30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey which airs (as of 2012) on NBC. The series takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy series, also airing on NBC; the name "30 Rock" refers to the address of the GE Building, where NBC Studios is located (30 Rockefeller Plaza).[1] The series has an ensemble cast consisting of 13 regular cast members: Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, Scott Adsit, Judah Friedlander, Alec Baldwin, Katrina Bowden, Keith Powell, John Lutz, Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman and Maulik Pancholy.[2]
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The series features seven characters appearing during the opening credits, and another seven characters not appearing during the opening credits but also receiving star billing. One character was written out of the show during season four.
Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), the series' protagonist, is head writer of TGS with Tracy Jordan. Jack Donaghy calls her a "New York third-wave feminist, college-educated, single-and-pretending-to-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."
Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) is the decisive, controlling, suave network executive who must deal with (and/or causes) unusual events at TGS, an Irish Catholic Republican. Donaghy is portrayed as a slick, brilliant and scrupulous network executive who directs many overtly backhanded compliments to Liz. Lemon (as he refers to her) and Donaghy have a work spouse relationship.
Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) is the loose cannon star of TGS. He is a movie star with a reputation for erratic behavior. This reputation is well-deserved; much of it is an intentional attempt on his part to maintain his "crazy" persona in the eyes of the media. In the pilot episode, Jack Donaghy forces Liz Lemon to hire Tracy as the new star of her sketch comedy program The Girlie Show. To the chagrin of Liz and Jenna, Jack renames the show TGS with Tracy Jordan in the following episode. Tracy has remained the star of TGS ever since.
Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) is the limelight-seeking costar of TGS, and Liz's best friend. A motif is Jenna's unwavering conviction she is doing the right thing for her career, invariably resulting in public humiliation from which she never learns. She is the stereotypical air-headed, self-centered dumb blonde actress. Off-camera she is conceited, frequently lies about her age and uses her "sexuality" (consisting of flirting) to manipulate men. Jenna attempts to seem intelligent to her fans, telling Life and Style magazine that her favorite book is the Quran.
Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer) is a cheerful, obedient Southern-born NBC page who "lives for television". In the early episodes, Kenneth seemed unfamiliar with some of Liz's staff (and Liz herself). In the pilot, Liz refers to Kenneth as "that NBC page". As the series progressed, his character became familiar with the other staff of TGS (including Jack Donaghy). Kenneth acts as Tracy Jordan's personal assistant (for instance, getting Tracy nachos from Yankee Stadium); he is a member of Tracy's entourage and becomes close to Tracy, Grizz and Dot Com.
Peter "Pete" Hornberger (Scott Adsit) is the reasonable, quick-witted producer of TGS and Liz's most-trusted friend. He works closely with Liz, whom (as mentioned in "Blind Date") he has known for a decade. In the pilot, incoming NBC executive Jack Donaghy fired Pete without consulting Liz; however, she convinced him to hire Pete back. Liz confides in Pete; sometimes he seems to be the only competent person she works with, and the one who will be honest about her personal life. Like Liz, Pete plays straight man to the other characters (even to her, when she is overstressed).
Francis "Frank" Rossitano (Judah Friedlander) is a trucker-hat-wearing, childish, sarcastic writer at TGS. After Liz, Frank is the most prominently-featured writer of the show-within-a-show. He wears a variety of trucker hats with humorous phrases (which Friedlander also wears in real life) and large, thick-lensed glasses. At first glance Frank seems childish, lazy and libidinous; however, he is clever, quick-witted and intelligent.
Friedlander says he makes the hats for his character himself, using phrases he invents;[3] in episode S03E18 where Liz is forced to stay home, one of her final requests before being forced out of the building was to know what Frank's hat said. Frank first started wearing the hats at the age of 14; his eighth-grade class photo shows him in a hat reading "My First Hat". Frank's character is similar to former Saturday Night Live writer Frank Sebastiano, who worked with Tina Fey for several years.
