30 Rock Celebrates 20 Years At Radio City Music Hall

Grace Diviny, Staff Writer

On Sunday, October 11th, the TV show 30 Rock held its 20^th anniversary reunion at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It was a one night only event that featured its main cast that included comedians Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Alec Baldwin, Jack Breyer, and Jane Krakowski alongside special guest appearances from Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks, Jon Hamm, Will Forte, and Brian Williams. 

The comedy show, which first premiered in 2006, involves a satirical depiction of Fey’s time as  a writer on Saturday Night Live, in which the real-life show is held in 30 Rock, and follows the  show’s fictional version of SNL titled TGS through head writer Liz Lemon, who is portrayed by  

Fey. It has become a comedy classic amongst many, with the show winning 16 Emmy Awards  and receiving at least more than 100 nominations. Since the show ended in 2013, fans have  wondered about the possibility of a revival, and while a 2020 special was made amidst the  pandemic, the possibility has been shut down by Fey on numerous occasions.  

This event was also sponsored by The Boys and Girls Club of Harlem, in which net proceeds  would go to the youth organization that helps young children be able to get educational  opportunities that their families may not be able to afford. 

At least 5,000 fans of the hit series showed up to the event in the midst of the remnant rainstorm  from Hurricane Isaias, and while it was not allowed to be recorded, recounts from reporters from  Variety were able to give some information on what went down on stage, and famous comedian  

Conan O’Brien took to the stage to kick off the show’s events in which he introduced himself  by saying he was ‘known to exaggerate’ before introducing the main cast consisting of Fey,  Baldwin, Morgan, Breyer, and Krakowski. 

Fey also had a sense of humor about the event, stating “What you will see tonight is, in “30 Rock” fashion, an overly ambitious grab bag of nonsense,” as she addressed the crowd. She also addressed the charity fundraiser for The Boys and Girls Club of Harlem, in which she stated that she chose them as they were a “great institution” whilst also joking that they owed them from how much Tracey Morgan’s character Tracey Jordan struggled to do a commercial for them in an episode from Season 5.  

The cast and O’Brien teased each other back and forth, ranging from O’Brien joking about Fey’s  casting of attractive actors as her character’s on-screen boyfriends to Fey suggesting that Breyer  thought of a cast dinner instead of a live show reunion. The event lasted for 90 minutes and ranged from a variety of musical numbers from the show, themed skits, and moments for the cast  members to remember from the making of the show. 

One of the more iconic moments of the night was towards the end of the show, where Morgan’s character’s song “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” was performed on stage by Morgan, with Lin-Manuel Miranda joining for a duet that was ultimately the perfect conclusion to the reunion show for many fans alike.