What is the nickname of TGS writer James Spurlock?

TGS writer James Spurlock’s nickname on 30 Rock is Toofer.

James “Toofer” Spurlock is a staff writer for TGS with Tracy Jordan, played by Keith Powell. The nickname reflects a joke about his identity: Jack Donaghy explains that “with him you get a two-for-one,” because he is both a Black man and a Harvard man. The word is therefore a compressed pun, not a surname or a reference to a television job title.

Toofer frequently serves as a foil to Tracy Jordan and Frank Rossitano. He presents himself as sophisticated and intellectually serious, while the other writers often tease him for being pretentious. His relationship with Frank is especially comic because they share an office and argue over Toofer’s Harvard background, even though they sometimes socialize.

The character’s nickname is also the source of a recurring running gag. When Toofer briefly quits after an argument involving affirmative action, he demands that the writers stop calling him “Toofer,” but eventually accepts it after they suggest even worse alternatives. Lutz, Grizz, and Dot Com are other characters, not his nickname.