Trivia: Jack (Alec Baldwin) is talking to Liz about how they sold his voice while he was in college. And he mentions that they used it for a Wu-Tang Clan video and Thomas the Tank Engine. Alec Baldwin played the narrator in the Thomas the Tank Engine feature film.
A Goon's Deed in a Weary World - S7-E11
Trivia: Kenneth and Jack compare giving a tour of the station to Willy Wonka. Later as Kenneth and track are actually giving the tour we see the guests, which all match characters from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. One is overweight and has a German accent like Augustus Gloop, one woman is wearing a red dress reminiscent of Veruca Salt, one is wearing a bolo tie like Mike TeeVee, one is very similar to Violet Beauregard. And finally one is seemingly pure of heart and clean cut like Charlie Bucket.
Trivia: When Cooter (Matthew Broderick) and Jack are looking through all the files to find a bad idea it's very reminiscent of Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane as Bialistock and Bloom looking for bad scripts in The Producers. Yet another musical theatre nod by a writer.
Trivia: When Jack is in the church confessional, he tells the priest that one of his sins was "I once said I was God in a deposition." This is a reference to Alec Baldwin's character in "Malice", where he did state he was a God during a deposition.
Trivia: Tina Fey's 2021 series "Mr. Mayor" was originally meant to be a spin-off centering on Alec Baldwin's Jack Donaghy as he starts a political career. However, Baldwin ended up having to leave the project, and it was rewritten to be a stand-alone show.
Trivia: In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, the cast reunited to promote NBC's content (including the new streaming platform Peacock) with an hour-long special episode, seven years after the series ended. While the performances and plot were praised, the fact it was essentially an hour-long promo for NBC was widely criticized.
Trivia: Bryan Cranston, whose biggest role is arguably Walter White from Breaking Bad, makes an appearance in this episode. Matthew Broderick also makes an appearance in this episode, who was the studio's first choice to play Walter White.
The Beginning of the End - S7-E1
Trivia: Jack mentions that Jonathan was able to come back to 30 Rock because "the grass was not greener on the other side." This was a subtle shot at the show Weeds. The actor playing Jonathan (Maulik Pancholy) was on that show, which was about selling marijuana (grass). When Weeds was canceled, Pancholy came back to resume his role on 30 Rock.
Trivia: Jack's "girlfriend" of sorts introduces Jack (Alec Baldwin) to her other boyfriend, named Ryan. When she is making their introduction to each other, she says "Jack, Ryan." Alec Baldwin played Jack Ryan in The Hunt For Red October.
Trivia: One of future megastar Donald Glover's early jobs was as as a writer on "30 Rock." Glover grew up in a town called Stone Mountain, Georgia, and as a bit of an inside joke, he wrote Kenneth as also coming from Stone Mountain.
Trivia: Rachel Dratch was originally going to play Jenna, and in fact even appeared in the original unaired pilot. Her Jenna would have been an entirely different character - much more sweet and even-tempered. However, Tina Fey decided to rewrite the character as much more vain and spoiled, and felt Dratch no longer suited the part. Thus Jane Krakowski ended up being cast to replace her.
Trivia: Jon Hamm originally auditioned for the part of Jack. While that part went to Alec Baldwin, the producers loved Hamm's audition and ended up later giving him the recurring role of Dr. Drew starting in the third season.
Trivia: Much of the show is loosely inspired by creator Tina Fey's experience as a head-writer for "Saturday Night Live."
Answer: There's probably lots of reasons why Liz stays - money, lack of other job prospects and so on. The reality is, if she left, that would adversely affect the story line and the comedy within it. Tina Fey was one of the stars, and her character is an integral part of the show.
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