There I was last night, watching 30 Rock, and I came to a horrible, horrible realization: I used to be a tool. Some out there would quibble with the “used to be” bit, but I’m sticking by it. You see, I used to be an NBC page, and I’m quite convinced I was the sort of always happy, go-getting, naively optimistic, complete dork Jack McBrayer portrays as NBC page Kenneth. I find the character absolutely hysterical. I pray every time I see him that he’s an over-the-top version of a page and not the page I was. Either way, he’s still hysterical, but that’s only because I know about NBC pages and the page program.
The same is true of last night’s Six Sigma running joke. Alec Baldwin’s character, Jack, has recently embarked on his Six Sigma training and is looking to put it into action. Six Sigma is, much like the NBC page program, an actual thing in which NBC-Universal (and parent company GE) participate. The goal of the initiative (which is not limited to GE) is to find ways to streamline the organization and processes within the organization. The point of it all is to make things cheaper, faster, easier, and better. This can end up with executives looking for “synergies,” which is corporate speak for positions that can be eliminated because they’re close enough to what someone else is doing and the rest of the work can just be foisted off onto the remaining employee. One of the more amusing aspects of Six Sigma is that, in part, it's organized like a martial art; you can get different color belts depending on how good you are at streamlining things (Jack clearly, long-term, is going for a black belt).
Having seen people participate in Six Sigma, hearing Jack talk about it was hilarious. He didn’t explain what it was terribly well, but having the background information from previous work experience, the bit worked for me. But, like the page jokes, if you don’t know what they’re talking about, if you don’t have your own experience to bring to the table, is it as funny? Certainly not; it’s probably only moderately amusing.
Article comments
1 - Joan Hunt
Congratulations! This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States.
2 - Joan Hunt
I usually love the Alec Baldwin/SNL combo, but this show has left me cold from the start. I'm glad someone likes it. Everyone needs a friend.
3 - Diane Kristine
I mostly like the show, love the page and Alec Baldwin (though I've never worked for NBC). They're enough to make me keep watching even when the show itself gives me some doubts.
4 - Tami
Hey! Thanks for explaining why I don't find "30 Rock" funny ~~ it's not because it's not funny; it's because I was never an NBC page!
5 - TV and Film Guy
I don't think I said that, just that it's more funny if you were an NBC Page.
6 - Michael Marx
As a Six Sigma Black Belt myself, I thought the Six Sigma riff was awesome. Especially the part about "braving a 5 day conference at a Sheraton..."
I manage a network of blogs all about Six Sigma and I've featured the 30 Rock Six Sigma clip from YouTube. It's worth watching over and over again...
7 - TV and Film Guy
But, is it only funny because you know and deal with Six Sigma on a daily basis or is it funny because it's funny?
8 - Michael Marx
It's funny because it's Alec Baldwin explaining Six Sigma. It's funny because he writes something down after Frank's Six Sigma GI Joe remark (like he's collecting data), it's funny because of the looks on everyone's faces as he is explaining it, and finally it's funny because, yes, I do deal with Six Sigma day in and day out - and seeing my work come to life on prime-time television is so unexpected. The next time someone asks me what Six Sigma is (as they often do), I'll give them the 30 Rock elevator speech, then tell them to read my blog.
9 - Roger
Coming from someone who has never been an NBC page.....Kenneth is not funny in the least. The rest of the show is hilarious. I try to fast forward through Kenneth's parts.