30 Rock's Perfect Leap Day Episode

In order to wash the acrid taste that Stacey Dash's appearance at the Oscars has left in my mouth...

MERRY LEAP DAY!

And on this extra day, let's take some time and remember a perfect episode of television that was gifted to us four short years ago. Now, 30 Rock is one of my favorite shows, and it will no doubt be remembered throughout all time for its great jokes, pacing, and commitment to a bit. But I also hope it will be remembered for giving us "Leap Day," an episode of TV dedicated to the most magical day of all – February 29!

"It's Leap Day. Real life is for March!"

Back in 2012, 30 Rock was in the midst of Season 6, in which pretty much every other episode revolves around a major holiday. That doesn't change with this ep, which revolves around everyone's favorite holiday (of the holidays that only occur every four years).

"God grant you on this leap day fair / a calm wind and the ocean air 

Leap Day magic's all around / as Leap Day William comes to town"

Creating a holiday from scratch is no easy task, and director Steve Buscemi and writer Luke Del Tredici throw themselves into crafting a compelling celebration that feels real and lived in, with enough bits and pieces of other holidays and traditions thrown in to film familiar.

"Leap Day William, Leap Day William, Bursting from the sea / 

Will he bring his bucket of sweets for Mom and Pop and me?"

At the center of the holiday is Leap Day William, a part-fish demon-like old man who emerges from the Mariana Trench every four years. He then proceeds to trade children's tears for candy (and, in a simpler time, cigarettes). On the scale of creepy requirements for giving out gifts to children, it lies somewhere between Santa demanding good behavior and the Tooth Fairy requiring your old dead molars. However, his disturbingly realistic gills on his neck and sharp fangs put him more in the Krampus category of holiday deities.

"Poke your eye, pull your hair, you forgot what clothes to wear."

"Stomp on your foot, kick you in the knee. Yankees suck, Go Pats."

The holiday also requires celebrants to wear a specific color combination in order to avoid a shaming from fellow Leap Dayers. Thankfully it's the fairly flattering combo of Blue and Yellow (I would happily smack the Irishman who decided I have to wear green while celebrating some dude named Patrick even though the color makes me look sallow).

Seeing the cast wearing primary colors brings a tear of joy to my eyes and warms my heart. It's a Leap Day miracle!

"Hey, take a leap, pal!"

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT!"

Like all good holidays, there's also a movie that teaches people exciting life lessons. In 30 Rock, that film is Leap Dave Williams, starring Jim Carrey and Andie MacDowell. It's mostly a play on The Santa Clause with a bit of Groundhog Day and Liar Liar thrown in for good measure. An uptight lawyer (Dave Williams – Carrey) falls into an ice-fishing hole and turns into Leap Day William. He then proceeds to learn some valuable lessons, reconnect with his son, and solve "the big case from earlier." Because, as Andie MacDowell so pointedly says, real life is for March. If you've never seen it, USA Network has got you covered – they're running a 24-hour marathon!

"I am always coughing up blood. Could that be Leap Day William trying to get out?"

Stripped of all the ceremony and wacky hijinks, the Day of Leap is really a wonderful occasion that brings out the best in people. It's an extra day where you can take chances and do things you normally wouldn't do, like have sex with a billionaire for money, listen to rap music, or eat rhubarb leaves. It's also a day for spreading love, candy, and kindness. Even Tracy gets into the giving spirit, ignoring the fact that he's not getting a Leap Day bonus and spreading Benihana cheer to the homeless and less fortunate (one of whom is played by the delightful Hannibal Buress). 

"It's a Leap Day Miracle!"

"Nothing's impossible on Leap Day!"

Leap Day is a time for family. It's a time for joy. It's a time for eating that giant rhubarb in the Citarella window – the one as big as Kenneth! And remember...

"Nothing that happens on Leap Day counts."

Merry Leap Day to us all!

RIP Elaine Stritch

Tableau Your Mind's 300th Post! [Hooray]

This is officially the 300th Post on Tableau Your Mind. It's been over three years since my first post, back when I was still writing in the 'we and us' tense and drawing most of my pictures on Microsoft Paint.  'we' Over 299 posts, that 'we' has changed to 'I' and  Paint has changed to Photoshop, Illustrator, the occasional Scanned Drawing, and, yeah, Paint. Still the mission of this blog has basically stayed the same: be a place for people to have fun, read about all different elements of pop culture both broad and niche, and look at some rudimentary fan art (hey, I didn't take Art 1 twice in high school for nothing).

