title: Blackadder

text: Blackadder is a series of four period British sitcoms, plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired on BBC One from 1983 to 1989. All television episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as the antihero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick. Each series was set in a different historical period, with the two protagonists accompanied by different characters, though several reappear in one series or another, e.g., Melchett (Stephen Fry) and Lord Flashheart (Rik Mayall).


title: Blackadder

text: The first series, "The Black Adder", was written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, while subsequent series were written by Curtis and Ben Elton. The shows were produced by John Lloyd. In 2000, the fourth series, "Blackadder Goes Forth", ranked at 16 in the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, a list created by the British Film Institute. In a 2001 poll by Channel 4, Edmund Blackadder was ranked third on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In the 2004 TV poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom, "Blackadder" was voted the second-best British sitcom of all time, topped by "Only Fools and Horses". It was also ranked as the 9th-best TV show of all time by "Empire" magazine.


title: Blackadder

text: Each series is set in a different period of British history, beginning in 1485 and ending in 1917, and comprises six half-hour episodes. "Blackadder" follows the misfortunes of Edmund Blackadder (played by Atkinson), who in each series is a member of the same British family dynasty. It is implied in each series that the Blackadder character is a descendant of the previous one (the end theme lyrics of series 2 episode "Head" specify that he is the great-grandson of the previous), although it is never specified how or when any of the Blackadders (who are usually bachelors) managed to father children.


title: Blackadder

text: In series one, Edmund Blackadder is not particularly bright, and is much the intellectual inferior of his servant, Baldrick (played by Tony Robinson). However, in subsequent series the positions are reversed: Blackadder is clever, shrewd, scheming and manipulative while Baldrick is extremely dim. Each incarnation of Blackadder and Baldrick is also saddled with tolerating the presence of a dimwitted aristocrat. In the first two series this is Lord Percy Percy, played by Tim McInnerny. Hugh Laurie plays the role in the third and fourth series, as Prince George, Prince Regent, and Lieutenant George, respectively.


title: Blackadder

text: The first series, made in 1983, was called "The Black Adder" and was set in the fictional reign of "Richard IV". The second series, "Blackadder II" (1986), was set during the reign of Elizabeth I. "Blackadder the Third" (1987) was set during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the reign of George III, and "Blackadder Goes Forth" (1989) was set in 1917 in the trenches of the Great War.


title: Blackadder

text: "The Black Adder", the first series of "Blackadder", was written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson and produced by John Lloyd. It originally aired on BBC1 from 15 June 1983 to 20 July 1983, and was a joint production with the Australian Seven Network.


title: Blackadder

text: Set in 1485 at the end of the British Middle Ages, the series is written as an alternative history in which Richard III won the Battle of Bosworth Field only to be mistaken for someone else and murdered, and is succeeded by Richard IV (Brian Blessed), one of the Princes in the Tower. The series follows the exploits of Richard IV's unfavoured second son Edmund, the Duke of Edinburgh (who calls himself "The Black Adder") in his various attempts to increase his standing with his father and his eventual quest to overthrow him.


title: Blackadder

text: Conceived while Atkinson and Curtis were working on "Not the Nine O'Clock News", the series dealt comically with a number of aspects of medieval life in Britain: witchcraft, royal succession, European relations, the Crusades, and the conflict between the Church and the Crown. Along with the secret history, many historical events portrayed in the series were anachronistic (for example, Constantinople had already fallen to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, predating the events in the episode by 33 years); this dramatic license would continue in the subsequent "Blackadders". The filming of the series was highly ambitious, with a large cast and much location shooting. The series also featured Shakespearean dialogue, often adapted for comic effect; the end credits featured the words "Additional Dialogue by William Shakespeare".


title: Blackadder

text: "Blackadder II" is set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), who is portrayed by Miranda Richardson. The principal character is Edmund, Lord Blackadder, the great-grandson of the original Black Adder. During the series, he regularly deals with the Queen, her obsequious Lord Chamberlain Lord Melchett (Stephen Fry) – his rival for the Queen's affections – and the Queen's demented former nanny Nursie (Patsy Byrne).


title: Blackadder

text: Following the BBC's request for improvements (and a severe budget reduction), several changes were made. The second series was the first to establish the familiar Blackadder character: cunning, shrewd and witty, in sharp contrast to the first series' bumbling Prince Edmund. To reduce the cost of production, it was shot with virtually no outdoor scenes (the first series was shot largely on location) and several frequently used indoor sets, such as the Queen's throne room and Blackadder's front room.


title: Blackadder

text: A quote from this series ranked number three in a list of the top 25 television "putdowns" of the last 40 years by the "Radio Times" magazine: "The eyes are open, the mouth moves, but Mr. Brain has long since departed, hasn't he, Percy?"


title: Blackadder

text: "Blackadder the Third" is set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a period known as the Regency. In the series, Edmund Blackadder Esquire is the butler to the Prince Regent, the Prince of Wales (the prince is played by Hugh Laurie as a complete fop and idiot). Despite Edmund's respected intelligence and abilities, he has no personal fortune to speak of, apart from his frequently fluctuating wage packet (as well, it seems, from stealing and selling off the Prince's socks) from the Prince: "If I'm running short of cash, all I have to do is go upstairs and ask Prince Fathead for a rise." The episode titles were puns on Jane Austen novels.


title: Blackadder

text: As well as Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson in their usual roles, this series starred Hugh Laurie as the Prince Regent and Helen Atkinson-Wood as Mrs. Miggins. The series features Dr. Samuel Johnson (Robbie Coltrane); William Pitt the Younger (Simon Osborne); the French Revolution (with Chris Barrie, Tim McInnerny as the Scarlet Pimpernel, and Nigel Planer); hammy theatrical actors (Kenneth Connor and Hugh Paddick); a squirrel-hating cross-dressing highwayman (Miranda Richardson); and a duel with the Duke of Wellington (Stephen Fry).


title: Blackadder

text: This series is set in 1917, on the Western Front in the trenches of the First World War. Another "big push" is planned, and Captain Blackadder's one goal is to avoid being killed, but his schemes always land him back in the trenches. Blackadder is joined by his batman Private S. Baldrick (Tony Robinson) and idealistic Edwardian twit Lieutenant George (Hugh Laurie). General Melchett (Stephen Fry) rallies his troops from a French château from the front, where he is aided and abetted by his assistant, Captain Kevin Darling (Tim McInnerny), pencil-pusher supreme and Blackadder's nemesis, whose name is played on for maximum comedic value.


title: Blackadder

text: The series' tone is somewhat darker than the other "Blackadder"s; it details the deprivations of trench warfare as well as the incompetence and life-wasting strategies of the top brass. For example, Baldrick is reduced to cooking rats and making coffee from mud, while General Melchett hatches a plan for the troops to walk very slowly toward the German lines, because "it'll be the last thing Fritz will expect."


title: Blackadder

text: The final episode, "Goodbyeee", is known for being extraordinarily poignant for a comedy – especially the final scene, which sees the main characters (Blackadder, Baldrick, George, and Darling) finally going "over the top" and charging off into the fog and smoke of no man's land presumably to die. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000 and voted for by industry professionals, "Blackadder Goes Forth" was placed 16th.


