Don’t look to this pest control blog for analysis of or opinions on the first Presidential debate.
We’re far more expert at analyzing pop culture and its many references to pest control.
Tonight is the return of “30 Rock.” We’ve set our DVRs for the start of the season, although you don’t have to wait and can watch excerpts from tonight’s season premiere here. We hope the episode ranks up there with one of our favorites, “Audition Day.”
For us, the key plot line of “Audition Day,” the fourth episode from the fourth season, revolves around how Type-A, senior General Electric executive Jack becomes more compassionate after being ostracized for having bed bugs.
That summary doesn’t begin to capture just how funny the episode which traces Jack’s downward descent as he is rejected by the society he had previously commanded.
Kenneth the Page: Oh, my, sir. Looks like you’ve got a bad case of the ”chewdaddies”. Ozark kisses? The Woodsman’s Companion? Bedbugs. They’re a big problem in New York right now.
Jack Donaghy: Thank you, Kenneth.
Kenneth the Page: Oh, my, sir. Looks like you’ve got a bad case of the ”chewdaddies”. Ozark kisses? The Woodsman’s Companion? Bedbugs. They’re a big problem in New York right now.
Jack: I don’t have bedbugs, Kenneth, I went to Princeton.
Kenneth: Sir, anyone can get them. Back in Stone Mountain, even the mayor had bedbugs. And she was a horse.
Breckman (another GE Executive): I’m sorry. Am I interrupting?
Jack: Uh… Uh… Uh… no, Breckman, it’s nothing.
Kenneth: It’s not nothing, sir. Mr. Donaghy’s got Blue Ridge quilt ticklers. Oh, sorry… bedbugs.
Breckman: Bedbugs? Can’t those live in your clothes?
Kenneth: That’s true, Mr. Donaghy. The mayor had to burn all her pantsuits.
Jack: Don’t worry about it, Breckman. I’ll see you at the Business Development meeting at 1 1:00?
Breckman: You know what? Um, we may not need you for that. So I’m going to go now.
Later in the episode Jack is despondent as he’s cast even further from his friends and colleagues:
Jack: I fell to the bottom of the pyramid today. Cast out of society like a leper. No one will look at me, let alone touch me. But you will, won’t you? Make me feel human again. Embrace me, Kenneth.
Kenneth: I’ve got a thing.
Jack: Et tu, Kenneth?
We won’t summarize the segment with Jack on the subway asking for help like a panhandler, because posting the script cannot do it justice.
Unfortunately we can’t post a link because the episode isn’t on Hulu anymore (we hope someday Comcast/NBC (aka Cabletown on the show) will bring it back), but you can watch WNYW weeknights at 11:30pm and Comedy Central for the syndicated reruns.
The clip we found from the credits and embedded below doesn’t do the episode justice, (or click here if the clip doesn’t appear) but it still brings a smile.