108 Fun Facts About 30 Rock

Who created 30 Rock?

Tina Fey created 30 Rock, drawing on her years as head writer of Saturday Night Live, and wrote the pilot herself.

The title '30 Rock' refers to which real building?

30 Rockefeller Plaza, the Rockefeller Center tower long known as the GE Building, houses NBC's New York studios, including Studio 8H where Saturday Night Live is made.

On which network did 30 Rock originally air?

Fittingly, the show is a satire of NBC and its corporate parents.

On 30 Rock, Liz Lemon is head writer and showrunner of which fictional NBC sketch comedy series?

TGS with Tracy Jordan started out as The Girlie Show before Tracy was added.

Which actor plays Jack Donaghy?

Alec Baldwin plays Jack Donaghy; the role won him two Emmys and three Golden Globes, the first of them in January 2007.

Jack Donaghy's job title when introduced was Vice President of East Coast Television and what?

Jack's title was Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming, a nod to NBC's then-parent General Electric, which also sold kitchen appliances.

Which unpredictable star does Jack force Liz to hire in the first episode?

In the pilot Jack forces Liz to hire Tracy Jordan, a volatile movie star played by Tracy Morgan, to broaden The Girlie Show's audience.

What is Kenneth Parcell's role at NBC?

Kenneth Parcell is an NBC page who runs errands for TGS in his blue page jacket; he says he loves only two things: everybody and television.

Which actress plays Liz's best friend and TGS star Jenna Maroney?

Jane Krakowski plays Jenna Maroney; she joined when the pilot was reshot, having earlier starred as Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal.

Who was originally cast as Jenna before the role was recast?

Rachel Dratch, Fey's SNL castmate, played Jenna in the unaired pilot; after the recast she turned up in assorted small parts across the first season.

In later seasons NBC is bought by which fictional company?

Kabletown is a stand-in for the real Comcast takeover of NBC Universal, which was announced during the season.

Which rival NBC show about a sketch series premiered the same season as 30 Rock?

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Aaron Sorkin's drama about a late-night sketch show, ran on NBC in the same 2006-07 season as 30 Rock and was cancelled after one year.

Liz Lemon's on-and-off boyfriend nicknamed 'The Beeper King' is named what?

Dennis Duffy, played by Dean Winters, is Liz's deadbeat ex who sells pagers as the self-styled Beeper King and keeps resurfacing through the series.

Which running-gag novelty song did Tracy Jordan record?

Werewolf Bar Mitzvah, Tracy's novelty hit, recurs through the series; its chorus runs 'Boys becoming men, men becoming wolves.'

What is the title of Jenna's notoriously hard-to-pronounce first starring film?

The Rural Juror, the legal thriller whose title nobody can pronounce, was adapted from a novel by Kevin Grisham, John Grisham's fictional brother.

Where is the page Kenneth from, a nod to writer Donald Glover's hometown?

Kenneth hails from Stone Mountain, Georgia, the real hometown of writer Donald Glover; Jack and Liz visit it in the season 4 episode 'Stone Mountain.'

What unusual kind of financial aid did Jack attend Princeton on?

Jack says he attended Princeton on a handsomeness scholarship, one of the improbable boasts he makes about his Ivy League years.

Which General Electric product was Jack's self-described 'greatest triumph'?

The Trivection oven, which Jack boasts cooks a turkey in 22 minutes, is the GE product he calls his greatest triumph when he meets Liz in the pilot.

Jack's overbearing mother, a memorable recurring guest role, is named what?

Colleen Donaghy is Jack's caustic Boston Irish mother; her visits reduce the feared GE executive to a nervous, guilt-ridden boy.

Which actor plays Liz's airline-pilot boyfriend, Carol Burnett?

Matt Damon plays Carol Burnett, the pilot Liz dates from the season four finale 'I Do Do' into early season five.

Which star plays Jack's fiancée and later wife, TV reporter Avery Jessup?

Elizabeth Banks plays Avery Jessup, the conservative cable-news host Jack marries; Avery is later kidnapped and held in North Korea until Jack wins her release in season six.

Which actress played Jack's girlfriend Elisa in a multi-episode arc?

Salma Hayek plays Elisa, the nurse hired to care for Jack's mother Colleen, whom Jack romances across season three.

Which talk-show host guest-starred as a hallucination Liz sees on a plane in season two?

