--- title: "30 Rock" year: 2006 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/30-rock" fi1m_id: "30-rock" imdb_id: "tt0496424" tmdb_id: 4608 wikidata_id: "Q189350" fi1m_score: 86 critics_score: 77 critics_reviews: 8 published: "2026-09-15" updated: "2026-09-17T14:55:00.871267+00:00" region: "MX" 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." --- # 30 Rock (2006) Created by Tina Fey · 22m · RTC A · Comedy ## Identity 30 Rock - **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/30-rock - **Type:** Series - **Fi1m ID:** 30-rock - **IMDb ID:** tt0496424 - **TMDB ID:** 4608 - **Wikidata ID:** Q189350 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0496424/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/4608, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q189350 **Fi1m score: 86** · Critics 77 from 8 reviews *In a sentence:* Alec Baldwin makes every ridiculous sentence sound as though it has already been approved > *30 Rock* takes a little time to sort out its ensemble, then rewards the patience with sharp writing and expertly judged foolishness. Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin make the workplace friction worth staying for. ## Synopsis Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) is part of the team behind a television programme, where making the show means dealing with the people around it. Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) and Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) bring competing personalities into the same workplace. Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer), Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit) and Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander) are among the people caught up in its daily business. The comedy follows their working relationships and the difficulties of getting anything done together. ## Review *30 Rock* is a sharp, generous workplace comedy whose uneven beginning is worth forgiving. Created by Tina Fey, it uses the business of making a television programme to put incompatible people in close quarters. It is interested in their vanity, their need to be liked and their ability to make a small problem everybody else’s problem. The ambition is to keep the jokes coming without making everyone sound like the same person. Fey makes Liz Lemon’s exasperation feel earned, though the opening asks her to carry more than her restrained delivery can manage. Alec Baldwin, as Jack Donaghy, is immediately surer. His measured phrasing makes absurdity sound reasonable, and his refusal to hurry gives the other actors something firm to play against. We laughed hardest at his composure: Jack can make an outrageous remark sound like a useful contribution to a meeting. Fey’s irritation is funnier when there is someone this pleased with himself standing opposite her. Tracy Morgan’s Tracy Jordan supplies a different kind of disruption, with a delivery that leaves us unsure where a sentence will end. Jane Krakowski, playing Jenna Maroney, makes the need for attention both funny and faintly alarming. Jack McBrayer gives Kenneth Parcell a brightness that avoids simply copying either performance. These are broad characters, but the differences between the actors’ approaches mean the exchanges rarely feel like a competition to shout the loudest. Fey’s fellow writers include Robert Carlock, Kay Cannon and Donald Glover, and the scripts are generous with small jokes as well as the ones that drive a scene. A line can be funny on arrival and funnier once the next line exposes the speaker. The speed helps, although it occasionally leaves a promising exchange behind too quickly. The jazzy music suits that restless pace, keeping the comedy buoyant without insisting that we find everyone charming. There is little waiting around for laughter. Directors including Don Scardino and Beth McCarthy-Miller make room for sharply different comic instincts without letting the scenes fall apart. The series is at its most assured when we can enjoy a listener’s expression as much as the person speaking. Workplace comedies often depend on making colleagues into a substitute family. Here, the affection is more persuasive when nobody is making a point of it. In the pilot, the programme these people are supposed to be making is not particularly convincing. That matters because we need some sense of why working on it deserves all this fuss, and the opening is also slow to establish which relationships will supply the comedy. Fey is left doing too much of that work before the others have found their places around her. The improvement is considerable, but it does not make the pilot funnier in retrospect. The quieter disappointments beneath the jokes give us a reason to care who is speaking next, even when we would hesitate to sit beside them at work. Allow the ensemble time to settle, and resist treating it as background television. Choose an evening when nobody intends to check their phone. *Fi1m score 86, published 15 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics are warm, and the praise clusters on two things: the writing and Alec Baldwin. The reviews repeatedly single out the speed of the jokes, the quotable dialogue and the wry, self-aware way the series mocks its own network, with Baldwin’s Jack Donaghy named again and again as the character who holds it together. Tina Fey’s head writer and the character Tracy Jordan are cited as strengths too, and The AV Club adds the jazzy score and the New York atmosphere. The reservations gather around the pilot. Variety finds the opening episode uneven, with Fey limited as a lead and the show-within-a-show unconvincing, and Den of Geek agrees the pilot does not represent what the series becomes. Looking back years later, The Ringer notes some jokes about race have dated badly. The spread is wide, from outright raves to one sceptical early notice, but the doubters are mostly reviewing the first episode rather than the run. ## Straight answers **Is 30 Rock worth watching?** *30 Rock* is worth watching for anyone who enjoys a fast, sharply written workplace comedy, and we scored it 86. The opening episodes ask Tina Fey to carry too much before the ensemble finds its shape, so allow it time to settle. Alec Baldwin's unhurried Jack Donaghy is the reason to stay. **How long is 30 Rock, and what is it rated?** *30 Rock* has episodes of about 22m and is rated A by the RTC in Mexico. It is a comedy series. **Where can I watch 30 Rock in Mexico?** *30 Rock* is streaming on Netflix in Mexico. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is 30 Rock, and is it suitable for children?