SNL Cast on 30 Rock

In just a few days, one of our all-time favorite shows, 30 Rock, will end its historic 7 year run on NBC  with a big hour-long finale airing Thursday night (1/31) from 8:00-9:00 EST.  The show is obviously deeply rooted with one of our other favorite shows, Saturday Night Live, as producer Lorne Michaels, Tina Fey, and Tracy Morgan have spent many years on both shows.  The show was essentially inspired by Tina Fey's experiences working as head writer on SNL, so it should come as no surprise that 30 Rock and SNL have shared many actors.  So in honor of this Thursday's finale, below is a lookback at all of the SNL cast members of past and present who have appeared on 30 Rock over the years.  So go ahead and relive some great 30 Rock memories, and don't forget to watch the finale Thurday night on NBC!

Tina Fey, who served as head writer and Weekend Update anchor on Saturday Night Live from 2000-2006, stars on 30 Rock as main character Liz Lemon.  She's also the show's creator, producer, and often writes many of the episodes.

Tracy Morgan, who starred on SNL from 1996-2003, stars as actor Tracy Jordan on 30 Rock, in a role that's very much based on himself.  In this season 1 clip, he releases to the world his hit single "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah":

Rachel Dratch left SNL with Tina Fey in 2006 to star on 30 Rock as the character of Jenna.  The part was eventually recast with Jane Krakowski playing the part, but Rachel appeared throughout the first season as a different random character in each episode.  In the clip below she plays a cat wrangler:

Chris Parnell plays NBC's in-house doctor Dr. Leo Spaceman (pronounced Spa CHE man). He has appeared on all 7 seasons of 30 Rock, and is one of our personal favorite characters.  Here is a montage of some of his funniest medical moments:

Clip of the Day: Jimmy Fallon's Audience-less Show

As we mentioned in our post last night, Jimmy Fallon did his show last night from New York City with Hurricane Sandy quickly approaching to an empty studio audience. He started the show with a great cold open which started out on the unusually empty mid-town streets, and then walked his way into 30 Rock and up to his studio.  He then proceeded to do his monologue to an empty room, which contained only a few members of his crew providing some chuckles.  It was unlike anything I've ever seen, and it was pretty amazing:

Well actually, there was one guy in the audience, Mets Bucket Hat Guy, and as usual he was up for some crazy word association connections:

Tonight's Late Night episode, with guests Donald Trump and Andy Cohen (a very interesting pairing!) will have its usual studio audience.

In other news, the storm coverage has created some network programming changes for NBC comedies this week.  Tonight's Go On and New Normal, which were originally scheduled to air at a special time of 10:00 and 10:30 tonight, will not air on TV but can be downloaded on iTunes.  Our favorite Thursday night NBC comedy block has also been canceled this week, as NBC will be re-airing Monday night's episode of The Voice, since the storm coverage (and power outages) prevented many from watching it.  However, the 30 Rock episode that was originally scheduled for this Thursday night will actually air this week on Wednesday night (Oct. 31) at 8:00 (replacing what would have been the last episode of the already canceled Animal Practice) since it the second part of an election-themed episode and it wouldn't make as much sense to watch it next week after the election.

Clip of the Day: The Tracy Morgan Show!

While flipping through the channels this morning, we stumbled upon a show that we've often heard about but never seen.  A short-lived show that starred an  Emmy-nominated actor who currently stars on one of our favorite shows.  The show was The Tracy Morgan show, which aired for only 16 episodes after Tracy Morgan left SNL in 2003.  We're big fans of Tracy on 30 Rock and SNL, so we were very interested to see what his own sitcom would be like (with the knowledge that it was canceled after less than a full season).

And...we actually thought the show was funny!  Tracy was a bit constrained compared to his usual crazy Tracy character, but he still has the same comic delivery he delivers with all of his lines.  And best of all, the show starred Bobb'e J. Thompson as his son!  For those of you who aren't familiar with Bobb'e J., he is a hilarious child actor (who's actually 16 already!) who is perhaps best known for his role in the comedy film Role Models (starring opposite Paul Rudd, Sean William Scott, and Christopher Mitnz-Plasse).  He also has appeared in multiple episodes of 30 Rock as Tracy Jr., once again playing the son of Tracy Morgan's character!  

