revised 30 rock

30 rock

A weirdly appropriate and hilarious symbol of our time.

LA Weekly It’s smart without either condescending to or patronizing the viewer.

Los Angeles Times One of the zaniest, and most savvy, workplace comedies in years.

Baltimore Sun

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the show

30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey for NBC. The series, which is loosely based on Fey’s experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live, takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy series depicted as airing on NBC. The series’ name refers to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, the address of the GE Building, in which the NBC Studios are located.

This series is produced by Broadway Video and Little Stranger, Inc., in association with NBCUniversal.

30 Rock is produced in a single camera setup, and is primarily filmed at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, Queens, New York, with some scenes filmed on location at Rockefeller Center. The pilot episode premiered on October 11, 2006 and five full seasons have aired since. The series has an ensemble cast that currently consists of 13 regular cast members: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, Scott Adsit, Judah Friedlander, Katrina Bowden, Keith Powell, John Lutz, Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman and Maulik Pancholy.

30 Rock has been a critical success, winning several major awards (including Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2007, 2008, and 2009), and achieving the top ranking on myriad critics’ year-end best of 2006 and 2007 lists. On July 14, 2009, the series was nominated for 22 Emmy Awards, the most in a single year for a comedy series.

In 2002, Tina Fey was the head writer and a performer on Saturday Night Live (SNL). She pitched the show that became 30 Rock to NBC, originally as a sitcom about cable news. NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly felt that “Fey was using the news setting as a fig leaf for her own experience and he encouraged her to write what she knew.”

The show was subsequently reworked to revolve around an SNL-style sketch show. After being presented to Reilly once more, the show was set to air during the 2005–2006 television season. Just before the deal went through, however, the show was nearly brushed aside by Anthony Lewis and Jack Melcher, two NBC executives who fought the idea, fearing that Fey’s removal from SNL would result in a severe cut to the show’s ratings. Eventually, Lewis gave in just a month before his retirement, and Melcher backed down. In May 2003, Fey signed a contract with NBC to remain in her SNL head writer position until at least the 2004–2005 television season and to develop a primetime project to be produced by Broadway Video and NBC Universal.

Filming was postponed due to Tina Fey’s pregnancy.

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season rundown

SEASON ONE began airing in the United States on October 11, 2006, and featured 21 episodes. Jack Donaghy, the “Head of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming” at General Electric, is transferred to work at the NBC headquarters, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and retool the late night sketch comedy series The Girlie Show. The show’s cast and crew are outraged by this; especially head writer Liz Lemon and actress Jenna Maroney. Jack proceeds to wreak havoc on The Girlie Show, forcing Liz to hire the off-the-wall movie star Tracy Jordan.

As the season progresses, the episodes become less about TGS and more about how the characters deal with juggling their lives and their jobs. Episodes also become less self-contained and various story arcs develop in the second half of the season. For example, the first major story arc centers on Liz’s relationship with Dennis Duffy, “The Beeper King.” Other story arcs include: Jenna promoting her movie The Rural Juror; Tracy going on the run from the Black Crusaders; Jack’s engagement, which was called off, to a Christie’s auctioneer named Phoebe; and another relationship of Liz’s with Floyd.

SEASON TWO began airing in the United States on October 4, 2007, and featured 15 episodes. The second season was originally intended to consist of 22 episodes but the order was cut to 15 due to the 2007 - 2008 Writers Guild of America strike. After Liz broke up with Floyd in the summer, she is looking for ways to rebound. When Jerry Seinfeld confronts Jack about a new marketing campaign which featured clips of Seinfeld’s sitcom, Seinfeld, in all NBC shows, he has a chance encounter with Liz that gives her some much needed advice.

During the TGS summer hiatus, Jenna becomes overweight due to performing in the Broadway show Mystic Pizza: The Musical.

