130 Fun Facts About 30 Rock

Who created 30 Rock?

It was based on her experience as head writer of Saturday Night Live.

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

It is home to NBC Studios and where Saturday Night Live is filmed.

On which network did 30 Rock originally air?

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

What is the name of the fictional sketch show Liz Lemon runs?

It started out being called The Girlie Show before Tracy was added.

Which actor plays Jack Donaghy?

He won a Golden Globe for the role in 2007.

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

He works for General Electric, NBC's real-life parent company at the time.

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

Tina Fey says the whole show clicked once she imagined casting Tracy Morgan.

What is Kenneth Parcell's role at NBC?

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

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

Rachel Dratch was originally cast as Jenna before the part was recast.

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

Fey's SNL partner instead appeared as several minor characters, including a cat wrangler.

In later seasons NBC is bought by which fictional company?

It is a stand-in for the real Comcast takeover of NBC Universal.

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

Aaron Sorkin sent Fey flowers and wished her luck when NBC picked up both.

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

Dean Winters plays the irresponsible ex; her first big arc is their relationship.

Which running gag is a novelty song Tracy recorded for Geffen Records?

Its lyrics include 'Boys becoming men, men becoming wolves.'

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

It was written by John Grisham's brother Kevin.

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

He was raised on a pig farm by parents he variously called first cousins and 'technically brothers'.

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

He also played Maria in an all-male West Side Story and was a classmate of Michelle Obama.

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

He first imagined it while answering a prank call from Liz Lemon in 1986.

What is Jenna Maroney's real birth name?

She was born in Florida and grew up in Bakersfield, California.

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

She once blamed him for John F. Kennedy's death.

Which Oscar-winning actor plays Liz's love interest 'Carol Burnett', an airline pilot?

He appears across much of season five.

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

Avery is later kidnapped and held in North Korea.

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

Her character was a nurse who cared for Jack's mother.

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?

Their rivalry over the GE chairmanship runs across seasons.

Chris Parnell plays which recurring quack doctor?

He hands out experimental treatments with wild confidence.

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

Each hat bears a different phrase in every episode.

Scott Adsit plays which level-headed TGS producer?

He is often the 'sane' one, though he lets slip embarrassing family details.

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?

Grizz is a gentle giant and Dot Com is a Wesleyan-trained stage actor.

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

Katrina Bowden plays her, to the delight of the writers' room.

Which prize does Tracy chase in later seasons, wanting all four awards?

EGOT stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

Who composed 30 Rock's theme music?

Fey's husband also produced the show, and the theme was Emmy-nominated.

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

It was nominated in every other year of its run too.

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

It won five of them, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Lead Actor for Baldwin.

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

She took Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2007.

Where were most interior scenes of 30 Rock filmed?

Two live episodes were done at the real Studio 8H in 30 Rock.

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?

He had said everyone would one day work for the young page, or be dead by his hand.

The page Kenneth is hinted to be immortal through arguments with an unseen figure he calls what?

Fans read it as a nod to the immortality-granting character on Lost.

Liz Lemon grew up in which small Pennsylvania town?

Her parents are Dick and Margaret Lemon.

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

The reveal comes when Liz invites Jack's birth parents to TGS.

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

It is Han Solo's reply to Leia in The Empire Strikes Back.

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

The Kabletown arc dramatised the Comcast takeover directly.

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

Its heavy use of cutaways became one of its trademarks.

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

She returned to SNL to play the character during 30 Rock's third season.

The 30 Rock pilot was first filmed under what working title?

NBC gave the show its final name after the location of NBC Studios.

What had Fey resisted doing until she imagined casting Tracy Morgan as the lead?

NBC's president told her to write what she knew.

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

Fey and Robert Carlock requested the removal themselves.

What was TGS with Tracy Jordan called before Jack renamed it?

It is filmed in the fictional Studio 6H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

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?

It was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series every year it ran.

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

Variety later ranked it #22 among the 100 greatest shows.

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

NBC's Kevin Reilly urged her to write about what 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 two instalments were shot in the real Studio 8H rather than at Silvercup?

Everything else was single-camera at Silvercup Studios in Queens.

Whose home was shown using stock footage of the Arkansas Governor's Mansion?

The reclusive Volure was Liz's brief love interest.

Which Gladys Knight song was covered with altered lyrics about Kenneth's travel mix-up?

Jeff Richmond's jazz score earned an Emmy nod for the theme.

What was the online business school in NBC's 30 Rock 360 extension called?

Users could also submit TGS sketches and use the Ask Tina platform.

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

Kevin Brown played the erudite Walter 'Dot Com' Slattery.

Who plays Jonathan, Jack's overprotective personal assistant?

Jonathan sometimes appears to be in love with Jack.

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

He also sang one of the show's original songs with Fey.

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

Greta Johansen appeared in four episodes after Dratch lost the Jenna role.

What did Liz's future husband Criss Chros run when first introduced?

James Marsden plays him; he later works as a dental receptionist.

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

She wrote Kenneth with him in mind.

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

Rice played Jack's former flame; Pelosi appeared in the finale.

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

Jack's engagement to auctioneer Phoebe was another season-one arc.

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

The engagement was eventually called off.

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

It had been planned as 22 episodes.

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

It was based on the real 1988 film Mystic Pizza.

