Episode Five Of 30 Rock: The Hierarchy Of Social Class

Have you ever taken the time to sit down and evaluate a television show? If that means paying attention to how they portray race, feminism or social class. Watching a show through a different lens can unlock new ideas and teach you things about this world that you didn’t know before. In season five of 30 Rock, the show portrays social class by using visuals and dialogue to show the hierarchy of class through meritocracy. Jack Donaghy, head of NBC, learns Regina Bookman, an avid Democrat, is running for Congress. In order to benefit himself, he endorses her opponent: Steve Austin. Steve is clearly unfit for the position because of how unpolitical he is. However, Jack believes that by supporting him it will help him further his career in becoming
Jack doesn’t necessarily need to move up in the economic class, but for his wife to make a big work jump he has to contact some people he has networks with, many who are well known. This gives Avery an advantage because she’s able to cover her belly bump. One person which he contacts is Michael Kors who Jack requests to make wizard cloaks fashionable for ladies for the winter, at least until she signs the contract. This gives Avery an advantage because she’s able to continue exerting herself to get the job. If Jack didn’t have social capital then Avery wouldn’t have been given the opportunity to get the job, because it would be obvious she’s pregnant. On the other hand, Jack deals with Hank Hooper, the founder of Kabletown (a fictional company), changing the executive dining room into a space where anyone who works at NBC can go to eat; when it used to be a place for executives to eat or have meetings. When Jack sees employees seated in the tower wearing sandals, he becomes agitated about the change, but Hooper explains that, “Kabletowns a family company and where I come from families eat together. This is no longer the executive dining room it’s the everyone dining room” (“!Que Sorpresa!”). Jack disapproves the idea of employees who aren’t wearing business appropriate clothing to be sitting up
Jack gives Liz the responsibility of letting her department of workers know and he informs her on how to do it, saying that, “It’s simple. Sit them down individually tell them the network still supports the show and that this is temporary” (“Plan B”). The staff goes berserk and they make plans to find new jobs. Despite the fact that Liz said it was temporary, many know that isn’t true. So why is it that so many people become jobless? It could be from the enormous amount of college students these days who are unemployed due to the fact they can’t find work in their field. Even when they do find work, it’s most likely a job they didn’t study for in college. During this episode multiple crew members were able to go back to their previous job or find a job they majored in in college. One mentioned he kept his teaching certificate so he could go do substitute teaching and another mentioned his degree allows him to go into architecture or medical nanotechnology. Their degrees had nothing to do with writing or producing a television show? In fact studies have shown that show biz industry jobs have dropped, “19% in two years” (Variety). Liz finds herself in a position where she can’t find a backup job in writing or producing shows; her agent even drops her as a client. The lower class as a whole is represented towards the end of the episode when Liz finds