25 of TV’s messiest meltdowns

Liz Dreams up Oprah Winfrey — 30 Rock

Perhaps Liz Lemon consulting Oprah Winfrey in a hallucination isn’t exactly a meltdown, but it’s close enough. When she has to fly to Chicago to vote (because she’s still registered there) Jack gives Liz a pretty powerful sedative and she immediately dozes off. She doesn’t realize it, but she’s actually talking to a wise little girl that winds up solving most of her problems with Tracy and Jenna.

Her little plane ride and subsequent nap is really just a much needed break from the two main loonies in her life, and Oprah is just the right kind of balm. It’s exhausting being the sanest, most level headed person in every area of your life, and the stress of having to deal with Jenna and Tracy’s nonsense finally got to her.  She needed Oprah’s wisdom and counsel, and it came to her at exactly the right time. It doesn’t really matter that Liz wasn’t really sitting next to Oprah on that plane, it just matters that the spirit of Oprah came to Liz to help her sort out all the messes around here.

By the time she gets back to 30, things have gotten worse, as Tracy is running around in drag and Jenna’s in blackface. It’s pretty obvious that she really needed Oprah, but when Pam (the little girl who Liz was actually talking to) arrives, she’s able to sort out the shenanigans just the same. I’d like to think we can all call on Oprah when we need her, and she’ll send her emissaries, like Pam, to intervene.