During the season, Jack develops a relationship with a Democratic congresswoman named Celeste “C.C.” Cunningham. An arc that was established in the first season but becomes more apparent in the second regards Jack running for the GE chairmanship against his archnemesis Devon Banks. The season ends with Liz planning to adopt a child after believing she was pregnant with Dennis’ baby. Kenneth also travels to Beijing to be a page at the 2008 Summer Olympics and Tracy invents a pornographic video game. Jack ends the season working at a new government job in Washington, D.C. SEASON THREE returned as part of NBC’s 2008 fall schedule, airing immediately after The Office. The show experienced a large ratings and popularity spike this season after Tina Fey’s highly praised performance as Sarah Palin on SNL. This is also the season where the

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show made Emmy history, being nominated for 22 Emmy awards. The season consisted of 22 episodes. Oprah Winfrey guest starred in the second episode, playing herself, as well as Jennifer Aniston playing Liz’s ex roommate. Salma Hayek also appeared for a multi-episode arc, portraying Jack’s new girlfriend, Elisa. Jon Hamm played Liz’s love interest and neighbor for several episodes. Alan Alda appeared in the season’s final two episodes as Milton Greene, Jack’s biological father. The season finale featured multiple musical guests, including Michael McDonald, Norah Jones, Moby, Clay Aiken, the Beastie Boys, Adam Levine, Mary J. Blige, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Cyndi Lauper and Wyclef Jean performing “Kidney Now!”, an organ donation drive spoof of We Are The World and “Just Stand Up!”.

SEASON FOUR of 30 Rock premiered on October 15, 2009. Like the previous season 3, it also consisted of 22 episodes. A recurring story arc early in the season revolved around Jack’s request that Liz cast a new actor for TGS, and Liz’s subsequent search for the perfect comedian, much to the dismay of Jenna and Tracy, who fear losing their spotlight. The later half of the season focused on two complementary story arcs: Jack’s inability to choose between two mistresses, and Liz’s inability to find a boyfriend to live up to her expectations and Jenna’s relationship with a Jenna Maroney impersonator.

SEASON FIVE of 30 Rock premiered on September 23, 2010 in the Thursday 8:30 p.m. time slot. It focuses on Liz Lemon’s continuing relationship with Carol Burnett, Jack’s start into fatherhood with fiancée Avery, struggling with the merger of NBCUniversal with Kabletown, Tracy’s foray into getting an EGOT, and Kenneth’s attempt to get back to NBC. Aside from featuring the return of Rachel Dratch in the Live Show, other guest stars include Matt Damon, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti, Sherri Shepherd, Queen Latifah, Rob Reiner, John Amos, Jon Hamm, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bill Hader, Chris Parnell, Kelsey Grammer and Tom Hanks.

SEASON SIX began airing January 12, 2012 in its new 8 pm timeslot leading into Parks and Recreation, The Office and Up All Night. 30 Rock had previously received an award from GLAAD, commending the show on its portrayal of LGBT themes and characters. The scandal inspired the second episode of the season, in which Tracy Jordan goes on an offensive rant during a standup set, forcing the show to apologize on his behalf after he mistakenly calls Glad, the trash bag company, instead of GLAAD.

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casting

Tina Fey worked with Jen McNamara and Adam Bernstein for the casting of the series. Fey’s first act as casting director was to cast herself as the lead character, Liz Lemon, who is said to be much like Fey herself when she first became head writer on SNL. The next actor to be cast was Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan, who was then a former castmate of Fey’s in SNL. Morgan was asked by Fey to play the role, and he believed it was “right up his alley and it was tailor made for him”. Fey said that the character of Kenneth Parcell was written with Jack McBrayer in mind. McBrayer is an old friend of Fey (they worked together at Second City in Chicago), and she “really wanted him for that part and was very happy when no one objected”.

Rachel Dratch, Fey’s longtime comedy partner and fellow SNL alumnus, was originally cast to portray Jenna. Dratch played the role in the show’s original pilot, but in August 2006, Jane Krakowski was announced as Dratch’s replacement, with Dratch remaining involved in the show playing various characters. Fey explained the change by noting that Dratch was “better-suited to playing a variety of eccentric side characters”, and that the role of Jenna was more of a straightahead acting part.

Although Fey went on to say that “Rachel and I were both very excited about this new direction”, Dratch said that she was not happy with the media’s depiction of the change as a demotion; however, she was also skeptical about the reasons she was given for the change, and was not happy with the reduction in the number of episodes in which she would appear. Following the first season, Dratch has only appeared in a handful of episodes.

Shortly following the casting of McBrayer and Dratch, Alec Baldwin was cast as Jack Donaghy, the “totally uncensored” Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming. Fey said that the character of Jack Donaghy was written with Baldwin in mind, and she was “very pleasantly surprised when he agreed to do it”.

