Discuss Jack, brilliantly played to a 'T' by Alec Baldwin.

If I didn't believe Steve Carell deserved to win for the Emmy for Best Actor, my vote would be going to Alec. Jack is probably one of the most fascinating and hilarious characters on television.

Huh. I just tried to start this thread in the "Rocketeers" forum, but it was locked.

And as for a title for the thread, how about "Jack Dunaghy: What Is He, A Farmer?"

Or maybe "Jack Donaghy: He has Two ears and a heart"

That's what I would have put!

Yeah, that works so much better. :)

I was hoping for Black Irish Bastard, myself.

I was also going to suggest the "two ears and a heart" thing. He needs something more than just his name in the thread title.

Yeah, sorry guys. Whatever I would've thought of for Jack would've been totally lame. I like the "two ears and a heart" and Black Irish Bastard though.

I would go for either "What Is He, A Farmer?" or a simple "Jack-tor!"

In a way, it hardly matters. I can tell that I'm going to be spending a lot of time in this thread.

How about "Jack Donaghy: Once and Future Head of the GE Microwave Oven Division"

Alec Baldwin reading that list of rappers -- MC Scat Cat...Homonculus...Raw Dog! -- is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

I vote for "Jack Donaghy: Locates the problem, isolates the problem, sets the problem up with a lesbian."

As far as Microwaves go, wasn't Jack only the head of Microwave oven programming division? I really want to know what kind of programming you can do for microwaves.

Mine isn't a GE, but it has 12 preset programs, like Popcorn, Fresh Vegetables, Frozen Vegetables, and, uh, nine others I have never used.

Maybe Jack decided on those twelve.

Hilarious.

I thought it was so funny that the Six Sigma is real (as discovered in WC interview).

Frank was almost right, since the GI Joe thing is also real.

I adore Jack Donaghy. I love him so much I want to take him behind the middle school and...

or the second thing we come up with.

Watching Jack play all the roles in Tracy's role-playing 'therapy' was beyond funny. It approached a kind of zen lunacy that I will treasure for as long as I have the capacity to laugh and think. It also reinforced my belief that Alec Baldwin was robbed of the Emmy - and I even like Ricky Gervais.

I also loved the last scene with Liz and Jack and the wine glasses. Baldwin brings such assurance to the role, that even with all of Jack's strangeness, I still totally believe that this man could rise from nothing to become a major player at a big corporation. Especially now that he's ditched both Phoebe and the cookie jars.

I once again loved Jack in this episode. While he never reached the sustained comic genius which was last episode's therapy session, his post-party speech and hair were hi-larious.

Also, the fact that Al Gore outed him as a closet liberal/Democrat, even better. He's a lot more like our own Liz Lemon than he'd like to let on.

The hair...I laugh every time I think of it. Holy shit.

And they wouldn't have been able to do that hair joke if Baldwin had maintained the shorter early-S1 style that Tina Fey favors.

This is the writing as much as Baldwin himself, but what I found hysterical about all his awful suggestions to Al Gore is that they were being presented as NBC corporate ideas (and were even, alas, conceivable as such). The level of mockery involved in that still makes me giggle (and, in fairness, concede considerable good sportsmanship to the network).

I love in the "Somebody to Love" cold open with the split screens, that Jack is reading "A Republican Way of Life," which I googled and isn't a real book.

With the revelation that Jack worked in Ted Kennedy's office and that he "was the most liberal guy" makes me wonder if Jack has to work on being a Republican!

I think Jack has to work hard at being "Jack". They're taking the whole self-made man concept into whole new spheres of awse with this character.

Also, watching Alec Baldwin play "Jack Donaghy in love" makes me oh so happy, even though I can't help but believe said love is doomed.

Jack didn't just work in Ted Kennedy's office. When the private investigator (Steve Buscemi) asks Jack if he's ever been arrested, Jack said yes, at the 1976 Democratic Convention, but it's ok because he was arrested for beating up hippies (or something to that effect). Now we know he was probably lying.

