Parks and Recreation made its way back to the airwaves for a special remote episode in May despite coming to an official end back in 2015, and now another ended NBC comedy is getting a reunion. The 30 Rock cast is coming together for a reunion special more than seven years after the show originally wrapped back in 2013. Liz Lemon and Co. are returning to TV, and not just on its original home on NBC.
30 Rock is returning in July for an NBCUniversal Upfront event that will double as a reunion special and an event celebrating the stories and talents slated for the 2020-2021 TV season. The reunion will run for an hour and air without commercials, guaranteeing 30 Rock fans more airtime than Parks and Rec fans got with its remote episode.
The Upfront event will premiere on Thursday, July 16 on NBC at 8 p.m. ET, but that won't be the only time or network to catch the 30 Rock reunion special. Following the NBC broadcast on July 16, the Upfront presentation will be rebroadcast across USA, Bravo, E!, Oxygen, Syfy, and CNBC on Friday, July 17 at 9 p.m. ET. It will also be available to stream on Peacock on July 17. But which of the 30 Rock cast members will be back to make the Upfront event must-see TV?
30 Rock fans don't need to fear that the special is going to leave out the biggest names. The confirmed returning cast members include Tina Fey as Liz Lemon, Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy (who never got his spinoff), Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan, Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney, and Jack McBrayer as Kenneth Parcell. More are expected to return as well. Viewers can also expect guest appearances from talent across the NBCUniveral networks.
30 Rock executive producers Tina Fey and Robert Carlock weighed in on the Upfront reunion special, saying:
We’re all happy to have this excuse to (remotely) work together again for NBC. To quote Kenneth the Page, there are only two things we love in this world, television and everyone.
Like the Parks and Recreation reunion episode, the 30 Rock event will be filmed from remote locations across the country. Also like the Parks and Rec episode, which brought the characters back together via a video call tree to check in with each other, the 30 Rock special should make sense for the characters. After all, the 30 Rock team worked in TV, and it stands to reason that hosting an Upfront presentation would fall to them.
It should definitely be interesting to see how the 30 Rock special picks up from where the show left off. I can't help but hope that the immortal Kenneth is still part of the page program, and it would be pretty funny if 30 Rock went meta and said that Jenna Maroney went on to star in a show with some striking similarities to Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Since the special will air after 6 p.m., I have to hope that Jack will be wearing a tux, lest fans come to the conclusion that he has become a farmer in the seven years since the series finale.
For now, you can always relive the original run of 30 Rock with the series streaming on both Hulu and Amazon Prime. The show will also be available on the Peacock streaming service when it launches nationwide on July 15. For some upcoming viewing options during the wait for the 30 Rock Upfront special on NBC on July 16, be sure to check out our 2020 summer premiere schedule.