Cerie (Katrina Bowden) is Liz's attractive, laid-back personal assistant who wears revealing outfits to work (to the delight of the writers). She is the youngest member on the show's staff, but her age is unknown. Cerie's humor derives from what she says to (and assumes about) Liz; she is convinced that Liz was once married. This insensitivity is from naïveté, not malice. She does not respect her boss; in the pilot she politely declined Liz's request to get her coffee, instead preferring to lounge on the couch.[4]
James "Toofer" Spurlock (Keith Powell) is a proud African-American Harvard University alumnus and TGS writer, who often disagrees with Tracy and Frank (although he and Frank often socialize with Lutz). He detests the stereotypical aspects of black culture he believes are embodied by Tracy Jordan, and he serves as a foil to Tracy. According to Liz, Toofer is "afraid of black people". He claims pride in his black heritage, showing off a photo of an ancestor who was an officer in the Civil War; later, he discovers the man actually fought for the Confederacy. According to Jack, his nickname is "Toofer" because "with him you get a two-for-one; he's a black guy and a Harvard guy". Frank (with whom he shares an office) called him a "black nerd" à la Steve Urkel. It was revealed in season 4, episode 17 that Toofer was only hired because of affirmative action; he quits in anger, before he agrees to return.
Jonathan (Maulik Pancholy) is Jack's assistant, whom Jack hired after (under the influence of a sedative) mistaking him for M. Night Shyamalan on a flight. Jonathan (last name unknown) fawns on Jack, occasionally showing a vague sexual affection for him. When Liz observed that Jack was "a bit of a stress eater" in the episode "The Baby Show" Jonathan defended him, saying emotionally that "he puts up with so much" (referring to Jack's overbearing mother). His obsessive admiration of Jack is coupled with disdain towards Liz, whom he considers unworthy of Jack's attention. In "Secret Santa" it is mentioned that Jonathan has a sister who was once imprisoned in a North Korean jail; Jack had her released as a Christmas gift, in keeping with his custom of giving lavish (and un-toppable) holiday gifts. In "Klaus and Greta" Jonathan mentions that he met his "birth parents", revealing that he is adopted; in Anna Howard Shaw Day, he gleefully tells Jack that he once ran over an elderly woman in Arizona and just kept driving. In season 4, episode 11 ("Winter Madness") it is revealed that Jonathan is Indian when Jack says, "Jonathan, why do I have an Indian assistant if..." During the same season (in episode 18, entitled "Khonani") this is reinforced when Jonathan says to the janitor (Khonani) in Hindi, "Popes and princes count their Donaghy time in seconds!" In the season-five episode Let's Stay Together Jack asks Jonathan to provide a distraction by pretending to be a stereotypical Indian and faking an Indian accent, to which Jonathan objects "But I'm from Palo Alto!" In a later episode that season (Operation Righteous Cowboy Lightning) Jonathan reacts with glee to news of a natural disaster in Pakistan, hopeful it took place in Jammu and Kashmir (referred to by him as "Indian Kashmir").
Warren "Grizz" Griswold (Grizz Chapman) is a member of Tracy's entourage.[5][6] A recurring character during the first two seasons, he is credited as a series regular in seasons three and four. Within the entourage, Grizz is charged with "sitting on" Tracy when he is overstimulated.
Walter "Dot Com" Slattery (Kevin Brown) is another member of Tracy's entourage. Another recurring character during the first two seasons, he is also credited as a series regular during seasons three and four. Dot Com is Tracy's driver and cook; in "Hard Ball", their last names are revealed.[5][6] Dot Com is an intellectual; a 1993 graduate of Wesleyan University, he once portrayed Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull.
J. D. Lutz (John Lutz) is a lazy, overweight TGS writer who is often ridiculed by the rest of the staff. When characters enter the room they sometimes yell, "Shut up, Lutz!" although Lutz was not speaking at the time. The other characters are unconcerned about his well-being; when Lutz ran headfirst into a wall in "The Ones", no one helped him until a wall-mounted television fell on him. Lutz is originally from Alaska (which he hates); his grandmother recently died. His first two initials were mentioned in "The Aftermath", where it was also revealed that he has a thyroid problem. He attended Oberlin College; after his junior year, he traveled to South by Southwest (an event-planning company in Austin, Texas). The show implies that he is a gay man in the process of coming out, although everyone ignores (or forgets) this due to their dislike of him. Lutz periodically mentions a girlfriend who lives in Canada, named Karen. No one believes him; therefore, Lutz created a website (JDLutz.com/karen/proof—an actual page on the 30 Rock website).