Judah Friedlander was cast as Frank Rossitano, a staff writer of The Girlie Show. Friedlander had never met Fey before auditioning for a role in 30 Rock. His character was based on at least two writers that Fey used to work with at SNL, but he has said that he “certainly brought some of his own things to it as well”. Finally, Scott Adsit was cast as Pete Hornberger, a longtime friend of Liz’s and producer of The Girlie Show. Adsit, an old friend of Fey, also had his character written based on him.

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liz lemon

Portrayed by Tina Fey Occupation Head writer for TGS with Tracy Jordan, Host of Dealbreakers, Author Nicknames Lemon, LL, Dummy, Liz Lemon Cool J, Li Lem, Beth, Lizzy,The Lizard, Blizzard, Menta-Liz Religion I pretty much do whatever Oprah tells me to.

Liz Lemon was born on October 14, 1970. Raised in the town of White Haven, Pennsylvania, Liz is the daughter and second child to Dick Lemon and Margaret Lemon. Liz’s parents are outwardly very optimistic and supportive of her, but privately they actually dislike many of their daughter’s attributes and life decisions, as revealed during the climax of “Ludachristmas”.

After a mere glance at her in the pilot, Jack sums up Liz as a “New York third-wave feminist, college-educated, single-and-pretendingto-be-happy-about-it, over-scheduled, undersexed, you buy any magazine that says ‘healthy body image’ on the cover and every two years you take up knitting for a week”. This is confirmed by Pete to be accurate, commenting that the “knitting” part was uncanny.

Liz is generally portrayed as something of a “geek”. So, while she is an apparently skilled writer, she seems to have very few social skills (in “Rosemary’s Baby”, Jack describes her as “socially retarded”). For example, while she was trying to pick up men at a karaoke bar, a man asked her if the seat next to her was taken, leading her to ask him why she should have to move her coat just so he could sit there.

Liz has a rather sardonic sense of humor. She has frequently been shown to be a stress eater, a trait she shares with Jack. Despite the fact that she often ingests high-amounts of junk food on a daily basis, she seems to keep her weight under control, perhaps because she does not seem to have proper meals. According to Fey, the character is not bulimic; “she just likes to eat”. Liz does have some knowledge of cooking, though she admits to only using her oven to warm her jeans in the morning. She is allergic to both dogs and cats, as well as “anything warm and adorable”. However, she does believe her allergy to dogs is psychosomatic, as she mentions that a dog bit her during the time of her first period.

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jack donaghy

Portrayed by Alec Baldwin Occupation Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming at GE Nicknames Jackie Religion Irish Roman Catholic

Jack is portrayed as a slick, yet scrupulous network executive with an affinity for overtly backhanded compliments, which are usually directed towards TGS head writer Liz Lemon (whom he refers to by her last name more often than not). Although his first priority is to run a successful business, Jack often shows a human side, as when he doesn’t fire Kenneth Parcell after beating him at poker when Kenneth bet his job, or when he rushes to take Lemon home after oral surgery despite being with Jessup.

He has made it clear that he respects Liz’s abilities and considers her a friend, albeit by calling for her advice at odd times. In “Jack the Writer”, he tried to develop a friendly relationship with the writers, particularly Liz, and made it clear that his feelings were hurt when Liz told him to stay out of the writers’ room (although he apparently couldn’t let go of his pride to say this directly).

However, he still has distinct personality flaws. For example, in “The Aftermath,” he changed the name of The Girlie Show without consulting Liz and then refused to tell Jenna that Liz had nothing to do with it because he thought Liz needed to learn how to handle her employees. After he discovered that a product he helped create for Tracy Jordan was dangerous in “The Rural Juror,” he decided to sell it overseas to get around U.S. safety regulations. At the very least, however, he said he admired Tracy’s integrity for choosing to back out of the enterprise.

Jack is a conservative Republican. However, contrary to some stereotypes he apparently has no issue with homosexuality, setting Liz Lemon up on a date with his lesbian friend. He is a firm believer in capitalism, stating in “The Baby Show” that “business gets me off”, in “Hard Ball” that negotiation is his favorite thing in the world since it is, in his words, “the essence of capitalism.

