Review: Pete Hornberger

I recently dissected one Jerry Gergich in a post about him being one of the great sad sacks of television. Now use that as the plank to walk on. Jerry is oafish and cartoony and that is Jerry, but 30 Rock is using Scott Adsit's Pete Hornberger as a sad sack on a much more extremely darker level. Where Jerry is the butt of every joke, Pete is the butt of his own existence. Proceed to jump off the plank into the deep recesses of Hornberger.

First and First Most, we must say kudos to the actor- Scott Adsit. Brother has put himself in the pantheon of great comedy: Mr. Show (classic Adsit moment: Monster Parties; Fact or Fiction), one of the most under appreciated shows ever Moral Orel, was the original shiny beast in Tenacious D's Tribute, and let's not get started on his Improv. Scott Adsit, you are great. Done. Now, Pete Hornberger is a man weighed down by his job. Flashes of happiness are shown at the expense of others ("you shut your wet mouth and get that cord"). But usually when we are shown Pete, we are shown a defeated man. He puts thumb tacks in his neck, he sneaks around with his wife to add spice to their marriage, he lets Kenneth overtake his only free time, he yells at Liz for telling Cerie to dress more appropriate (he has nothing else to live for), had his Olympic dream shattered by Jimmy Carter, he lost his wedding ring in a poker game when he still had money left, overuses the word 'hate', and didn't feel anything when he learned Jenna died. That is what we are shown of Pete (though in hi def, we are shown an old, old man). So reading into these things is reading into a dark undercurrent of someone openly denying their happiness and living a life full of regret. But what has he to regret? He no longer teaches high school math. He works at an enviable job in New York. He has a wife and kids (though he is afraid of one of them, and another only responds to his Elmo voice). Well, Pete allows those chains in his life to weigh him down, because he understands what life is. Being affected by his problems so openly is Pete allowing those problems to exist. This is why Pete is, if not the most, coherent member of the TGS staff. Liz often confides her problems with Pete, who is always more than helpful. Pete hates his job, but he is good at it ("there is no internet or Spectravision in the hotel rooms, so plan ahead gentlemen. Porn-wise"). He offers sage advice ("Love is like an onion, and you peel layer after stinky layer until your left crying over the sink"). He's a liason for the writers to the actors, because he knows his place in the world of 30 Rock. As a viewer, Liz always give Pete the details of what is going on - allowing exposition for the audience, thereby Pete's intelligence level is that much respected as ours- we are a mirror to Pete.

Now this has been nothing more than examples and stating facts about Pete Hornberger. He is a dark character. He does offer a different sense of humor in an already humor packed show. So he cane be appreciated for the dynamic that humor creates. Pete's life can be seen as a microcosm in the episode "Milf Island". He is set to watch a TV show where women take their top off AND he is about to get free food because there is a dangler in the vending machine... of course he gets his arm stuck. And of course the vending machine eventually falls on him. But in between that, there was Pete fighting for his happiness- weighted down by a vending machine. He finds success at knocking the phone off the hook and dialing three numbers by throwing items at the phone, but for all that took out of Pete- for all his might and vigor- he dials the only number that can't help him- his own. Pete is out there. He is not pretentious or fawning, and he probably doesn't like you. The crassness of Louis DePalma meets the wit of Murray Slaughter? Sure, everyone is bald in that scenario, so it works.