Jack "Danny" Baker (Cheyenne Jackson) is the newest TGS cast member, hired in an open tryout. Danny is originally from Ottawa, and got his start as a robotic street performer (portrayed by Daniel Genalo). On his first day of work (without his silver clothes and makeup), he was told his new name was Danny to prevent confusion with Jack Donaghy. He had a sexual relationship with Liz (to Jack's disapproval), evidenced by awkwardly-placed hand prints by robotic makeup (visible in ultraviolet light). Danny defers to Jenna when his singing talent makes her jealous, to the point of deliberately singing badly during a Christmas special so she can step in and shine. He mentions that he has a hard time recognizing sarcasm because Canada has a small Jewish population, and was shocked to discover he was adopted (although his mother is Asian).
Don Geiss (Rip Torn) ( /ˈɡaɪs/)[7] is CEO of General Electric (GE) on the show, and Jack's boss. Jack considers Geiss his mentor, and idolizes him. Geiss has a mentally-challenged daughter (Kathy), a secret second family in Canada (a reference to Torn's role in Eulogy) and a third (secret) attic family. In "Future Husband" Geiss dies, but (real-world) former GE chairman Jack Welch keeps his death a secret while GE negotiates a takeover with the (fictional) Philadelphia-based cable company Kabletown (which is based on Comcast). Geiss is cryogenically frozen in carbonite in an Episcopal service.
Josh Girard (Lonny Ross) is a young, immature TGS writer and co-star, who was the male star of the show before Tracy Jordan was hired. Josh is known for his impressions; Liz discovered him when he was the opening act for a puppet. He, Tracy and Jenna Maroney were the three main actors on the show. Josh's character is based on SNL alumnus Jimmy Fallon.[8] Josh was formerly a writer in addition to appearing on the show; he was seen brainstorming in the writers' room (Jenna and Tracy are not). His appearances lessened until Josh was written out in season four; most of the characters have forgotten his existence.
Kathy Geiss (Marceline Hugot) is Don Geiss' daughter. She is plump, 40-something and appears to suffer from rosacea. Kathy likes unicorns, Mark Wahlberg and soap operas. She has been seen putting toy race cars in her mouth and eating flowers; Kathy is also a gifted singer, a talent she shares with Susan Boyle. She rarely speaks, however; when she does, it is in repeated single words (such as "kiss kiss kiss" in "Do-Over". When her father was in a coma, Kathy held the titles of Chairman and CEO of GE and President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming. Kathy was a figurehead, however; her fiance (Devon Banks) ran the company.
Devon Banks (Will Arnett) is the former Vice President of West Coast News, Web Content, and Theme Park Talent Relations for NBC. In a 2008 interview with Fortune magazine, Tina Fey said that Banks' character was based on former co-chairman of NBC Entertainment Ben Silverman.[9] Devon is the nemesis of the (older) Jack Donaghy; he is first seen in "Fireworks", when his surprise visit from Los Angeles leads Jack to believe that he is trying to take Jack's job as Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming.
Devon returns in season four, after having "wormed his way into the Obama inner circle". He chairs a committee investigating incompetence at GE; Devon again attempts to destroy Jack, who undercuts him by accepting a government bailout to keep GE afloat. The later Kabletown acquisition mutes Devon's efforts to control Jack.
Hank Hooper (Ken Howard) is the head of Kabletown. He is a "family man", and also a Vietnam veteran. He often is enraged at Jack's handling of TGS, but always has a very happy mood, characterized by incessant laughter while at the same time directing thinly-veiled insults and threats to Jack and his staff.
