{"id":880104,"date":"2026-10-12T21:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T21:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/880104\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T21:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T21:24:09","slug":"30-rock-anniversary-event-best-moments-from-tina-fey-alec-baldwin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/880104\/","title":{"rendered":"’30 Rock’ Anniversary Event: Best Moments From Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tConan O\u2019Brien did little to manage expectations as he kicked off Sunday evening\u2019s \u201c30 Rock<\/a>\u201d reunion, a one-night-only benefit at Radio City Music Hall to celebrate the beloved sitcom\u2019s 20th anniversary.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWelcome to the greatest night in the history of entertainment!\u201d he said from the stage to raucous applause. \u201cI\u2019m Conan O\u2019Brien, and I\u2019m known to exaggerate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHis comments didn\u2019t seem hyperbolic to the 5,000 rowdy fans in the audience, who spent a pretty penny and braved a rainstorm for a chance to witness the live, never-to-be-televised event. Cheers from the crowd were near-deafening as O\u2019Brien introduced the cast \u2014 Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski \u2014 and they kept up the enthusiasm for surprise guests like Jon Hamm, Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Will Forte and Brian Williams.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat you will see tonight is, in \u201c30 Rock\u201d fashion, an overly ambitious grab bag of nonsense,\u201d Fey said. Created by Fey, \u201c30 Rock,\u201d which ran for seven seasons on NBC from 2006-2013, takes place behind the scenes of a fictional \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d-esque sketch comedy show called \u201cTGS With Tracy Jordan.\u201d Fey plays head writer Liz Lemon, Baldwin portrays NBC boss Jack Donaghy and Krakowski and Morgan star as cast members Jenna Maroney and Tracey Jordan.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cast reunion doubled as a charity fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem, an organization they wanted to honor for two specific reasons. \u201cWe chose the Boys and Girls of Harlem because they are a great New York institution,\u201d Fey said. \u201cBut also because we figured we kind of owed them something because of how much Tracy Jordan struggled to shoot the commercial he did.\u201d (In one memorable episode from Season 5, Tracy couldn\u2019t remember his lines <\/a>as he filmed a public service announcement for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.)<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore passing the mic to the cast, O\u2019Brien took a moment to lament his too-brief role on the show (he played himself and once dated Liz Lemon) and teased Fey for casting a bunch of hot men as the boyfriends of her character.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAfter my stellar debut, I was quickly relegated to being a cheap and easy off-camera reference. I was described as merely \u2018that tall, gangly, redheaded guy\u2019 and \u2018one giant lesbian,’\u201d Conan said. \u201cSo who did get to play Liz Lemon\u2019s love interest? I\u2019ll tell you who. Total units like Jon Hamm, Jason Sudeikis, and Matt Damon. Drop acid much, Tina?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFey revealed that Jack McBrayer was the one to suggest a 20th anniversary reunion. \u201cHe probably meant a cast dinner. But I\u2019m not a good listener, so here we are,\u201d Fey said. \u201cI wanted to celebrate at Radio City because I like to feel tiny.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe designed the evening to be \u201cmore than just a Q&A,\u201d stuffing the 90-minute event with elaborate musical numbers, game show sketches and other \u201c30 Rock\u201d-themed skits, and moments for the cast to reminisce about making the beloved comedy. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNo one has ever seen this show before, including us, because we have not rehearsed it,\u201d Fey said. \u201cBut one thing I can promise you, from the bottom of my heart, we will have microphone problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIf you couldn\u2019t \u201cgo to there,\u201d as Liz Lemon would say, Variety has compiled the best moments from the night:<\/p>\n

