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Many 30 Rock episodes have been known best for their star-studded guests, but while Julianne Moore, Salma Hayek and a few of NBC's regulars (past and present) including Al Roker and Conan O'Brien make brief appearances, the series finale is almost entirely about the hard-working cast headed up by Tina Fey as Liz Lemon and Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy - and about how they say goodbye.
The 30 Rock Series Finale Starring Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski aired on NBC Thursday January 31, 2013 at 8:00 pm ET.
Jack Donaghy Gets His Wish - But is Not Happy
Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) triumphant! As the new CEO of Kabletown he seems ecstatic as he struts about spitting pearls of wisdom to the gaggle of yes-men who follow him about. "Yesterday, I moved Kabletown's customer service to a part of India that has no phone service," he chortles. "We're now providing the same level of service to our subscribers but at zero the cost."
Despite being "burned in effigy by the Occupy Wall Street crowd" and publicly labeled "an economic war criminal" by House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, Jack discovers that something is missing - and he spends the rest of the show looking for it.
Liz Lemon is Not Cut Out to be a Stay-at-Home Mom
Liz (Tina Fey) is not a housewife or stay-at-home mommy. As Liz sends her husband Chris (James Marsden) off to work and their adopted twins to school, she quickly realizes that staying home alone all day is not for her. Several Internet arguments with other mothers on "Gothammoms.com" help convince her that she needs to work, and so she goes back to 30 Rock to ask both Jack and Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) for help and advice. She gets neither - although Kenneth does tell her that contractually she is required to do one, last episode (number 150) of her show TGS.
Tracy Doesn't Know How to Say Goodbye
Why is Tracy (Tracy Morgan) trying to sabotage the last episode of TGS? Because, as he confesses to Liz (while in the strip club where she tracks him down) he just does not know how to say goodbye -and he doesn't really want to. Liz rallies him and Jenna (Jane Krakowski) for one last show (which has a skit with Tracy and Jane as twin Hitlers) and the rest of the staff for one last go around, but runs out as it starts for fear that Jack is going to kill himself in despair!
"There's so Much to Live for; Don't You Want to Know How Mad Men Ends?"
Jack's inability to find what makes him happy leads him to resign from his dream job. A tearful breakdown with Jenna, an argument with Liz and a soul-searching meeting with Kenneth all indicate the depth of his despair, which Pete (Scott Adsit) tells Liz can only mean one thing - suicide.
When Liz finds a "suicide video message" in Jack's office, she is fearful for her friend, whom she finds about to jump over a rail into the river - but, much to her relief and delight, there is yacht on the other side of the railing. As Jack prepares to sail away to find himself, he admits in a lengthy and literate soliloquy that he loves her as a friend, to which she responds with a similarly heartfelt "I love you, too, Jack."
... Not to worry, this is not how it ends; it would not be 30 Rock if it did, but for that, well, viewers should watch the last few minutes that follow this sweet exchange.
Best Lines
Jack to Liz about running TGS:
"For the past seven years you put out dozens of fires every day, not including the real ones Tracy would set."
Liz explaining to Jack how Chris is no longer a house-husband:
"Chris has gone back to work. He has a degree in ethno-musicology from Wesleyan, so he's a receptionist at a dental office."
Jenna in one of her many farewells to the writing staff of TGS:
"I'm going to the City of Angels - a veterinary hospital where I get dog sedatives that help me relax when I fly."
Liz comes to Jack for a new job:
"Jack, I need a job; six figures, eight if we're counting cents - which I fell for once before. Not cool, The Gap."
When Kenneth accuses Jenna of faking her emotions, she responds:
"Of course I am. I'm an actor, and acting is all cheap tricks that any child or monkey could do."
Jack and Kenneth have this exchange about happiness:
"I've started to wonder if I'm happy." – Jack
"Well, Sir, if you have to ask, you're not." – Kenneth
A Night of Not-So-Many Guest Stars
NBC did let some of its brightest lights shine briefly in cameos for the finale of 30 Rock, but only three of the many, many stars who appeared in recurring roles in the past made it into this, the last show in its seven-year run.
James Marsden as Liz Lemon's husband, Chris, had two quick scenes, as did Jack Donaghy's old flames Salma Hayek and Julianne Moore. Salma as Elisa Pedrera appeared on Skype supposedly from a Puerto Rican jail so she could have a steamy three-way with Jack and Julianne, who as the original love of Jack's life, Nancy Donovan, got to do her "wicked" Boston Irish accent one last time.
Former NBC and current TBS late night talk show host Conan O'Brien made a cameo as Liz's former boyfriend, who in a flashback to their break up lamented, "We were going to lose our virginity to each other - now I'll never lose it!"
Richard Belzer and Ice T. appeared in a brief skit where Jenna shows up as a guest star on their long-running hit series Law and Order, and Today Show weatherman Al Roker did a phony news alert about a "snowicane" storm heading for downtown Manhattan (which Tracy Jordan convinced him to do in his effort to stall the filming of the last episode of TGS).
The only "new" non-NBC guest was Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who told a television interviewer that Jack Donaghy was an "economic war criminal" who would be investigated and brought to justice.
So many top stars and celebrities appeared on 30 Rock over the years - from Oprah Winfrey and Kelsey Grammer who played themselves, to Matt Damon and Jon Hamm, who were among the most serious of Liz's many suitors. None of her other lovers, who included Steve Martin as the crooked businessman Gavin Volure and Dean Winters, who as Dennis Duffy was easily the world's worst boyfriend, made an appearance in the finale. Also missing was Elizabeth Banks and Mary Steenburgen, who played Jack's wife and mother-in-law, respectively, and Edie Falco, the congresswoman with whom he had a recurring affair.
The list of stars who brightened 30 Rock over the last seven years is a long one, but this final episode, for once, was not about the guests, but about the cast, who finally got a show almost all to the themselves - all the better to say goodbye.