Check out a clip of Tracy and Bobb'e J. on The Tracy Morgan show below (this is from the episode that we actually watched) and then see Bobb'e J. as Tracy Jr. on 30 Rock below that.

TV Shows Returning!

Tomorrow is the big day!  The Thursday night NBC comedies finally return to TV!  And while we're always excited for the return of of favorite TV shows after the long summer hiatus, it seems that this year each show is going through some big changes that are really getting us excited.  So to get you all excited for the big season premiers tomorrow night, (as well as a few in the upcoming weeks), here's a rundown of why we're excited for some of our favorite shows to return!

NOTE: While we will be talking about the upcoming seasons of shows, this post will NOT contain spoilers of the upcoming season.  I am firmly against spoilers of any kind, as I believe it ruins the fun and unexpected nature of watching a show.  (I don't even watch the commercials on TV for the episode coming up next.)  HOWEVER, this post WILL spoil last season.  Many of the shows had big cliff hangers at the end of last season, so I will be bringing you up to speed on where we left off and why we're excited for next season.  This post is intended to refresh your memory of where we left off, not to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet.  So if  you don't watch any of these shows or are currently watching any of the shows below on DVD for the first time and haven't fully caught up, please do not read that section, as I don't want to spoil it for you.

Olympic TV Show Clips

It's the Olympics!  The 2012 London Olympics are in full swing, so we thought it was a good time to look back at some of our favorite Olympic-themed TV show clips!

While most cities fight to have prestigious Olympic games held in their city, we know one city that definitely does NOT want to host the Olympics - Portland!  Check out this hilarious clip from Portlandia to see why:

Can't watch the Olympics all day because you're stuck at work?  No problem, just host your own Office Olympics, like the Dunder Mifflin gang did in this classic episode of The Office!  (Works best while you're boss is out for the day shopping for a condo...)

Over on 30 Rock, Jenna helped Kenneth complete his application to be a NBC Page at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  (The scene that follows this one, with Kenneth racing to submit his application on time, is much better, but is sadly nowhere to be found on the Internet.  So you'll just have to watch this one.)

After the amazing Olympics hosted by Beijing in 2008, many feared that London would not be prepared to host the games in 2012.  Among those was Liz Lemon's British wedding date (and the man the universe seemed to be forcing her to spend the rest of her life with), Wesley Snipes.

The Olympics continue on NBC, with the Closing Ceremony scheduled for this Sunday night.  Then it's just one short month until all our TV shows come back on the air!

SNL Web Series: More "Front Desk" plus Abby Elliott Series!

I know it's been a little while since out last post, but we've had a crazy couple of weeks.  But have no fear, we're back, and have lots to catch up on!

First, as we posted earlier this month, 30 Rock star and former SNL writer John Lutz has a new web series called The Front Desk.  At the time, only the first episode featuring Bill Hader was available, but now episodes 2 and 3 are up with guests Paula Pell (Pete's wife of 30 Rock and Ron's mother "Tammy 0" on Parks & Rec) and comedian J.B. Smoove (former SNL writer)!  Enjoy!

And if that wasn't enough SNL goodiness for you, SNL cast member Abby Elliott also has a new web series!  Here's the first 2 episodes of her new online show, The Assistant, featuring Abby in dual roles:

And here's some highlights from the show, including clips from upcoming episodes!

We'll try to do a better job of staying on top of these and post them as they're released!  Stay tuned for more...

UPDATED

Episode 3 of The Assistant was just released!

New SNL Web Series: The Front Desk

It's been 3 long weeks since Saturday Night Live had its season finale, and we're already ready starting to get SNL withdrawal.  HOW WILL WE POSSIBLY SURVIVE THE LONG SUMMER UNTIL SNL RETURNS???  Well, good news!  SNL has just released a new web series called The Front Desk starring our favorite 30 Rock star (and former SNL writer)...Lutz!  According to the show's website, "The Front Desk stars John Lutz (30 Rock) as the front desk clerk of a boutique hotel in New York City."  And not only that, the first episode stars SNL cast member Bill Hader as a set of triplets!  Check it out below!