With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to look at the drafts of some of the pictures I drew, a glimpse at how a 'painting' goes from initial sketch to finished product:

30 Rock: 1 Year Later

Do it for Television!

One year ago today, my favorite television show OF ALL TIME aired its final episode. That's right, 30 Rock has been gone from the airwaves for 365 days. After 7 seasons (many of them truncated), Liz and Jack rode off into the sunset, never to be heard from again. Except for in my fan fiction, where they're both fighting for their lives in a post-apocalyptic hellspace. Obviously, everyone has a mohawk, and eye patches are plentiful.

Over this past year, it's been nice to see the cast pop up time and again on other television shows and films.  Jane Krakowski has been making the sitcom rounds, and her Trop50 ads have become a television staple. Tina Fey pops up time and again, hosting awards shows and securing sitcom deals, thus guaranteeing that her rapier wit will remain on our screens for years to come. Even Jack McBrayer has been on The Middle quite a few

Best of 2013 Part 1: Television and Music

Oh, 2013! What an interesting grouping of days. It's a strange thing, looking back on a year, because it's hard to remember anything that happened more than a month ago. Was there music before Beyoncé's December album? Was there television before the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special? It's difficult to say; the mind grows cloudy. Still, in an effort to fully look back at the last year, I've compiled a list of what I feel to be the top pop culture events of the last year, conveniently ranked and separated by genre. Travel with me as we, in Part 1, look back at the television and music events that made 2013 so 2013:

Man, The Emmys Were Weird This Year

Be honest. You came here to see Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

The 65th Emmy Awards rolled onto the tiny screen last night. It was a time to celebrate the beautiful, buxom, and big-headed stars of all of our favorite television shows. And also Modern Family. It was a weird night, with everyone trying really hard to show everyone that this is the Golden Age of Television. Except that all that posturing made everything seem all the more desperate.  Television is still relevant, and to prove that, here's Carrie Underwood singing a song by The Beatles. Because when you think The Beatles and Walter Cronkite, you think scripted television.

Other than being tonally inconsistent, this was also possibly the saddest Emmys in recent memory (I know that the Modern Family peeps made some reference to this, but I was too upset about 30 Rock/Louie's loss to really pay attention). There were a lot of great actors and actresses that died this year, and it's great to remember them, but the one-on-one eulogies were more painful than anything else. I didn't need to see Edie Falco's strong tears - why you play me like that, Emmy? Also, it's hard to swing back into comedy after seeing the JFK assassination, which was included in the broadcast because...TELEVISION!

She won!

At the very least, this was a very unpredictable Emmys, especially in terms of lady winners. Tina Fey won for writing, which is what Tina Fey should always win for, Merritt Wever gave a delightfully brief acceptance speech, Anna Gunn got some much-deserved love for Breaking Bad, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus proved that she is just better at comedy than anyone else.  Speaking of, it was a pretty great night for Veep and Breaking Bad, the former of which won two big acting awards (Whoo! Tony Hale) and the latter finally picking up the win for Best Drama. Also, The Hour won for writing, and I love that show and I miss it almost every day. Even Jeff Daniels' confusing win for the inscrutable Newsroom couldn't bring me down with wins like that.

Still, the last two hours were a bit of a drag, and host Neil Patrick Harris seemed off his game for the entire night.  We get it, people watch television on their phones. Hilarious. Oh, and you want to make a joke about Thai hookers when introducing the sisters Deschanel? Perfect.  Even with the increasingly odd parade of thin women that used to not be as frighteningly thin, there were a few moments that were pretty great. Will Ferrell's bit with his kids was cute, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey proved once again that they're just the best, and Sarah Silverman and Nathan Fillion were featured for seemingly no reason, but in a good way. It was the Emmys, so, even though it was terrible (nothing for Enlightened, still no love for Jon Hamm), it was still better than most nights, because America, and the world, got to spend a little more time with the pretty people.

Onward and upward.

(source)

The Many Things That Make Daenerys Targaryen And Me Angry

We are perturbed, to say the least.

