History Trivia / ThirtyRock

*** "God Cop", a TV Pilot about a cop who [[WunzaPlot teams up to solve crimes with god]], has "Series/{{Lucifer}}", which is roughly the same thing but with the Devil.

*** "Milf Island", a reality dating show with younger men competing to be with an older woman, has ''Series/{{MilfManor}}'', about largely the same concept minus the ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' theming.

*** "Milf Island", a reality dating show with younger men competing to be with an older woman, has "Series/{{MilfManor}}", about largely the same concept minus the "Series/{{Survivor}}" theming.

*** "Milf Island", a reality dating show with younger men competing to be with an older woman, has Series/MilfManor, about largely the same concept minus the Series/Survivor theming.
*** "God Cop", a TV Pilot about a cop who [[WunzaPlot teams up to solve crimes with god]], has Series/Lucifer, which is roughly the same thing but with the Devil.

* LifeImitatesArt: In one episode, Tracey invents a sandwich with chicken strips as the "bread." Years later, KFC came out with the Double-Down, which is exactly that.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://30rock.wikia.com/wiki/30_Rock_Wiki The 30 Rock Wiki]].

** In "Cougars", Jamie is supposed to be seventeen years younger than Liz, but her actress Val Emmich is only nine years younger than Liz's actress Tina Fey.

* ActorInspiredElement: Frank's trucker hats were inspired by Judah Friedlander's real life habit of wearing those hats in public, which had become something of a trademark for him before the show began.

* NamesTheSame: Liz briefly dated men named Creator/WesleySnipes, Creator/CarolBurnett, and Criss Chros.

** Actor and former ''SNL'' writer John Lutz who [[NamesTheSame plays Lutz on the show]] is married to actress Sue Galloway who [[NamesTheSame plays Sue]] [[FunnyForeigner LaRoche-Van der Hout]], though they aren't married on-screen and rarely interact directly with each other.

* McLeaned: [[spoiler:Don Geiss]] was killed off between seasons after [[spoiler:Creator/RipTorn's]] increasingly bizarre behavior culminated in him [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor breaking into a bank while drunk]].

** Bertram Geiss (Tony Torn) playing a son of [[spoiler:the late ]]Don Geiss ([[spoiler:not late-yet]]Creator/RipTorn). Tony is Rip's son IRL.

* LifeImitatesArt: In one episode, Tracey invents a sandwich with chicken strips as the "bread." Years later, KFC came out with the Double-Down, which is exactly that.

** In "Subway Hero", Creator/AlecBaldwin plays Richard Nixon in Creator/TracyJordan's mind.

** In "Subway Hero" Alec Baldwin plays Richard Nixon in Tracy Jordan's mind.
** In "Generalissimo" Alec Baldwin plays a Mexican soap opera star who looks just like Jack Donaghy.
** In "100" Jack hallucinates a couple of alternate universe Jack Donaghys.
** In "Governor Dunston" Tracy Morgan also plays the titular buffoonish politician.
** In "There's No 'I' in America" Scott Adsit plays Pete's confident, not-bald alter ego, Pete Horn.

* CastTheExpert: Creator/AubreyPlaza as a NBC page in season 1 came about because Plaza actually ''was'' an NBC page at the time, and grabbing the attention of various NBC bigwigs entertained by her charismatic interactions.

* CastTheExpert: Creator/AubreyPlaza as a NBC page in season 1 came about because Plaza actually ''was'' an NBC page at the time, and grabbing the attention of various NBC bigwigs entertained by her charismatic interactions.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: Season 1's "The C Word" was based on an incident where Colin Quinn called Tina Fey the insult while she was head writer at SNL (Quinn later apologized).

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Tracy wants to be the first black male EGOT[[note]]an EGOT is someone who wins an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony[[/note]], which Music/JohnLegend became in 2018.

* CaliforniaDoubling: The show is filmed in the New York area.
** Inverted when Tracy Jordan's freakout on the 405 (in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles) was actually filmed in New Jersey.

** Played straight in one instance with twenty-six year old Pheobe Strole as a teen.
** A relatively minor example appears in "Cougars": Jamie is supposed to be seventeen years younger than Liz, but Val Emmich is only nine years younger than Tina Fey.
** Frequently averted, with Creator/KatrinaBowden possibly even younger than Cerie, and most teenagers played by an actual teen.
** Tina Fey appears as a younger Liz Lemon in a number of flashbacks. In one of them she was ''nine''.
** Subverted InUniverse when Jenna thinks she's up for an audition as a college freshman on ''Series/GossipGirl'' in "Black Light Attack!". She was actually up for that character's mother - who dies of old age at age 42.

* ExecutiveMeddling: In Fey's original treatment the ShowWithinAShow was a newscast. It was changed to a ''Saturday Night Live''-style sketch show because Tina Fey had more experience in that.
* FakeAmerican: Played with - a British actress (Emily Mortimer) plays an American pretending to be a Brit (Phoebe) and only has to do one line with an American accent.

* McLeaned: [[spoiler:Don Geiss]] was killed off between seasons after [[spoiler: Creator/RipTorn's]] increasingly bizarre behavior culminated in him [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor breaking into a bank while drunk]].

* NamesTheSame: Liz briefly dated men named Creator/WesleySnipes, Creator/CarolBurnett and is currently dating Criss Chros.

** Billy Baldwin plays Lance, an actor who plays Jack in a TV movie, and is the brother of real-life Jack actor Alec Baldwin.