The scene turns out to be a drug-induced hallucination.

Who plays Jack's corporate nemesis Devon Banks?

Will Arnett plays Devon Banks, the scheming executive who battles Jack to succeed Don Geiss at GE; the role brought Arnett guest-actor Emmy nominations.

Chris Parnell plays which recurring quack doctor?

Chris Parnell plays Dr. Leo Spaceman, the cheerfully unqualified physician who doses the TGS staff with experimental cures throughout the series.

Frank Rossitano, the writer played by Judah Friedlander, is known for wearing what?

Frank Rossitano's trademark is his trucker hats, each printed with a different slogan, a gag Judah Friedlander carried through all seven seasons.

Scott Adsit plays which level-headed TGS producer?

Scott Adsit plays Pete Hornberger, the TGS producer and Liz's steadiest ally, a one-time Olympic archery hopeful with a chaotic home life.

The writer nicknamed 'Toofer', because he is 'two for one', is a Harvard guy and what else?

Keith Powell plays him as the polar opposite of both Tracy and Frank.

Which two members make up Tracy's entourage?

Tracy's entourage is Grizz and Dot Com, played by Grizz Chapman and Kevin Brown, who flank him through all seven seasons.

What is the name of Liz's assistant, famous for revealing outfits?

Cerie Xerox, Liz's young assistant, is played by Katrina Bowden; her skimpy outfits are a running distraction for the writers' room.

Which prize does Tracy set out to win in the show's later seasons?

EGOT stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

Who composed 30 Rock's theme music?

Jeff Richmond, Tina Fey's husband, composed the 30 Rock theme and its jazzy score and was one of the show's producers.

30 Rock won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2007 and which other consecutive years?

30 Rock won Outstanding Comedy Series three years running, in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and was nominated again in each of its four remaining seasons.

In 2009 the show set a record with how many Primetime Emmy nominations?

30 Rock drew 22 Emmy nominations in 2009, then the most ever for a comedy series in one year, and won Outstanding Comedy Series and Lead Actor for Alec Baldwin.

Which guest actress won an Emmy for the season one finale 'Hiatus'?

Elaine Stritch won the 2007 Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her debut as Jack's mother Colleen in 'Hiatus.'

Where were most interior scenes of 30 Rock filmed?

Most of 30 Rock was shot on sets at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, Queens, with exteriors filmed around Manhattan.

How were most 30 Rock episodes shot?

Only the two live episodes used a multi-camera setup.

Jack fulfils his own prophecy by handing the presidency of NBC to which colleague?

Kenneth Parcell, the cheerful NBC page, becomes president of NBC in the finale, fulfilling Jack's pilot line that everyone would one day work for him or be dead by his hand.

Liz Lemon grew up in which small Pennsylvania town?

Liz Lemon grew up in White Haven, Pennsylvania, a real borough in the Poconos; her parents Dick and Margaret Lemon visit in 'Ludachristmas.'

Alan Alda guest-starred in season three as which character, revealed to be Jack's biological father?

Alan Alda plays Milton Greene, the professor revealed as Jack's biological father in season three's 'Mamma Mia', which spoofs the musical by lining up three candidate dads.

Which Star Wars line does Liz's husband Criss quote back to her instead of 'I love you too'?

'I know' is Han Solo's reply when Leia says 'I love you' in The Empire Strikes Back; Star Wars devotee Liz gets the reference.

30 Rock parodies the corporate structure of NBC and which two real parent companies?

NBC's real owners during the run were General Electric and, from 2011, Comcast; the show skewered both, GE through Jack's corporate gospel and Comcast through the Kabletown arc.

The show was often described as a 'live-action' what, for its rapid gags and cutaways?

Critics and Fey herself called 30 Rock a live-action cartoon for its joke density, rapid cutaways and absurd running gags.

Tina Fey's guest turns satirising which 2008 politician overlapped with 30 Rock's run?

Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impression on Saturday Night Live in fall 2008 ran alongside 30 Rock's third season and won Fey a guest-actress Emmy in 2009.

In 2020, NBC pulled four 30 Rock episodes from circulation because they depicted what?

Fey and Robert Carlock requested the removal themselves.

What made-up expletive does Liz Lemon blurt when things go wrong?

Liz Lemon's signature curse is 'Blerg', a nonsense exclamation she blurts at every setback; it became one of 30 Rock's most quoted catchphrases.

