30 ROCK - SYNOPSIS AND IMAGES

Season 1

Dennis Duffy (Winters, left) and Liz Lemon (Fey, right) were in a relationship in the middle of the first season.

Season one began airing in the United States on October 11, 2006, and featured 21 episodes. The season finale aired on April 26, 2007. Jack Donaghy, the "Head of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming" at General Electric (GE), is transferred to work at the NBC headquarters, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and retool the late night sketch comedy series The Girlie Show. The show's cast and crew are outraged by this; especially head writer Liz Lemon and main actress Jenna Maroney. Jack proceeds to wreak havoc on The Girlie Show, forcing Liz to hire the off-the-wall movie star Tracy Jordan. He again angers the cast and crew of The Girlie Show when he changes the name to TGS with Tracy Jordan (or just TGS).
As the season progresses, the episodes become less about TGS and more about how the characters deal with juggling their lives and their jobs — specifically the protagonist, Liz Lemon, but other characters are also explored. Episodes also become less self-contained and various story arcs develop in the second half of the season. For example, the first major story arc centers on Liz's relationship with Dennis Duffy (Dean Winters), "The Beeper King." Other story arcs include: Jenna promoting her movie The Rural Juror; Tracy going on the run from the Black Crusaders; Jack's engagement, which was eventually called off, to a Christie's auctioneer named Phoebe (Emily Mortimer); and another relationship of Liz's with Floyd (Jason Sudeikis).
Guest stars include Isabella Rossellini, Will Arnett, Elaine Stritch, Whoopi Goldberg, and Conan O'Brien.

Season 2

Devon Banks' (Arnett, left) and Jack Donaghy's (Baldwin, right) rivalry for the GE chairmanship became more evident during the second season.

Season two began airing in the United States on October 4, 2007,and featured 15 episodes. The second season was originally intended to consist of 22 episodes but the order was cut to 15 due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.The season finale aired on May 8, 2008.After Liz broke up with Floyd in the summer, she is looking for ways to rebound. When Jerry Seinfeld confronts Jack about a new marketing campaign which featured clips of Seinfeld's sitcom, Seinfeld, in all NBC shows, he has a chance encounter with Liz that gives her some much needed advice. During the TGS summer hiatus, Jenna becomes overweight due to performing in the Broadway show Mystic Pizza: The Musical (based on the real 1988 film Mystic Pizza). Tracy has encountered some marital problems with his wife Angie Jordan (Sherri Shepherd) and they become separated, but later reunite.
During the season, Jack develops a relationship with a Democratic congresswoman named Celeste "C.C." Cunningham (Edie Falco). They later break up. An arc that was established in the first season but becomes more apparent in the second regards Jack running for the GE chairmanship against his archnemesis Devon Banks (Will Arnett). The season ends with Liz planning to adopt a child after believing she was pregnant with Dennis' baby. Kenneth also travels to Beijing to be a page at the 2008 Summer Olympics and Tracy invents a pornographic video game. Jack ends the season working at a new government job in Washington, D.C., but plans to get fired by proposing a "gay bomb."

Season 3

 

30 Rock returned with a third season as part of NBC's fall schedule, airing immediately after The Office.This season was proclaimed as the show's best season,^{[by whom?]} especially after Tina Fey's highly praised performance as Sarah Palin on SNL. Her performance increased the ratings of both SNL and 30 Rock. This is also the season where the show made Emmy history, being nominated for 22 Emmy awards. The season consisted of 22 episodes. Oprah Winfrey guest starred in the second episode, playing herself, as well as Jennifer Aniston playing Liz's ex roommate. Salma Hayek also appeared for a multi-episode arc, portraying Jack's new girlfriend, Elisa. Other guest stars this season included John Lithgow, Megan Mullally and Steve Martin. Jon Hamm played Liz's love interest and neighbor for several episodes.^[55] Alan Alda appeared in the season's final two episodes as Milton Greene, Jack's biological father. The season finale featured multiple musical guests, including Talib Kweli, Michael McDonald, Norah Jones, Steve Earle, Clay Aiken, the Beastie Boys, Mary J. Blige, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Rhett Miller, Cyndi Lauper, Adam Levine, Sara Bareilles, Wyclef Jean, and Rachael Yamagata, performing "Kidney Now!", an organ donation drive spoof of We Are The World and "Just Stand Up!".

Season 4

The fourth season of 30 Rock premiered on October 15, 2009. Like the previous season 3, it also consisted of 22 episodes. A recurring story arc early in the season revolved around Jack's request that Liz cast a new actor for TGS, and Liz's subsequent search for the perfect comedian, much to the dismay of Jenna and Tracy, who fear losing their spotlight. The later half of the season focused on two complementary story arcs: Jack's inability to choose between two mistresses, and Liz's inability to find a boyfriend to live up to her expectations. The season has also featured such guest stars as Julianne Moore, Jon Bon Jovi, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Sheen, Matt Damon, Will Ferrell, and James Franco.

Season 5

On March 5, 2010, NBC announced 30 Rock had been renewed for a fifth season, which is set to air in the 2010–2011 TV season. The season airs on the Thursday 8:30 p.m. time slot and premiered on September 23.
On July 31, 2010, NBC announced that an episode of 30 Rock's fifth season would be filmed and broadcast live, twice, on the evening of October 14, 2010. The two separate recordings resulted in a live telecast of the episode to American viewers in both the West and East Coast, to ensure both would view a live performance. Filmed in front of a live audience, the episode aired at 8:30PM EDT and PDT on NBC. A ratings success, the episode was also met with positive reviews.
On November 15, 2010 NBC announced that 30 Rock will be moving to 10/9c starting January 20.


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