Dying to know what else is coming up on The Front Desk?  Here's a little preview of the series, which (repeats part of Bill Hader's episode but then) features upcoming guest appearances from Fred Armisen, Paula Pell (SNL writer and Pete's wife on 30 Rock), and comedian JB Smoove (also former SNL writer)!

We'll be sure to post upcoming episodes when they're released online.  This should definitely hold us over until the fall!

BREAKING NEWS: NBC Fall Schedule Released!

Moments ago, NBC released their Fall 2012 Schedule. The big news is that The Office will indeed be returning for a 9th season, joining previously announced renewed series 30 Rock, Parks & Recreation, Community, and Up All Night.  Interestingly, it looks like Community is moving to Friday nights (oddly paired with the surprisingly renewed Whitney), with 30 Rock, Up All Night, The Office, and Parks & Rec staying on Thursday nights.  Regardless, we're just happy that all our favorite NBC comedies are coming back, and we'll still have our 2 hour comedy block every Thursday night.  Check out the full NBC Fall Schedule below from TVLine.  Shows in blue are new, and you can click on them to learn more about them.

MONDAY
8/7c The Voice
10 pm REVOLUTION

TUESDAY
8 pm The Voice
9 pm GO ON
9:30 pm THE NEW NORMAL
10 pm Parenthood

WEDNESDAY
8 pm ANIMAL PRACTICE
8:30 pm GUYS WITH KIDS
9 pm Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
10 pm CHICAGO FIRE

THURSDAY
8 pm 30 Rock
8:30 pm Up All Night
9 pm The Office
9:30 pm Parks and Recreation
10 pm Rock Center with Brian Williams

FRIDAY
8 pm Whitney
8 pm Community
9 pm Grimm
10-11 pm Dateline NBC

SATURDAY
Encore programming

SUNDAY
7 pm Football Night in America
8:15 pm NBC Sunday Night Football

SUNDAY (Post-football/Winter 2013)
7 pm Dateline NBC
8 pm Fashion Star
9 pm The Celebrity Apprentice
10 pm DO NO HARM

NOT RETURNING NEXT SEASON: Are You There, Chelsea?, Awake, Bent, Best Friends Forever, Chuck, Free Agents, Harry’s Law, The Playboy Club, Prime Suspect and The Firm.

TV Clip of the Day: Charades!

I know I've been posting a lot of clips of 30 Rock lately, so I promise this isn't another 30 Rock clip.  It's a clip from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, featuring, well, the lead cast of 30 Rock: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, and Jack McBrayer.  The gang stopped by Late Night last week to promote their big live show.  Rather than doing a big group interview, they joined Jimmy for a big game of charades.  Check out the hilarious game below:

30 Rock Live - Fred Armisen

This week's 30 Rock live episode had lots of huge guest stars from Paul McCartney, Jon Hamm, and Donald Glover, to SNL alums Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, Will Forte, and Chris Parnell (and if you live on the West Coast, you got Kim Kardashian and Brian Williams).  But one of the best surprise guest stars in my opinion was SNL/Portlandia star Fred Armisen.  For the other stars, they were the main focus of the scene.  They came on, everyone applauded, and they delivered some funny lines.  But for Fred Armisen, he just stayed in the background, never getting a big applause, and never even uttering a single word. It was almost like a little inside joke to see how many times you could find Fred Armisen hidden in the show.  So how many times did you find Fred?  We found him 3 times (plus the farewells of course).  Let us know if we missed any!

The first appearance of Fred was at the beginning of the episode, just after the opening theme.  He's just standing in the background, wearing a mustache, as Tina Fey walks by.

Fred's second appearance, and the hardest one to spot, was as Frank's fill-in while Judah Friedlander was off-camera getting ready for his streaking scene.  I actually did a double take when I first saw Frank sitting there, and had to rewind my DVR to confirm it was really Fred Armisen.

In Fred's most obvious appearance, he appeared as a woman answering phones at the telethon.  As he crept into the shot, he nearly made Jimmy Fallon break on air.

And of course, here's Fred during the farewells, standing with his doppelganger.