Which two production companies made 30 Rock with NBCUniversal?

Broadway Video is Lorne Michaels's company; Little Stranger is Fey's.

How many Primetime Emmy nominations did 30 Rock earn over its run, winning 16?

30 Rock earned 103 Primetime Emmy nominations over its seven seasons, 2007 to 2013, and converted 16 of them into wins.

Where did the Writers Guild rank 30 Rock among the best-written TV series in 2013?

The Writers Guild of America ranked 30 Rock 21st on its 2013 list of the 101 Best Written TV Series, a list topped by The Sopranos.

Fey originally pitched the show that became 30 Rock as a sitcom about what?

Fey's first pitch was a sitcom about a cable news producer; NBC's Kevin Reilly steered her instead toward the sketch-show world she knew from SNL.

Why was filming of the 30 Rock pilot postponed?

NBC officially greenlit the show on May 15, 2006 with a 13-episode order.

Which phone carrier's on-air plug has Liz asking, 'Can we have our money now'?

In season two Jack and Liz gush about Verizon Wireless, then Liz turns to the camera and asks, 'Can we have our money now?', skewering product placement.

Which university trained Tracy's entourage member Dot Com as a stage actor?

Walter 'Dot Com' Slattery, played by Kevin Brown, is a Wesleyan University graduate whose theatre training surfaces in his erudite asides to Tracy.

Who plays Jonathan, Jack's overprotective personal assistant?

Maulik Pancholy plays Jonathan, Jack's fiercely devoted assistant, whose attachment to his boss often shades into something like love.

Which SNL alum plays Floyd DeBarber, Liz's lawyer boyfriend who moves to Cleveland?

Jason Sudeikis plays Floyd DeBarber, the lawyer Liz dates in season one until he takes a job in Cleveland; he returns in season four to marry someone else.

Rachel Dratch's most frequent recurring role was as what kind of worker on TGS?

Dratch's most-seen character was Greta Johansen, the TGS cat wrangler, one of several bit parts she played after losing the Jenna role.

Where had Fey and Jack McBrayer worked together before 30 Rock?

Tina Fey and Jack McBrayer both came up through Second City in Chicago; she wrote the part of Kenneth with him in mind.

Which three real politicians made cameos, including one as Jack's ex-love interest?

Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi and Condoleezza Rice all played themselves: Rice as Jack's former flame in 'Respawn', Gore in several episodes, and Pelosi in the finale.

Which group does Tracy go on the run from in season one?

Tracy flees the Black Crusaders, a secret cabal of Black celebrities he believes is out to get him, in the season-one episodes leading up to 'Hiatus.'

Which actress plays Phoebe, the Christie's auctioneer Jack gets engaged to?

Emily Mortimer plays Phoebe, the British Christie's auctioneer who claims to have 'avian bone syndrome'; Jack breaks off the engagement late in season one.

How many episodes did season two have after the writers' strike cut its order?

Season two ran 15 episodes instead of the planned 22 because the 2007-08 Writers Guild strike halted production in November 2007.

Which Broadway show made Jenna overweight during the season-two hiatus?

Jenna ballooned while starring in Mystic Pizza: The Musical, a stage spoof of the 1988 Julia Roberts film, and returns heavier in the season-two premiere 'SeinfeldVision.'

Which Sopranos star plays congresswoman C.C. Cunningham, Jack's season-two girlfriend?

Edie Falco plays C.C. Cunningham, the Democratic congresswoman that Jack, a staunch Republican, secretly dates in season two.

Where does Kenneth go to work as a page at the end of season two?

At the end of season two Kenneth leaves to serve as an NBC page at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, while Jack is stuck in a Washington job.

Which Friends star played Liz's ex-roommate in season three?

Jennifer Aniston plays Claire Harper, Liz's chaotic old roommate who seduces Jack, in season three's 'The One with the Cast of Night Court.'

Which Mad Men star played Liz's handsome but dim neighbour Drew?

Jon Hamm played the doctor Liz dumped for being too dumb; he returned in season five.

Which phrase does Liz Lemon use to express longing, usually for food?

'I want to go to there' is Liz's line of pure longing, usually aimed at food; Tina Fey borrowed it from her toddler daughter Alice.

Why was the season-five live episode performed twice on October 14, 2010?

It aired at 8:30 pm in both time zones and was a ratings success.