Howard Jorgensen (Brian Stack) is Vice President of Locomotives at GE and a member of the board of directors. A former protégé of Jack's, who is married to a Filipina woman, has two children and owns a house with a pool. Jack stated that people use Jorgensen as a scapegoat.
Donny Lawson (Paul Scheer) is the Head Page of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, known for his weak one-liners and bizarre hand gestures. He hates Kenneth because of his excessive cheerfulness and wishes to transfer him to the CNBC network studios in Paramus, New Jersey. Donny is first introduced when Jenna tries to find a replacement jacket for Kenneth and Donny uses this as an excuse to give Kenneth a demerit. He challenges him to a "page-off" (a savage contest mixing physical stamina with NBC trivia), but this is quickly broken up by Pete, who then orders Donny to give Kenneth a new jacket.
Jeffrey Weinerslav (Todd Buonopane) (pronounced "weener-slave") works for GE human resources. He tried to mediate a dispute between Jenna and Tracy, but failed. He is a self-described "overweight transgender." He counseled Liz during her forced leave for sexual harassment, a leave she tried to extend by making a pass at him.
Sue LaRoche-Van der Hout (Sue Galloway), also referred to as 'girl-writer', is a TGS writer who appears to be fluent in French and Dutch, speaking with a heavy French-Dutch accent. She runs out of the room when Liz Lemon calls for a removal of all pornography, and can be heard commenting that she likes porn when Frank, left temporarily in charge by Liz, decides to remove the firewall so they can surf porn again.
Legreta "Greta" Johansen (Rachel Dratch) is a cat wrangler who works on the show. In the episode The Baby Show, she offered to carry the child that Liz wants, and revealed that she owns a small ferret farm 60 miles north of New York City. Greta also hints towards an obsession with Liz, mentioning that she likes to watch Liz watching TV.
Rachel Dratch played several additional minor characters including the janitor Jadwiga in the season five episode "Live Show".
The following characters have at some point during the show been Liz's boyfriend.
Dennis Duffy (Dean Winters) was Liz's boyfriend for three consecutive episodes in the early part of the show's first season, also making appearances in the second, third, fourth, and fifth seasons. He is generally disliked by most of the characters, notably Jenna and often Liz. Dennis claims to be the love of Liz's life, which she disputes. The few good memories she has of him are mostly food-related, but she does admit he makes her laugh. His nickname for Liz is "Dummy".
Dennis acts immature for a man of his age, often exclaiming things that would be expected of a teenage boy. In one episode, he is shown sitting on Liz's bed, presumably playing Halo 3, yelling in anger and throwing the controller down, remarking that the controller is "defective" because "That grenade was right next to him!" He was the last remaining beeper salesman in New York City and was known as the "Beeper King" since the original "Beeper King" killed himself.
Floyd DeBarber (Jason Sudeikis) is a lawyer working in 30 Rock. He first appeared when he accidentally sends flowers to Liz Lemon for Valentine's Day, intending to send them to his girlfriend Liz Lemler. Liz Lemon, who doesn't know his name, calls him "flower guy" and develops a crush on him.[10] In the episode "The Fighting Irish", Liz fires Liz Lemler and the rest of the accounting staff, so that she can get closer to Floyd with his girlfriend out of the building; however, Jack cleans up Liz's mess by rehiring the accountants and transferring Liz Lemler to a job at GE headquarters in Connecticut, causing Liz Lemler and Floyd to break up. In the episode "Fireworks", Liz follows Floyd into an AA meeting in order to get close to him, revealing that he is alcoholic and that the rules are important to him, stating that the last time he drank he did a man-on-the-street promo for Tarzan on Ice despite never having seen the show. When Liz lies about being an alcoholic in order to hear Floyd openly talk about his secrets, she finds out that members of the same AA group cannot date and confesses she was never an alcoholic and just had a crush on him.[11] Floyd feels betrayed by this, but Liz makes it up to him by telling Floyd all of her secrets, and the two then begin dating.[11] Jack becomes very good friends with Floyd and starts calling him "the Floydster," much to Liz's dismay. Floyd eventually seems to want to spend more time with Jack than Liz, making Liz a third wheel on their outings with Jack.[12] At the end of season 1, Floyd decides that New York City is too much for him, and seeks to move to his hometown of Cleveland. Liz and Floyd go there on a vacation, where Floyd gets a job and decides that he is going to move there; Liz ends up staying at TGS with Tracy Jordan in New York. Despite seeming perfect for each other, Floyd and Liz break up due to the stress of a long-distance relationship.[11][12]
Floyd the Barber was a regular character on The Andy Griffith Show.