Game of Thrones character Daenarys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke) and I are very different people. For instance, I don't have my eyes on the Iron Throne, and she doesn't binge watch USA's Psych while binge-eating Pirate's Booty. Still, despite our differences, it turns out that Daenerys Targaryen (AKA Daenerys Stormborn AKA Khaleesi AKA the Mother of Dragons AKA HMFIC) and I have a lot in common. Specifically, there are quite a few things that make us angry. You know, things that just make us go:

...and then we dance like Michael Jackson around a golf course.

And guess what, society? Much like Zac Efron in High School Musical 2 (I assume), Khaleesi and I are not going to take these offenses lying down.

What Makes us Angry?
(in semi-chronological order) 

Warning: Some Game of Thrones spoilers are included in this post. 
Spoilers for the TV show, not the books. I don't know how to read.

30 Rock Finale: Some Thoughts

Take a bow, Tina Fey. Take a frakking bow.

30 Rock ended its amazing run tonight, and I'm still trying to process it all. There were a lot of shout-outs to seasons past, some nods to other show finales, and some incredibly well-placed and fast-paced guest spots. Nancys Pelosi and Donovan turned up, Jenna finally showed a real emotion, and things really worked out for old Liz Lemon. I have some questions (when is Grizz & Herz coming to NBC?!), but for the most part I am very happy with how things turned out.

If I had to put into words how I feel about 30 Rock, I think it's best to quote the hit song from the Rural Juror musical: These were the best days of my...flurm.

For more thoughts on 30 Rock, check out our past articles on the show:

30 Things We'll Miss About 30 Rock

30 Rock's 100th Episode

30 Rock's Great 2nd Live Episode

That Time One Of Us Saw Tina Fey

Liz Lemon's Relationships, Ranked

Liz Lemon Wedding

TGS with Tracy Jordan: A Hellscape

Great 30 Rock Moments

Hipster Baby and 30 Rock

Jackie Jormp-Jomp and "Muffin Top"

Evaluating 30 Rock's Unaired Pilot

30 Rock's Final Week

Jack Donaghy's Many Lady Loves

Alias on 30 Rock

30 Things We'll Miss About 30 Rock

30 Rock ends its impressive 7(SEVEN!)-season run tonight at 8pm (7pm Central) on NBC, and we have been lamenting the loss for quite a while now.  Since we recently learned to count to 30 a few days ago, we thought is was only appropriate that we look at the 30 things we'll miss the most about one of the greatest shows of our time:

Dammit, Johnny! [30 Rock]

While trying to find the perfect videos to accompany our posts on Isabella Rossellini and 30 Rock, we stumbled across this gem of a video. It is difficult to describe exactly what this video makes us feel. However, it's almost impossible to look away:

Such beautiful insanity.

Alias on 30 Rock [30 Rock]

Liz Lemon's Intensity Would
Probably Scare Sydney Bristow

Lately, I have been very much obsessed with both 30 Rock and Alias. At Tableau your mind, we have been writing a lot about 30 Rock because the series finale is airing this Thursday, and we've been thinking about Alias because the stars of the show have been everywhere this awards season. Alias also recently became available on Netflix Instant, which means my Facebook mini-feed is full of people discovering the show for the first time.  It got me thinking about how much the two shows relate to one another (and it's not just because both Sydney Bristow and Liz Lemon subvert Rikke Schubart's ideals of the female action hero as Mother, Daughter, Rape-Avenger, and Dominatrix, amirite?). While 30 Rock has certainly spent more time referencing LOST, the writers/casting agents do show a certain affinity for Alias.

In honor of both shows, I would like to highlight some of the few 30 Rock moments that took me right back to my favorite times with super-spy Sydney Bristow:

Jack Donaghy's Many Lady Loves [30 Rock]

Jack Donaghy Loves You, Wants to Marry You.

On 30 Rock Thursday Rock, we have looked at the many loves in Liz Lemon’s life. It’s only fair that we now focus on the women in the life of Liz’s friend/mentor, Jack Donaghy. For a man who boasts many an accomplishment in the bedroom (in an episode a few weeks ago he was a little too proud to be called a slut), Jack is actually the character who tries the hardest to find love and marriage. He gets engaged as often as Liz eats mediocre turkey subs, which is to say that he gets engaged a lot. 