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ly n o s ’ e r e h t two things i love. , everybody on. s i v e l e t d an

Kenneth Parcell ‘Believe in the Stars’ Season 3, Episode 2 10

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jenna maroney

Portrayed by Jane Krakowski Occupation Actress/singer Religion Kabbalah

Jenna was born Yustrepa Gronkowitz on February 24, 1969 in Tampa, FL. Jenna’s father, Werner Maroney, was a burger-server in suburban Santa Barbara, before leaving her mother, Verna for a “curly-haired surfer” named Roberta - which hurt her.

Jenna started her singing career when she was young, by singing Christmas carols in Sears, as a distraction while her mother shoplifted.

Jenna studied voice at Northwestern University where she first met Liz Lemon in 1993. By her own words, Jenna was “slutting it up” to get car dealership owners to put her in their commercials. She also studied at the Royal Tampa Academy of Dramatic Tricks where she majored in portraying prom queens and murdered runaways.

Jenna is shown to have histrionic personality disorder, an obsessive need for attention. She is vain and self-centred and is willing to do anything for attention. In “Queen of Jordan”, she organises her own intervention for (fictional) alcoholism because she believes audiences will respond to the “redemptive qualities” that such a storyline would have; however, she attempts to back out when she realises that going into rehab would take her away from the show. In “The Ones”, Pete suspects that Jenna might be a sociopath, after repeatedly poisoning Kenneth with strawberries, to date an attractive emergency medical technician.

Jenna is easily threatened by anyone who displays any degree of talent, and will go out of her way to sabotage their efforts in order to protect her position. Her usual response to these situations is to lock herself in her dressing room, forcing Liz to extricate her. Despite being best friends, Jenna is a constant source of frustration for Liz, often distracting her with insignificant problems and demanding Liz fix them straight away.

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tracy jordan

Portrayed by Tracy Morgan Occupation Actor/comedian Religion Unspecified

Jordan is a descendant of Thomas Jefferson and slave Sally Hemings.

Jordan was born in Yankee Stadium but his age is unknown as he has no birth certificate. He was given the honorary birthday of February 24, shared with TGS Co-star Jenna Maroney and male supermodel Steve Harnden in the March 5, 2009 episode “Goodbye, My Friend”.

He grew up in a tough neighborhood in The Bronx, though many of his claims about it sound fictitious. As a child, Jordan was a cast member on the Nickelodeon show Ray Ray’s Mystery Garage. He also claims to have attended middle school in an Exxon station. He lived with his single mother in 1979, dropped out of Frank Lucas High School over his inability to dissect a frog, and was discovered after doing stand-up at the Apollo in 1984. Jordan did a Christmas album in 1998 and is a big fan of Pat Benatar. In addition to his acting career, he writes a column in Ebony Magazine called “Musings”.

Jordan is a dim-witted, self-centered prima donna. For instance, in “Operation Righteous Cowboy Lightning”, Tracy says, “Perfection is my middle name. ‘Unclaimed Perfection Baby Boy’. He aspires to own an island. Jordan is treated for a mental health disorder by Dr. Leo Spaceman, a doctor of questionable integrity and qualification, who describes Tracy’s problems as “erratic tendencies and delusions brought on by excessive notoriety and certainly not helped by my highly experimental treatments.”

He is unable to do the same thing twice, making his employ as an actor difficult. Jordan is also a conspiracy theorist who believes, for instance, in shadow organizations or vampires. Despite all this, the character is supposed to be generally well-meaning and more intelligent than he appears. He is able to remember details of American history and is able to answer trivia questions correctly. He also has a sensitivity to the mistreatment of African Americans.

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kenneth parcell

Portrayed by Jack McBrayer Occupation NBC Page Alias Cranston Religion Eighth Day Resurrected Covenant of the Holy Trinity

Kenneth Parcell is a perpetually-cheerful NBC page, who hails from Stone Mountain, Georgia, where his father was a pig farmer. An awkward yet polite rube, he always projects an extremely optimistic demeanor, and is excited and happy to do his menial job, which is due to his love for television and his devotion to the NBC network.

In “Believe in the Stars”, he states that he only loves two things: “everybody and television”.

