Tracy Does Conan
Encyclopedia
"Tracy Does Conan" is the seventh episode of NBC
's first season
of 30 Rock
. It was written by the series' creator and executive producer, Tina Fey
and it was directed by one of the season's supervising producers, Adam Bernstein
. It first aired on December 7, 2006 in the United States and November 29, 2007 in the United Kingdom. Guest stars in the episode included Katrina Bowden
, Kevin Brown
, Grizz Chapman
, Rachel Dratch
, Dave Finkel
, Steve Hollander, Johnnie May, Maulik Pancholy
, Chris Parnell
, Aubrey Plaza, Keith Powell
, R. N. Rao and Dean Winters
. Conan O'Brien
appeared as himself in this episode.
This episode revolves around Liz Lemon
(played by Tina Fey) and Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit
) trying to get Tracy Jordan
(Tracy Morgan
) to make a successful appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
, a late night talk show. These attempts are complicated when Tracy has a bad reaction to pills prescribed by Dr. Leo Spaceman and he temporarily goes crazy. Meanwhile, Jack Donaghy
(Alec Baldwin
) is preparing to give a speech at the Waldorf-Astoria.
(Jane Krakowski
) who reveals that Jack has "bumped" her from appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and he has decided to put Tracy on in her place. When Liz can't change Jack's mind, Jenna threatens to quit her job.
As the taping time, 6 pm, is fast approaching, Tracy begins acting strangely. Liz and Pete discover that he has not been taking his medication correctly. Liz calls Tracy's doctor, Dr. Leo Spaceman (Chris Parnell), who gives her instructions regarding the medication. Liz gives the instructions to Kenneth Parcell
(Jack McBrayer
) who has to visit multiple identical pharmacies until he finds the correct one, which will have Tracy's new medication. Liz and Pete's attempts to get Tracy to the Late Night stage on time are further complicated as Jack persistently calls Liz to his office to ask for her advice on a speech he is going to read at The Waldorf Astoria. Tracy eventually appears on Late Night only to immediately fall asleep after sitting down.
Liz walks in to her apartment after the Conan incident, Dennis is sitting on their bed playing Halo
. He told Liz he got her a cheeseburger. She takes one bite and falls asleep listening to him playing the video game.
: "Why is there hair everywhere, did you shave in the kitchen?"
Dennis Duffy: "The water in here is softer."
Liz Lemon
: "Why are you wearing a tux?"
Jack Donaghy
: "It's after six. What am I, a farmer?"
First appearance of Dr. Leo Spaceman (Chris Parnell
).
, longtime comedy partner and fellow Saturday Night Live
alumna of Fey, was originally cast to portray Jenna. Dratch played the role in the show's original pilot, but in August 2006, Jane Krakowski was announced as Dratch's replacement. Executive producer Lorne Michaels
announced that while Dratch would not be playing a series regular, she would appear in various episodes in a different role. In this episode, she played a hallucination of Tracy's, which he called Blue Dude.
Chris Parnell
, who played Dr. Leo Spaceman in this episode, has appeared in the main cast of Saturday Night Live
, a weekly sketch comedy
series which airs on NBC
in the United States. Tina Fey was the head writer
on Saturday Night Live from 1999 until 2006. Various other cast members of Saturday Night Live have appeared on 30 Rock. These cast members include: Rachel Dratch, Fred Armisen
, Kristen Wiig
, Will Forte
, Jason Sudeikis
and Molly Shannon
. Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan have both been part of the main cast of Saturday Night Live. Alec Baldwin has also hosted Saturday Night Live sixteen times, the highest number of episodes of any host of the series.>
Star Wars
is frequently referenced in 30 Rock, beginning with the pilot episode
where Tracy Jordan is seen shouting that he is a Jedi
. Liz Lemon admits to being a huge fan of Star Wars, saying that she had watched it many times with Pete Hornberger, and saying she dressed up as the Star Wars character Princess Leia
during four Halloweens. Fey, a fan of Star Wars herself, said that the weekly Star Wars joke or reference "started happening organically" when the crew realized that they had a Star Wars reference "in almost every show". Fey said that from then on "it became a thing where [they] tried to keep it going", and that even though they could not include one in every episode, they still had a "pretty high batting average". Fey attributed most of the references to Robert Carlock
, who she described as "the resident expert". Star Wars is referenced in this episode when Tracy Jordan takes on the identity of the character Chewbacca
.