title: Blackadder

text: The "Blackadder" pilot was shot but never broadcast on terrestrial TV in the UK (although some scenes were shown in the 25th anniversary special "Blackadder Rides Again"). One notable difference in the pilot, as in many pilots, is the casting. Baldrick is played not by Tony Robinson, but by Philip Fox. Another significant difference is that the character of Prince Edmund presented in the pilot is much closer to the intelligent, conniving Blackadder of the later series than the snivelling, weak buffoon of the original. Set in the year 1582, the script of the pilot is roughly the same as the episode "Born to Be King", albeit with some different jokes, with some lines appearing in other episodes of the series.


title: Blackadder

text: This special, set in the English Civil War, was shown as part of Comic Relief's Red Nose Day on Friday 5 February 1988. The 15-minute episode is set in November 1648, during the last days of the Civil War. Sir Edmund Blackadder and his servant, Baldrick, are the last two men loyal to the defeated King Charles I of England (played by Stephen Fry, portrayed as a soft-spoken, ineffective, naive character, with the voice and mannerisms of Charles I's namesake, the then Prince of Wales (now King Charles III). However, due to a misunderstanding between Oliver Cromwell (guest-star Warren Clarke) and Baldrick, the King is arrested and sent to the Tower of London. The rest of the episode revolves around Blackadder's attempts to save the King as well as improve his own standing.


title: Blackadder

text: The second special was broadcast on Friday 23 December 1988. In a twist on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", Ebenezer Blackadder is the "kindest and loveliest" man in England. The Spirit of Christmas shows Blackadder the contrary antics of his ancestors and descendants, and reluctantly informs him that if he turns evil his descendants will enjoy power and fortune, while if he remains the same a future Blackadder will live shamefully subjugated to a future incompetent Baldrick. This remarkable encounter causes him to proclaim, "Bad guys have all the fun", and adopt the personality with which viewers are more familiar.


title: Blackadder

text: "Blackadder: Back & Forth" was originally shown in the Millennium Dome in 2000, followed by a screening on Sky One in the same year (and later on BBC1). It is set on the turn of the millennium, and features Lord Blackadder placing a bet with his friends – modern versions of Queenie (Miranda Richardson), Melchett (Stephen Fry), George (Hugh Laurie) and Darling (Tim McInnerny) – that he has built a working time machine. While this is intended as a clever con trick, the machine surprisingly works, sending Blackadder and Baldrick back to the Cretaceous period, where they manage to cause the extinction of the dinosaurs through the use of Baldrick's best-worst-and-only pair of underpants as a weapon against a hungry T. Rex. Finding that Baldrick has forgotten to write dates on the machine's dials, the rest of the film follows their attempts to find their way back to 1999, often creating huge historical anomalies in the process that must be corrected before the end. The film includes cameo appearances from Kate Moss and Colin Firth.


title: Blackadder

text: Broadcast in 2020 as part of Children in Need and Comic Relief's joint special "The Big Night In" during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fry resumed the role of Lord Melchett (an intellectually-brilliant version), Head of the Royal Household, under lockdown at Melchett Manor, to help Prince William deal with educating his children via Zoom and discussing Tiger King, before they both step outside to clap for the National Health Service. Melchett is said to be isolating with Lord Blackadder, both grandsons to their First World War counterparts.


title: Blackadder

text: In 1998, as part of Prince Charles' 50th Birthday Gala televised on ITV, Atkinson returned to the Cavalier incarnation of Blackadder reading aloud a letter to the Privy Council of King Charles I. He colourfully refuses their invitation to stage a royal gala, calling such occasions "very, very, very dull" and asserting that there was "more musical talent on display when my servant Baldrick breaks wind."


title: Blackadder

text: In 2000, on the BBC's annual Royal Variety Performance, Atkinson portrayed Blackadder as a present-day officer in "Her Majesty's Royal Regiment of Shirkers" and delivered a monologue titled "Blackadder: The Army Years," proposing that Britain regain her former greatness by invading (or at least buying) France.


title: Blackadder

text: In 2012, as part of the Prince's Trust charity show "We Are Most Amused", Atkinson and Robinson reprised their roles as Blackadder and Baldrick in a comedy sketch featuring Miranda Hart as leader of a government inquiry into the recent banking crisis. Blackadder, chief executive of a fictional British bank, appearing with Baldrick as his gardener, convinces the panel to publicly blame the entire crisis on Baldrick, to the latter's consternation.


title: Blackadder

text: Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis developed the idea for the sitcom while working on "Not the Nine O'Clock News". Eager to avoid comparisons to the critically acclaimed "Fawlty Towers", they proposed the idea of a historical sitcom. An unaired pilot episode was made in 1982, and a six-episode series was commissioned. The budget for the series was considerable, with much location shooting particularly at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland and the surrounding countryside in February 1983. The series also used large casts of extras, horses and expensive medieval-style costumes. Atkinson has said about the making of the first series:


title: Blackadder

text: The first series was odd, it was very extravagant. It cost a million pounds for the six programmes ... [which] was a lot of money to spend ... It looked great, but it wasn't as consistently funny as we would have liked.


title: Blackadder

text: Due to the high cost of the first series, the then-controller of programming of BBC1, Michael Grade, was reluctant to sign off a second series without major improvements to the show and drastic cost-cutting, leaving a gap of three years between the two series. Atkinson did not wish to continue writing for the second series.


title: Blackadder

text: A chance meeting between Richard Curtis and comedian Ben Elton led to the decision to collaborate on a new series of Blackadder. Recognising the main faults of the first series, Curtis and Elton agreed that "Blackadder II" would be a studio-only production (along with the inclusion of a live audience during recording, instead of showing the episodes to an audience after taping). Besides adding a greater comedy focus, Elton suggested a major change in character emphasis: Baldrick would become the stupid sidekick, while Edmund Blackadder evolved into a cunning sycophant. This led to the familiar set-up that was maintained in the following series.


title: Blackadder

text: Only in the "Back & Forth" millennium special was the shooting once again on location, because this was a production with a budget estimated at £3 million, and was a joint venture between Tiger Aspect, Sky Television, the New Millennium Experience Company and the BBC, rather than the BBC alone.


title: Blackadder

text: Each series tended to feature the same set of regular actors in different period settings, although throughout the four series and specials, only Blackadder and Baldrick were constant characters. Several regular cast members recurred as characters with similar names, implying, like Blackadder, that they were descendants.


title: Blackadder

text: Ben Elton's arrival after the first series heralded the more frequent recruitment of comic actors from the alternative comedy era for guest appearances, including Robbie Coltrane, Rik Mayall (who had appeared in the final episode of the first series as "Mad Gerald"), Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Mark Arden, Stephen Frost, Chris Barrie and Jeremy Hardy. Elton himself played an anarchist in "Blackadder the Third".