30 Rock Live TV Parodies

This past Thursday, 30 Rock had its second live episode, and what an episode it was!  From the flashbacks to the surprise guests, the episode was non-stop fun.  But one of my favorite parts of the episode was the parodies of classic TV shows that they worked into the episode.  For those of you who may not be as familiar with classic television, here's a side by side (well above and below) look at 30 Rock's parody and the original classic show:

The Lovebirds/The Honeymooners

The Lovebirds is a parody of the classic Jackie Gleason sitcom The Honeymooners, with Alec Baldwin playing Jackie Gleason's role of Ralph Kramden, and Tina Fey doing a great impression of his miserable housewife Alice.

The Joey Montero Show/The Dean Martin Show

The Joey Montero Show was  a parody of the classic variety show The Dean Martin Show.  Alec Baldwin spoofs crooner Dean Martin, who drunkenly stumbled around on stage, telling jokes and singing with his guests. 

Alphie and Abner/Amos 'n' Andy

Alphie and Abner is a parody of the old sitcom Amos 'n' Andy.  Amos 'n' Andy started out as a popular radio show, before it was later turned into a TV series.  Though the TV show starred black actors, the 1930 feature film (based on the radio series) featured white actors in black face, as spoofed by Jon Hamm's character in Alphie and Abner.

The Gruby Brother and Nipsey/Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In
The Gruby Brother and Nipsey is a spoof of the classic sketch comedy series Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.  The show, which featured silly sketches and random dancing girls, was most famous for its "joke wall" where cast members would open a door on the wall and tell a joke.

Weird Al on 30 Rock - Recap

If you've been reading this blog lately, then you should know that "Weird Al" Yankovic was on 30 Rock last night. We thought he was did a great job on the show, and we really enjoyed his performances.  For those of you who missed it, here are some clips of his appearance on last night's show:

Weird Al also had the honor of providing lyrics to the 30 Rock theme in the show's tag ending:

Also, check out this behind the scenes video of Weird Al filming his scenes, and talking about how being on 30 Rock was a real dream come true:

REMINDER: Weird Al on 30 Rock tonight!

Don't forget to watch "Weird Al" Yankovic on 30 Rock tonight at 9:00 ET on NBC!  It's the second episode of two back-to-back episodes starting at 8:30 ET.  Here's a new photo that Al posted from the episode, which is slightly different than the one we previously posted:

 

BREAKING NEWS: 30 Rock to do 2nd Live Episode!

This just in!  According to HuffPo, 30 Rock is planning to film a second live episode on April 26!  30 Rock previously did a live episode last season, and I thought it was really great.  No word yet on the plot of the episode or if there will be any guest stars.  Here's a great clip from last season's live show:

The live episode also featured some live commercials, such as this one from everyone's favorite NBC doctor, Dr. Spaceman:

No word either on whether or not the new live episode will similarly contain commercials.  Guess we'll have to wait until April 26 to find out!

Weird Al's 30 Rock Episode Scheduled for Next Week!

As we've recently reported, comedy singer "Weird Al" Yankovic will be appearing on an upcoming episode of 30 Rock.  At the time, we didn't know when the episode would air, but we now have an update.  According to Weird Al's official website, his episode will be airing on this upcoming Thursday, March 22, and is entitled "Kidnapped by Danger".  Note that there will actually be 2 new episode of 30 Rock on that day - one in the show's new 8:30 time slot, and a second one immediately after at 9:00 (in place of The Office).  The episode featuring Weird Al will be the second episode airing at 9:00.  Don't miss it!  We'll be sure to post some great clips after the show!  And once again, here's a photo of Al from the upcoming episode:

Sitcom Moms & Dads: Frank's Mom

This week's episode of 30 Rock saw the return of actress Patti LuPone as Frank's very Italian mother Sylvia Rossitano.  But who is Patti LuPone?  Why is she famous?  Looks like it's time for another edition of our recurring segment "Sitcom Moms & Dads"!

