Kenneth Potsdown
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Kenneth Ellen Potsdown | |
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Kenneth Ellen Potsdown. |
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First appearance | "Pilot" |
Information | |
Gender | Male |
Age | 20s |
Occupation | assistant |
Portrayed by | Jack McBrayer |
Created by | Tina Fey |
Kenneth Ellen Potsdown or Kenneth Parcell is a fictional character in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. Also referred to as "Kenneth the Page," he is portrayed by Jack McBrayer.
There seems to be some inconsistency in regards to Kenneth's last name; in "Blind Date," his full name is given to be "Kenneth Ellen Potsdown," but in "The Head and the Hair" he is addressed as "Mr. Parcell." Parcell is also used in the "Evening with Kenneth" videos on NBC's 30 Rock website.
[edit] Character Traits/Distinctions
Kenneth, who appears to be in his late teens to early twenties, currently works as part of the NBC Page Program. He is from Stone Mountain, Georgia, where his father was a pig farmer. An awkward yet polite rube, Kenneth was called "a weird guy" by Conan O'Brien after performing a one-man show to an empty, darkened theater. He is always smiling, excited and happy to do his job, which most people do not understand, as they see it as a bad job. He explains in the pilot that he loves his job because he loves television, and also gives the same reason in "The Head and the Hair" for why he waits on everyone hand and foot.
He acts as Tracy Jordan's personal assistant, even so far as to get him his lunch (nachos--from Yankee Stadium). He is sometimes seen trying to impress or emulate Tracy, even wearing Tracy's chains when he wins them in a card game.
As seen in the episode "Blind Date," Kenneth is a very good poker player because people can't read his thoughts, because, according to Frank, "he doesn't have any." He was almost fired by Jack Donaghy because of this, but he was not actually fired as Jack revealed he just wanted to let him know that "he could fire him". In the same episode Jack warned, "In five years we'll all either be working for him... or be dead by his hand."
Kenneth is also a very good clogger, as seen in the episode "Tracy Does Conan" when he pretends to be interviewed by Conan O'Brien, until it is revealed he is alone in his studio.
His best friend is his mother. He credits his persistent optimism to his mother telling him that, no matter how bad things seem, there is always someone else having a worse day, "like being stung by a bee or getting a splinter or being chained to a wall in someone's sex dungeon."
A running gag with him seems to be someone taking his sandwich. Tracy Jordan and Jack Donaghy have both done this.
Kenneth developed a game show called Gold Case for NBC, in which contestants determined which case held $1,000,000 in gold. NBC filmed some initial episodes with celebrity host John McEnroe but canceled the project because contestants could find the gold simply by identifying which model was struggling to hold the weight of her case.
In "Black Tie," Kenneth referred to Footloose as the movie where "those evil kids won in the end." He was also shown to be rather religious in that episode, telling Pete to think of God in order to prevent him from cheating on his wife. It is revealed in " The Fighting Irish" that this religion is "8th Day Resurrected Covenant of the Holy Trinity."
Kenneth is apparently very loyal to NBC since he told Pete that he didn't want to "disgrace the peacock" in "The C Word." (Pete told him that he was too late.)
Episodes: Season One |