title: Blackadder

text: Gabrielle Glaister played Bob, an attractive girl who poses as a man, in both series 2 and 4. Rik Mayall plays Lord Flashheart, a vulgar friend in his first appearance and then a successful rival of Blackadder in later episodes of series 2 and 4. He also played a decidedly Flashheart-like Robin Hood in "Back & Forth". Lee Cornes also appeared in an episode of all three Curtis-Elton series. He appeared as a guard in the episode "Chains" of "Blackadder II"; as the poet Shelley in the episode "Ink and Incapability' of "Blackadder the Third"; and as firing squad soldier Private Fraser in the episode "Corporal Punishment" of "Blackadder Goes Forth".


title: Blackadder

text: More established actors, some at the veteran stage of their careers, were also recruited for roles. These included Peter Cook, John Grillo, Simon Jones, Tom Baker, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Paddick, Frank Finlay, Kenneth Connor, Bill Wallis, Ronald Lacey, Roger Blake, Denis Lill, Warren Clarke and Geoffrey Palmer, who played Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig in "Goodbyeee", the final episode of "Blackadder Goes Forth". Miriam Margolyes played three different guest roles: The Spanish Infanta in The Queen of Spain's Beard, Lady Whiteadder in Beer, and Queen Victoria in Blackadder's Christmas Carol.


title: Blackadder

text: Unusually for a sitcom based loosely on factual events and in the historical past, a man was recruited for one episode essentially to play himself. Political commentator Vincent Hanna played a character billed as "his own great-great-great grandfather" in the episode "Dish and Dishonesty" of "Blackadder the Third". Hanna was asked to take part because the scene was of a by-election in which Baldrick was a candidate and, in the style of modern television, Hanna gave a long-running "live" commentary of events at the count (and interviewed candidates and election agents) to a crowd through the town hall window.


title: Blackadder

text: Howard Goodall's theme tune has the same melody throughout all the series, but is played in roughly the style of the period in which it is set. It is performed mostly with trumpets and timpani in "The Black Adder", the fanfares used suggesting typical medieval court fanfares; with a combination of recorder, string quartet and electric guitar in "Blackadder II" (the end theme, with different lyrics each time reflecting on the episode's events, was sung by a countertenor); on oboe, cello and harpsichord (in the style of a minuet) for "Blackadder the Third"; by The Band of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment in "Blackadder Goes Forth"; sung by carol singers in "Blackadder's Christmas Carol"; and by an orchestra in "Blackadder: The Cavalier Years" and "Blackadder: Back & Forth".


title: Blackadder

text: In 2000, the fourth series, "Blackadder Goes Forth", ranked at 16 in the "100 Greatest British Television Programmes", a list created by the British Film Institute. In 2004, a BBC TV poll for "Britain's Best Sitcom", "Blackadder" was voted the second best British sitcom of all time, topped by "Only Fools and Horses". It was also ranked as the 20th Best TV Show of All Time by "Empire" magazine.


title: Blackadder

text: Despite regular statements denying any plans for a fifth series, cast members are regularly asked about the possibility of a new series.


title: Blackadder

text: In January 2005, Tony Robinson told ITV's "This Morning" that Rowan Atkinson was more keen than he has been in the past to do a fifth series, set in the 1960s (centred on a rock band called the "Black Adder Five", with Baldrick – a.k.a. 'Bald Rick' – as the drummer). In the documentary "Blackadder Rides Again", Robinson stated that the series would present Blackadder as the bastard son of Queen Elizabeth II and running a Beatles-like rock band. Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Tim McInnerny and Miranda Richardson would have reprised their roles, and reportedly, Brian Blessed, Elspet Gray and Robert East would have returned from the first series to play Blackadder's biological family. Robinson in a stage performance 1 June 2007, again mentioned this idea, but in the context of a movie.


title: Blackadder

text: One idea mentioned by Curtis was that it was Baldrick who had accidentally assassinated John F. Kennedy. However, aside from a brief mention in June 2005,


title: Blackadder

text: there have been no further announcements from the BBC that a new series is being planned. Furthermore, in November 2005, Rowan Atkinson told "BBC Breakfast" that, although he would very much like to do a new series set in Colditz or another prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, something which both he and Stephen Fry reiterated at the end of "Blackadder Rides Again", the chances of it happening are extremely slim.


title: Blackadder

text: There were a couple of ideas that had previously floated for the fifth series. "Batadder" was intended to be a parody of "Batman" with Baldrick as the counterpart of Robin (suggested by John Lloyd). This idea eventually came to surface as part of the "Comic Relief" sketch "Spider-Plant Man" in 2005, with Atkinson as the title hero, Robinson as Robin, Jim Broadbent as Batman and Rachel Stevens as Mary Jane. "Star Adder" was to be set in space in the future (suggested by Atkinson), though this too was touched upon in "Blackadder's Christmas Carol".


title: Blackadder

text: On 10 April 2007, "Hello!" reported that Atkinson was moving forward with his ideas for a fifth series. He said, "I like the idea of him being a prisoner of war in Colditz. That would have the right level of authority and hierarchy which is apparent in all the Blackadders."


title: Blackadder

text: A post on BlackAdderHall.com by Ben Elton in early 2007 said that "Blackadder" would return in some form, whether it be a TV series or film. Elton has since not given any more information on the putative "Blackadder 5".


title: Blackadder

text: During an interview in August 2007 about his film "Mr. Bean's Holiday", Atkinson was asked about the possibility of a further "Blackadder" series, to which the simple reply "No, no chance" was given:


title: Blackadder

text: There was a plan for a film set in the Russian revolution, a very interesting one called "The Red Adder". He would have been a lieutenant in the Secret Police. Then the revolution happened and at the end he is in the same office doing the same job but just the colours on his uniform have changed. It was quite a sweet idea and we got quite a long way with it but in the end it died a death.


title: Blackadder

text: Stephen Fry has expressed the view that, since the series went out on such a good "high", a film might not be a good idea.


title: Blackadder

text: During his June 2007 stage performance, chronicled on the Tony Robinson's Cunning Night Out DVD, Robinson states that, after filming the "Back & Forth special", the general idea was to reunite for another special in 2010. Robinson jokingly remarked that Hugh Laurie's success on "House" may make that difficult.


title: Blackadder

text: At the end of "Blackadder Rides Again", Robinson asked Tim McInnerny if he would do another series and he responded "no", because he thought people would not want to see them as they are now and would rather remember them for how they were. In the same documentary, Rowan Atkinson voiced his similar view; 'Times past; that's what they were!' However, Miranda Richardson and Tony Robinson expressed enthusiasm towards the idea of a series set in the Wild West, whilst John Lloyd favoured an idea for a series with a Neanderthal Blackadder. Lastly, Stephen Fry suggested a series set in a prisoner of war camp during World War II, but later remarked that "perhaps it's best to leave these things as a memory."


title: Blackadder

text: On 28 November 2012, Rowan Atkinson reprised the role at the "We are most amused" comedy gala for the Prince's Trust at the Royal Albert Hall. He was joined by Tony Robinson as Baldrick. The sketch involved Blackadder as CEO of Melchett, Melchett and Darling bank facing an enquiry over the banking crisis.


title: Blackadder

text: In August 2015, Tony Robinson said in an interview "I do think a new series of Blackadder is on the cards. I have spoken to virtually all the cast about this now. The only problem is Hugh [Laurie]'s fee. He's a huge star now." However, in October 2018, Richard Curtis "dashed hopes" that the show would return for a fifth series.