Which actress played Frank's ex-teacher girlfriend, once jailed over their relationship?

Susan Sarandon plays Lynn Onkman, the former teacher who did jail time for her relationship with teenage Frank and rekindles it in season five.

Who played the reimagined Liz Lemon in the live episode 'Live Show'?

Julia Louis-Dreyfus stood in as Liz in the flashback cutaways of 2010's 'Live Show', a gag on how cutaways work in a live broadcast.

Which teen actress plays Kaylie Hooper, Jack's sworn enemy and cable-company heir?

Chloe Grace Moretz plays Kaylie Hooper, scheming granddaughter of Kabletown CEO Hank Hooper (Ken Howard), who outmanoeuvres Jack across seasons five and six.

Which comedian played Kim Jong-il, kidnapper of Jack's wife Avery?

Margaret Cho plays Kim Jong-il, who holds Avery in North Korea; the role earned Cho a guest-actress Emmy nomination in 2012.

Which Oscar winner appeared as himself in the two-part 100th episode?

Tom Hanks plays himself in the two-part 100th episode of season five, in which a gas leak at 30 Rock sends the staff loopy; Michael Keaton appears in it as a maintenance man.

Why did season six debut mid-season in January 2012?

Jenna judges a reality show and considers settling down with Paul that season.

Which company does Tracy Jordan mistakenly apologise to in season six?

Told to apologise to GLAAD for anti-gay jokes, Tracy mistakes it for Glad, the plastic-bag maker, in a season-six story that riffed on Tracy Morgan's real 2011 remarks.

What pay cut did Alec Baldwin offer NBC to secure full seventh and eighth seasons?

Alec Baldwin publicly offered to take a 20% pay cut to win full seventh and eighth seasons; NBC instead ordered a final 13-episode season seven.

Which actress plays Hazel Wassername, the scheming page who torments Kenneth?

Kristen Schaal plays Hazel Wassername, the unhinged page who joins NBC in season six and schemes her way to Kenneth, and then to the TGS stage.

Which SNL alum plays Jenna's female-impersonator husband Paul?

Will Forte plays Paul L'astnamé, the Jenna Maroney impersonator Jenna falls for and eventually marries; Forte and Fey overlapped as SNL cast members.

Whose 1996 record for most comedy Emmy nominations did 30 Rock break with 17 in 2008?

30 Rock's 17 nominations in 2008 passed the 16 that The Larry Sanders Show had drawn in 1996, then the single-year record for a comedy series.

Which season-two finale earned Tina Fey a writing Emmy in 2008?

Tina Fey won the 2008 Emmy for comedy writing for 'Cooter', the season-two finale; that year 30 Rock also took series, lead actor and lead actress.

Which episode won 30 Rock the comedy writing Emmy in 2009?

Matt Hubbard's script for 'Reunion', in which Liz attends her high-school reunion, won the 2009 Emmy for comedy writing; Baldwin won lead actor the same night.

Which two writers won the 2013 Emmy for the series finale 'Last Lunch'?

Tina Fey and Tracey Wigfield won the 2013 Emmy for comedy writing for 'Last Lunch', the series finale that aired on January 31, 2013.

How many viewers watched the 30 Rock pilot in 2006?

The pilot drew 8.13 million viewers in 2006; only the season-three premiere, at about 8.5 million, ever beat it.

Which Ted Danson sitcom started out as a 30 Rock spin-off built around Jack Donaghy?

Mr. Mayor, which ran on NBC in 2021-22, was first developed as a spin-off in which Jack Donaghy became mayor of New York; after Alec Baldwin passed, the setting moved to Los Angeles and Ted Danson took the lead.

What is the name of the Bravo-style reality show built around Tracy's wife Angie?

Queen of Jordan, Angie Jordan's reality show, takes over two full episodes of 30 Rock shot as a Bravo-style docusoap, one in season five and one in season six.

The 2020 special effectively replaced what NBCUniversal event?

Several NBC affiliates refused to air it, calling it a promo vehicle.

Which streaming service did 30 Rock move to from Netflix on October 1, 2017?

30 Rock left Netflix for Hulu on October 1, 2017 under a wider NBCUniversal licensing deal, before landing on NBCU's own Peacock at its 2020 launch.

What is Liz Lemon's middle name?

