The popular sitcom 30 Rock, which ran from 2006 to 2013 on NBC, was no stranger to obscure jokes.
Indeed, no part of the country was safe from the barbs of the show’s widely-acclaimed writing staff, led by creator Tina Fey. Even Stone Mountain, a tiny town in Georgia, got an entire episode dedicated to it.
It should therefore come as no surprise that Jacksonville once received a shout-out from 30 Rock — during its 100th episode, in fact.
The reference comes during a gas-leak induced hallucination suffered by Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin). Donaghy imagines himself conversing with a version of himself from the future, as he decides whether to abandon his friendship with Liz Lemon (Fey). Future Jack warns regular Jack that without his guidance, Liz will get back together with her loser ex Dennis Duffy (Dean Winters). They’ll get married and move to Jacksonville, FL, where Dennis will operate “an unlicensed alligator park”.
A concerned and outraged Jack responds, “Jacksonville? Her hair can’t handle that humidity.” He’s probably right; the city, and really the entire state of Florida, is known for extreme humidity. And humidity can have rather extreme effects on hair, as another NBC sitcom once taught us:
Ultimately, Jack opts to stay friends with Lemon, and she doesn’t move to the First Coast to rip off St. Augustine’s Alligator Park.
The episode in question, “100 (Parts 1 & 2)”, can be seen on Netflix, along with all other episodes of the show.
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