I'm not convinced that Jack works that hard at being his current self. I think he's a wonderful representation of how willing some of us are to let our young ideologies fall by the wayside when we become successful in careers, start to make a boatload of money, and allow fiscal interests to take over other political interests.

Definitely one of the funniest things EVER, and incidentally what made me decide once and for all that I needed to sit down with the season DVDs and have a long-ass marathon. Jack is insane.

One of my favourite moments ever is back from Season 1 when he's yelling at Liz in front of the two guys from Fairfield. From memory, I think it went a bit like this:

Jack: What group home did you escape from that you would dare talk to me like some plumber's wife in front of Ron Gordon and Bob Overmeyer? Your ignorance was obvious when you waddled up to me with your thin-lipped mouth full of greasy peasant food and addressed me by my Christian name in front of these gentlemen from Fairfield.

That shit is GOLDEN.

Oh this is not good news for Mr Donaghy....

GE recalls microwave for fire hazard

Is it wrong that I find Alec Baldwin exceptionally attractive, despite the fact that he is old enough to be my father? Oh well, I'll just throw it on my giant pile of issues.

Although, I guess I should qualify that by saying it's more of a "My, you're good looking" handsome than a "come here you sexy beast and make sweet, monkey love to me" hawtness.

...Alright, the monkey love thing was uncalled for. But that won't stop me from saying it!

On the subject of Jack: I loved him with CC. I was so torn because I think that was the most I've ever wanted to run up and hug him, but I'll always have a soft spot for JackLiz in my heart. Curse you, amazing writing and acting on 30 Rock! Why do you guys have to pick such amazing actors?!

He's still a good-looking man but I've noticed in the rare 30 Rock close-ups that his face is getting pretty weathered. He's younger than my husband or me, but he's got a lot more lines in his face, e.g., here. Check out some photos from his younger days. Dude had/has one hairy chest.

*shrugs* Monet effect, I suppose. But like I said, it's a handsome thing. Not a super-sexy thing.

Well - we all age differently. Alec Baldwin just exudes testosterone.

Yes, and IMO, he also exudes star quality. I love him, think he's both a terrific, versatile actor and a genuine star, and I totally believe him as Jack Donaghy, a self-invented man who knows how to project power and confidence.

Back in the day, Alec Baldwin was smoking with the kind of male beauty that simply can't last. He's still a very good-looking man in a dignified way, but he does look older than his 49 years, in my opinion. I do love how subtly expressive his face is now. Also, as Jack D. he does this thing that involves smiling smugly while lowering his eyes. He looks for all the world like a Siamese cat who's been up to no good.

I was reading The Enquirer in the check-out line and they had a 'star sightings' sort of thing and Alec was one of them. They had a small picture and the caption was something like "Big Is In!" In the paragraph about him it said that even though he had the middle-aged bloat, he was still one of the most handsome actors around. I didn't know he was considered so chubby that his weight has to be referred to in any article about him. But at least it was complimentary and didn't mention the phone call or anything.

Personally, I think if I ever met him I would probably be like Dick Lemon and comment directly on his good looks and resemblance to Arrow shirt models.

If Baldwin were female, his weight would be mentioned in the headline and every sentence. It suits the character, though. Middle-aged white male executives tend to be a bit tubby, and their suits are cut to disguise the heft.

Yeah, the fact that Baldwin is a more...portly guy is actually much more realistic to the look of your average middle aged executive type, (though still attractive just a very beefy kind of attractive.) It also I think adds to his comic appeal. I just got into 30 Rock and it was when seeing Jack do therapy roleplay...it was then I realized that AB is probably the best comedic tv actor I've seen in years. Seriously, I know of no one else, (and no other show,) who could have pulled that one off.

