Hard Ball

Hard Ball

Infobox Television episode
Title = Hard Ball
Series = 30 Rock


Caption = Jenna appearing on "Hardball with Chris Matthews".
Season = 1
Episode = 15
Airdate = Start date|2007|02|22
Production = 115
Writer = Matt Hubbard
Director = Don Scardino
Photographer = Vanja Černjul
Guests = David Alan Basche
Gregg Bello
Katrina Bowden
Kevin Brown
Tucker Carlson
Grizz Chapman
Rachel Dratch
Chris Matthews
Keith Powell
Lonny Ross
Gregory Wooddell
Episode list = "30 Rock" (season 1)
List of "30 Rock" episodes
Prev = The C Word
Next = The Source Awards

"Hard Ball" (also known as "Negotiation")cite web |url=http://uk.tv.ign.com/objects/883/883326.html |title=Negotiation |accessdate=2008-03-29 |publisher="IGN"] cite web |url=http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1516#tv |title=Writers Guild Awards |accessdate=2008-03-29 |publisher="Writers Guild of America, West"] is the fifteenth episode of NBC's first season of "30 Rock". It was written by one of the season's co-producers, Matt Hubbard, and directed by one of the season's supervising producers, Don Scardino.cite web |url=http://www.variety.com/profiles/Episode/main/171713/41770/1/63011/7/Hard%20Ball.html?dataSet=1|title="30 Rock" – "Hard Ball" – Season 1 – Episode 15 – Synopsis, Credits, Companies – Variety Profiles|accessdate=2008-07-08 |publisher="Variety"] It aired on February 22, 2007 in the United States.cite press release |title=02-22-2007 9:31PM "30 Rock" – Hard Ball |publisher="NBC Universal Media Village" |url=http://nbcumv.com/listing_detail.nbc/nbc-20070222213100.html |accessdate=2008-03-06] Guest stars who appeared in the episode were David Alan Basche, Gregg Bello, Katrina Bowden, Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman, Rachel Dratch, Keith Powell, Lonny Ross and Gregory Wooddell. Tucker Carlson and Chris Matthews also appear as themselves in the episode.

The episode focuses on Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) trying to clear her name after being misquoted in an interview for "Maxim Magazine". Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) begins negotiations to Josh Gerard's (Lonny Ross) new contract. Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer) becomes the newest member of Tracy Jordan's (Tracy Morgan) entourage.

Plot

When Josh's contract is due for renewal, Jack enters negotiation mode. Jack is looking to save money with the negotiations outcome, so Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) warns Josh to be careful. Later, thinking Josh is ill, Liz goes to order some soup and on her way, sees Josh. He meets with a producer from "The Daily Show", which angers Liz, who decides to help Jack negotiate. Meanwhile, Jenna gets into trouble after she is misquoted in "Maxim Magazine", allegedly saying that she hates the troops. This happened due to Jenna mishearing the interviewer and thinking he meant theater troupes. The resulting outrage prompts Jack to get her an interview on "Hardball with Chris Matthews" to clear up the confusion over her comments. During the interview, Jenna confuses Osama bin Laden and Barack Obama. A further attempt to clear Jenna's name backfires when swastikas are accidentally brandished on the "TGS with Tracy Jordan" stage.

Tracy allows Kenneth into his entourage, but in the process discovers that Grizz (Grizz Chapman) and Dot Com (Kevin Brown) have been allowing him to win at things such as "Halo", "Trivial Pursuit", and basketball. Tracy "fires" Grizz and Dot Com from the entourage, but the union between Tracy and Kenneth does not gel. Grizz and Dot Com come to the rescue after Tracy is surrounded by a mob outside 30 Rockefeller Plaza, which is protesting against the controversy caused by Jenna.

Production

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 Martha Blanch, the activist who is leading the protests, outside of 30 Rockefeller Center, against Jenna.cite episode |title=Hard Ball |series=30 Rock |serieslink=30 Rock |credits=Writer: Matt Hubbard; Director: Don Scardino |network=NBC Universal |station=NBC |airdate=2007-02-22 |season=1 |number=15]

Reception

In the U.S., the episode remains the lowest rated episode of the series, in total viewers, although not in other categories. This episode was viewed by 4.6 million viewers and received a rating of 2.4/5 in the key adults 18–49 demographic according to the Nielsen Ratings system. The 2.4 refers to 2.4% of all 18–49 years olds, and the 5 refers to 5% of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. "Hard Ball" held 86% of 18–49 year old viewers who had viewed the "Scrubs" episode "My Therapeutic Month" which aired at 9:00PM EST, before "Hard Ball" at 9:30.cite web |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117960045.html?categoryid=1043&cs=1&query=30+rock+2%2E4+4%2E6 |title=Season high for 'Grey's' |accessdate=2008-03-11 |last=Kissell |first=Rick |date=2007-02-23 |publisher="Variety"]

Julia Ward of TV Squad exclaimed that the episode's three storylines were "all brilliant". She praised Alec Baldwin, saying that "his negotiation scenes were gold as was his line delivery". She felt that Baldwin's great acting was "not unique to this episode", and was what earned him the Golden Globe. Ward finished her review by saying that it was "satisfying to see a show come together as "30 Rock" [had in the] past few weeks - settling into its rhythm [and] finding its feet". [cite web |url=http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/02/23/30-rock-hard-ball/ |title="30 Rock": Hard Ball - TV Squad|accessdate=2008-07-08 |author=Ward, Julia|date=2007-02-23 |publisher=TV Squad] Eric Goldman of IGN felt that this episode "did a very skillful job of juggling three different storylines, all of which delivered solid laughs". He thought that the crew of "30 Rock" had figured out "better uses for Jenna, and this episode offered some nice moments for her". He also enjoyed Tracy and Kenneth's subplot, saying it "was a decent one". [cite web |url=http://au.tv.ign.com/articles/767/767222p1.html |title=IGN: "30 Rock": "Hard Ball" Review |accessdate=2008-07-08 |author=Goldman, Eric |date=2007-02-23 |publisher=IGN]

"Hard Ball" was nominated for a total of three awards, winning one. Jeff Richmond was nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for his work on this episode.cite web |url=http://www.emmys.org/awards/2007pt/59thnominations.php |title=The 59th Primetime Emmy® Awards and Creative Arts Emmy® Awards Nominees are... |accessdate=2008-02-18 |publisher="Academy of Television Arts & Sciences"] Matt Hubbard, the writer of this episode, was also nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award in the category of Best Episodic Comedy.cite press release |title=Writers Guild Awards 2008 Nominations |publisher="Writers Guild of America, West" |url=http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1516#tv |accessdate=2008-03-07] The episode was also submited to voters for the Primetime Emmy Awards category Outstanding Comedy Series,cite web |url=http://theenvelope.latimes.com/awards/emmys/la-en-contentioncomedymay30,0,877718.story |title=In Contention: Comedy |accessdate=2008-03-11 |last=O'Neil |first=Tom |date=2007-05-30 |publisher="Los Angeles Times"] which it won.cite press release |title=Academy of Television Arts and Sciences 59th Primetime Emmy Awards |publisher="Academy of Television Arts & Sciences" |date=2007-09-16 |url=http://www.emmys.org/downloads/2007/pte59emmywinners.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2008-02-18]

References

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944244/ Hard Ball] ," at the Internet Movie Database
* [http://www.tv.com/30-rock/hard-ball/episode/956230/summary.html Hard Ball] ," at TV.com


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