There's a clear strand of DNA shared by 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, as both are the brainchildren of Saturday Night Live alum Tina Fey, both center on quirky female leads in cartoonish versions of New York City, and both feature robust casts of crazy characters. These similarities have led many to wonder it 30 Rock's Tracy Morgan will ever make an appearance on the Netflix series, but the comedian apparently doesn't intend to make the jump anytime soon. Speaking to CinemaBlend's Corey Chichizola while promoting his new Netflix stand-up special, Staying Alive, Morgan explained why he won't cameo on the series:
No, I've got my own series now. But I love Netflix as a place for my standup. That's a home for my standup. Because I love Ted, the president of Netflix. A good friend of mine.
So, if you are holding your breath for Tracy Morgan to appear on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt at some point in the near future, like when Season 3 premieres next week, then you will probably asphyxiate yourself. Between his new stand-up content on Netflix, as well as his upcoming TV series (which was delayed due to his tragic car accident, then jumped from FX to TBS), Morgan clearly has plenty of irons in the fire. With so much going on at the moment, it looks like his return to TV comedy will not involve reuniting with Tina Fey for any zany appearances on her latest hit series.
You would be forgiven for assuming that Tracy Morgan would want to cameo on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt at some point. After all, plenty of other 30 Rock actors like Jane Krakowski and Jon Hamm have made the jump since Tina Fey's new show debuted in 2015. (Jack McBrayer was supposed to show up in Season 3, but there wasn't enough time to make it happen.) With so much crossover (and so much potential for even more crossovers), it would only make sense for fans to want to see a Tracy Morgan/Tracy Jordan-esque character show up to puzzle Kimmy with talks of impregnating household objects. He would probably drive Titus crazy.
While Tracy Morgan will not appear on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt at any point in the foreseeable future, it is still comforting to know that he will remain a consistent presence on the streaming platform. Netflix has made enormous investments in a wide variety of stand-up comedians over the course of the last year or so, and the streaming service has gradually started to corner the market on the live comedy format. With the successes of specials for comedy greats like Louis C.K. and Dave Chappelle paving the way for Morgan's new special, it seems that the former 30 Rock star has found the particular niche he wants to inhabit on Netflix.
Tracy Morgan's Stayin Alive special is now available to stream on Netflix, and the third season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt will debut on the streaming platform on Friday, May 19. It is clearly going to be a great summer for small screen entertainment, so make sure to take a look at our summer TV premiere guide and fill out your television viewing schedules accordingly.