** *30 Rock* is not violent or frightening; it is a workplace comedy about the people behind a television programme, carrying a TV-14 certificate in the United States and none in the UK. The humour is adult in its vanity and selfishness rather than its content, so it suits teenagers and up. Younger children will simply find it dull. **How does 30 Rock compare to The Larry Sanders Show?** *30 Rock* is the faster and more foolish of the two, while [*The Larry Sanders Show*](https://film.one/tv/the-larry-sanders-show) leaves more silence between the jokes and lets the bruised feelings backstage sit longer. Both are about vain people making television together. Choose *30 Rock* for density of jokes and Baldwin's composure; choose *Larry Sanders* for the sharper sting and the more assured start. **What should I watch after 30 Rock?** After *30 Rock*, try [*The Larry Sanders Show*](https://film.one/tv/the-larry-sanders-show) (1992, Fi1m 91): Backstage vanity and bruised feelings, with more silence between the jokes. Then [*The Thick of It*](https://film.one/tv/the-thick-of-it) (2005, Fi1m 94): A workplace comedy where everyone speaks fluently and nobody communicates safely; and [*The Mary Tyler Moore Show*](https://film.one/tv/the-mary-tyler-moore-show) (1970, Fi1m 88): A television workplace ensemble that allows its friendships more room to develop. ### Reviews we read (8) - **The AV Club**, Nathan Rabin (A): The critic hails 30 Rock as a worthy successor to Arrested Development, praising its crack ensemble, rat-a-tat comic rhythms, quotable dialogue, and cinematic scope. He singles out the jazzy score, New York atmosphere, and bittersweet emotional undercurrent for particular praise. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/30-rock-1798202986) - **The Guardian** (90/100, inferred): 30 Rock is the best show on television, thriving critically where its rival Studio 60 failed after one season. The critic praises its self-aware, broad yet wry humour and strong characters like Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/tvandradioblog/2008/feb/07/30rockisthebestshowonte) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Barry Garron (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the show as a workplace comedy with strong characters like Jack Donaghy and Tracy Jordan, calling it arguably the best comedy this fall despite minor rough patches in the pilot. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/30-rock-first-episode-2006-816137/) - **The Telegraph** (85/100, inferred): 30 Rock was the last US sitcom to treat audiences like adults with its rapid-fire, boundary-pushing jokes aimed at everyone. The piece singles out its relentless pace and clever writing as standout qualities in a retrospective appreciation. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/30-rock-tina-fey-alec-baldwin-best-offensive-jokes/) - **The Times**, Ed Potton (80/100, inferred): 30 Rock outlasted its more hyped rival Studio 60 thanks to its wisecracks and random silliness. The critic highlights Tina Fey's head writer character and Alec Baldwin's mischievous network boss as key strengths in this DVD review. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/article/30-rock-d92sqzrp62h) - **Variety**, Brian Lowry (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the pilot uneven, with Tina Fey limited as lead and the show-within-a-show unconvincing, though Baldwin provides some laughs; it needs to get funnier quickly to succeed. [Read](https://variety.com/2006/film/awards/30-rock-4-1200512840/) - **The Ringer**, Alison Herman (75/100, inferred): The critic views 30 Rock as a sharp, insider satire of NBC that held up well over time. She singles out its self-reflexive network mockery for praise while noting some dated missteps on race. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2020/07/16/tv/30-rock-will-always-be-nbcs-ombudsman-or-court-jester) - **Den of Geek**, Andrew Mickel (60/100, inferred): The critic loves the series overall for its witty writing and Alec Baldwin's performance but finds the pilot underwhelming and not representative of the show's later quality. He notes the pilot's failure to fully establish the cast hierarchy and its uneven execution. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/30-rock-pilot-episode-review/) ## Details - **Created by:** Tina Fey - **Creator:** Tina Fey - **Director:** Don Scardino, Beth McCarthy-Miller, John Riggi, Michael Engler, Gail Mancuso, Ken Whittingham, Adam Bernstein, Jeff Richmond, Scott Ellis, Todd Holland, Linda Mendoza, Juan J. Campanella, Steve Buscemi, Dennie Gordon, Stephen Lee Davis, Tricia Brock, Claire Cowperthwaite, Millicent Shelton, Michael Slovis, Jamie Sheridan, Richard Shepard, Kevin Rodney Sullivan, Paul Feig, Robert Carlock, Constantine Makris - **Writer:** Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Jack Burditt, Matt Hubbard, Kay Cannon, John Riggi, Ron Weiner, Dylan Morgan, Vali Chandrasekaran, Tracey Wigfield, Josh Siegal, Luke Del Tredici, Dave Finkel, Donald Glover, Brett Baer, Sam Means, Paula Pell, Jon Pollack, Nina Pedrad, Tami Sagher, Daisy Gardner, Lang Fisher, Colleen McGuinness, Hannibal Buress, Lauren Gurganous, Jon Haller, Steve Hely, Andrew Guest - **Music:** Adam Levine - **Producer:** Jerry Kupfer, Alec Baldwin, Don Scardino - **Cast:** Tina Fey as Liz Lemon; Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy; Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan; Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney; Jack McBrayer as Kenneth Parcell; Scott Adsit as Pete Hornberger; Judah Friedlander as Frank Rossitano; Keith Powell as James 'Toofer' Spurlock - **Runtime:** 22m - **Certificate (RTC):** A - **Release (Mexico):** 11 October 2006 - **Genres:** Comedy ## Where to watch in Mexico - Netflix: streaming *Checked 2026-09-15.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Larry Sanders Show* (1992), Fi1m 91: Backstage vanity and bruised feelings, with more silence between the jokes. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-larry-sanders-show.md) - *The Thick of It* (2005), Fi1m 94: A workplace comedy where everyone speaks fluently and nobody communicates safely. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-thick-of-it.md) - *The Mary Tyler Moore Show* (1970), Fi1m 88: A television workplace ensemble that allows its friendships more room to develop. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-mary-tyler-moore-show.md) - *The Games* (1998): Australian workplace satire where arranging a sporting event becomes an administrative nightmare. - *Dix pour cent* (2015), Fi1m 82: French agents juggle demanding actors, with more tenderness and slightly better manners. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/call-my-agent.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/tv/30-rock