To fully understand Jack and his many engagements, we’re going to examine the women with whom he has had  his most serious relationships on a few criteria: Their chemistry with Jack (1-10), their level of crazy (1-10), and the level of jealousy they felt towards Liz (1-10):

30 Rocks - A Sesame Street Parody

We're hitting a lazy streak, so here is the Sesame Street parody of 30 Rock that doesn't really make any sense. Still, it is still so much fun, and we all learned to count to 30!

30 Rock's Final Week

We're currently four days away from the end of 30 Rock. The one-hour finale will air, we will cry, and then it will be over. Unlike other great comedies like Seinfeld, Cheers, or even older comedies like The Dick Van Dyke Show or The Mary Tyler Moore Show (we've got a whole Mary Tyler Moore obsession over here), it's not clear yet what the impact of 30 Rock will be. If anything, it seems like networks are hauling butt in the opposite direction, choosing to develop shows with easily digestible comedy and empty jokes with no relevance to the characters or their motivations. Despite a lot of wonderful comedies on the air right now, it seems like 'smart' comedy is quickly falling away. This season will mark the end of 30 Rock, but also the end of The Office and the possible end of countless others (Don't Trust the B, Happy Endings, Ben and Kate, etc.). More than any other show, though, 30 Rock feels and has always felt like a show created for us: for TV nerds that missed countless sporting events, mitzvahs (both bar and bat), holiday celebrations, and community events so that we could spend more time with our beloved TV boxes, who were always there with a new episode of Pete and Pete or a re-run of Alias just when we needed it. For people that count television among their loved ones and cried during the Friends finale, not because it was really that great an episode, but because it was the end of an era, dammit!

Is this the time to wallow in our suffering, crying "LIZ LEMON!" to the heavens and a vengeful god? Perhaps, but it's also a time for reflection, for soaking in the joy that the show brought us. Regardless of the strength of 30 Rock's final episode this Thursday, there's no denying the brilliant seven seasons that have come before it, nor the momentous final season that we have seen, gifted to us by Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, and all the other amazing people behind and in front of the camera.  We've followed Liz from the lettuce-hating creator of The Girlie Show to the woman that she is now: slightly more put-together, married with two children, still a hater of all things green and leafy, and the showrunner of the (just cancelled) TGS with Tracy Jordan. We've watched Jack wrestle with the contradictory nature of his conservative values and those of the hippie, 'feminista' employee that he loves so much. We've watched Liz and Jack Donaghy's relationship grow from antagonistic to friendly to pseudo-sexual to way-too-enmeshed to whatever they are now. We've seen Jenna go from a fame-loving nincompoop to a brilliant psychopath, hellbent on being famous no matter what the cost. We've been confused as Tracy Jordan does whatever it is Tracy Jordan does (WWTJD? IDK). We've enjoyed Kenneth as he used kindness to be continually fired and demoted, until he finally got the Head of Television for President of NBC title that was his all along (he loves TV so, so much). We've been simultaneously creeped out and overjoyed by the antics of Pete, Toofer, Frank, and Lutz, and we've stared too long at Cerie when we were supposed to be watching something else in the scene. We've cried with Jonathan, we've laughed with Colleen, and we've been shamed repeatedly by Jack's ex-wife Avery. We've even fantasized about astronaut Mike Dexter and considered settling with Wesley Snipes.

Now, more than ever, it's time to look back at the brilliance. We've spent many Thursdays enjoying 30 Rock, and we've spent the last few Thursdays looking at our favorite moments from the show. This week on Tableau Your Mind will be no different. We'll be checking in with old flames, favorite episodes, and missed moments. We'll be looking at Jack's relationships, 30 Rock's indelible mark on product placement, and so much more. Unless we're too busy crying - then we'll just be posting YouTube videos.

Jenna Sings "Muffin Top" [30 Rock]

Everyone Knows The Most Delicious Part of the Muffin...
Is The Top

We were going to really take time with our 30 Rock article this week, with insightful comments on Jack's relationships with women and quippy asides that really highlighted how much we love and appreciate the show.  However, we just got off the bumpiest and most nausea-inducing car-ride from Agra to New Delhi, and we're not feeling particularly inspired.

