History Series / ThirtyRock

%% * HollywoodDateless: Liz, much of the time.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Played for laughs in the episode "Sandwich Day", where Jenna is having trouble with a drinking competition, competing by herself - that is until everyone simultaneously realizes they can now drink alcohol (Tracy's monitoring bracelet deactivates, Kenneth realizes he grew up drinking the stuff etc), and help Jenna win.

** In the final scene of the final episode, Liz's great-grandaughter is pitching Kenneth, who looks exactly the same, an in-universe version of ''30 Rock''.

''30 Rock'' is a [[RapidFireComedy fast-paced]] and outlandish Creator/{{NBC}} WorkCom starring Creator/TinaFey (also a writer and executive producer as well as the creator of the series) and Creator/AlecBaldwin. The show was launched in 2006, and ended in January 2013 after seven seasons -- not because of the suits, but because the showrunner wanted it to and Baldwin decided he wanted to do something else for a change.[[note]]Although, because this wouldn't be early-2010s NBC without at least one dickish executive decision, the seventh season is abbreviated--which neither Fey nor Baldwin wanted.[[/note]] Not bad, and a fitting run for a show that made out like a bandit at three consecutive Emmy Award ceremonies.

* Kenneth Ellen Parcell (Creator/JackMcBrayer) - [[TheDitz Dim-witted]] [[ThePollyanna Pollyanna]] from the DeepSouth, he's quickly become a BreakoutCharacter and often acts as a MoralityPet for the other characters. He's also [[OlderThanTheyLook older than he looks]]. [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Much, much older]].

* BreakoutCharacter / EnsembleDarkHorse: Kenneth, big time.

* Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) - Has a [[SmallNameBigEgo Big Name and an Even Bigger Ego]]. Tracy seems to [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} live in his own world]] of stabbing robots and vampire golfers. He has UltimateJobSecurity due to his celebrity status.

* Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit) - Implied to be a JadedWashout with his mostly unseen family, at work he's the OnlySaneMan and/or TheGenericGuy.

* Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander) - A slovenly, perverse [[TheSlacker Slacker]] and ManChild who is prone to cruel pranks when he can be bothered to do anything constructive at all. He's always seen wearing a trucker hat with a different snarky or obtuse message on it.
* Josh Girard (Lonny Ross) - A guileless, idiotic actor/writer/impressionist for ''[=TGS=]'' in the earlier seasons, often thought to have been based on Jimmy Fallon. He spent most of the third season OutOfFocus, to the point of appearing in only four episodes out of 22, and was put on a LongBusTrip in the fourth.

* Jonathan (Maulik Pancholy) - Jack's [[SycophanticServant worshipful]] assistant. At times, he's hinted to have a gay crush on Jack. Between seasons five and six, his actor became a regular on ''Series/{{Whitney}}'' and Jonathan [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappeared without explanation]]. He returned for the seventh season, explaining that he'd been taking care of his ill grandmother in Salinas.

-->'''Liz:''' Word of advice: if the will says you have to spend the night in a haunted house, [[SortingAlgorithmOfMortality you better hope]] that everybody else there is [[BlackDudeDiesFirst black guys]] and [[DeathBySex sluts]].

** In "The Problem Solvers", to express astonishment, Liz actually' ''says the words'' "spit take".

* SpotlightStealingTitle: the ShowWithinAShow ''The Girlie Show'' becomes ''[=TGS=] with Tracy Jordan'' thanks to Jack's ExecutiveMeddling.

* TheScrappy: Jenna was cast on ''Night Court'' as a werewolf lawyer, which caused the show to JumpTheShark (and Harry Anderson, Markie Post, and Charles Robinson are still mad at her about it).

* [[OldShame/InUniverse Old Shame]]: When Liz was still trying to be an actor in Chicago, the only role she ever got was in a commercial for an [[UsefulNotes/NineHundredNumber adult chat line]]. She considers this very embarassing, and is mortified when she realizes that a copy exists on Website/YouTube.

** Jack's ExecutiveMeddling in his and Liz's television movie "Kidnapped by Danger" includes forcing the inclusion of an "awesome catchphrase!"

* AmbiguouslyBrown: Carmen Chao, Avery Jessup's rival, has a Chinese last name and olive skin. The mystery of her ethnic background is played for laughs. Her actress Vanessa Lachey is of mixed Irish, Italian and Filipina descent.

%%* MsFanservice: Lampshaded with Cerie in season one; Elisa in season 3.

** One episode shows Tracy has a [[NotHyperbole literal]] race card. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin An index card that simply says the word "racism" in big, block letters.]]

* DidNotThinkThisThrough: In "Gentleman's Intermission", Liz learns that her father intends to cheat on her mother. She tries to put a stop to this by going to a bar he's at and pretending to be someone else so he can hit on her. However, when she reveals who she is, the other patrons react in disgust and one of them tells her it was a terrible plan.

* BuxomIsBetter:

** Jack's girlfriend Elisa, played by the patron saint of BuxomIsBetter, Creator/SalmaHayek. From "St. Valentine's Day":

* SempaiKohai: Called by name by Jack with respect to himself and Don Geiss.

---> '''Liz:''' I do love me them french-fried potaters!\\
'''Jenna:''' No you don't, Oprah! [[note]] The first rule of improv, of course, being "no negation." On top of that, Jenna not only gets wrong which impression Liz is doing, but doesn't even bother doing an impression of her own.[[/note]]

* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** The "Gay Bomb" was an actual Pentagon project that was abandoned in the mid-nineties.
** Much of Tracy's insane behavior is patterned on actual Hollywood celebrity behavior; for example, Tracy has his Oscar claimed by a Native American...just like Creator/MarlonBrando. Of course, unlike Brando (who was protesting the unfair treatment of Native Americans in film), Tracy simply had ''a mouth full of Pop-Tarts''.
** One episode has Jack and Avery scrambling to have their child be born on American soil, so she can be U.S. President one day. She ends up being born in Canada. The requirements for being United States President include being a "natural-born citizen", a poorly defined phrase that ''probably'' means the child can be born overseas as long as the parents are United States citizens, but has also been used politically and in court challenges against potential candidates - specifically 2016 Republican primary candidate Ted Cruz, born in Canada - without definitive result. It's plausible that until the issue gets a clear legal ruling, being Canadian-born would at least hurt her chances politically. (See also Artistic License - Law below.)

* GrossUpCloseUp: "NO! NO HI DEF!"

* FateDrivesUsTogether: The only reason Wesley Snipes (not [[NamesTheSame that]] one) made any appearances after his first.

* NamesTheSame: In-Universe. Wesley Snipes protests that, between himeself and the actor, ''he'' should be the one named Wesley Snipes as the name better fits a nebbish Englishman than a handsome African-American actor.