The episode briefly features actress Aubrey Plaza, who would later appear on the NBC show Parks and Recreation
, as an NBC page – a job she actually held at the time.
Matt Webb Mitovich of TV Guide
said that although "30 Rock gave us yet another riff on what a wild and crazy guy Tracy Jordan is", the series was really finding its footing. Mitovich enjoyed the appearances of Dratch and Parnell, labeling the latter as the highlight of the episode. Robert Canning of IGN
said that the episode "failed to deliver the comic gold we were hoping for." Canning had hoped that Tracy's storyline would be a "subtle, fairly straightforward plot", in contrast to the wackiness the series had a reputation for, but found it unfunny. The reviewer did not enjoy the appearances of Dratch and Winters, and felt Conan O'Brien was not used to his full potential. Canning rated the episode 5 out of 10.
Tina Fey's writing for this episode earned her a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
. Fey lost the award to Greg Daniels
for the "Gay Witch Hunt
" episode of The Office.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's first season
30 Rock (season 1)
The first season of the television comedy series 30 Rock originally aired between October 11, 2006 and April 26, 2007 on NBC in the United States...
of 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
. It was written by the series' creator and executive producer, Tina Fey
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
and it was directed by one of the season's supervising producers, Adam Bernstein
Adam Bernstein
Adam Bernstein is an American film, music video and television director and screenwriter. He was born in Princeton, New Jersey...
. It first aired on December 7, 2006 in the United States and November 29, 2007 in the United Kingdom. Guest stars in the episode included Katrina Bowden
Katrina Bowden
Katrina Bowden is an American actress. She is known for her short role as Britney Jennings on One Life to Live and for her role as Cerie in 30 Rock .- Education :...
, Kevin Brown
Kevin Brown (actor)
Kevin 'Dot Com' Brown is an American comedian, film and television actor, best known for his role on the series 30 Rock as "Dot Com".Brown also appeared as the lead in Marq Overton's one-man play Die Laughing in 2008 at the Diversity Players of Harlem and as an actor and executive producer of the...
, Grizz Chapman
Grizz Chapman
Grizzwald "Grizz" Chapman is an American television actor best known for his recurring role as Grizz on the NBC series 30 Rock. A June 2007 interview with rollingout.com lists Chapman's height as 6'10". In his commentary for the episode "Tracy Does Conan," Tracy Morgan revealed that they met when...
, Rachel Dratch
Rachel Dratch
Rachel Susan Dratch is an American comic actress best known for her roles as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...
, Dave Finkel
Dave Finkel
Dave Finkel is an American television producer, actor, and screenwriter who has worked on many successful television shows. He often works with his screenwriting partner Brett Baer.- Writing work :* 30 Rock * Joey...
, Steve Hollander, Johnnie May, Maulik Pancholy
Maulik Pancholy
Maulik Pancholy is an American actor. He is best known for his recurring role as Sanjay on Weeds from 2005 to present, and his role as Jonathan on 30 Rock, which he has played since the show began in 2006....
, Chris Parnell
Chris Parnell
Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
, Aubrey Plaza, Keith Powell
Keith Powell
Keith Powell is an American television actor who is best known for his role as James "Toofer" Spurlock on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock.-Career:Powell was the Producing Artistic Director of Contemporary Stage Company, a summer theater in Wilmington, Delaware...
, R. N. Rao and Dean Winters
Dean Winters
Dean Winters is an American actor, who has portrayed Ryan O'Reily on HBO's Oz, Johnny Gavin on FX Network's Rescue Me, and Dennis Duffy on NBC's 30 Rock...
. Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
appeared as himself in this episode.
This episode revolves around Liz Lemon
Liz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.-Personal history:...
(played by Tina Fey) and Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit is an American actor, writer and improvisational comedian. He is currently co-starring as Pete Hornberger in the hit NBC comedy 30 Rock and worked in the Adult Swim stop-motion animation programs Moral Orel and Mary Shelley's Frankenhole.-1990s:After attending Columbia College Chicago,...
) trying to get Tracy Jordan
Tracy Jordan
Ogbert Jordan, better known by his stage name, Tracy, is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, based on and played by Tracy Morgan.-Brief overview:...
(Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
) to make a successful appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
, a late night talk show. These attempts are complicated when Tracy has a bad reaction to pills prescribed by Dr. Leo Spaceman and he temporarily goes crazy. Meanwhile, Jack Donaghy
Jack Donaghy
John Francis "Jack" Donaghy is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He is the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric and later Kabletown....
(Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
) is preparing to give a speech at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Plot
While giving a blood donation, Liz reveals that she plans to break up with her boyfriend, Dennis Duffy (Dean Winters). On the way to her office, she runs into Jenna MaroneyJenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, played by Jane Krakowski.-Fictional biography:Jenna was born Ystrepa Grokovitz on February 24, 1969 and grew up in Bakersfield...
(Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
) who reveals that Jack has "bumped" her from appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and he has decided to put Tracy on in her place. When Liz can't change Jack's mind, Jenna threatens to quit her job.
As the taping time, 6 pm, is fast approaching, Tracy begins acting strangely. Liz and Pete discover that he has not been taking his medication correctly. Liz calls Tracy's doctor, Dr. Leo Spaceman (Chris Parnell), who gives her instructions regarding the medication. Liz gives the instructions to Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth Ellen Parcell is a fictional character in the comedy television series 30 Rock. He is portrayed by actor Jack McBrayer and first appeared on television in the 30 Rock episode "Pilot" on October 10, 2006...
(Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his characters on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"...
) who has to visit multiple identical pharmacies until he finds the correct one, which will have Tracy's new medication. Liz and Pete's attempts to get Tracy to the Late Night stage on time are further complicated as Jack persistently calls Liz to his office to ask for her advice on a speech he is going to read at The Waldorf Astoria. Tracy eventually appears on Late Night only to immediately fall asleep after sitting down.
Liz walks in to her apartment after the Conan incident, Dennis is sitting on their bed playing Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
. He told Liz he got her a cheeseburger. She takes one bite and falls asleep listening to him playing the video game.
Memorable Quotes
Liz LemonLiz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.-Personal history:...
: "Why is there hair everywhere, did you shave in the kitchen?"
Dennis Duffy: "The water in here is softer."
Liz Lemon
Liz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.-Personal history:...
: "Why are you wearing a tux?"
Jack Donaghy
Jack Donaghy
John Francis "Jack" Donaghy is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He is the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric and later Kabletown....
: "It's after six. What am I, a farmer?"
Trivia
The baseball hat that Frank wears in this episode says, "Big Foot Expert"First appearance of Dr. Leo Spaceman (Chris Parnell
Chris Parnell
Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
).
Production
Rachel DratchRachel Dratch
Rachel Susan Dratch is an American comic actress best known for her roles as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...
, longtime comedy partner and fellow Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
alumna of Fey, was originally cast to portray Jenna. Dratch played the role in the show's original pilot, but in August 2006, Jane Krakowski was announced as Dratch's replacement. Executive producer Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
announced that while Dratch would not be playing a series regular, she would appear in various episodes in a different role. In this episode, she played a hallucination of Tracy's, which he called Blue Dude.
Chris Parnell
Chris Parnell
Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
, who played Dr. Leo Spaceman in this episode, has appeared in the main cast of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, a weekly sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
series which airs on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in the United States. Tina Fey was the head writer
Head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
on Saturday Night Live from 1999 until 2006. Various other cast members of Saturday Night Live have appeared on 30 Rock. These cast members include: Rachel Dratch, Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen
Fred Armisen is an American actor, comedian and musician best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and portraying off-color foreigners in various comedy films such as EuroTrip, Anchorman and Cop Out...
, Kristen Wiig
Kristen Wiig
Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American film and television actress who currently appears as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Wiig was a member of improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings, and has appeared in several films and television series, including Bridesmaids, MacGruber, Flight of...
, Will Forte
Will Forte
Orville Willis Forte IV, better known as Will Forte , is an American actor, voice actor, comedian and writer best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2002–2010 and for starring in the SNL spin-off film MacGruber.-Early life:Forte was born in Alameda County, California, the son of...
