I watched 30 Rock the first night it aired, have seen every episode since, and it’s only fitting that I’d live-blog the series finale. It’s been a terrific run. 30 Rock is one of the few shows to expertly balance a great main cast (I’ll always wish Jane Krakowski had won an Emmy for the underrated Jenna Maroney), memorable guest stars (Dean Winters as Dennis Duffy was my personal favorite), and a self-deprecation for its own network (NBC) that CBS would have never allowed. So fuck you Big Bang Theory, and long live the true Best Comedy on TV (that’s been on for more than 5 years).
7 p.m. It’s started!
7:01 p.m. A great joke about overprotective, exaggerative internet mothers.
7:02 p.m. Oh Jack, we’ll miss you
7:03 p.m. Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey share their first scene together in this episode…sniff, sniff…
7:04 p.m. Jack launches into a great rant, becoming more Gordon Gecko than ever before. Liz keeps it lighter by quoting Yoda. Final credits sequence…
7:05 p.m. Kenneth is excelling in his new job as President of NBC. Tracy demands that he do errands, and seems like he’s jealous of Kenneth’s new job.
7:06 p.m. Liz tries to pitch Kenneth on a new TV show, but he’s not having it…saying he doesn’t like shows about “women, New York, or writers.”
7:07 p.m. Jenna is ignored by her hairstylists and then the crew. They that now that the show is over, they don’t have to pay attention to her tantrums anymore.
7:08 p.m. Jack consults Kenneth, seeking his advice on “happiness,” seeking advice from Kenneth means you’re really desperate.
7:09 p.m. The first commercial break, and the first commercial is, you guessed it, Tina Fey’s new movie Admission. Nice cross-promotion, Jack Donagey would approve.
7:10 p.m. We’re back…Tracy shows up to harass Kenneth about his new job.
7:11 p.m. Liz is bored as a stay-at-home mom. She’s arguing with other moms on the internet.
7:12 p.m. She sets up a fight with another mom. Good stuff.
7:13 p.m. Jack is tackling all his goals in a great montage. Julianne Moore and Salma Hayek appear as Jack tries to talk them into a group relationship.
7:14 p.m. Jenna gets her first post-TGS job as a Law and Order corpse. She can’t believe her role is so small and useless.
7:15 p.m. “Goodbye forever you soup line at a gay homeless shelter.”
7:16 p.m. The mom Liz is supposed to be fight turns out to be…Chris, her husband. They discover that he should be the one staying at home, and she should be the one going to work.
7:17 p.m. Grizz and Doc.com try to talk Tracy into letting go of Kenneth.
7:18 p.m. A fantastic Nancy Pelosi cameo, “we should punish Jack Donagey in the worst way possible, by making him come down to congress and listen to us.”
7:19 p.m. Jack wonders if he’s really happy at work or not, but he’s satisfied every other aspect, including a threesome with Julianne Moore and Salma Hayek where he also managed to change their accents.
7:20 p.m. More commercials and the episode is now a third of the way over. It’s weird to think that maybe I’ve taken this show for granted over the years (especially the last couple), but I will truly miss it.
7:21 p.m. We’re back, and Liz is pitching Kenneth some terrible show ideas.
7:22 p.m. Kenneth says that Tracy’s contract has a clause that will require them to produce one more show to hit 150.
7:23 p.m. Jenna shows up in L.A. and is having a terrible time because when everyone is hotter than her.
7:24 p.m. She announces that she’ll go back to her first love: Broadway.
7:25 p.m. Tracy says that he releases Kenneth from all his obligations…but it might be trap as he asks Kenneth to move his car.
7:26 p.m. Jack says that he resigned as CEO of Kabletown, because his work no longer makes him happy. Liz can’t believe it, and is dismayed that her mentor doesn’t seem to have all the answers. “You’re an adult Lemon, you didn’t have to listen to me.” They argue about who has ruined the other’s life more.
7:27 p.m. They seem to be going their separate ways, much to the happiness of Jack’s obsessive assistant Jonathan. “Get out, get out of our lives!” And then he laughs like a hyena. But Jack looks upset that his old protege is out the door.
7:28 p.m. Another commercial break…damn…
7:29 p.m. A Smash commercial…oh boy, can’t wait for that to come back [trademark Liz Lemon eye roll].
7:30 p.m. Another great slam on NBC, “the same network that suggested we get flush buddies to save water.”
7:31 p.m. A Kathy Giess cameo, Don Giess’s perhaps mentally challenged daughter.
7:32 p.m. The only female writer of TGS is now a pregnant Hooters waitress. Lutz gets to pick lunch, and chooses Blimpie.
7:33 p.m. Jack gives Liz a coupon for Blazer Barn, as an excuse to see her. He says he’s going away, and Liz says “I assume that’s code for a billionaire’s soul-searching trip on Tanned Penis Island.”