Even with the extra lbs and facial lines, I would still take him behind the middle school... and, well, we all know the rest. Last night I kept rewinding the scene he has with Dot-com and Tracy in the "Subway Hero" episode - his delivery is always so on point.

It's the voice, I think. In the Fighting Irish when he goes "Lemon, is this about a boyyyy?" His voice gets so low and gravelly that I don't really know quite how to describe it.

I know how to describe it! Sexy as hell...

As noted in the episode thread, I hate that Devin Banks outmaneuvered him and took over not only GE, but Jack's office. Jack should always reign supreme, he's that good in his own crazy way.

And he gave up C.C.!

SNL's Best of Alec Baldwin is going to be on NBC tomorrow night at 830 ET!!!

Looks like Alec will be featured on 60 Minutes this Sunday.

I finally watched the TCM Role Model episode I'd TiVo'd a few week ago, wherein Alec Baldwin interviews Gene Wilder. I was quite impressed that Baldwin chose Wilder as the person he wanted to interview. I'd known from articles or other interview snippets in the past that Wilder is not only an enormously talented actor but also an extremely intelligent, contemplative individual. And Alec did a wonderful job of posing fresh, creative questions that really drew out a lot of Wilder's depth. I believed Gene when he said he wouldn't have done the program but for Alec's participation. (According to IMDb, they have not worked together in movies or TV before, so I wonder if Gene knew Alec socially or only by reputation...)

By the way, from the link above, it looks as though TCM is going to re-broadcast this interview on June 5. I'll try to give everyone a reminder as that date draws closer. It's definitely worth catching!

I concur with Inquisitionist, it's a very interesting show, Baldwin and Wilder together. I don't know if there is a social connection, but my guess is it goes back to the history both have in theater, and New York.

So did anyone watch the 60 Minutes segment? I thought it was good, but it could have been a bit more "in-depth" but they can only do so much considering time restrictions I suppose. I love that they had Tina on to talk about working with him and 30 Rock. In some ways, AB is the complete opposite of Jack, but when Morley repeated his comment about calling the lawyer a '300 pound homonculus' or whatever the exact quote was and AB said "I was being kind" it struck me as something Jack would say. Yes, it was mean, but both Morley and I laughed.

To Jack Donaghy, with all my love... a spoof. A longish one but I feel confident folks will find it worthwhile...

The Top Chef "Peter Pan Lost Boys" Challenge; or Jack Donaghy & Andy Cohen "Make It Work"
http://www.xanga.com/SimonBaoTC

Alec Baldwin is a genius in this show. He manages to be hilarious without it looking like he's trying to be hilarious.

His line: "It's after 6 isn't it? What am I, a farmer?" made me dress less like a hobo.

Edit: Misquote. My bad.

I think it's after 6pm, not 5. And I wish I could concur- I wish I had sharp, snazzy suits like Jack. But ... I think I'd be mistaken for a farmer before an Sheinhardt executive.

Congratulations to Alec Baldwin on his well-deserved Emmy last night. I DVR'd "Rosemary's Baby" last week when it was rerun and showed TudorPrince the classic 'role playing therapy' scene. He was stunned and, although a fan of neither show nor actor, agreed that it would be grossly unfair if Baldwin did not win.

Happily, justice was served.

So I live in Boston and found out Alec Baldwin would be at the Borders downtown tomorrow, Thursday, to sign his new book. Even though I work downtown, I'm not going because, much as I love the show, I can't justify spending $25 for a book on parental alienation. I don't even have a kid, much less an alienated one. But if anyone is interested, it's tomorrow at 6:00, at 10-24 School St. They are raffling off free tickets starting at 7:00 am, I think.

I know it's stupid, but whenever I see Alec's brother over on Dirty Sexy Money, I'm always struck by how similar they look and sound. It's weird, because I'll be watching DSM and be like, "why is Jack Donaghy talking about his transvestite lover? Although it does kind of make sense that Bianca shot him." It's kind of funny, actually.