, Jason Sudeikis
Jason Sudeikis
Daniel Jason Sudeikis is an American actor and comedian currently starring as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:Sudeikis was born Daniel Jason Sudeikis in Fairfax, Virginia, the son of Kathryn , a travel agent who was president of the American Society of Travel Agents, and Dan...
and Molly Shannon
Molly Shannon
Molly Helen Shannon is an American comic actress best known for her work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995–2001 and for starring in the films Superstar and Year of the Dog. More recently, she starred in NBC's Kath & Kim from 2008–2009 and on the TBS animated series Neighbors from...
. Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan have both been part of the main cast of Saturday Night Live. Alec Baldwin has also hosted Saturday Night Live sixteen times, the highest number of episodes of any host of the series.>
Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
is frequently referenced in 30 Rock, beginning with the pilot episode
Pilot (30 Rock)
The pilot episode of the American situation comedy series 30 Rock premiered on October 10, 2006 on the CTV Television Network in Canada, and October 11, 2006 on NBC in the United States...
where Tracy Jordan is seen shouting that he is a Jedi
Jedi
The Jedi are characters in the Star Wars universe and the series's main protagonists. The Jedi use a power called the Force and weapons called lightsabers, which emit a controlled energy flow in the shape of a sword, in order to serve and protect the Republic and the galaxy at large from conflict...
. Liz Lemon admits to being a huge fan of Star Wars, saying that she had watched it many times with Pete Hornberger, and saying she dressed up as the Star Wars character Princess Leia
Princess Leia Organa
Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe...
during four Halloweens. Fey, a fan of Star Wars herself, said that the weekly Star Wars joke or reference "started happening organically" when the crew realized that they had a Star Wars reference "in almost every show". Fey said that from then on "it became a thing where [they] tried to keep it going", and that even though they could not include one in every episode, they still had a "pretty high batting average". Fey attributed most of the references to Robert Carlock
Robert Carlock
Robert Carlock is an American television producer and screenwriter most widely known for his work as a writer for several NBC television comedies, particularly his work with Tina Fey as show runners for 30 Rock.-Early years:...
, who she described as "the resident expert". Star Wars is referenced in this episode when Tracy Jordan takes on the identity of the character Chewbacca
Chewbacca
Chewbacca, also known as Chewie, is a character in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed by Peter Mayhew. In the series' narrative chronology, he appears in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi...
.
The episode briefly features actress Aubrey Plaza, who would later appear on the NBC show Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation is an American comedy television series on NBC that focuses on Leslie Knope , a mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional town in Indiana. Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, the series debuted on April 9, 2009; it has run for three seasons and...
, as an NBC page – a job she actually held at the time.
Reception
"Tracy Does Conan" brought in an average of 6.84 million American viewers. This episode achieved a 3.2/8 in the key 18–49 demographic, a series high in that category. The 3.2 refers to 3.2% of all 18–49 years olds in the U.S. and the 8 refers to 8% of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast, in the U.S.. In the United Kingdom, the episode attracted 400,000 viewers which was a 3% share of the viewing audience at the time of the broadcast.Matt Webb Mitovich of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
said that although "30 Rock gave us yet another riff on what a wild and crazy guy Tracy Jordan is", the series was really finding its footing. Mitovich enjoyed the appearances of Dratch and Parnell, labeling the latter as the highlight of the episode. Robert Canning of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said that the episode "failed to deliver the comic gold we were hoping for." Canning had hoped that Tracy's storyline would be a "subtle, fairly straightforward plot", in contrast to the wackiness the series had a reputation for, but found it unfunny. The reviewer did not enjoy the appearances of Dratch and Winters, and felt Conan O'Brien was not used to his full potential. Canning rated the episode 5 out of 10.
Tina Fey's writing for this episode earned her a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series is an annual award presented as part of the Primetime Emmy Awards. It recognizes writing excellence in regular comedic series, most of which can generally be described as situation comedies.Though this category is the dominant one...
. Fey lost the award to Greg Daniels
Greg Daniels
Gregory Martin "Greg" Daniels is an American television comedy writer, producer, and director.-Life and career:...
for the "Gay Witch Hunt
Gay Witch Hunt
"Gay Witch Hunt" is the third season premiere of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's twenty-ninth episode overall. Written by executive producer and show runner Greg Daniels and directed by Ken Kwapis, the episode first aired in the United States on September 21, 2006...
" episode of The Office.