\t\tTom Hanks accepts best guest star award on behalf of Elaine Stritch\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c30 Rock\u201d had no shortage of A-list guest stars, from Carrie Fisher (as fictional comedy writer Rosemary Howard) to Steve Martin (as Jack\u2019s neurotic friend Gavin Volure) to Oprah Winfrey (as herself). \u201cIt was pretty wild,\u201d said Judah Friedlander, who played \u201cTGS\u201d writer Frank Rossitano. \u201cYou never knew who would show up. One week it was Al Gore, and the next it could be Queen Latifah.\u201d Katrina Bowden, who portrayed Liz\u2019s beautiful assistant Cerie, asked: \u201cWait, are those real people who lived?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut only one bold-faced name could win the coveted \u201cbest guest star\u201d prize, which went to Elaine Stritch as Jack\u2019s overbearing mother Colleen Donaghy. She was (posthumously) nominated against Marcella Roy as young Liz Lemon, Sherri Shephard as Tracy\u2019s wife Angie Jordan and Kelsey Grammer as his heist-wielding alter ego \u201cFrajer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cUnfortunately, Elaine can\u2019t be here tonight to accept her award because she\u2019s dead,\u201d Bowden deadpanned. (Strich died in 2014 at age 89<\/a>.) \u201cSo here to accept on her behalf is two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHanks was apparently tricked into attending the evening while he was one block up, near 30 Rockefeller Plaza. \u201cI was on my way to dinner at the Rainbow Room,\u201d Hanks said. \u201cI eat there every night to avoid Mamdani\u2019s pied-\u00e0-terre tax.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\u201930 Rock\u2019-stradomus\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c30 Rock\u201d is famous for predicting a bunch of stuff that proved to be bizarrely accurate. \u201cEven though we were exhausted and writing absurdist nonsense, so much of what we wrote actually came true,\u201d the show\u2019s writers said from the stage. Highlights in a montage of prescient jokes include Jenna\u2019s \u201cfree Lyle Menendez\u201d tattoo (the brothers were recently granted an early parole hearing<\/a>) and Tracy\u2019s call with someone pretending to be Bill Cosby \u2014 \u201cYou\u2019ve got a lot of nerve getting on the phone with me after what you did to my Aunt Paulette!\u201d \u2014 way before the comedian was accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women. Then there was Jenna\u2019s weight-gaining role in the fictional \u201cMystic Pizza: The Musical\u201d (which now exists and began a national tour this fall) and the iconic show-within-a-show \u201cMILF Island,\u201d which paved the way for the very real HBO Max reality dating series \u201cFBoy Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTina and Tracy play \u2018What\u2019s my next line?\u2019\t<\/p>\n

\n\tMcBrayer put Fey and Morgan\u2019s memories to the test, feeding them niche quotes from the show to see if they could remember the wacky things their characters said over the course of seven seasons. They started strong; Fey knew the reason there \u201cain\u2019t no party like a Liz Lemon party\u201d because \u201ca Liz Lemon party is mandatory.\u201d And Morgan remembered the seminal \u201cadvice I wish I woulda got when I was your age\u201d which was to \u201clive every week like it\u2019s Shark Week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd then things took a turn. Fey was stumped by a clip of Liz, dressed as Princess Leia from \u201cStar Wars\u201d to try to get out of jury duty. \u201cBecause I can read minds?\u201d Fey guessed. (Her actual line was \u201cBecause I\u2019m a hologram.\u201d) But she rebounded with her character\u2019s memory of participating in the \u201cBig Sister\u201d program. (\u201cThat little girl taught me how to use a tampon.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Morgan couldn\u2019t think of the punchline to \u201cWhat is this, horseville?\u201d he turned to the audience to supply the answer. Everyone shouted: \u201cBecause I\u2019m surrounded by naysayers. Wordplay!\u201d Morgan couldn\u2019t recall other Tracy-isms, like, \u201cI don\u2019t get why people like brunch. What\u2019s the benefit of combining breakdancing and lunch?\u201d and \u201cI was just thinking about how weird it is that we eat birds.\u201d But he had a good excuse.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m supposed to remember that?\u201d Morgan said. \u201cYou gotta give me a break. I got hit by a truck<\/a>!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tDr. Leo Spaceman doles out medical advice\t<\/p>\n

\n\tChris Parnell\u2019s wacky doctor Leo Spaceman, who gets promoted to Surgeon General of the United States at the end of the series, was on hand to \u201cclear up any confusion about our official health recommendations.\u201d A sampling of his frequently asked questions: \u201cDo vaccines cause autism? Or, does autism cause billionaires?\u201d (\u201cEither way, you\u2019re in trouble, fam.\u201d) \u201cIs it safe to eat lettuce yet?\u201d (\u201cNope, it never was. Stick to the paleo food groups: Beef, meat, and Zyns.\u201d) \u201cCan I give my spouse a GLP-1 without them knowing?\u201d (\u201cNow, any doctor will tell you: If you don\u2019t know the law, you can\u2019t break it.\u201d) That should clear a few things up!<\/p>\n