7:34 p.m. Tracy enlists Al Roker to help him get out of work, by faking a hurricane. “How did you get him to help you?” “His wife is on the board of a children’s charity and they need a celebrity to host their event, and I threatened to do it.”
7:35 p.m. A Conan O’Brien cameo…”we were going to lose our virginity together. Now I’ll never lose it!” Jack is trying to enlist Jenna to help him reconcile with Liz (who is well known for holding grudges).
7:36 p.m. Now he and Jenna are both crying. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take…I don’t have that many friends.” It’s nice to see Jack admit how much Liz really means to him.
7:37 p.m. Another commercial, and this one for some new, “gritty” Jack and the Bean Stalk movie. I can’t wait for the “dark” re-imagining of Cinderella or The Little Mermaid, because I’m sure that’s next.
7:38 p.m. We’re back, and more drama with Lutz picking where they get lunch from.
7:39 p.m. Jenna Maroney is about to launch into yet another Mickey Rourke story, then says “I can’t do this anymore, I’ve never met Mickey Rourke” straight to the camera.
7:40 p.m. They find another rule that would keep Lutz from picking lunch——-alphabetical order——–but he changed his name to Aardvark.
7:41 p.m. Jenna starts singing her song for the finale, and Kenneth accuses her of faking it. She says “of course,” and then Kenneth encourages her to try being genuine for once.
7:42 p.m. Pete seems like he’s getting ready to fake his death…And they notice how weird Jack is acting. Pete suggests that he might be getting ready to kill himself.
7:43 p.m. Jack says he’ll be watching the show “in spirit.” Oh Lord…
7:44 p.m. A promo for “Grizz and Hers” a new reality show for Grizz and his wife pops across the screen. lol, “Does anybody else see that?”
7:45 p.m. Lutz finally gets revenge (picking Blimpies just to punish them for treating him so badly all these years), and explodes on the staff.
7:46 p.m. But Liz tackles him into her office, and picks sushi instead. The staff cheers for her.
7:47 p.m. More damn commercials.
7:48 p.m. Liz finds Tracy at a strip club “Give it up for Liz Lemon everybody, the least molested person here.”
7:49 p.m. “If you think this is just about the money, then you’re even dumber than I look.” Tracy says he’ll miss the show terribly, and can’t say bye to everyone…I know how he feels.
7:50 p.m. Liz’s goodbye to Tracy is heartfelt, funny, and touching, but in a pure 30 Rock way. They end by watching the Skank Train at the strip club.
7:51 p.m. Kenneth finally gets Jenna to experience real, human emotions by taking the mirror out of her dressing room. She found one thing she’ll finally miss from the show: her own reflection.
7:52 p.m. Liz was about to invite Lutz to eat with them, until she discovers he’s broken out of his dressing room, and crashes through the ceiling. He says “Blimpies” after he’s destroyed all his food. They finally give into him.
7:53 p.m. “Jack kills himself because of me…this is like what happened with my gynecologist all over again.” She tries to find Jack before he can commit suicide. Tracy tells Pete “Goodbye Pete, I will forget you.” “I sure hope so Tracy, I sure hope so.” Tracy is dressed as black Hitler for the show’s final episode…he and Jenna say goodbye to each other.
7:54 p.m. Jack looks like he’s about to jump off a bridge, and Liz screams for him to stop. “Don’t you want to see how Mad Men ends?” Jack just jumps onto a boat. He says that he’s leaving to find out what makes him happy.
7:55 p.m. Jack says his final goodbye to Liz, and it is long, winding, and full of obscure references. Classic 30 Rock. “I love you too Jack.”
7:56 p.m. “That’s our final show, and not that many people watched it, but the joke’s on you, because we got paid anyway.” Tracy Jordan…And then Jenna sings the theme song from The Rural Juror.
7:57 p.m. Jack was about to leave forever, and tears were in his eyes. But he turns the boat around, saying “Oh my God, clear dish washers! It’s the best idea I’ve ever had. Thank God I took that boat trip!”
7:58 p.m. Jenna wraps up her song, and there’s a short montage that ends with Jack and Liz smiling at each other. Wow, it’s over two full minutes early…that sucks, but otherwise, it was a great finale.
7:59 p.m. NBC says thanks to 30 Rock for 7 years of great memories, and finishes up with a classic Jack line “I’ve been a General Electric man for years, and a GE woman for one week of corporate espionage.”
8:00 p.m. A final montage one year later showing where all the people wound up. Pete’s wife finds him after he fakes his death…Jenna ruins the Tonys…Tracy’s dad finally comes back from getting cigarettes…Liz is the producer of Grizz’s new show…And Liz’s great granddaughter (who’s black) pitches Kenneth on a show in the future.
Loved 30 Rock. Can’t believe that it is no more. Great play by play.
i like it it was good