Tracy Morgan

Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968) is an American actor and comedian best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live (1996–2003) and for his role as Tracy Jordan in the comedy series 30 Rock (2006–2013). He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2009 for his work on 30 Rock. He has appeared in numerous films as an actor and voice actor.

Early life

Morgan was born in the Bronx and raised in a housing project in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. His father named him Tracy in honor of a platoon mate and friend who shipped off to Vietnam with him and was killed in action days later. He is the second-oldest of five children of homemaker Alicia (née Warden), and Jimmy Morgan, a musician who returned from military duty in the Vietnam War as a recovering heroin addict, causing him to leave the family when Morgan was six years old.

The target of bullies as a child, Morgan attended DeWitt Clinton High School. In 1985, at age 17 in his sophomore year, he learned his father had contracted AIDS from hypodermic needle use. His father died in November 1987, at age 39. Morgan married his girlfriend Sabina that year and dropped out of high school just four credits short of his diploma to care for his ailing father. Already raising their first son and living on welfare, Morgan sold crack cocaine with limited success, but began earning money performing comedy on the streets after his best friend was murdered. He said in 2009: "He would say to me, 'Yo, Tracy, man, you should be doing comedy.' A week later, he was murdered. And that for me, that was like my Vietnam. I had my survival guilt when I started to achieve success. Why I made it out and some guys didn't."

30 Rock

30 Rock is an American satirical television sitcom created by Tina Fey that ran on NBC from October 11, 2006 to January 31, 2013. The series, loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live, takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy show depicted as airing on NBC. The series' name refers to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, the address of the Comcast Building, where the NBC Studios are located. This series is produced by Broadway Video and Little Stranger, Inc., in association with NBCUniversal.

30 Rock episodes were produced in a single-camera setup (with the exception of the two live episodes that were taped in the multi-camera format), and were filmed in New York. The pilot episode premiered on October 11, 2006, and seven seasons followed. The series stars Fey with a supporting cast that includes Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, Scott Adsit, Judah Friedlander, Katrina Bowden, Keith Powell, Lonny Ross, John Lutz, Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman, Maulik Pancholy and Rachel Dratch.

Pilot (30 Rock)

The pilot episode of the American situation comedy series 30 Rock premiered on October 10, 2006 on the CTV Television Network in Canada, and October 11, 2006 on NBC in the United States. The episode was directed by Adam Bernstein and written by Tina Fey, the series' creator, executive producer, and lead actor.

In 2002, Tina Fey, then head writer of Saturday Night Live (SNL), pitched the idea for a series about a cable news network to NBC, who rejected it. Two years later, Fey approached NBC with a similar idea: a behind-the-scenes look at The Girlie Show, a television show similar to SNL. NBC approved the series in May 2006 and production began shortly after. Although the episode received generally positive reviews, it finished third in its timeslot among all viewers and among adults aged 18 to 49. Critics praised the performances of Jack McBrayer and Jane Krakowski, who played Kenneth Parcell and Jenna Maroney, respectively.

Several characters are introduced in the pilot: Liz Lemon (Fey), the head writer of a sketch comedy series called The Girlie Show; Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), the network executive; Kenneth Parcell (McBrayer), the NBC page; and the writing staff and cast of Lemon's show. This episode focuses on Jack's attempt to convince Liz to hire film star Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) as part of the cast of The Girlie Show and the crew's reactions to Tracy's addition.

30 Rock (season 6)

The sixth season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series on the NBC network in the United States, began airing on January 12, 2012. 30 Rock was renewed for a sixth season by NBC on November 15, 2010. The season began airing mid-season to accommodate Tina Fey's pregnancy. On November 14, 2011, NBC announced that 30 Rock would return at the new time of 8:00 pm.

This season was initially expected to be Alec Baldwin's last, as he had announced he would be looking to expand into other forms of media. However, in January 2012, Baldwin confirmed that he would remain for the seventh and final season of 30 Rock. Season six received positive reviews and 13 Emmy Award nominations.

Synopsis

The story arcs of season six include: Liz has a new relationship and emotionally matures; Jack continues to attempt to recover his wife from North Korea and find his identity at Kabletown; Kenneth moves up (and later down,) the corporate ladder; and Jenna reaches a new level of fame thanks to being a judge on a reality show, and considers settling down with boyfriend Paul.

List of 30 Rock episodes

30 Rock is an American satirical television sitcom that ran on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. Created by Tina Fey, the series follows the lives of the head writer of TGS with Tracy Jordan (TGS), Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), the other staff members of TGS, and their network executive, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin). A total of 138 episodes of 30 Rock were produced and aired over seven seasons.

30 Rock was a critical success, winning several major awards (including Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2007, 2008, and 2009), and achieving the top ranking on many critics' year-end best of 2006 and 2007 lists. On July 14, 2009, the series was nominated for 22 Primetime Emmy Awards, the most in a single year for a comedy series. Despite the acclaim, the series struggled in the ratings throughout its run.

Series overview

Episodes

Season 1 (2006–07)

Season 2 (2007–08)

Season 3 (2008–09)

Season 4 (2009–10)

Season 5 (2010–11)

Season 6 (2012)

Season 7 (2012–13)

Tina Fey

Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (/feɪ/; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live (1998-2006) , acclaimed for her impression of former Alaska Governor and 2008 Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and for creating acclaimed series 30 Rock (2006–2013) and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–present). She is also well known for appearing in films such as Mean Girls (2004), Baby Mama (2008), Date Night (2010), Muppets Most Wanted (2014), and Sisters (2015).

Tina Fey broke into comedy as a featured player in the Chicago-based improvisational comedy group The Second City. She then joined SNL as a writer, later becoming head writer and a performer, known for her position as co-anchor in the Weekend Update segment. In 2004, she co-starred in and wrote the screenplay for Mean Girls, which was adapted from the 2002 self-help book Queen Bees and Wannabes. After leaving SNL in 2006, she created the television series 30 Rock for Broadway Video, a situation comedy loosely based on her experiences at SNL. In the series, Fey portrays the head writer of a fictional sketch comedy series. In 2008, she starred in the comedy film Baby Mama, alongside former SNL co-star Amy Poehler. Fey next appeared in the 2010 comedy film Date Night and the animated film Megamind. In 2015, she created and produced the television series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, originally for NBC and eventually for Netflix.

Alec Baldwin

Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, producer, and comedian. As a member of the Baldwin family, he is the oldest of the four Baldwin brothers, all well-known actors.

Baldwin first gained recognition appearing on seasons 6 and 7 of the CBS television drama Knots Landing, in the role of Joshua Rush. He has since played both leading and supporting roles in films such as the horror comedy fantasy film Beetlejuice (1988), as Jack Ryan in the action thriller The Hunt for Red October (1990), the romantic comedy The Marrying Man (1991), the superhero film The Shadow (1994), and two films directed by Martin Scorsese: the Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator (2004) and the neo-noir crime drama The Departed (2006). His performance in the 2003 romantic drama The Cooler garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

From 2006 to 2013, Baldwin starred as Jack Donaghy on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, winning two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards for his work on the show, making him the male performer with the most SAG Awards. Baldwin co-starred in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, the fifth installment of the Mission: Impossible series, released on July 31, 2015. He is also a columnist for The Huffington Post.