Hayley: For a long time we have wanted to talk about 30 Rock, but there is so much to talk about that we felt a little unsure of how to proceed. After making our one-off St. Patrick’s Day newsletter, we decided we would dedicate ourselves to an entire 30 Rock series right here on Gold-Plated Girls.
To quote Hilary Duff, let’s go back, back to the beginning. 30 Rock, the brainchild of Tina Fey, debuted in 2006 and ran through 2013. It has seven seasons and 139 episodes, including two live shows. It was available to stream on Netflix until early October 2017, when it then switched over to Hulu. In wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, four episodes of 30 Rock were removed from streaming services due to depictions of blackface.
I don’t remember the first time I saw an episode of 30 Rock, but I know that it was relatively late in the game. I know that the St. Patrick’s Day episode was one of the very first episodes I saw, so maybe it was that one, which aired in 2012. All I know is that sometime between 2012 and now, I became completely obsessed with 30 Rock and I have never looked back!
One of my friends and I joke about how we are always “at” a certain point in our 30 Rock rewatch, because we are just constantly cycling through the entire series. I recently finished Season 2, arguably the best season of the show, in my opinion.
Obviously we can dive into all the reasons WHY we love 30 Rock so much, and why it has become incredibly memeable and has a lasting internet presence almost a decade after it’s been off the air. But I’m curious about your entry point into 30 Rock, Victoria. When did you start watching the greatest show of all time?
Victoria: Wow you joined so late! In the summer of 2009, I saw the Broadway revival of Hair, and became obsessed with a member of the ensemble, the way 17 year old girls do. Google alerted me to the fact that he had appeared in one episode of 30 Rock, “Apollo, Apollo.” I had always kind of wanted to watch 30 Rock (in my head it was still kind of tied to Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, lol) and it was one of very few shows streaming on Netflix at that point, so I thought “let me try this out.” And I very quickly loved it and went back and started it from the beginning! It’s probably the second show I ever binged, after Grey’s Anatomy in the summer of 2008. And, of course, our mutural love of the show is part of what brought us together as friends.
As a kid raised on SNL reruns on Comedy Central and the SNL “best of” series (which also used to be on Netflix and they inexplicably just don’t make anymore??), 30 Rock seemed like the best thing ever. And part of what made it work was that it wasn’t “look how glamorous it is to make a sketch comedy show,” but rather, “wow we are all incredibly silly and it’s an absolute miracle that a sketch show is literally ever made.”
I remember in college one of the boys who also worked on the newspaper said, after I’d written a column about the 30 Rock finale, “Every girl thinks she’s Liz Lemon,” with a large amount of judgment in his voice. That still annoys me to think about.
But the reason why Liz felt so relatable is because she was an actual gross mess, as opposed to like a cute dainty rom com mess. All her relationships were comedically bad. Her habits were off putting. 30 Rock isn’t quite Curb Your Enthusiasm but I think it has more in common with that show’s pessimism than it does with the optimism of Parks and Rec.
Hayley, why did you fall for 30 Rock?
Hayley: Now that you’ve called attention to it, I feel like 2012 is too late for me to have entered the 30 Rock-o-sphere. I graduated college in 2012. I feel like I watched 30 Rock at some point in college, probably??? Like any good friendship, the starting point is murky but the relationship is strong.
30 Rock upon my first viewing held this sizzling, weird, magic charm. It was so funny and so different from anything else I had seen, except for maybe Arrested Development. Every joke has like four layers, and there are jokes in between each joke that you will miss until you’ve seen the episode nine times. Now when I rewatch 30 Rock I feel like I’m joke spelunking. And sometimes, it’s not a joke, but a reference to something pulled from the very depths of your memory. Like when Tracy Jordan says, “Let’s prepare for the adventure of a lifetime! And then after we watch Fievel Goes West, we’re gonna get you some action.” Or when Kenneth starts having an allergic reaction and yells out, “My real name is Dick Whitman!” It is a pop culture lover’s paradise.
Something else that I love about 30 Rock is that it’s not just the lines themselves, but how they’re delivered. Things like, “Vampire push!” and “HAM!” and “It’s a Mamma Mia!” and “Different times! Octomom!” and “Very wool” (bonus points if you read those all with the correct inflection) stand out to me as things that I say in regular conversation because the tone feels right even if the words are nonsense.
I told my friend once that I watch Parks and Rec when I feel bad and want to be cheered up, and 30 Rock when I feel bad and want validation that the world is a fucking mess. I still maintain this position, although I haven’t watched Parks and Rec at all since the pandemic started, so what does that tell you?
This is a dynamite ensemble cast, and it’s hard to pick favorites. But I want to know some of your favorite characters!
Victoria: Love this comparison between Parks and 30 Rock. Though more than a few things about 30 Rock have aged poorly, I think the reason why it still resonates is because the world of 30 Rock — what was supposed to be over-the-top and absurd — has become our world. Or our world has become more like theirs. I made a short list of some things from the last eight years that are basically 30 Rock plots:
- NBC naming their streaming service “Peacock”
- That Quibi show where Rachel Brosnahan had a golden arm
- Quibi, generally. And Seeso.
- Alec Baldwin’s wife pretending to be Spanish
- “Haircut Night In America”
- “The Circle” on Netflix
- Carole Baskin doing Dancing With The Stars
- Rick Perry doing Dancing With The Stars
- Elizabeth Smart doing The Masked Dancer
- The Masked Dancer
- The entire concept of Samantha Markle
- Every network TV reboot, but especially Murphy Brown
- Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
- Jennifer Lawrence marrying Cooke Maroney so her name is Jennifer Maroney which is basically Jenna Maroney
- Jane Krakowski hosting Name That Tune but they had to film it in Australia because of Covid so all the contestants were Americans who live in Australia but because they don’t live in America they don’t know any of the songs
- When Fox put Rob Gronkowski on five different TV programs
Favorite characters! Though in some ways I am a Liz, increasingly I identify as a Jenna Maroney. Jane Krakowski’s performance is just so absurd and funny and speaks to the deep Leo in me live very few other characters. Tracy is, of course, a chaotic icon that brings so much joy to my life. I think about the porn video game-Amadeus mashup weekly. Jack is so iconic to me that it took me a long time to be a full Alec Baldwin hater. I have always wanted a Frank hat.
The secret weapon of 30 Rock, to me, was always the music. Tina Fey’s husband, Jeff Richmond, helped them make some iconic songs, from season one’s “Muffin Top” to Tracy’s “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” to the “We Are The World”-style “Kidney Now” to the finale’s “Rural Juror” song. Instant ear worms! And it really builds out a world for the show, that it has its own kooky musical landscape.
Things Victoria Loves
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The Ted Lasso season two trailer dropped, so go watch season one! Now!
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Because we’re still wearing masks all the time I haven’t been wearing lipsticks, and when I do I reach for the more natural, barely there ones. A friend sent me one of the Lipstick Queen color-changing ones and it really does turn into such a perfect shade!
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Jenny Lewis’ The Voyager is still a perfect album for spring.
Stuff Hayley is Digging
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I really enjoyed this Glamour article about how the pandemic allowed professional dancers to have babies without sacrificing their career. It was a complex and interesting thing to think about.
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If you’re a craft beer lover, I’ve been enjoying Pipeworks Ride or Chai, it’s described as “an oat brown ale with milk sugar, black tea, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and star anise.”
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I finally got on the Bark Box train for my dog and they have the only toys that she does not destroy within five seconds of receiving them, it is well worth the investment!
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This Vulture article, “Maryam Hassan Answers Every Question We Have About School of Rock“