30 Rock

Sesame Street parodies 30 Rock.

Behind the scenes.

30 Rock is a half-hour sitcom about the backstage workings of a fictional sketch comedy show, The Girlie Show. Inspired by Saturday Night Live, the show premiered on NBC in the fall of 2006 and stars Tina Fey as Liz Lemon. Other regular cast members include Jane Krakowski, Judah Friedlander and Alec Baldwin.

Appearances

• "Apollo, Apollo" (March 26, 2009): Sesame Street-style Anything Muppet caricatures of various characters appear, as it's revealed that Kenneth the page perceives his coworkers as puppets. Joey Mazzarino, Carmen Osbahr and Matt Vogel are credited as puppeteers; the characters' voices were performed by Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Tina Fey.

Jack and his tailor

Tracy Jordan

Liz Lemon

Muppet Mentions

"Who Wore it Better?" from "The Bubble"

Liz's Kermit poster from "Reaganing"

• "Black Tie": Pete, the producer, tries to comfort his young son over the phone by talking in his Elmo voice.

• "Cleveland": The Girlie Show star Tracy Jordan fears that he is being targeted for elimination by "The Black Crusaders" because he is an embarrassment to African-Americans. Jordan lists Oprah Winfrey, Bill Cosby, and Gordon from Sesame Street as members of the elite, albeit fictional, organization.

• In a promo spot for the second season premiere, Tina has Alec guess who she's imitating. His first guess is the Muppets.

• "Sandwich Day": Liz Lemon gets mad that her special Sandwich Day sandwich is missing. Upon noticing this, she throws something out of her office and into the writers' room. The object (on pause, it can be seen as a lamp) smashes into a dry erase board that has ideas for characters and/or sketches written on it. A close-up of the board is shown very briefly, and one of the ideas is for "pervert Elmo."

• "The One with the Cast from Night Court": When Liz learns that Jack has been once again seduced by her "friend" Claire Harper (Jennifer Aniston), Claire says to her, "Oh, please stop. Don't make that angry Muppet face at him."

• "Generalissimo": While going through some mail that was accidentally delivered to Liz, Jenna discovers some Netflix rental DVDs, including The Muppets Take Manhattan.

• "The Bubble": A "Who Wore it Better?" magazine spread is shown, featuring Jenna and Miss Piggy in the same outfit. According to 84% of respondents, Miss Piggy wore it better.

• "Stone Mountain": Jack and Liz search for new talent at a comedy bar with a ventriloquist played by Jeff Dunham. Liz attempts to heckle him, but he kicks back with insults.

Jack: I'm sorry, but that's enough. Sir, you're out of line.

Puppet: I'll tell you what's out of line. Your old lady's knockers. Good lord, woman. I wouldn't **** you with Elmo's ****.

• "The Fabian Strategy": Liz and Carol (Matt Damon) both reveal that their three favorite things are the Barefoot Contessa, sweater weather, and Muppets who present at awards shows.

• "Reaganing": Liz reveals that she owned a Kermit the Frog poster as a nine-year-old child.

• "TGS Hates Women": Kenneth says, "I hope my legacy is a Sesame Street-type TV show that promotes illiteracy in girls."

References

• A 2008 episode of Sesame Street features a parody called "30 Rocks" in which Liz Lemon convinces Jack the Boss that she has ordered the correct amount of rocks for a sketch. The opening sequence was created by Mike Pantuso.

Liz Lemon and Jack the Boss count 30 rocks

Liz Lemon

Jack the Boss

Connections

• Alan Alda played Milton Green in three episodes
• Will Arnett played Devon Banks in seven episodes
• Alec Baldwin plays Jack Donaghy
• Michael Bloomberg played himself in "Subway Hero"
• Wayne Brady played Steven Black in "The Source Awards"
• Matthew Broderick played Cooter Burger in "Cooter"
• Jim Carrey played Dave Williams in "Leap Day"
• James Carville played himself in "Secrets and Lies"
• Tim Conway played Bucky Bright in "Subway Hero"
• Sheryl Crow played herself in "Kidney Now!"
• Ann Curry played herself in "People Are Idiots Two"
• Edie Falco played Celeste Cunningham in four episodes
• Jimmy Fallon played himself in "Kidnapped by Danger"
• Tina Fey plays Liz Lemon
• Judah Friedlander plays Frank Rossitano
• Donald Glover wrote for the show and played several cameo characters on three episodes
• Whoopi Goldberg played herself in "The Rural Juror" and "Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001"
• Al Gore played himself in "Greenzo" and "Sun Tea"
• Kelsey Grammer played himself in "People Are Idiots Two"
• Bill Hader played Kevin in "Live Show"
• Tom Hanks played himself in "100"
• Sean Hayes played Jesse Parcell in "Hiatus"
• Jeff Hiller played a Hotel Clerk in "Reunion"
• Wyclef Jean played himself in "Kidney Now!"
• Norah Jones played herself in "Kidney Now!"
• Michael Keaton played Tom in "100"
• Larry King played himself in "Larry King"
• Gladys Knight played herself in "Episode 210"
• Jane Krakowski plays Jenna Maroney
• Nathan Lane played Eddie Donaghy in "The Fighting Irish"
• Matt Lauer played himself in three episodes
• Peter Linz puppeteered Argus the Peacock in "Argus"
• John Lithgow has a brief cameo as himself in "Goodbye, My Friend"
• Andie MacDowell played Claire Williams in "Leap Day"
• Noel MacNeal puppeteered Argus the Peacock in "Argus"
• James Marsden plays Criss in season six
• Julianne Moore played Nancy in five episodes
• Megan Mullally played Bev in "Do-Over"
• Alan Muraoka played Stephen Lee (listed in the credits as Paul) in "Cutbacks"
• Conan O'Brien played himself in "Tracy Does Conan"
• Nancy O'Dell played herself in multiple episodes
• Carmen Osbahr puppeteered Argus the Peacock in "Argus"
• Regis Philbin played himself in "100"
• Markie Post played herself in "The One with the Cast of 'Night Court'"
• Rachael Ray played herself in "100"
• Paul Reubens played Gerhardt in "Black Tie"
• Denise Richards played herself in "People Are Idiots Two"
• Andy Richter played Mitch Lemon in "Ludachristmas"
• Kelly Ripa played herself in "100"
• Al Roker played himself in "Fireworks"
• Isabella Rossellini played Bianca Donnelly in "Black Tie" and "Up All Night"
• Susan Sarandon played Lynn Onkman in "Queen of Jordan"
• Kristen Schaal played Hazel in several sixth season episodes
• Molly Shannon played Katherine Catherine in the episode "The Fighting Irish"
• Sherri Shepherd plays Angie Jordan
• Mary Steenburgen played Diana Jessup in several sixth season episodes
• Meredith Vieira played herself in five episodes
• Brian Williams played himself in six episodes
• Oprah Winfrey played herself in "Believe in the Stars"
• "Weird Al" Yankovic played himself in "Kidnapped by Danger"