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

Jack, a Republican, dates the Democrat before they break up.

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

Jack, meanwhile, plots to get fired from a government job by proposing a 'gay bomb'.

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

Oprah appeared as a hallucination in the same season's second episode.

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

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

Which cable company acquired NBC in the show, mirroring Comcast's real deal?

It is based in Philadelphia, like Comcast.

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?

Paul Giamatti guested as a TGS editor the same season.

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

She also appeared as herself playing the character.

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

Ken Howard played her grandfather, CEO Hank Hooper.

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

Jack spends season six trying to recover Avery from North Korea.

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

De Niro and Grammer also played themselves in season five.

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?

The episode riffed on Tracy Morgan's real anti-gay remarks and GLAAD.

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

Season seven ended up as 13 episodes.

Which actress plays Hazel, the page who manipulates Kenneth in season seven?

She wants her moment on TGS.

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

Paul L'astname is renowned for impersonating Jenna herself.

Which two comedies did HuffPost rank alongside 30 Rock as the great TV comedies?

A 2012 Vanity Fair poll called it the seventh greatest sitcom ever.

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

A year later it set a new mark with 22.

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

That year the show swept series, lead actor and lead actress.

Which episode won the writing Emmy in 2009, one of five wins from a record 22 nominations?

Baldwin also won lead actor that year.

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

The final season drew 13 nominations, most of any comedy that year.

Which classic sitcom did the Peabody board name 30 Rock a workplace-comedy heir to?

Critics likened Liz and Jack to Mary Richards and Lou Grant.

How many viewers watched the 30 Rock pilot in 2006?

Only the season three premiere, at 8.5 million, ever topped it.

Which 1960s sitcom was parodied in the opening segment of the 30 Rock pilot?

Like it, 30 Rock centres on an unmarried brunette career woman in TV.

Which Ted Danson series began life as a Jack Donaghy mayoral spin-off?

Baldwin dropped out after a year of talks and the setting moved to LA.

Which guest star's blackface scene got 'Live from Studio 6H' pulled in 2020?

Three other episodes with Jenna in blackface were also removed in 2020.

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?

It later bounced back to Netflix in 2021-22 and to Peacock.

What is Liz Lemon's unusual middle name?

Fey was the first person to win Critics' Choice, Golden Globe, Emmy, SAG and TCA awards for one performance.

Which pioneering TV writer inspired Liz to become a writer?

Carrie Fisher played the first female head writer of Laugh-In in 'Rosemary's Baby'.

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

She studied theatre tech and still has an outstanding student loan.

Which Star Wars character does Liz dress as for four Halloweens running?

She later marries in a Leia dress after burning her original one.

What is Liz's ringtone in the episode 'Cleveland'?

She and Jenna consider it a reference to What's Opera, Doc?

Which two children does Liz adopt with Criss?

After TGS is cancelled she briefly tries stay-at-home motherhood.

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

He worked as a stevedore at the Port of Boston from age 12.

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

He was also a member of the 'Twig and Plums' secret society and a classmate of Michelle Obama.

How did Jack pay his way through Harvard Business School?

His classmates voted him 'Most'.

Which GE CEO transferred Jack to the microwave ovens division?

Geiss later fell into a coma and then stunned Jack by staying on as chairman.

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

He is Jack's arch-rival as VP of West Coast Television.

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

A couch makes an interrogated North Korean spill vital information.

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.

Which product sponsors Jack's TV movie about Avery's kidnapping?

The film is titled Kidnapped by Danger: The Avery Jessup Story.

Where was Tracy Jordan born, according to the show?

His exact birth date is unknown as he has no birth certificate.

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

They have been married since 1991.

Which SNL veteran plays Jenna's mother Verna?

Jenna's father left Verna for a curly-haired surfer named Roberta.

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

Methods include catapulting her into the Hollywood sign.

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

Legal issues barred both the name and the music.

Which board game did Jenna star in a film adaptation of, playing 'Arts & Leisure'?

Her werewolf film Nightstalkers was shut down in Iceland.

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

It also hit number four in Belgium.

Which reality talent show did Jenna judge in season six?

Her country single was 'Tennis Night in America'.

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

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

What was the name of the pig Kenneth befriended and later unknowingly ate?

He needed $300 for a ticket and won it in a pig-eating contest.

What physical oddity did Kenneth have until age 16?

He gives it to Hazel for good luck.

What is Kenneth's absurdly long real first name?

His middle name is Ellen.

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.

Which Canadian city is TGS cast member Danny Baker originally from?

He first appears in 'Audition Day', where he replaces the departed Josh Girard in the TGS cast.

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

The fictional address, 160 Riverside Drive, later becomes 168; when the building goes condo, Liz buys both 3B and 4B with her Dealbreakers earnings.

Liz briefly dates a white Englishman who shares his name with which action-film star?

It's a running gag that Liz dates men with celebrity names; another was airline pilot Carol Burnett, surname pronounced 'Burn-it'.

How did Jack Donaghy's presumed father traumatise him at age two, per his backstory?

The man later abandoned the family; Jack's mother then nagged him his whole life, even blaming him for JFK's death.

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

Seven seasons followed; despite three straight Outstanding Comedy Series Emmys, the show struggled in the ratings its entire run.