Dr. Drew Baird (Jon Hamm) is a pediatrician and is Liz's neighbor. He first appeared in season 3, when Liz accidentally got his mail, eventually reading it and deciding he was perfect for her, leading her to create a false persona in order to make him like her. Eventually, Liz's scheme unravels, and Drew is disappointed in her; however, he reads her mail and tells her that he feels that Liz would have been someone he really would have wanted to know. Eventually, they agree upon a fresh start. He was recently divorced from a woman named Mandy and has one daughter from the marriage, named Bethany, who is a rebellious teenager who drinks wine and frequently starts fires. Their first date was on Valentine's Day 2009, during which not only did Bethany end up at Liz's apartment, but Drew's mother died in the hospital after being ill. On her deathbed, she told Liz that she was not Drew's mother and that the person Drew thinks is his sister is, in fact, his mother. Liz tells Drew this later in the episode. He also has an aunt named Gloria. In episode 15 of the third season, entitled "The Bubble", Liz is concerned with Drew's behavior, as he is outwardly handsome and unintentionally "manipulates" the people around him (with his looks). Liz shows Drew that this is called "living in the bubble" and shows him that this is not how normal people are treated. When Liz beats him in a tennis match, he becomes angry with his "sore-loser" attitude, and eventually apologizes for his behavior asking Liz if she would like to take a ride with him on his new motorcycle. Liz declines, leading the viewer to believe that the relationship has ended. Drew is portrayed as quite stupid, lacking knowledge of such basic medical procedures as the Heimlich Maneuver.
Wesley Snipes (Michael Sheen) met Liz in her oral surgeon's recovery room after her root canal, but does not remember the encounter. Instead, she discovers him on her phone, listed in her contacts as "Future Husband." After a few dates, Liz and Wesley realize they do not belong together. When talking, Wesley often uses misleading Britishisms, which Liz recognizes as made up. He is displeased that the actor Wesley Snipes has his name, saying he (British Wesley) personifies the name much more strongly as a pasty, unathletic British man. Wesley is rude to Liz and mocks her romantic history, and tries to leverage her desperation over being alone into helping him deal with his professional and immigration debacles. Even so Wesley believes they are "settling soulmates", and sets the stage for another meeting during "sweeps", (which alludes to the season finale) which he claims is the British version of spring cleaning. In the Season 4 finale, Liz meets a pilot, Carol (played by Matt Damon) who seems to be her actual soulmate, and publicly breaks up with Wesley.
Steven Black (Wayne Brady) was Tracy's manager during season one. He briefly dated Liz during the episode "The Source Awards", but Liz realized that they were completely incompatible after one date. When she attempted to break things off, Steven claimed that she was racist. Liz continued to date Steven, hoping that he would see their incompatibility himself. At The Source Awards, Liz accidentally set off Tracy Jordan's gun, hitting Steven in the upper thigh while he was trying to get his phone out of her purse. They broke up afterwards. The appearance of Steven on the show represents a clash of universes, as his portrayer Wayne Brady has been mentioned on the show before, most notably in the Season One episode Jack Meets Dennis, where Liz remarks that Tracy stole a People's Choice Award from him.
Carol Burnett (Matt Damon) is a pilot who establishes a relationship with Liz in the season four finale. In season five, the two have a difference of opinion on how serious their relationship should be—Liz likes how casual they are with Carol gone on flights most of the time, but he wants them to become more seriously committed to one another. Despite their difference of opinion on their relationship, they (mostly, but not entirely) have the same quirks and character traits. This becomes a problem factor in the episode "Double-Edged Sword", when Liz and Carol break up, after an extremely heated argument on a plane. His surname is revealed by Kenneth in "Chain Reaction of Mental Anguish" and is a reference to the entertainer Carol Burnett.