title: Blackadder

text: I don't actually like the process of making anything – with the possible exception of "Blackadder". Because the responsibility for making that series funny was on many shoulders, not just mine. "Blackadder" represented the creative energy we all had in the '80s. To try to replicate that 30 years on wouldn't be easy.


title: Blackadder

text: All series and many of the specials are available on VHS tapes and DVD. Many are also available on BBC audio cassette. As of 2008, a "Best of BBC" edition box set is available containing all four major series together with "Blackadder's Christmas Carol" and "Back & Forth". All four series and the Christmas special are also available for download on iTunes.


title: Blackadder

text: On 10 September 1990, BBC Enterprises Ltd released the fourth and final series on two single VHS tapes.


title: Blackadder

text: On 7 September 1992, all eight single Blackadder video releases were re-released as four "complete" double VHS releases. The four entire series videos were re-released as single VHS tape releases on 2 October 1995.


title: Blackadder

text: On 5 January 1998, five episodes of the first two series were released on a 15-rated VHS tape compilation by BBC Worldwide Ltd.


title: Blackadder

text: On 4 November 1991, "Blackadder's Christmas Carol" was released on a single VHS tape release rated PG (Cat. No. BBCV 4646).


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: Gerald's Game is a 2017 American psychological horror thriller film directed and edited by Mike Flanagan, and screenplay written by Flanagan with Jeff Howard. It is based on Stephen King's 1992 novel of the same title, long thought to be unfilmable. The film stars Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood as a married couple who arrive at an isolated house for a holiday. When the husband dies of a sudden heart attack, his wife, left handcuffed to the bed without the key and with little hope of rescue, must find a way to survive, all while battling her inner demons.


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: "Gerald's Game" had its world premiere at BFI Southbank on September 19, 2017, and was released on September 29, 2017, by Netflix. It received very positive reviews from critics, who lauded Gugino's performance; Flanagan's direction, and the film's themes and their treatment, were also singled out.


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: Jessie and Gerald Burlingame arrive at an isolated lake house in Fairhope, Alabama for a romantic getaway. While Gerald takes Viagra, Jessie feeds raw beef to a stray dog outside. Inside, she changes into a new slip and Gerald restrains her with a set of handcuffs locked to the bedposts. He begins to enact a stranger rape fantasy; she half-heartedly plays along but soon becomes uncomfortable, telling him to stop and uncuff her. After a heated argument in which he accuses her of not even trying to rekindle their relationship, Gerald dies of a heart attack, falling onto the floor and leaving Jessie trapped in the handcuffs.


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: A few hours pass. The dog enters through the open door of the house. Jessie tries to scare it away, but it bites a chunk out of Gerald's arm and eats it. Gerald stands up and begins talking; when Jessie notices his body remains on the floor, she realizes she is hallucinating. He taunts her about the truths of their strained marriage and his erectile dysfunction. He then informs her that she is beginning to suffer from dehydration and fatigue. Jessie also hallucinates a more self-assured version of herself, who explains things about her and Gerald that she never had the courage to acknowledge. The two hallucinations trigger her to remember the glass of water Gerald had left on the shelf above the bed, which she is able to reach; when she can't drink it, she rolls the shopping tag she'd torn from her slip into a drinking straw to reach the water.


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: Jessie falls asleep, wakes up in the dark, and sees a deformed obscured figure who reveals a bag of bones and trinkets. She refuses to believe the figure is real but Gerald says the figure is Death waiting to take her. Gerald begins to call Jessie "Mouse", which triggers a memory of her father Tom, who affectionately referred to her as "Mouse." When she was 12, he had her sit on his lap while he masturbated to her during a solar eclipse. Gerald and Jessie number 2 taunt that she never recovered from the assault, and that she married a man just like her father. Gerald calls the deformed man "the man made of moonlight", and points out a bloody footprint on the floor, making Jessie realize the figure may have been real.


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: Jessie remembers how her mother suspected her father but did nothing. She smashes the water glass, cuts her wrist, and peels back the skin, allowing her bloody hand to slip through the cuff. She is then able to reach the key and unlock her other hand. She bandages her wrist but passes out from blood loss and fatigue. When she awakes, the "man made of moonlight" is at the end of the hall. Delirious, she removes her wedding ring and gives it to him for his trinket bag before leaving. She makes it to her car and drives away but hallucinates the deformed figure again and crashes into a tree. People from a nearby house emerge to help.


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: Six months later, Jessie is writing a letter to her 12-year-old self. She describes how she had pretended to have amnesia over the ordeal of being trapped, avoiding painful questions. She used some of Gerald's life insurance to start a foundation for victims of sexual abuse. But each night the "man made of moonlight" still appears before her as she falls asleep. She learned from the news about a serial killer with acromegaly who digs up crypts, stealing bones and jewels, and has sex with and eats the faces of male corpses; this explains why he didn't harm Jessie in the house and why Gerald's face was disfigured.


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: Jessie arrives at court as the moonlight man is being sentenced. He quotes what she said before leaving the house, indicating that he was in fact there at the time. Seeing Gerald and her father in him, she tells him, "You're so much smaller than I remember", and leaves triumphantly.


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: On May 19, 2014, "Deadline Hollywood" reported that Mike Flanagan had been set to direct a film adaptation of Stephen King's suspense thriller novel "Gerald's Game", scripted by Jeff Howard. Trevor Macy produced the film through Intrepid Pictures.


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: In an interview with "Rue Morgue" in September 2016, Flanagan stated that the film adaptation would be released by Netflix.


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood were cast to play Jessie and Gerald Burlingame, along with Henry Thomas, Carel Struycken, Kate Siegel, and Chiara Aurelia.


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: The film was released on September 29, 2017, by Netflix. It has not been announced for a physical DVD or Bluray release.


title: Gerald's Game (film)

text: "Gerald's Game" received positive reviews. On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The website's critics consensus states, "Carla Gugino carries "Gerald's Game" small-scale suspense with a career-defining performance." At Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 77 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Stephen King called the film "hypnotic, horrifying and terrific" after watching the rough cut.


title: Watermelon

text: Watermelon ("Citrullus lanatus") is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieties.


title: Watermelon

text: Watermelon is grown in favorable climates from tropical to temperate regions worldwide for its large edible fruit, which is a berry with a hard rind and no internal divisions, and is botanically called a "pepo". The sweet, juicy flesh is usually deep red to pink, with many black seeds, although seedless varieties exist. The fruit can be eaten raw or pickled, and the rind is edible after cooking. It may also be consumed as a juice or an ingredient in mixed beverages.


title: Watermelon

text: Kordofan melons from Sudan are the closest relatives and may be progenitors of modern, cultivated watermelons. Wild watermelon seeds were found in Uan Muhuggiag, a prehistoric site in Libya that dates to approximately 3500. Watermelons were domesticated in north-east Africa, and cultivated in Egypt by 2000, although they were not the sweet modern variety. Sweet dessert watermelons spread across the Mediterranean world during Roman times.


title: Watermelon

text: Considerable breeding effort has developed disease-resistant varieties. Many cultivars are available that produce mature fruit within 100 days of planting. In 2017, China produced about two-thirds of the world's total of watermelons.