Liz's full name is Elizabeth Miervaldis Lemon; Miervaldis is a Latvian given name, one of the show's odder throwaway details.

Which pioneering TV writer inspired Liz to become a writer?

Rosemary Howard, played by Carrie Fisher in season two's 'Rosemary's Baby', is the trailblazing Laugh-In writer Liz idolised, until a day with her shows how unhinged she has become.

Liz attended the University of Maryland on partial financial aid for what?

Liz says she went to the University of Maryland on a partial scholarship for competitive jazz dance, then majored in theatre tech and left with a student loan she never finished paying.

Which Star Wars character is Liz Lemon's go-to costume, worn even to jury duty?

Princess Leia is Liz's signature costume; she wears it to jury duty hoping to look too odd to be picked, and marries Criss in it in season seven.

Which two children does Liz adopt with Criss?

Liz and Criss adopt Terry and Janet, siblings who uncannily echo Tracy and Jenna, in the final episodes; TGS's cancellation briefly makes Liz a stay-at-home mom.

In which fictional Massachusetts suburb did Jack Donaghy grow up poor?

Jack grew up poor in Sadchester, Massachusetts, the fictional working-class town he cites whenever he reminds Liz of his bootstraps and his boyhood on the Boston docks.

Which role did Jack play in an all-male Princeton production of West Side Story?

Jack boasts that he played Maria in an all-male Princeton production of West Side Story, one of the unlikely campus credentials he drops to impress Liz.

Which eco-mascot, played by David Schwimmer, does Jack unveil for NBC's Green Week?

Greenzo, played by David Schwimmer, is the eco-mascot Jack launches for NBC's Green Week in season two, but the character goes power-mad and turns on GE's own products.

Whom does Devon Banks get engaged to despite being openly gay?

Devon Banks gets engaged to Kathy Geiss, Don Geiss's childlike daughter, purely to position himself to inherit GE; she briefly runs the company herself when Don is in a coma.

To whom does Jack sell his unmarketable couches, aiding Avery's rescue?

Jack unloads his unsellable KouchTown couches on the CIA as torture devices; one proves so uncomfortable that an interrogated North Korean talks, helping the effort to free Avery.

What does Jack do abruptly after a burst of innovations as chairman?

He replaced Kabletown's 'kitten in spaghetti' with GE's Six Sigma process.

Tracy and Angie's two sons are named Junior and what?

Tracy and Angie's sons are Tracy Jr. and George Foreman Jordan, the younger named for the boxer; Angie is played by Sherri Shepherd.

Which SNL veteran plays Jenna's mother Verna?

Jan Hooks plays Verna Maroney, Jenna's grifting stage mother, in season four's 'Verna'; Hooks, like Fey, was an SNL cast member.

Which actor's over-the-top attempts to kill Jenna are a running gag?

Jenna repeatedly recounts Mickey Rourke's attempts on her life, such as catapulting her into the Hollywood sign, a running gag about her lurid past.

Jenna's biopic Jackie Jormp-Jomp was based on which singer, whose name was off-limits?

Jenna's Janis Joplin biopic lost the rights to Joplin's name and music, so it was retitled 'Jackie Jormp-Jomp' with the songs rewritten.

Jenna's hit 'Muffin Top' reached number one in which country?

Jenna boasts that 'Muffin Top' went to number one in Israel (and number four in Belgium), her lone chart success, which she cites whenever her career is questioned.

What did Kenneth major and minor in at his Kentucky mountain college?

He says he loves only two things: everybody and television.

What was TGS newcomer Danny Baker doing for a living in New York before Jack hired him?

Played by Cheyenne Jackson, Danny had starred in a film about Canadian football; Jack renames him Danny on his first day.

On which Manhattan street is Liz Lemon's apartment building, number 3B?

Liz lives at 160 Riverside Drive, apartment 3B, on the Upper West Side; in 'Sun Tea' she uses her Dealbreakers money to buy the apartment above when the building goes condo.

On 30 Rock, Liz Lemon briefly dates a white Englishman who shares his name with which American action-film star?

Wesley Snipes, played by Michael Sheen, is the insufferable Englishman Liz keeps running into in season four; sharing a name with the Blade star is one of the show's celebrity-name gags.

On what date did the 30 Rock pilot premiere on NBC?

30 Rock premiered on NBC on October 11, 2006, a Wednesday, and ran seven seasons until its finale in January 2013.