Astronaut Mike Dexter (John Anderson) is Liz's fantasy boyfriend that she compares all other men to. She mentions him in several episodes, and he actually shows up in her fantasies in season four. In "Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001", he tells her that he has to go back to space, but "enjoyed the kissing followed by his genuine interest in that TV dance competition." In "The Moms", she reveals that Astronaut Mike Dexter is also the secret King of Monaco. Liz actually meets a man named Mike (although he's a lawyer) who looks exactly like Astronaut Mike Dexter at Floyd's wedding in "Emanuelle Goes to Dinosaur Land", although Mike reveals that he is a "plushie" who enjoys having sex (or "yiffing") with people in mascot costumes in state parks. Astronaut Mike Dexter also appears, although not by that name, in Jack's "porn for women", which features handsome men asking women about their day, in "Don Geiss, America and Hope", which Liz is seduced into buying.
The following characters have at some point during the show been Jack's girlfriend, wife or fiancée.
Bianca (Isabella Rossellini) is Jack Donaghy's ex-wife, whose years of marital bliss with the network exec weren't all that rosy, since Jack's mother never liked her from the beginning. She was first introduced in Season 1, Episode 12 and had her second and most recent appearance in the following episode. As of her last appearance, she is engaged to a man named Vincent Foley and in Season 1, Episode 13 she finalised her divorce with Jack (although they had been legally separated since 1989). Jack mentioned that she was too much of a woman for him which is why they divorced. Bianca is able to tolerate most of Jack's meaningless affairs but she seems to have a jealous streak towards women who can actually make Jack happy, as evidenced by Liz pretending to be Jack's fiancée, which resulted in Bianca attacking her at the event.
Condoleezza Rice is implied and later confirmed as one of Jack's more short-lived relationships. Dr. Rice guest appeared in the season 5 episode "Everything Sunny All the Time Always".
Phoebe (Emily Mortimer) is an art dealer and auctioneer who works at the Christie's branch in Rockefeller Center.[12] She is supposedly English and claims to have something called "avian bone syndrome," which requires that no one touch her, as well as vertigo. She always introduces herself to Liz every time they meet, and states that her parents were poets.[12] Jack eventually attracts Phoebe's attention and the two start dating, and after Liz gave the two her blessing, Jack quickly asks Phoebe to marry him and she accepts, stunning Liz.[12] Jack takes Phoebe to Paris, later finding out that Phoebe is actually a gold digger. Liz discovers Phoebe holding hands with an older man, Phoebe tells Liz that he is a former lover. Liz tells an angry Phoebe that either she tells Jack the truth or Liz will, but while arguing with Liz Phoebe accidentally drops her British accent, revealing herself to be American. When Liz tells Jack about this, he refuses to believe her, apparently, having been warned by Phoebe that Liz was making things up about her. When Jack's mother Colleen shows up in "Hiatus", she takes an instant dislike to Phoebe. After Colleen visits Jack in the hospital, she discovers that Jack wasn't in love with Phoebe as his heart rate monitor becomes a polygraph, and Phoebe notices this and slinks away in defeat. Jack and Phoebe's wedding was subsequently canceled.
Celeste "C. C." Cunningham (Edie Falco) is the Congresswoman for the state of Vermont. She is a Democrat. She meets Jack at a cocktail party honouring Robert Novak, and the two end up sleeping together. Soon after, Jack discovers she is a Democratic Congresswoman from Vermont and she is also trying to sue NBC's fictitious parent company, the Sheinhardt Wig Company, for apparently dumping some "Auburn Fantasy Dye Number 260" into the Chickatagua River which turned the children of Chickatagua orange. Despite Jack and C.C.'s conflicting political beliefs, they decide to pursue a relationship, which is at first kept secret. Jack and C.C. eventually reveal their relationship in Jack's executive dining room. Due to job related commitments, and the fact that Jack lives in New York and C.C. lives in Washington, D.C., they decide to break up. She returns in "Cooter" and approves development of a gay bomb to help get Jack fired from his position in Washington so he can return to 30 Rock, partly because of a favour she owed Jack.
