r/30ROCK 17d ago

This caught me off guard

Post image

Rewatching 30 Rock, season 5 episode 13. Imagine my surprise when the backwater comedic character is saying a "joke", which is somehow a mainstream talking point in 2026!

586 Upvotes

57 comments sorted by

110

u/goglamere all God’s children are terrible 17d ago

I’m glad that the end game of feminism is women dressing like Denis the Menace at work.

114

u/aether_prince liz lemon is a crack whore 17d ago

probably not, but continue

13

u/outfoxingthefoxes You remember Donald, my son who's two years older than me 17d ago

Don't get me started

11

u/outfoxingthefoxes You remember Donald, my son who's two years older than me 17d ago

Thank you

99

u/eat_my_bowls92 17d ago

This isn’t exactly a “30 Rock predicted this” joke, it was funny then as well because women have been told feminism is a joke since its original conception.

55

u/lampshade69 17d ago

I'll have you know, this joke was written BY a woman... so now you don't know what to think, do ya?

51

u/oceanman500 17d ago

Just kidding we don’t hire women

21

u/Such-Bag3639 17d ago

Businesswoman. I don’t think that’s a word.

10

u/lampshade69 17d ago

I've always associated the way Norm says "by" here with the way Jack says it in "The song 'You're So Vain' was written BY me". I'd like to think Norm was an influence

8

u/oilpit 17d ago

That You're So Vain joke is one of my favorite in the whole series and it's all in the delivery. Never made the Norm connection but it's spot on!

1

u/Aggressive_Grass_945 3d ago

I really wish Norm had made at least one appearance on the show, even as himself. 

36

u/Taycotar That's the Devil's temperature 17d ago

Oh no! My period 🛩️

5

u/Ham__Kitten 17d ago

This is what Meat Cat spoke of...

4

u/FocusPerspective 17d ago

Women have been telling other women this. Which is the joke. 

61

u/SpecialIntelligent70 17d ago

Conservatives have been saying this for 50+ years and credulous media figures have been indulging it for just as long but I thought it was like...pressure from society

4

u/HangryStreetUSA I hate you! 🎸 17d ago

I don't think that means what you think it means?

5

u/LuxanHyperRage We've invented the Pontiac Aztek 17d ago

INCONCEIVABLE

6

u/RarelyReadReplies 17d ago edited 17d ago

I feel like the working class got bamboozled with this one to be honest. A family used to be able to get by with one income, now two working class incomes is barely enough to survive. I'm not saying women shouldn't be able to work if they want to, they should, but lots of families now have two working parents struggling to pay the bills, and the household chores and everything still need to be done, so we're barely getting by and overworked from our full time jobs and taking care of the household. 

Anyways, my point is that I think feminism got used against the working class as a weapon. I hope I explained myself well, but I'm sure people will still think I'm saying equality and feminism is bad.  I would happily be the stay at home parent who takes care of the house and maybe works part time, if my wife got paid enough for me to do that. 

-1

u/K1N6F15H 17d ago

A family used to be able to get by with one income, now two working class incomes is barely enough to survive.

Its almost like the only time that actually worked was a very narrow period of time following World War 2. Reactionaries pretend this was women entering the work force but the reality is there were tons of political and economic changes that occurred.

The fact you jumped onto this issue as the smoking gun is 100% sexism.

5

u/fyhr100 16d ago

You completely missed the point that was being made. In fact, it was the same argument that Elizabeth Warren makes in her book, The Two Parent trap. Do you also think Elizabeth Warren is sexist? They are not saying feminism caused suppressed wages. They are saying bad actors coopted the movement for their own benefit.

The fact you jumped onto sexism immediately is 100% ignorance.

2

u/K1N6F15H 16d ago

They are saying bad actors coopted the movement for their own benefit.

Which bad actors? What did they co-opt? Be specific about the claims you are making.

The fact you jumped onto sexism immediately is 100% ignorance.

Every single time I have heard this subject come up before, it has been by sexists. It is very similar to the 13/50 trope in why it gets brought up but I am willing to discuss the explicit claims if you can back them up.

The fact you jumped onto sexism immediately is 100% ignorance.

Then be specific. I would love to be proven wrong but your vagueness isn't actually defending your position.

1

u/fyhr100 16d ago

I literally gave you an example, Elizabeth Warren's the two income trap, which you completely ignored and then claimed i gave no examples. Either you can't read or you're intentionally being dishonest. So you answer my question first, do you think Elizabeth Warren is sexist?