So, here is Jenna Maroney's "Muffin Top," a dance-pop techno hybrid which was, at one point, the number one song in Israel:



UPDATE: The previous videos we posted got deleted from the source, so here's a new one:

30 Rock Unaired Pilot

Rachel Dratch and Jane Krakowski as Jenna

Everybody! Set your DVRs and your peepers, because 30 Rock returns tonight and starts the road towards the finale on January 31st. We're sad to see it go (but we love to watch it leave). On the road to the end, we'll be here every week look back at our favorite moments. Since we're moderately obsessed, there's a good chance that it will be way more often than once a week.

Since we're too sad right now to actually write anything, we thought we would give you a video that's been going around the internet today of the original, unaired pilot, wherein SNL-alum Rachel Dratch played Jenna DeCarlo, the character that would go on to be played by Jane Krakowski.



We're gigantic fans of Rachel Dratch, but this Sliding Doors version of 30 Rock would have deprived the viewing public of the many great characters that Dratch did play on the show, including that weird prostitute who kept shouting 'Valen-times', the Blue Dude, Barbara Walters, Elizabeth Taylor, and  Legreta "Greta" Johansen, the best cat-wrangler/Liz Lemon enthusiast east of the Allegheny. Plus, this version of Jenna is a little too close to Liz Lemon herself, and, just like the world doesn't need two Jenna Maroneys, it also doesn't need two Elizabeth Lemons.

White Diamonds!

Jackie Jormp-Jomp [30 Rock]

Let's all sit back and enjoy Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney as Janis Joplin Jackie Jormp-Jomp (née Janie Jimplin).  If you recall, Jenna starred in Sheinhardt Wigs' movie about Janis Joplin, but they couldn't get the life rights nor the song rights, so a lot of amazing things happened.

Like Yoplait Yogurt, it is so good.
Like Greek Yogurt, it is good for you.
Like Dannon Yogurt with fruit on the bottom, it is also so incredibly depressing:

skip to second 46 on this one:

Hipster Baby Loves 30 Rock

Hipster Baby's love is steadfast and ironic.

Windswept Liz Lemon [30 Rock]

We're kind of sleepwalking through 30 Rock Thursday Rock right now, both because it is the middle of the holiday season and because we haven't had heat in our apartment in 5 days. So, here is a picture of a windswept, hair-tousled Liz Lemon to tide you over until we have something more substantive to post. You're welcome.

She's the 40-something-year-old Daria we always wanted.

Great 30 Rock Moments

What do you do with the Pop-Tart?

There's no new 30 Rock tonight, but we made a commitment (basically to ourselves) that we would celebrate 30 Rock each Thursday on Tableau Your Mind. Since we're pretty tired from playing as hard as we work, we thought we would share a few of our favorite quotes from the show. Without really meaning to, all of these quotes are from the 2nd Season, so it doesn't necessarily represent a great cross-section of the show. Still, it's fun to remember:

"What do you do with the Pop-Tart?"

In the episode "Greenzo" Liz has the misfortune of walking in on Pete in her apartment, cheating on his wife.. with his wife. The scene that follows is classic 30 Rock, highlighting Liz's issues with marriage, sex, trust, and, most importantly, food.

"I only act out because I want your love. Dyno-mite!"

"Rosemary's Baby" is arguably one of the strongest episodes of the entire series, and it would be great if only for Carrie Fisher's guest spot as a terrifying glimpse into Liz's future. But then, in one of the most classic, racially charged and genius moments in the show, GE executive Jack Donaghy 'impersonates' multiple members of Tracy Jordan's family (including Tracy himself) during a therapy session. He's doing it ostensibly to keep Tracy from dog fighting, but once he gets going his impressions take on a life of their own. 

"I'm gonna cut your face up so bad you'll have a chin. You'll ALL have chins!"

Have you noticed how surprisingly weak-chinned the male cast of 30 Rock is? After this sandwich-theft-inspired threat in "Sandwich Day", we can't stop noticing.

There are plenty other great quotes and moments from 30 Rock's seven seasons that we absolutely love, but these are the three that we go to when times are rough, when hope is gone, and when it looks like things will never get better. Basically, it's the three moments we will play over and over again once the show goes off the air for good.