Elisa Pedrera (Salma Hayek) is a Puerto Rican nurse who is deeply religious and puts a high value on family. She was introduced as a love interest for Jack in Season 3, when she takes care of Jack's mother, Colleen, who had injured both hips. While caring for Colleen, Elisa forms a romantic relationship with Jack. She also cares for another patient, an elderly male Alzheimer's patient. Colleen hates that Elisa and Jack are together, presumably because she hates every woman that Jack has been with. Elisa's grandmother initially hates Jack because he greatly resembles an actor playing a villain on her favorite telenovela, but eventually became quite fond of him after Jack has NBC purchase the rights to the show and changes his doppelgänger's part to appeal specifically to elderly women. Although Elisa and Jack had some relationship trouble on St. Valentine's Day, they made up, partly due to their joint love of McDonald's McFlurries. In the episode "Larry King" Jack proposes to Elisa, which she accepts, but afterward informs Jack that she is going to Puerto Rico, but promises to call Jack. When she returns, she and Jack begin planning their wedding, but it is revealed that Elisa is infamous among Puerto Ricans because she killed her husband when she discovered he was cheating on her. She flies into a homicidal rage when she believes Jack and Liz Lemon are having an affair, but after being dissuaded, she calms down, and agrees with Jack to call off the wedding and end the relationship because she cannot control her jealousy.
Nancy Donovan (Julianne Moore) was Jack Donaghy's high school crush. She and Jack shared a high school German class (in which Jack had the name "Klaus" and Nancy had the name "Greta"), Nancy's voice mail code stands for "Klaus" which means that Nancy does have feelings for Jack. It is discovered that she and her husband are separating. Jack confesses his feelings to her and she replies with a kiss. Most of her lines are written to showcase her heavy Boston accent. She is a devout Roman Catholic.
Avery Jessup (Elizabeth Banks) is a conservative media personality and the host of the political talk-show "The Hot-Box" and commentator on CNBC. She begins a relationship, which begins as a one-night stand, with Jack in Season 4 when he believes Nancy Donovan will not be divorcing her husband any time soon. He winds up dating them simultaneously, eventually choosing Avery over Nancy, shortly after being told that she is pregnant. Originally from Maryland (but is of Swedish descent), she attended Choate Rosemary Hall and then Yale University. They marry in Season 5 in between the events of "Christmas Attack Zone" and "Mrs. Donaghy", but she doesn't know that the priest married Jack and Liz. However, it has already appeared that this problem has been fixed. She gave birth to Jack's baby in "Double-Edged Sword" in Toronto, making her Canadian-American, and named her Liddy Elizabeth Donaghy - in honor of Liddy Dole, G. Gordon Liddy, and Jack's martial arts instructor, Lid E; the middle name is in honor of Liz Lemon. In "Everything Sunny All the Time Always", Avery is on a trip described by Jack as, "a hot blondes in weird places initiative," by NBC News in Asia. However, things don't go well, when she is detained in North Korea by Kim Jong-il and forced to take part in one of his (unrealistic) propagandas involving a Western journalist reporting on how the free world is being conquered by North Korea. Despite Jack's attempts to get her back - including getting help from his ex, Condoleezza Rice - she is stuck in Korea and forcibly married to Kim Jong-un.
Angie Jordan (Sherri Shepherd, formerly Sharon Wilkins in Jack the Writer) is Tracy Jordan's wife. They were married on August 30, 1991. Tracy and Angie frequently use rather odd forms of sexual roleplaying. Tracy implied in the episode Black Tie that he and Angie have an open marriage, but Angie is shown to be less than happy with her husband's extramarital escapades (that are later revealed as stories to boost Tracy's image). She kicked Tracy out of their house in the episode SeinfeldVision, but took him back in Jack Gets in the Game. She seems to have a domineering, bombastic personality and is rather demanding of her husband, both financially and sexually. Like her husband, she always addresses Liz Lemon by her full name. She is rude to Liz, nearly attacking her after Liz stops trying to appease her and orders her off the set. In "Mrs. Donaghy", Angie becomes the star of her own Bravo reality program, Queen of Jordan, which plays a large role in subsequent episodes of season five.