title: Watermelon

text: The watermelon is an annual that has a prostrate or climbing habit. Stems are up to long and new growth has yellow or brown hairs. Leaves are long and wide. These usually have three lobes that are lobed or doubly lobed. Young growth is densely woolly with yellowish-brown hairs which disappear as the plant ages. Like all but one species in the genus "Citrullus", watermelon has branching tendrils. Plants have unisexual male or female flowers that are white or yellow and borne on hairy stalks. Each flower grows singly in the leaf axils, and the species' sexual system, with male and female flowers produced on each plant, is (monoecious). The male flowers predominate at the beginning of the season; the female flowers, which develop later, have inferior ovaries. The styles are united into a single column.


title: Watermelon

text: The large fruit is a kind of modified berry called a "pepo" with a thick rind (exocarp) and fleshy center (mesocarp and endocarp). Wild plants have fruits up to in diameter, while cultivated varieties may exceed . The rind of the fruit is mid- to dark green and usually mottled or striped, and the flesh, containing numerous pips spread throughout the inside, can be red or pink (most commonly), orange, yellow, green or white.


title: Watermelon

text: A bitter watermelon, "C. amarus", has become naturalized in semiarid regions of several continents, and is designated as a "pest plant" in parts of Western Australia where they are called "pig melon".


title: Watermelon

text: The sweet watermelon was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and given the name "Cucurbita citrullus". It was reassigned to the genus "Citrullus" in 1836, under the replacement name "Citrullus vulgaris", by the German botanist Heinrich Adolf Schrader. (The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants does not allow names like ""Citrullus citrullus"".)


title: Watermelon

text: The species is further divided into several varieties, of which bitter wooly melon ("Citrullus lanatus" (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai var. "lanatus"), citron melons ("Citrullus lanatus" var. "citroides" (L. H. Bailey) Mansf.), and the edible var. "vulgaris" may be the most important. This taxonomy originated with the erroneous synonymization of the wooly melon "Citrullus lanatus" with the sweet watermelon "Citrullus vulgaris" by L.H. Bailey in 1930. Molecular data, including sequences from the original collection of Thunberg and other relevant type material, show that the sweet watermelon ("Citrullus vulgaris" Schrad.) and the bitter wooly melon "Citrullus lanatus" (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai are not closely related to each other. A proposal to conserve the name, "Citrullus lanatus" (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai, was accepted by the nomenclature committee and confirmed at the International Botanical Congress in 2017.


title: Watermelon

text: Prior to 2015, the wild species closest to "Citrullus lanatus" was assumed to be the tendril-less melon "Citrullus ecirrhosus" Cogn. from South African arid regions based on an erroneously identified 18th century specimen. However, after phylogenetic analysis, the closest relative to "Citrullus lanatus" is now thought to be "Citrullus mucosospermus" (Fursa) from West Africa (from Senegal to Nigeria), which is also sometimes considered a subspecies within "C. lanatus." Watermelon populations from Sudan are also close to domesticated watermelons . The bitter wooly melon was formally described by Carl Peter Thunberg in 1794 and given the name "Momordica lanata". It was reassigned to the genus "Citrullus" in 1916 by Japanese botanists Jinzō Matsumura and Takenoshin Nakai.


title: Watermelon

text: Watermelons were originally cultivated for their high water content and were stored to be eaten during dry seasons, not only as a food source, but as a method of storing water. Watermelon seeds were found in the Dead Sea region at the ancient settlements of Bab edh-Dhra and Tel Arad.


title: Watermelon

text: Many 5000-year-old wild watermelon seeds ("C. lanatus") were discovered at Uan Muhuggiag, a prehistoric archaeological site located in southwestern Libya. This archaeobotanical discovery may support the possibility that the plant was more widely distributed in the past.


title: Watermelon

text: In the 7th century, watermelons were being cultivated in India, and by the 10th century had reached China. The Moors introduced the fruit into the Iberian Peninsula, and there is evidence of it being cultivated in Córdoba in 961 and also in Seville in 1158. It spread northwards through southern Europe, perhaps limited in its advance by summer temperatures being insufficient for good yields. The fruit had begun appearing in European herbals by 1600, and was widely planted in Europe in the 17th century as a minor garden crop.


title: Watermelon

text: Early watermelons were not sweet, but bitter, with yellowish-white flesh and difficult to open. Through breeding, watermelons later tasted better and were easier to open.


title: Watermelon

text: European colonists and enslaved people from Africa introduced the watermelon to the New World. Spanish settlers were growing it in Florida in 1576. It was being grown in Massachusetts by 1629, and by 1650 was being cultivated in Peru, Brazil and Panama. Around the same time, Native Americans were cultivating the crop in the Mississippi valley and Florida. Watermelons were rapidly accepted in Hawaii and other Pacific islands when they were introduced there by explorers such as Captain James Cook. In the Civil War era United States, watermelons were commonly grown by free black people and became one symbol for the abolition of slavery. After the Civil War, black people were maligned for their association with watermelon. The sentiment evolved into a racist stereotype where black people shared a supposed voracious appetite for watermelon, a fruit long correlated with laziness and uncleanliness.


title: Watermelon

text: Seedless watermelons were initially developed in 1939 by Japanese scientists who were able to create seedless triploid hybrids which remained rare initially because they did not have sufficient disease resistance. Seedless watermelons became more popular in the 21st century, rising to nearly 85% of total watermelon sales in the United States in 2014.


title: Watermelon

text: A melon from the Kordofan region of Sudan the "kordofan melon" may be the progenitor of the modern, domesticated watermelon. The kordofan melon shares with the domestic watermelon loss of the bitterness gene, while maintaining a sweet taste, unlike other wild African varieties from other regions, indicating a common origin, possibly cultivated in the Nile Valley by 4360 BP (before present).


title: Watermelon

text: Watermelons are plants grown from tropical to temperate climates, needing temperatures higher than about to thrive. On a garden scale, seeds are usually sown in pots under cover and transplanted into well-drained sandy loam with a pH between 5.5 and 7 and medium levels of nitrogen.


title: Watermelon

text: Major pests of the watermelon include aphids, fruit flies, and root-knot nematodes. In conditions of high humidity, the plants are prone to plant diseases such as powdery mildew and mosaic virus. Some varieties often grown in Japan and other parts of the Far East are susceptible to fusarium wilt. Grafting such varieties onto disease-resistant rootstocks offers protection.


title: Watermelon

text: The US Department of Agriculture recommends using at least one beehive per acre ( per hive) for pollination of conventional, seeded varieties for commercial plantings. Seedless hybrids have sterile pollen. This requires planting pollinizer rows of varieties with viable pollen. Since the supply of viable pollen is reduced, and pollination is much more critical in producing the seedless variety, the recommended number of hives per acre increases to three hives per acre ( per hive). Watermelons have a longer growing period than other melons and can often take 85 days or more from the time of transplanting for the fruit to mature. Lack of pollen is thought to contribute to "hollow heart" which causes the flesh of the watermelon to develop a large hole, sometimes in an intricate, symmetric shape. Watermelons suffering from hollow heart are safe to consume.