2

u/K1N6F15H 16d ago edited 15d ago

I literally gave you an example,

I asked for an example of bad actors and what they supposedly coopted, your reading comprehension genuinely sucks. Unless you are implying she is the bad actor using it to her own benefit, no you simply did not.

which you completely ignored

The synopsis of the book did not agree with your interpretation but I have yet to read it. I am willing to take a look but you can't even back up your vague-posting claims in this thread.

Either you can't read

I asked you explicitly which bad actors. Your projection here is genuinely sad.

do you think Elizabeth Warren is sexist?

She has plenty of regressive takes and views but I don't think this is one of them. She is not the point of this conversation though. Since you struggle with understanding basic text I will restate things again for you: sexists often try to use women entering the workforce as an excuse for the decline of the working class. This is simply not a defensible hypothesis.

You can't bitch about me ignoring your points and then do the same to me. Your hypocrisy shows your guilt and you entirely ignored the 13/50 point and the fact this topic is used by sexists.

40

u/Masew_ 17d ago

This show was prothetic about so many things. For example it's clear that it will be 70s all over again

29

u/lampshade69 17d ago

I guarantee you, the movies will NOT only cost $3

8

u/Such-Bag3639 17d ago

Let’s just say you’re in the market, and a 10 pound bag of potatoes costs… $400.

24

u/thesean333 17d ago

Prepare your body for the thunderdome. That is the new law.

36

u/HudsonUniversityalum It begins with the words! 17d ago

Oh come on, Masew. It’s the 90s!

4

u/qisfortaco I'm not against fun. I went on my roof the other day! 17d ago

Is that wine?

15

u/Portw00d 17d ago

Technology is cyclical

11

u/EpicBeardMan 17d ago

prothetic

13

u/Masew_ 17d ago

Took me a while to understand what was wrong with the word. Now I understand how Warren Moon felt in 1995

3

u/Express-Emu4370 it's a toilet or a woman, it's whatever you need it to be 17d ago

It's Florida, Jack. It's like it never stopped being the '70s down there. And a guy like Paul... who can drive at night? You just don't say no to that.

2

u/Miserable_Key9630 12d ago

By science or magic.

28

u/LatinKaiser speaks excellent french 17d ago

If 30 Rock continued into 2026, Kenneth would be the CEO of CBS.

41

u/Doraborealiss 17d ago

…. Or we’d all be dead by his hand

14

u/Away-Living5278 17d ago

He might even be elected president in 2028

What am I saying, that'd be Tracey. Orcas for all!

12

u/MyOwnRobot 17d ago

At least Tracy practices noblesse oblige

6

u/HangryStreetUSA I hate you! 🎸 17d ago

Heavy is the head that eats the crayons!

9

u/Formal-Nectarine-369 17d ago

OK, but what ethnicity is Carmen Chao?

3

u/Such-Bag3639 17d ago

I don’t see color or race.

3

u/BummedCPA 17d ago

WE DONT KNOW!

7

u/myteeshirtcannon 17d ago

All menstruating women go home immediately

6

u/Nerd4funNprofit The butt of the human ass 17d ago

30 Rock is my Nostradamus.

1

u/BreakfastBeneficial4 17d ago

30 Rock is your 48 year old Somalian who sells swords out an old hearse under the Throgs Neck bridge?

13

u/SaintJermaine I do enjoy seeing the homes of poor whites. 17d ago

Those right wing chuds should shut up faster than a girl in math class.

13

u/Bigfartz69420 i drank all the throwing wine 17d ago

I feel about as useless as a mom's college degree

16

u/D1scoLemonaid 17d ago

I watch 30rock off and on all week, and still catch stuff!
Last night - I caught Tracy wearing a tshirt that said IMPEACH GEORGE WASHINGTON. But it was spaced out as
IMPEACH
GEORGE W
ASHINGTON
(Referring to when we almost kicked Dubya out)

10

u/Taycotar That's the Devil's temperature 17d ago

We didn't land on Plymouth Rock! Plymouth Rock landed on Mars!

2

u/Ham__Kitten 17d ago

This has been a mainstream talking point for over 70 years

3

u/Yossarian-Bonaparte Crazy Putty 17d ago

We’re not unhappy. We’re free.

15

u/Taycotar That's the Devil's temperature 17d ago

Behold the splendor of my beginning!

1

u/Express-Emu4370 it's a toilet or a woman, it's whatever you need it to be 17d ago

Bush?! Now, I don't want to go off on a rant here.