\t\t\u2018What would Jack Donaghy say?\u2019\t<\/p>\n

\n\tSince the series went off the air in 2013, \u201c30 Rock\u201d guest star and former \u201cNBC Nightly News\u201d anchor Brian Williams admitted he\u2019s been missing Jack Donaghy\u2019s pithy advice and commentary on the state of the world. One of the night\u2019s sharpest sketches \u00a0\u2014\u00a0introduced by Williams \u2014\u00a0involved Jack responding to major news events of the last 13 years.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2014\u00a0In 2014, Jack\u2019s assistant Jonathan (Maulik Pancholy) told his boss that his emails were leaked in the infamous Sony hack. \u201cThe one where I tried to get Tracy in drag in the female \u2018Ghostbusters\u2019?\u201d Jack asks, to which Jonathan replies, \u201cNo, I never sent that one. It\u2019s the one where you offer to give Jenna to Kim Jong Un if it would help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2014\u00a0In 2017, Kenneth, the eager page played by McBrayer, reveals he was \u201c#MeToo\u2019d by a lady on the camera crew.\u201d He elaborates, saying, \u201cShe asked me what my ideal last meal would be, and I said chickpeas and Mountain Dew.\u2019 She said, \u2018Me too!\u2019 And then we high-fived so hard, my pants fell down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2014\u00a0In 2021, Jack shamed the insurrectionists who stormed the capitol on Jan. 6. \u201cWhen I defecated on Nancy Pelosi\u2019s desk,\u201d he said, \u201cI looked in her straight in the eye like a man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2014\u00a0In 2023, Jonathan celebrated a box office rebound \u2014 \u201cSir, \u2018Barbie\u2019 and \u2018Oppenheimer\u2019 were a huge success. The movie business is back! \u2014 and Jack retorts: \u201cAnd more importantly, now when you Google \u201cBarbenheimer,\u201d that\u2019s what comes up, and not Cody Barbenheimer, the young man who mysteriously drowned in Lindsey Graham\u2019s bathtub over Memorial Day weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tJane Krakowski\u2019s musical medley \t<\/p>\n

\n\tFresh off her run in \u201cOh, Mary!\u201d on Broadway, Krakowski wowed the room by performing several of the attention-seeking Maroney\u2019s greatest hits. Wearing a sparkly silver dress and flanked by dancers in page uniforms, she opened with \u201cThat\u2019s Her,\u201d the opening theme song from \u201cThe Girlie Show\u201d and masterfully pivoted into the feminist anthem \u201cMuffin Top\u201d<\/a> before transitioning to Jackie Jormp-Jomp\u2019s classic \u201cChunk of My Lung,\u201d a parody of Janis Joplin\u2019s \u201cPiece of my Heart.\u201d (Jenna was cast to play the music icon in an unlicensed biopic that never got off the ground.) <\/p>\n

\n\tThe already giddy crowd erupted when Krakowski was joined by John McEnroe to belt the \u201cSunday Night Football\u201d-inspired \u201cTennis Night in America\u201d and later by Forte, dressed as an angel in character as Jenna\u2019s beau Paul L\u2019astnam\u00e9, for a duet of the Christmas carol \u201cO Holy Night.\u201d Marceline Hugot, who plays Kathy Geiss, the mute daughter of GE\u2019s boss Don Geiss, made a brief but thrilling appearance on trumpet.<\/p>\n

\n\tThose weren\u2019t the only memorable musical moments. Lin-Manuel Miranda, a \u201c30 Rock\u201d superfan, energized the audience with the Halloween favorite \u201cWerewolf Bar Mitzvah\u201d before Krakowski closed out the evening with a powerful rendition of the \u201cRural Juror\u201d theme song<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\tWe agree: \u201cWe will never forget you!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Conan O\u2019Brien did little to manage expectations as he kicked off Sunday evening\u2019s \u201c30 Rock\u201d reunion, a one-night-only…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":880105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[249150,88,92],"class_list":["post-880104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-30-rock","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}