title: Watermelon

text: Farmers of the Zentsuji region of Japan found a way to grow cubic watermelons by growing the fruits in metal and glass boxes and making them assume the shape of the receptacle. The cubic shape was originally designed to make the melons easier to stack and store, but these "square watermelons" may be triple the price of normal ones, so appeal mainly to wealthy urban consumers. Pyramid-shaped watermelons have also been developed, and any polyhedral shape may potentially be used.


title: Watermelon

text: Watermelons, which are called "Tsamma" in Khoisan language and "Makataan" in Tswana language, are important water sources in South Africa, the Kalahari desert and East Africa for both humans and animals.


title: Watermelon

text: DNA data reveal that "C. lanatus" var. "citroides" Bailey is the same as Thunberg's bitter wooly melon, "C. lanatus" and also the same as "C. amarus" Schrad. It is not a form of the sweet watermelon "C. vulgaris" nor closely related to that species.


title: Watermelon

text: The citron melon or "makataan" – a variety with sweet yellow flesh that is cultivated around the world for fodder and the production of citron peel and pectin.


title: Watermelon

text: The variety known as "tsamma" is grown for its juicy white flesh. The variety was an important food source for travellers in the Kalahari Desert.


title: Watermelon

text: Another variety known as "karkoer" or "bitterboela" is unpalatable to humans, but the seeds may be eaten.


title: Watermelon

text: This West African species is the closest wild relative of the watermelon. It is cultivated for cattle feed.


title: Watermelon

text: The more than 1,200 cultivars of watermelon range in weight from less than to more than ; the flesh can be red, pink, orange, yellow or white.


title: Watermelon

text: Charles Fredrick Andrus, a horticulturist at the USDA Vegetable Breeding Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina, set out to produce a disease-resistant and wilt-resistant watermelon. The result, in 1954, was "that gray melon from Charleston". Its oblong shape and hard rind made it easy to stack and ship. Its adaptability meant it could be grown over a wide geographical area. It produced high yields and was resistant to the most serious watermelon diseases: anthracnose and fusarium wilt.


title: Watermelon

text: Others were also working on disease-resistant cultivars; J. M. Crall at the University of Florida produced 'Jubilee' in 1963 and C. V. Hall of Kansas State University produced 'Crimson Sweet' the following year. These are no longer grown to any great extent, but their lineage has been further developed into hybrid varieties with higher yields, better flesh quality and attractive appearance. Another objective of plant breeders has been the elimination of the seeds which occur scattered throughout the flesh. This has been achieved through the use of triploid varieties, but these are sterile, and the cost of producing the seed by crossing a tetraploid parent with a normal diploid parent is high.


title: Watermelon

text: Today, farmers in approximately 44 states in the United States grow watermelon commercially. Georgia, Florida, Texas, California and Arizona are the United States' largest watermelon producers, with Florida producing more watermelon than any other state. This now-common fruit is often large enough that groceries often sell half or quarter melons. Some smaller, spherical varieties of watermelon—both red- and yellow-fleshed—are sometimes called "icebox melons". The largest recorded fruit was grown in Tennessee in 2013 and weighed .


title: Watermelon

text: In 2020, global production of watermelons was 101.6 million tonnes, with China (mainland) accounting for 60% of the total (60.1 million tonnes). Secondary producers included Turkey, India, Iran, Algeria and Brazil all having annual production of 2-3 million tonnes in 2020.


title: Watermelon

text: Watermelon is a sweet, commonly consumed fruit of summer, usually as fresh slices, diced in mixed fruit salads, or as juice. Watermelon juice can be blended with other fruit juices or made into wine.


title: Watermelon

text: The seeds have a nutty flavor and can be dried and roasted, or ground into flour. Watermelon rinds may be eaten, but their unappealing flavor may be overcome by pickling, sometimes eaten as a vegetable, stir-fried or stewed.


title: Watermelon

text: "Citrullis lanatus", variety "caffer", grows wild in the Kalahari Desert, where it is known as tsamma. The fruits are used by the San people and wild animals for both water and nourishment, allowing survival on a diet of tsamma for six weeks.


title: Watermelon

text: In a serving, watermelon fruit supplies of food energy and low amounts of essential nutrients (see table). Only vitamin C is present in appreciable content at 10% of the Daily Value (table). Watermelon pulp contains carotenoids, including lycopene.


title: Anilingus

text: Anilingus (from the Latin "anus" + "-lingus", from "lingere", "to lick", variantly spelled "analingus") is the oral and anal sex act in which a person stimulates the anus of another by using the mouth, including lips, tongue, or teeth. It is also called anal–oral contact and anal–oral sex, and is additionally known by slang names.


title: Anilingus

text: The term "anilingus" entered English through the 1899 F. J. Rebman translation of Edition 10 of sexologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing's 1886 book "Psychopathia sexualis".


title: Anilingus

text: Pleasure for the giver during anilingus is usually based more on the principle of the act. The anus has a relatively high concentration of nerve endings and can be an erogenous zone, and the recipient may receive pleasure from external anal stimulation. The person receiving anilingus is regarded as the passive partner in the act, and the person performing anilingus is the active partner. People may engage in anilingus for its own sake, before anal fingering or penetration, or as part of foreplay. Studies confirm anilingus to be a sexual practice between women, though practiced by a minority only.


title: Anilingus

text: Anilingus can involve a variety of techniques to stimulate the anus, including kissing or licking; it may also involve the tongue moving around the edge of the anus or up and down the insides of the cheeks of the buttocks, and in and out of the anus.


title: Anilingus

text: Anilingus has potential health risks arising from the oral contact with human feces. Diseases which may be transmitted by contact with feces include: bacterial diseases including shigellosis (bacillary dysentery); viral systemic diseases including hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, poliomyelitis, human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes simplex virus; parasites including intestinal parasites; and infections and inflammations chlamydia infection, gastroenteritis, conjunctivitis, gonorrhea, lymphogranuloma venereum and other sexually transmitted infections.


title: Anilingus

text: Applying the mouth to the genitals immediately after applying it to the anus can introduce the bacterium "Escherichia coli" (""E. coli"") into the urethra, leading to a urinary tract infection. HIV/AIDS is not believed to be easily transmitted through anilingus.


title: Anilingus

text: Anilingus with a number of casual partners increases the health risks associated with the practice. Generally, people carrying infections that may be passed on during anilingus appear healthy. Parasites may be in the feces if undercooked meat was consumed. The feces contain traces of hepatitis A only if the infected person has eaten contaminated food.


title: Anilingus

text: Safe sex practices may include thorough washing of the anal region before anilingus to wash away most external fecal particles and reduce the risk of contraction of fecal-sourced infection. An enema can also reduce the risk of direct fecal contact. A dental dam may also be used, and another safe sex practice is to avoid unprotected sex which involves fellatio after anal intercourse.


title: Anilingus

text: If the receiving partner has wounds or open sores on the genitals, or if the giving partner has wounds or open sores on or in the mouth, or bleeding gums, this poses an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections. Brushing the teeth, flossing, undergoing dental work, and eating crunchy foods (such as potato chips) relatively soon before or after performing anilingus also increases the risk of transmission, because all of these activities can cause small scratches on the inside of the lips, cheeks, and palate. These wounds, even when they are microscopic, increase the chances of contracting sexually transmitted infections that can be transmitted orally under these conditions.


