How ‘30 Rock’ Is a Meta-Narrative About the TV Industry

When we look at movies and TV that use narration to tell their stories, most have at least one thing in common - a need for explanations. Explanations, critiques, observations, monologues, flashbacks, recaps, and everything in between - each creative device is a potential need for voice-over narration. But that’s what’s so devilishly clever about how 30 Rock is written.  

It acts as a wordless narration of the television industry and the real-time problems the show faces while filming. Whenever the series was slated for cancellation, it informed viewers through jokes written into the script. Changes in the fictional show TGS meant changes were happening within the production process of 30 Rock.

Tina Fey was so clever in her writing for the series that she used a fictionalized version of her real-life experiences to form a meta-narrative about the real world. And aren’t all satires and spoofs just narrative commentary? 

It’s no secret that 30 Rock parodies Saturday Night Live, andthe writing style reflects its improvisational nature. The plot points and character interactions mimic the on-stage feel of a live show, with every plot point and larger-than-life element self-narrated through improv. Everything that pushes the story forward, each scene that motivates our characters, is explicitly stated aloud on camera for the people watching. Like SNL, 30 Rock gives the audience everything they need to know on-screen by having characters self-narrate on camera. We know what they’re doing because they actively tell us. 

Whenever Liz Lemon is angry or frustrated, any time she has a thought or feeling - she expresses it vocally. Whether she’s venting to her friend, boss, and mentor, Jack Donaghy, her coworkers - or a random stranger off the street - Liz has no filter. Every thought she has is delivered verbally in real-time.  Even when she’s alone - which is odd, given nobody does that in the real world. At first glance, it might seem like nothing more than a narrative device to inform the audience - but taking a closer look, it’s an over-the-top parody of how narration gets used in traditional media. It seems more of a deliberate choice to avoid actual voice-over - especially considering Fey isn’t shy to implement it when writing (Mean Girls).

The series doesn’t use narration because Liz Lemon’s larger-than-life neuroticism doesn’t need it. She essentially self-narrates everything she does. We don’t have to wonder what Liz is up to or her problems because she either describes them as they happen or tells the audience through her mentee relationship with Baldwin’s character, Jack Donaghy. 

While 30 Rock doesn’t use conventional narration to inform its viewers about plots or character arcs, there are times when it does use actual voice-over narration - but not for the reasons you might think. Including the pilot’s cold opening, which features a narrative theme song that inter-parodies Liz and her work life, the series only has two direct narrations. One is a satirical nod to Sex and the City a la Sarah Jessica Parker - and the other is a pathological peak inside the mind of Liz’s best friend and troublemaking cast member, Jenna Mulroney. 

Having covered Sarah Jessica-Parker’s narration in this column before, seeing Tina Fey's attempt to channel Carrie Bradshaw in the third episode of the seventh season is far too good to leave out. While hearing an emboldened Liz narrate her work-life balance is funny for many reasons, it serves a deeper purpose than surface-level parody. It’s a commentary on how the empowering ideals put out in Sex, and the City isn’t a fit for everybody, and some people just have different lives - no matter how hard they try to fit a square peg in a round slot. 

Another facet of this narration is that Liz only narrates when she tries to be someone else. The one time she uses voice-over for narration (instead of a bringing-her-stomach-to-life gag) Liz uses it to try and change herself into someone she wants to become but realizes she isn’t. 

She’s lively and animated, powerful in her own right, and (fleetingly) in charge of the world around her. Despite constant blunders and life drama, Liz is the everywoman that people can easily relate to instead of aspire to be. Liz talks to herself regularly and has her own theme music that plays to the Liz Lemon in all of us. It’s easy to forget that she runs a show and is responsible for an entire cast. Liz doesn’t break the mold - she’s simply different from it - just like 30 Rock.

Looking at the second definitive voice-over narration, we have Jenna’s interior monologue. It’s been joked and teased throughout 30 Rock’s 7-season runtime that Jenna Maroney is borderline pathological. From her tantrums to callbacks about her murky relationship with Mickey Rourke, it’s hard to take anything Jenna says beyond face value. The audience speculates throughout the series whether Jenna’s diva personality is genuine or put on and it wouldn’t be until her narration in the seventh season that we finally get a tangible peek inside her mind.  

She uses her narration to illustrate her thoughts while attempting to listen to someone else’s problems. In true Jenna fashion, her version of listening means tuning Kenneth out. In fact, she literally tells herself she’s listening - albeit from the third person.  This narration comes to a head when Kenneth asks her advice about what he’d confided in her - but she comes up empty. As Jenna uses her voice-over monologue to pry the information out of her brain, she asks Narrator Jenna for help - only for her to turn around and tell her to fix her own problems.

Even though the series was constantly slated for cancellation, it gritted its teeth and pushed through until it ended with a fully rounded 7 season run. Unlike most series that rush to tie things up on their own terms, 30 Rock completed all of its story and character arcs by the time it ended. Between dozens of celebrity cameos, a muppet episode, critical acclaim, a vocal fan base, and a willingness to poke fun at the industry it’s set in - it’s no wonder 30 Rock won 47 different awards and 189 nominations over its run-time. Among its accolades, 30 Rock took home 16 Emmy Awards, 5 Golden Globes, and 12 Screen Actors Guild wins.

Kim Handysides is an award-winning voice artist and coach. Among her 20K+ narrations, you have heard her on Discovery, Netflix, and the major networks, in iMax, the White House and the Smithsonian.