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  • Acceptable Ethnic Targets: Everyone. There was no racial line the show wouldn't cross.
  • Acceptable Political Targets. The show does not like conservatives, particularly the US Republican establishment, taking tons of potshots at the policies of President George W. Bush, implying 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney was an android controlled by said establishment with Jack and Avery largely evolving into Straw Characters to mock Republicans. Though it does mock liberals a fair bit, showing that people like Liz aren't quite as down to Earth as they claim to be.
  • Acceptable Professional Targets: Actors.
  • Alas, Poor Scrappy: Avery is more of a Base Breaker than anything else but it's hard not to feel bad for her when she ultimately gets captured by Kim-Jong-Il and is made to marry his son.
  • Base Breaker: Tracy and Jenna. There are those who claim both are dangerous and unfunny weirdos, those who like one but hate the other and those who like them both.
  • Big Lipped Alligator Moment: At the end of the second Live Show, Alec Baldwin and Scott Adsit make out for no reason.
  • Black Hole Sue: Tracy always seems to get his way, or else end up being right, or else gets no reprimand for his antics.
    • He's arguably a parody of this, since he's usually portrayed as a talentless buffoon who makes Z-Grade movies which only make money due to appealing to the lowest common denominator, and pretty much everyone but Kenneth hates working with him. His only real talent is being crazy and pretending to be crazier.
      • On the other hand, Tracy has had many Pet the Dog moments, such as his unwavering devotion to his wife.
  • The Casanova: Jack has dated (or at least slept with) lots of women. Including Condoleezza Rice and Beyonce.
  • Complete Monster: El Generalissimo, the villain (whose actor happens to look like Jack) in the soap opera that Elisa's grandmother watches. During various clips we see El Generalissimo shoots a man in the back, blows up a small child with a stick of dynamite taped to his head, and apparently date rapes a the female protagonist.
    • She later gave birth to The Devil. It was sweeps.
  • Die for Our Ship: The more extreme Liz/Jack shippers have nothing but bad things to say about Avery.
  • Dude, Not Funny: An in-universe example, as Tracy makes an inappropriate (unheard) joke about Madeleine Albright at a dinner. Bill Clinton looks completely embarrassed by him.
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Tracy: What? She does look like one of those!

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  • Ear Worm: A number of the original songs, including Jenna's "Muffin Top," and Tracy's Christmas song.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse Kenneth is a main-cast example, Grizz and Dot Com are recurring cast examples.
    • Dr. Leo Spaceman.
  • Fan-Preferred Couple: Jack/Liz. Oh dear god, Jack/Liz...
  • Fan Disservice:
    • Dream!Kenneth stripping his clothes and dancing in nothing but his tie and underwear in "Floyd."
    • Tracy's "trademark" move of removing his shirt. Also his attempt at seduction in "Don Geiss, America, and Hope."
    • Some parodies of Liz Lemon's Hollywood Homeliness use some pretty horrific makeup/effects - for instance, see Poor Man's Porn below.
  • Fan Service: The episode "Brooklyn Without Limit" features an extraordinary amount of focus on Liz's butt.
  • Foe Yay: Between Jack and Devon. Devon seems to genuinely be attracted to Jack, and Jack accuses him of denying his sexual orientation in order to be promoted to CEO of General Electric.
  • Funny Aneurysm Moment: In "Jack Meets Dennis", when Liz and Pete are dreading the impending broadcast of a terrible episode of TGS, Pete speculates that a major news item will pre-empt the show, and then inquires about Gerald Ford's health. Ford died about a month later.
  • He's Just Hiding: According to What Will Happen To the Gang Next Year?, Kim Jong-Il. (He's the best waiter ever.)
  • Hollywood Homely: Again, Liz.
    • In "Black Light Attack!" the sight of Tina Fey bent over was meant to be unappealing. Yeah right.
  • Jerkass Woobie: Yes Jenna is very callous and very self-absorbed but given her Dark and Troubled Past at the hands of her Stage Mom, it's easy to see how she ended up the way she is.
  • Just Eat Gilligan: Okay, so Tracy is too valuable to the show's ratings to fire, but what about Jenna? Half the antics on the damn show could be avoided/eased by simply firing Jenna, and TGS wouldn't take that bad a hit with ratings.
  • Les Yay: Salma Hayek kissing Tina Fey, anyone?
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Liz: [stunned] I can see why he likes it...

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  • Magnificent Bastard: As mentioned, Jack. Also :Kaylie Hooper, seeing how this character's first appearance involved a Batman Gambit that Jack could barely discover before it was too late.
  • Portmanteau Couple Name: Jalisa.
  • Squick: Jack has been imprinted to be aroused by the song "Merry Little Christmas" because of his mother's sultry annual performances of it as a child.
  • Tear Jerker: Liz's fight with Floyd in season 4 where she accidentally gets him drunk.
  • Unfortunate Implications: "Goodbye, My Friend", the Aesop of which is arguably "If you're facing an accidental pregnancy, keep the child, even if you're young and stupid and have no there's no reason to believe you'll be any good at raising it."
    • Somewhat diminished by the constant comparisons of that couple to Pete and his wife. Tim has absolutely no development beyond having a temporary freak out over his girlfriend becoming pregnant (hardly the most unusual of responses). For all the audience knows, he could be more than capable of supporting a family or he could be unemployed and living with his parents. Perhaps there is a slight amount of Unfortunate Implications in that people automatically assume a white guy in his early to mid 20's is a loser.
    • In addition, the actual Aesop is take responsibility for your own actions. She decided to keep the baby, and he ran away.
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Political?: The show takes a lot of swings at the Bush Administration. Probably most direct when they made a Little League baseball team into an extended analogy for the Iraq War. All Played for Laughs.
    • "Brooklyn Without Limits" takes a pretty harsh potshot at Urban Outfitters.

I once saw a baby giving another baby a tattoo! They were very drunk!


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