title: Anilingus

text: In the United States prison system, performing anilingus on another inmate (known as "tossing a salad" in prison slang) is one way of paying dues or gaining favor.


title: 30 Rock

text: 30 Rock is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for "Saturday Night Live", takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy show depicted as airing on NBC. The series's name refers to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, where the NBC Studios are located and where "Saturday Night Live" is written, produced, and performed. The series was produced by Lorne Michaels's Broadway Video (which also produces "Saturday Night Live") and Fey's Little Stranger, in association with NBCUniversal.


title: 30 Rock

text: "30 Rock" episodes were produced in a single-camera setup (with the exception of the two live episodes that were produced in the multiple-camera setup) and were filmed in New York. The pilot episode premiered on October 11, 2006, and seven seasons followed. The series stars Fey with a supporting cast that includes Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, Scott Adsit, Judah Friedlander, Katrina Bowden, Keith Powell, Lonny Ross, John Lutz, Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman, and Maulik Pancholy.


title: 30 Rock

text: Tonally, "30 Rock" uses surreal humor to parody the complex corporate structure of NBC and its parent companies General Electric and Comcast. Described as "a live-action cartoon", the show was influential in its extensive use of cutaways. "30 Rock" won several major awards (including Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2007, 2008, and 2009 and nominations for every other year it ran) and appeared on many critics' year-end "best of" 2006–2013 lists. On July 14, 2009, the series was nominated for 22 Primetime Emmy Awards, the most in a single year for a comedy series. Over the course of the series, it was nominated for 103 Primetime Emmy Awards and won 16, in addition to numerous other nominations and wins from other awards shows. Despite the high praise, the series struggled in the ratings throughout its run, something which Fey herself has made light of.


title: 30 Rock

text: In 2009, Comedy Central and WGN America bought the syndication rights to the show, which began airing on both networks on September 19, 2011; the series also entered into local broadcast syndication on the same day. "30 Rock" is regarded as a landmark series, and one of the greatest television series of all time, particularly the 21st century. Its series finale in particular has been named as one of the greatest in television history by several publications. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America West named "30 Rock" the 21st best-written television series of all time.


title: 30 Rock

text: Liz Lemon is head writer and showrunner of the NBC sketch comedy series "TGS with Tracy Jordan" (originally called "The Girlie Show"), produced in Studio 6H in 30 Rockefeller Plaza. She supervises cast and crew, including star Jenna Maroney, her best friend, while working with network executive Jack Donaghy and page Kenneth Parcell. In the first episode, Jack forces Liz to hire the unpredictable Tracy Jordan as co-star.


title: 30 Rock

text: Episodes often depict conservative Jack and liberal Liz's disagreements, Jenna's attempts to become a film star, Tracy's immature behavior, and the characters' romantic and personal lives. The show satirizes the cultures of NBC, parent company General Electric, and the entertainment industry. The network airs programs like reality shows "MILF Island", "Queen of Jordan" and "America's Kidz Got Singing" as well as paranormal drama "Hunchbacks", and game shows "Gold Case" and "Celebrity Homonym". In later seasons, the show depicts the network being acquired by Philadelphia-based media company Kabletown, a fictionalization of the acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast.


title: 30 Rock

text: In 2002, Fey was the head writer and a performer on the television show "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL"). She pitched the show that became "30 Rock" to NBC, originally as a sitcom about cable news. NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly felt that "Fey was using the news setting as a fig leaf for her own experience and [he] encouraged her to write what she knew." The show was subsequently reworked to revolve around an "SNL"-style sketch show. After being presented to Reilly once more, the show was set to air during the 2005–2006 television season.


title: 30 Rock

text: In May 2003, Fey signed a contract with NBC to remain in her "SNL" head writer position until at least the 2004–2005 television season and to develop a primetime project to be produced by Broadway Video and NBC Universal. Filming was postponed due to Tina Fey's first pregnancy.


title: 30 Rock

text: During the 2004–2005 pilot season, a pilot was announced named "Untitled Tina Fey Project". The "30 Rock" pilot focused on the boss of a variety show who must manage her relationships with the show's volatile star and its charismatic executive producer. The storyline evolved into one that dealt with a head writer of a variety show who dealt with both of the stars, as well as the show's new network executive. "30 Rock" was officially given the green light to air May 15, 2006, along with a 13-episode order.


title: 30 Rock

text: The series underwent further changes during the months leading up to and following its debut. A May 2006 press release mentioned that sketches from "The Girlie Show" would be made available in their entirety on NBC's broadband website, DotComedy.com. The idea was to air the fictitious "TGS with Tracy Jordan" online. This aspect of the series was abandoned prior to its debut.


title: 30 Rock

text: Interior scenes for "30 Rock" were mostly filmed at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, Queens, New York City (Studio 8H in 30 Rock in Manhattan for two live episodes). In the episodes "Cleveland" and "Hiatus", Battery Park City, Manhattan, and Douglaston, Queens, doubled for Cleveland, Ohio and Needmore, Pennsylvania, respectively. The show often built elaborate sets, once using a set that took three days to build for only six seconds of video. In the episode "Gavin Volure", stock footage of the Arkansas Governor's Mansion was used for exterior shots of the home of Steve Martin's character.


title: 30 Rock

text: The title sequence comprises photos and videos of 30 Rockefeller Plaza and features the series regulars. The sequence ends with a time lapse of the building and then a title card reading "30 Rock". The sequence remained mostly the same throughout the series, although changes were made to most of the actors' images.


title: 30 Rock

text: The series features a "jaunty" jazz score. Most of the incidental music melody is played by either clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, or strings, often as wildly varying renditions of the usual central theme. The music is composed by Fey's husband, Jeff Richmond, who is also a producer for "30 Rock". Richmond wrote the theme music, which was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music. Seven short, original songs have been featured in episodes, five of which were performed by Krakowski, another performed by Fey and Jason Sudeikis, and another performed by Morgan.


title: 30 Rock

text: The show also covered three existing songs, including the song "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips. The song had its lyrics altered to accommodate the character Kenneth being "misinformed about the time [of the 11:45 train]". The song "Oh My" performed by The Gray Kid is heard throughout the episode "The Source Awards", which was mixed with a piano arrangement composed by Richmond. "Kidney Now!", a rendition of the popular song, "We Are the World", is performed by various artists in the season-three finale. Other popular songs have been featured (with blessings by the singers), such as "I Will Remember You" or "Bitch".


title: 30 Rock

text: The "30 Rock Original Television Soundtrack" was released by the Relativity Music Group on November 16, 2010.


title: 30 Rock

text: On April 2, 2008, NBC announced "30 Rock 360", an online extension of the "30 Rock" series. The extension featured Jack Donaghy's Online Business Courses (or "Jack U"). Users could also read Jack's blogs and upload their own business advice in video form. Users could submit sketches for "TGS with Tracy Jordan" and act out skits from "TGS". The feature reopened "Ask Tina", an interactive question and answer platform in which users could ask Fey questions. Fey answered the questions in video form. "Ask Tina" was a fixture on NBC.com's "30 Rock" section throughout the first season.