In her initial appearance in the episode Jack the Writer, which basically consisted of a non-speaking cameo, she was played by Sharon Wilkins. In all subsequent episodes, starting with "Up All Night", she is portrayed by Sherri Shepherd and is given a more substantial role.
Colleen Donaghy (née Murphy) (Elaine Stritch) is Jack Donaghy's overbearing, demanding mother. Jack generally wants nothing to do with her, even though it has been shown that deep down, he actually does love her. She first appeared in Season 1, Episode 21 and is generally critical at best of Jack's abilities, and is highly hesitant of showing him any real affection.
In Season 3, Episode 20, Colleen reveals that her ex-husband, Jim Donaghy, once left her in 1957 and returned in 1959. Jack was conceived in 1958, revealing that Jim Donaghy is not Jack's father.
Milton Greene (Alan Alda) is Jack Donaghy's biological father, a very liberal college professor from Vermont. He was introduced in the Season 3 episode "Mama Mia". Jack had previously learned that Jimmy Donaghy was not his biological father.
Tracy Jr. (Bobb'e J. Thompson) is the combative son of Tracy and Angie Jordan. The Jordans have another son, George Foreman Jordan, who has yet to speak on the show.
Verna Maroney (Jan Hooks) is Jenna's mother. A quintessential stage mother, she manipulates Jenna into forgiving her in order to pitch a reality show to Jack. In the end Jack pays her off to pretend to be a caring mother—the act works, thrilling Jenna. She was spurned by her husband Werner, a burger-server in suburban Santa Barbara, for a curly-haired surfer named Roberta. According to Jenna, it hurt her.
Dr. Leo Spaceman (/spəˈtʃɛmɨn/, US dict: spə·chĕm′·ɪn, except by Tracy, who pronounces it as the English word "spaceman") is a fictional character portrayed by Chris Parnell. Spaceman is a graduate of the Ho Chi Minh City School of Medicine and frequently practices, or attempts to practice, questionable medical actions such as giving a 'medical professional's seal of approval' to a defective 'meat machine'; in spite of this, Jack Donaghy is unwavering in his support of Spaceman's skills. He wrote a bestselling book called "The Cigarette Diet" and found shocking medical abnormalities during Desert Storm that his boss refused to forward a report on to Saddam Hussein, and began dating Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme whom he describes as "difficult".
Lenny Wosniak (Steve Buscemi) is a private investigator who has been hired by Jack on some occasions. Jack first hired him in the second season episode "The Collection", where, while spying on Jack to determine if he has any skeletons in his closet which could prevent him from being named the new CEO of General Electric, he discovers Jack has a large collection of homemade cookie jars. Jack also hired him in the third season to find out personal information concerning a man his mother was seeing and later the true identity of his father.
Donald (Michael Benjamin Washington) is an entrepreneur who pretends to be Tracy Jordan's son, despite being two years older than him. His money-making ideas consist largely of questionable business practices, such as picking out corporate names that are already used by major corporations (he wants to create a frozen-yogurt and microbrewery restaurant called Microsoft and a phone line to get updates on the air quality around the U.S. called American Airlines). Tracy knows Donald is not his son but supports his misguided ideas anyway, and Jack (who had convinced Tracy to cut Donald off) later tells Tracy to keep being a dad.
The following is a supplementary list of recurring characters, which includes characters that appear briefly in multiple episodes, like a regularly appearing writer, but have little to no real world content to justify an entire section covering their in-universe histories.
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Note: An actor's name appearing in italics denotes that they appeared only in flashbacks for that season.
30 Rock features a variety of guest roles including Cameos and featured fictional roles.
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