---
name: "Robert Carlock"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/robert-carlock"
fi1m_id: "robert-carlock"
imdb_id: "nm1061622"
tmdb_id: 1224760
wikidata_id: "Q7342763"
roles: ["Writer","Director","Producer"]
born: "21 September 1972"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-30T20:38:44.379006+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Robert Carlock

## Identity

Robert Carlock

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/robert-carlock
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** robert-carlock
- **IMDb ID:** nm1061622
- **TMDB ID:** 1224760
- **Wikidata ID:** Q7342763
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Carlock, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7342763, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1061622/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1224760

Writer and director. Born 21 September 1972 in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Director, Producer
- **Born:** 21 September 1972, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
- **Active:** 1994–present
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 2 directing, 1 writing
- **Frequently works with:** [Gail Mancuso](https://film.one/person/gail-mancuso.md), [Jane Krakowski](https://film.one/person/jane-krakowski.md), [Tina Fey](https://film.one/person/tina-fey.md), [Todd Holland](https://film.one/person/todd-holland.md), [Alec Baldwin](https://film.one/person/alec-baldwin.md), [Beth McCarthy-Miller](https://film.one/person/beth-mccarthy-miller.md), [Claire Cowperthwaite](https://film.one/person/claire-cowperthwaite.md), [Don Scardino](https://film.one/person/don-scardino.md)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 78 (1), 2000s 86 (1), 2010s 76 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Carlock, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7342763, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1061622/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1224760

## Streaming the US now

- **Hulu:** [*30 Rock*](https://film.one/tv/30-rock.md) (86)
- **HBO Max:** [*Friends*](https://film.one/tv/friends.md) (78)
- **Netflix:** [*Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt*](https://film.one/tv/unbreakable-kimmy-schmidt.md) (76)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Robert Carlock

> Robert Carlock's comedy gives even the shop signs jokes. His work with Tina Fey is often sharp, generous and funny enough to revisit, though the scripts sometimes hurry past an exchange worth hearing out.

In *Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt* (2015), a joke about Kimmy's out-of-date slang sits beside a cutaway to the bunker where she was held captive, then a shop sign worth pausing to read. Robert Carlock and Tina Fey trust us to keep up. We laughed enough to go back for lines we had talked over, because the script kept delivering another joke before we had finished with the last. The surprise is how kind those first two seasons manage to be, given that their heroine has spent fifteen years imprisoned underground.

Carlock wrote for *The Dana Carvey Show* (1996) before joining *Friends* during its later seasons. We like the warmth of *Friends*, but our pleasure there lies chiefly in the six performances; it is not where we would begin to explain his writing. *30 Rock* (2006), where he worked as writer and showrunner with Fey, makes the case more clearly. Television production and celebrity give him subjects suited to jokes that expose how people would like to be seen.

On *30 Rock*, a line can be funny before the next one reveals something worse about the person saying it. Carlock is part of a writing team that includes Fey, Kay Cannon and Donald Glover, and it would be careless to give him sole credit for that rhythm. The smaller jokes matter as much as the scene's main business, and Fey and Alec Baldwin make the workplace quarrels worth following. The ensemble takes time to settle, and occasionally the scripts hurry past an exchange we would rather hear out.

Co-creating *Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt* with Fey gave Carlock a darker starting point and an optimist to lead us through it. Editors Ken Eluto and Meg Reticker are among those who make its speed work, cutting so that punchlines barely have time to register before the next arrives. Ellie Kemper and Tituss Burgess carry the programme, but the last two seasons give them less to work with, and the plentiful jokes cannot quite cover the loss of direction. Begin with *30 Rock*, and resist the temptation to talk over it.

## Biography

Robert Carlock is an American screenwriter and producer. Born on 21 September 1972 in Waltham, Massachusetts, he graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1995, where he edited the Harvard Lampoon.

He began his television career as a writer on The Dana Carvey Show (1996) and Saturday Night Live (1996–2001). He later wrote for Friends (2001–2004) and Joey (2004–2006). In 2006 he joined 30 Rock as a writer and producer, serving as co-showrunner with Tina Fey. Carlock co-created Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015) and Mr. Mayor (2021) with Fey, and wrote the screenplay for Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016).

He has received multiple Primetime Emmy Awards, Writers Guild of America Awards and Producers Guild of America Awards for his work on 30 Rock.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, tvinsider.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

### Directed (2)

- *Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt* (2015), Fi1m 76, Writer, Executive Producer, Director, Creator — [page](https://film.one/tv/unbreakable-kimmy-schmidt.md)
- *30 Rock* (2006), Fi1m 86, Director, Writer, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/30-rock.md)

### Wrote (1) — the average rests on these

- *Friends* (1994), Fi1m 78, Writer, Story, Teleplay, Executive Story Editor — [page](https://film.one/tv/friends.md)

## Complete filmography (14)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins* (2026), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator
- *Mulligan* (2023), series, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
- *Girls5eva* (2021), series, Executive Producer, Writer
- *Mr. Mayor* (2021), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Teleplay, Creator
- *30 Rock: A One-Time Special* (2020), Executive Producer, Writer
- *Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend* (2020), Executive Producer, Creator, Writer
- *Party Monster: Scratching the Surface* (2018), Creator, Executive Producer
- *Great News* (2017), series, Executive Producer, Writer
- *Whiskey Tango Foxtrot* (2016), Writer
- *Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt* (2015), series, Writer, Director, Executive Producer, Creator — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/unbreakable-kimmy-schmidt.md)
- *30 Rock* (2006), series, as German Lawyer · Writer, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/30-rock.md)
- *Joey* (2004), series, Writer, Co-Executive Producer
- *NBC 75th Anniversary Special* (2002), Writer
- *Friends* (1994), series, Writer, Story, Teleplay, Executive Story Editor, Co-Producer, Producer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/friends.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/robert-carlock