The third season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, consists of 22 episodes and began airing on October 30, 2008, on the NBC network in the United States. The season was produced by Broadway Video, Little Stranger, and NBC Universal; the executive producers were series creator Tina Fey, Lorne Michaels, Marci Klein, David Miner, and Robert Carlock.
In this season, Liz focuses heavily on her personal life, trying to adopt a child and find a new romantic partner. Meanwhile, Jack Donaghy pursues a new relationship, Jenna Maroney undertakes a new Janis Joplin-based film project, and Tracy Jordan enjoys the success of his video game developed at the end of the previous season.
The third season aired under NBC's promotional banner "Comedy Night Done Right" on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The season was critically acclaimed and received 22 Emmy Award nominations, the most for a single show in 2009. The nominations broke 30 Rock's own record (17) for the most nominated comedy in a single Primetime Emmy Award ceremony. The season was released on DVD as a three-disc boxed set under the title 30 Rock: Season 3 on September 22, 2009, by Universal Studios.
Synopsis
Season 3 continues from the epilogue of the Season 2 finale, Cooter. Jack tries to get his job—and his promotion—back. Meanwhile, Liz tries to adopt a baby, while Tracy enjoys the success of his pornographic video game as Jenna sues him for not properly compensating her.
Season-long plots include Jack meeting a new love interest, Elisa (Salma Hayek), and the search for his real father (portrayed by Alan Alda). Liz also finds a new love interest, Dr. Drew Baird (Jon Hamm), while going through cutbacks and discovering her potential to host a talk show. Jenna is cast as a Janis Joplin-type character since the life rights to Janis Joplin could not be obtained. Kenneth Parcell's (Jack McBrayer) age is also revealed to be questionable. It is also revealed, in the penultimate episode of season 7, that Jack and Jenna were romantically involved throughout season 3.
Crew
The third season was produced by Broadway Video, Little Stranger, Inc., and Universal Media Studios and aired on NBC. The executive producers were series creator Tina Fey, Lorne Michaels, Marci Klein, David Miner, and Robert Carlock. Jack Burditt, John Riggi, and Ron Weiner acted as co-executive producers. The producers for the season were Alec Baldwin, Jerry Kupfer, and Don Scardino with Diana Schmidt and Irene Burns as co-producers. Joann Alfano had been the executive producer for the first and second seasons and vacated that position afterward. Ron Weiner became a co-executive producer after being a story editor for the second season. Alec Baldwin, who plays Jack Donaghy in the series, became a producer for the third season.
There were 11 directors through the season. Those who directed multiple episodes were series producer Don Scardino, Gail Mancuso, and Beth McCarthy. There were eight directors who each directed one episode throughout the season: Steve Buscemi, Todd Holland, Constantine Makris, John Riggi, Ken Whittingham, Tricia Brock, Millicent Shelton, and Scott Ellis. Series writers who penned episodes this season include Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Jack Burditt, John Riggi, and Matt Hubbard.
Cast
Ten actors received star billing. Tina Fey portrayed Liz Lemon, the head writer of a fictitious live-sketch-comedy television series TGS. The TGS cast consists of three actors. The lead actor is the loose cannon movie star Tracy Jordan, portrayed by Tracy Morgan. The co-stars are the dense Jenna Maroney, portrayed by Jane Krakowski and Josh Girard, who is also a writer for TGS, portrayed by Lonny Ross. Jack McBrayer played the naïve NBC page Kenneth Parcell. Scott Adsit acted as the witty and wise TGS producer, Pete Hornberger. Judah Friedlander portrayed trucker hat-wearing staff writer Frank Rossitano. Alec Baldwin played the NBC network executive Jack Donaghy. Donaghy's full corporate title for the majority of the season is "Head of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming". Keith Powell played the Harvard University alumnus and TGS staff writer James "Toofer" Spurlock. Katrina Bowden acted as writers' assistant Cerie Xerox. Other cast members include, Maulik Pancholy as Jonathan, Grizz Chapman as Grizz Griswold, and Kevin Brown as "Dot Com" Slattery. The cast featured recurring characters, including John Lutz as J.D. Lutz, and Chris Parnell as Dr. Leo Spaceman.