs;news |title=Michaels, Miner Talk "30 Rock" |accessdate=2006-10-09 |publisher=TV.com] Apparently, Josh also acts as a writer as well as star of the show, as he is frequently seen in the writers room brainstorming, whereas Jenna is not.

Often referred to as being a "kid", Josh is described in dialogue in a way that implies he is young, guileless and unintelligent. He is indeed typically portrayed as lacking smarts and he is often shown doing things that are considered juvenile.

Most of Josh's work on the show seems to be as an impressionist; he has performed impressions of Ray Romano, Michael Jackson, Stone Phillips, and Jay Leno.

His impressions have raised eyebrows from people who are not impressed, like Elizabeth Taylor (played by Rachel Dratch), who knocked him out with an extinguisher and leaving him severely concussed after he did a sketch that offended her in which he impersonated the actress. Original characters that he plays on the show include "Dr. Ridiculous", a Chinese man named Mr. Wang and Gaybraham Lincoln. In "The Baby Show," Tracy got mad at Josh for impersonating him, claiming that Josh was turning him into a caricature. In "Hard Ball", it is implied that Josh is Jewish, and in a carry-over during "Episode 209", from the "Secret Rodney" ads that were running, Kenneth says "Merry Jewish" to Josh when passing out gifts. He, Frank, and Toofer are often observed fooling around and admiring Cerie.

Personal information

In the episode "The Break Up", Josh states that his parents raised him as a girl for ten years. Jack Donaghy mentions in the show's second episode that Josh had a 760 SAT score and graduated from SUNY Cortland.

In "Hard Ball", Josh's agent Alan Steiner is introduced. In sharp contrast to Josh, Steiner was portrayed as slick and cunning. Steiner uses unnecessary abbreviations and has a "really bad sex addiction."

In "The Rural Juror", Josh snuck into Liz's office to get her copy of "The Rural Juror", and quickly dislikes it upon seeing the title (Well, this is disappointing...I had to let Tony [the security guard] watch me pee to get that tape).

References