Patti LuPone is a 6 time Tony Award nominated and 2 time Tony Award winning actress who has starred in over 20 Broadway shows.  Most famously, she starred in the original Broadway production of Evita, which earned LuPone her first Tony Award in 1980.  In 1988, she famously starred in the revival of Cole Porter's Anything Goes (currently on Broadway starring Sutton Foster). She later earned her second Tony Award for starring in the revival of the classic musical Gypsy in 2008.  She has also starred in her own one woman show Patti LuPone on Broadway in 1995, and most recently shared the stage with Mandy Patinkin in An Evening with Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin, which ran from November 2011 to January 2012.

Here are some performances of Patti LuPone performing at various Tony Awards:

"A New Argentina" from Evita

"Anything Goes" from Anything Goes

"Everything's Coming Up Roses" from Gypsy

"Side by Side" from Company (featuring TV stars Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), and Jon Cryer (Two and  a Half Men)

In addition to Broadway, Patti LuPone has made many guest appearances in television shows.  She appeared in last season's finale of Glee, and in this classic episode of Will & Grace:

And finally, here is Patti LuPone as Frank's mother Sylvia on last Thursday's episode of 30 Rock:

GIF of the Week: Liz Lemon's "Rolf" Dance

I made another GIF for this week to make up for posting none on Monday.  Hooray for overcompensation!

This is from the most recent "Leap Day" episode of 30 Rock.  Liz relives her college theater days and performs her dance from when she played Rolf in (an unlicensed version of) The Sound of Music.

Happy Leap Day!

It's that special day that only comes once ever 4 years!  So be sure to wear yellow and blue and enjoy all the candy that was traded in for baby's tears!  Happy Leap Day!

And don't forget to watch the Jim Carrey classic Leap Dave Williams all day long on USA!

Sitcom Moms & Dads: Liz Lemon's Dad

It's time for another installment of Sitcom Moms & Dads, where we talk about the legendary actors who play the parents of our favorite TV characters.  Today, we discuss Liz Lemon's father on 30 Rock, Dick Lemon, who is played by the legendary Buck Henry.  Never heard of him?  Well you're probably familiar with his work without even knowing it.

Buck Henry is probably most famous for two reasons.  First, he co-wrote the screenplay for the classic 1967 comedy film The Graduate starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft.  He also had a cameo in the film as a hotel clerk.  He can be seen around the 1:25 mark.

Buck Henry's other big claim to fame was co-creating the spy comedy TV series Get Smart with Mel Brooks (who wrote and directed the classic comedy films The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Spaceballs).  The show, which was recently turned into a feature film starring Steve Carell and Anne Bancroft, ran for 5 successful seasons from 1965-1970.  Here is the show's iconic opening theme:

Buck Henry was also a frequent host of the early days of Saturday Night Live.  He has hosted the show 10 times, which is the fourth most of any host (behind only Alec Baldwin's 16, Steve Martin's 15, and John Goodman's 12 hosting gigs).  Here's a sketch from Buck Henry's first hosting gig from season 1 episode 10 of SNL, Samurai Delicatessen.

More recently, Buck Henry has mainly been doing guest appearances on sitcoms.  In the 7th season of Will & Grace, he appeared as the husband of Will's boss, who was very attracted to Grace.  In this clip, he interrupts Will's dinner with his boss, so he can get a paddle for Grace to spank him with.

And lastly, here is Buck Henry as Liz Lemon's father.  He has appeared twice so far, first in the season 2 episode "Ludachristmas", and second in the season 5 episode "Gentleman's Intermission".  In this clip from "Gentleman's Intermission", he stays with Liz for a while as he takes a break from his marriage to Liz's mother, and Jack steps in to help Liz save her parents' marriage.

Weird Al on 30 Rock - Updated!

As we reported last week, comedy singer "Weird Al" Yankovic will be guest starring on an episode of 30 Rock.  At the time, that was pretty much all we knew, but we now have some more details on this developing story!

Last Thursday night, Jane Krakowski stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to talk about 30 Rock.  They discussed Al's upcoming appearance, and unveiled this photo from the show:

They went on to discuss some more details of his appearance, saying that Jenna records a song and music video which is then parodied by Weird Al.  Check out the full interview here:

According to Weird Al's Facebook page, the episode should air around the 3rd week of March, so don't forget to watch!  Should be pretty epic!