List of 30 Rock characters

30 Rock is an American television comedy series, created by Tina Fey, that aired on NBC. The series takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy series, also airing on NBC; the name "30 Rock" refers to the address of the GE Building, where NBC Studios is located (30 Rockefeller Plaza). The series has an ensemble cast consisting of 14 regular cast members: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, Scott Adsit, Judah Friedlander, Katrina Bowden, Keith Powell, Lonny Ross, John Lutz, Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman, and Maulik Pancholy.

The seven main cast members appear during the opening credits, while later additions receive star billing after the credits.

Main character appearance summary

Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon (Tina Fey), the series' protagonist, is head writer of TGS with Tracy Jordan. Jack Donaghy describes her as a "New York third-wave feminist, college-educated, single-and-pretending-to-be-happy-about-it, over-scheduled, undersexed, you buy any magazine that says 'healthy body image' on the cover and every two years you take up knitting for... a week". Lemon is a Star Wars fan and is portrayed as a "geek." She also lacks certain social skills and is a stress eater, particularly ingesting junk food. She is generally shown to have liberal political views. Despite her high standards in men, personified in her imaginary perfect husband, Astronaut Mike Dexter, Lemon has had some "really terrible boyfriends", but eventually finds happiness with Criss Chross, with whom she adopts two children.

Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) is the loose-cannon star of TGS. He is a movie star with a reputation for erratic behavior. This reputation is well-deserved; much of it is an intentional attempt on his part to maintain his "crazy" persona in the eyes of the media. In the pilot episode, Jack Donaghy forces Liz Lemon to hire Tracy as the new star of her sketch comedy program The Girlie Show. To the chagrin of Liz and Jenna, Jack renames the show TGS with Tracy Jordan in the following episode. Tracy has remained the star of TGS ever since.

Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) is the histrionic costar of TGS and Liz's best friend and former roommate. Though a talented singer, she is often shown as being extremely insecure about herself. A recurring motif in the show is Jenna's pursuit of fame through some ill-advised project ending up in public humiliation from which she never learns. She is a self-described "soul-sucking monster". Off-camera she is comically conceited, frequently lying about her age and attempts, but fails, to use her sexuality to manipulate men (almost always to disastrous effect).

Kenneth Ellen Parcell (Jack McBrayer) is a cheerful, obedient Southern-born NBC page who "lives for television". In the early episodes, Kenneth seemed unfamiliar with some of Liz's staff (and Liz herself). In the pilot, Liz refers to Kenneth as "that NBC page". As the series progressed, his character became familiar with the other staff of TGS (including Jack Donaghy). Kenneth acts as Tracy Jordan's personal assistant (for instance, getting Tracy nachos from Yankee Stadium); he is a member of Tracy's entourage and becomes close to Tracy, Grizz, and Dot Com. By the end of the series, he ends up as the president of NBC.

It is revealed several times over the course of the show that not only may Kenneth not sleep, be immortal, and possibly be a clone, but also as stated by his mother (portrayed by Catherine O'Hara) that at the time of his birth he said to her, "Mama, I am not a person. My body is just a flesh vessel for an immortal being whose name, if you heard it, would make you lose your mind."