30 Rock Blesses Florida With Its Ridicule

Flickr user: Cary Pohlhammer

Thank you, Tina Fey, for bringing Florida jokes to prime time.

It's an honor to be ridiculed by Tina Fey. Just ask Sarah Palin and the City of Cleveland. (If you have never seen the episode of 30 Rock in which Fey's character, Liz Lemon, wants to "Flee to the Cleve" watch it. Now.)

On 30 Rock last night, Fey bestowed her comedic genius on Florida. (Watch the full episode here).  Lemon's boss, Jack (played by Alec Baldwin), is distraught because his mother is visiting from Florida, and she brought her new boyfriend. Jack is immediately suspicious of the new man.

"Have you ever been to Florida?" he asks Lemon. "It's basically a criminal population. It's America's Australia."

Turns out, the boyfriend is married. To another woman! Which gives 30 Rock a chance to make its obligatory Florida Old Person joke. In defending her relationship, Jack's white-haired mom blames the state's questionable moral fabric.

"It's Florida, Jack," she says. "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."

Ah, Florida. We love you so.