While Kenneth appears to be in his mid to late twenties, since the third season, it has been implied numerous times that he is actually much older. This is first hinted at in “The One with the Cast of Night Court”, when Kenneth states, “I’ve worn this old jacket since 19-hubeduh”, intentionally mumbling the year. In the episode “Cutbacks”, Kenneth states that he has owned his pet bird, named Sonny Crockett, for almost 60 years. In a deleted scene from “Mamma Mia”, it is implied that he is a veteran of World War II, as he is recognized by an elderly man as one of his fellow troops that served in Normandy. In the episode “Into the Crevasse”, Kenneth appears in a 1950s-era flashback, dancing to the song “Doin’ the Microwave”.

Kenneth is a very religious individual. In “The Fighting Irish”, it is revealed that his religion is called “Eighth Day Resurrected Covenant of the Holy Trinity”, which seems to be an extreme sort of Charismatic Christianity. The church is located in the basement of a Cuban restaurant, and is led by a fire and brimstone preacher, named Rev. Gary.

In “Subway Hero”, Kenneth reveals that he has no political views, because, according to him, “choosing is a sin”. Instead, he always submits write-in votes for God (however, according to Jack, those count as Republican).

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the cast

Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy Tina Fey as Liz Lemon Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney Jack McBrayer as Kenneth Parcell

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awards

30 Rock won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in September 2007. Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin were nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Lead Actor in a comedy series categories respectively. 30 Rock received four Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Alec Baldwin received the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical in 2007. Baldwin also received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series in 2007.

The show received 17 Emmy nominations, for its second season, meaning it was the second most nominated series of the year. These 17 nominations broke the record for the most nominations for a comedy series. The previous holder of this record was The Larry Sanders Show with 16 nominations.

Also in 2008, 30 Rock completed a sweep of the major awards for best comedy series at that year’s Primetime Emmy Awards. The show won Outstanding Comedy Series, Alec Baldwin was recognized as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and Tina Fey was given the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. This marks the eighth time in the history of the Emmy awards that a show won best series plus best lead actor and actress.

At the 2008 Golden Globe awards, 30 Rock won the award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, Alec Baldwin won Best Actor in a Television Musical or Comedy, and Tina Fey won Best Actress in a Television Musical or Comedy.

For the show’s 2007 episodes, 30 Rock received a Peabody Award at the 67th Annual Peabody Awards. Upon announcing the award, the Peabody Board commended the show for being “not only a great workplace comedy in the tradition of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, complete with fresh, indelible secondary characters, but also a sly, gleeful satire of corporate media, especially the network that airs it.”

In 2009, 30 Rock received a record-breaking 22 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won five Emmy Awards, including Best Comedy Series and Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Alec Baldwin.

In total, 30 Rock has won 6 Golden Globes, and has another 53 wins and 159 nominations for various media awards.

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Tina Fey was not originally going to star in the show.

trivia

Influenced by creator Tina Fey’s experience while being head-writer for Saturday Night Live.

Jeff Richmond, Fey’s husband, composes all of the show’s music and also serves as a producer on the show. He also appears in some episodes as the show-within-the-show’s piano player.

The show’s 22 Emmy nominations in 2009 were the most a comedy show ever received in a single year.

Liz Lemon’s catchphrase ‘I want to go to there’ was coined by Tina Fey’s daughter Alice.

One of the reasons Jane Krakowski was drawn to the series was because it gave her the chance to sing and dance. Sitcoms today don’t usually allow for that - this was the first since Ally McBeal.

Alec Baldwin says 30 Rock is the best job he’s ever had.

Jon Hamm auditioned for the role of Jack Donaghy. He would later appear on the show as Dr. Drew Baird.

As of 2012, Alec Baldwin has won the SAG Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series every year since the show’s inception, a feat held by no other actor in either drama or comedy.

Liz Lemon’s office has a framed cover of Bust magazine with Amy Poehler reenacting Janet Leigh’s shower scene in Psycho. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are close friends and former cast members on Saturday Night Live.

In her 2011 book “Bossypants,” Tina Fey said that during the early years of the show, Donald Glover was “30 Rock”’s only black writer.

She also said that he was so young that when he started on the writing staff, he was still living in an NYU dorm and working there as a Resident Adviser. Since he came from a large family in Stone Mountain, Georgia, Fey said that Glover was especially good at writing for the character of Kenneth, who was also supposed to be from Stone Mountain. Glover later became a star as an actor on the TV show Community.

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business ke drunk is li . rich drunk , either way o it’s legal t drive.

Jack Donaghy ‘Succession’ Season 2, Episode 13 18

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blerg

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