title: 30 Rock

text: "30 Rock" features an ensemble cast. The seven roles that receive star billing during the opening credits are:


title: 30 Rock

text: Fey worked with Jen McNamara and Adam Bernstein for the casting of the series. Fey's first act as casting director was to cast herself as the lead character, Liz Lemon, who is said to be much like Fey herself when she first became head writer on "SNL". The next actor to be cast was Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan, who was then a former castmate of Fey's in "SNL". Morgan was asked by Fey to play the role, and he believed it was "right up [his] alley and it was tailor made for [him]". Fey said that the character of Kenneth was written with McBrayer in mind. McBrayer is an old friend of Fey's (they worked together at Second City in Chicago), and she "really wanted him for that part and was very happy when no one objected".


title: 30 Rock

text: Rachel Dratch, Fey's longtime comedy partner and fellow "SNL" alumna, was originally cast to portray Jenna. Dratch played the role in the show's original pilot, but in August 2006, Krakowski was announced as Dratch's replacement, with Dratch remaining involved in the show playing various characters. Fey explained the change by noting that Dratch was better-suited to playing a variety of side characters, which was suitable when the show intended to feature actual sketches from "TGS with Tracy Jordan". However, this aspect of the show was scrapped, thus they required more of a straight-ahead acting part for the role of Jenna.


title: 30 Rock

text: Although Fey went on to say, "Rachel and I were both very excited about this new direction," Dratch said that she was not happy with the media's depiction of the change as a demotion; furthermore, she was also skeptical about the reasons she was given for the change and was not happy with the reduction in the number of episodes in which she would appear. Following the first season, Dratch only appeared in a handful of episodes.


title: 30 Rock

text: Shortly following the casting of McBrayer and Dratch, Baldwin was cast as Jack, the "totally uncensored" vice president of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming. Fey said that the character of Jack was written with Baldwin in mind, and she was "very pleasantly surprised when he agreed to do it". Judah Friedlander was cast as Frank Rossitano, a staff writer of "The Girlie Show". Friedlander had never met Fey before auditioning for a role in "30 Rock". His character was based on at least two writers with whom Fey used to work at "SNL", but he has said that he "certainly brought some of [his] own things to it, as well". Finally, Scott Adsit was cast as Pete Hornberger, a longtime friend of Liz's and producer of "The Girlie Show". Adsit, an old friend of Fey's, also had his character written based on him.


title: 30 Rock

text: Following "SNL"s ongoing tradition, "30 Rock" had several real-life politician cameos, including Al Gore (twice), Nancy Pelosi (series finale) and Condoleezza Rice (as Jack's former love interest).


title: 30 Rock

text: Season one began airing on October 11, 2006, and featured 21 episodes. The season finale aired on April 26, 2007. Jack Donaghy, the "Head of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming" at General Electric (GE), is transferred to work at the NBC headquarters, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and retool the late-night sketch-comedy series "The Girlie Show". The show's cast and crew are outraged by this, especially head writer Liz Lemon and main actress Jenna Maroney. Jack proceeds to wreak havoc on "The Girlie Show", forcing Liz to hire off-the-wall movie star Tracy Jordan. He again irritates the cast and crew of "The Girlie Show" when he changes the name to "TGS with Tracy Jordan" (or just "TGS").


title: 30 Rock

text: As the season progresses, the episodes become less about "TGS" and more about how the characters deal with juggling their lives and their jobs . Specifically, Liz, but other characters are also explored. Episodes also become less self-contained, and various story arcs develop in the second half of the season. For example, the first major story arc centers on Liz's relationship with Dennis Duffy (Dean Winters), "The Beeper King". Other story arcs include Jenna promoting her movie "The Rural Juror"; Tracy going on the run from the Black Crusaders; Jack's engagement, which was eventually called off, to a Christie's auctioneer named Phoebe (Emily Mortimer); and another relationship of Liz's with Floyd (Sudeikis).


title: 30 Rock

text: Season two began airing on October 4, 2007, and featured 15 episodes. The second season was originally intended to consist of 22 episodes, but the order was cut to 15 due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The season finale aired on May 8, 2008. After Liz broke up with Floyd in the summer, she is looking for ways to rebound. When Jerry Seinfeld confronts Jack about a new marketing campaign which featured clips of Seinfeld's sitcom, "Seinfeld", in all NBC shows, he has a chance encounter with Liz that gives her some much-needed advice. During the "TGS" summer hiatus, Jenna becomes overweight due to performing in the Broadway show "Mystic Pizza: The Musical" (based on the real 1988 film "Mystic Pizza"). Tracy has encountered some marital problems with his wife Angie Jordan (Sherri Shepherd) and they become separated, but later reunite.


title: 30 Rock

text: During the season, Jack develops a relationship with a Democratic congresswoman named Celeste "C. C." Cunningham (Edie Falco). They later break up. An arc that was established in the first season, but becomes more apparent in the second, regards Jack running for the GE chairmanship against his nemesis Devon Banks (Will Arnett). The season ends with Liz planning to adopt a child after believing she was pregnant with Dennis' baby. Kenneth also travels to Beijing to be a page at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and Tracy invents a pornographic video game. Jack ends the season working at a new government job in Washington, DC, but plans to get fired by proposing a "gay bomb".


title: 30 Rock

text: Season three began airing October 30, 2008, and concluded on May 14, 2009. The show experienced a large ratings and popularity spike this season after Tina Fey's highly praised performance as Sarah Palin on" SNL". This is also the season where the show made Primetime Emmy Award history, being nominated for 22 awards. The season consisted of 22 episodes. Oprah Winfrey guest-starred in the second episode, playing herself (actually a drug-induced hallucination of Liz's), as well as Jennifer Aniston playing Liz's ex-roommate. Salma Hayek also appeared for a multiple-episode arc, portraying Jack's new girlfriend, Elisa. Other guest stars this season included John Lithgow, Kerry Butler, Megan Mullally, Peter Dinklage, and Steve Martin. Jon Hamm played Liz's love interest and neighbor for several episodes. Alan Alda appeared in the season's final two episodes as Milton Greene, Jack's biological father.


title: 30 Rock

text: The fourth season premiered on October 15, 2009. Like the previous season, it also consisted of 22 episodes. A recurring story arc early in the season revolved around Jack's request that Liz cast a new actor for "TGS" and Liz's subsequent search for the perfect comedian, much to Jenna and Tracy's dismay, who fear losing their spotlight. The show fictionalizes the acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast, announced during the season, by portraying the network being acquired by Philadelphia-based cable company Kabletown. The latter half of the season focused on complementary story arcs: Jack's inability to choose between his two girlfriends, Liz's inability to find a boyfriend to live up to her expectations, and Jenna's relationship with a Jenna Maroney impersonator. The season also featured such guest stars as Jeff Dunham, Julianne Moore, Jon Bon Jovi, Cheyenne Jackson, Sherri Shepherd, Will Forte, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Sheen, Matt Damon, and James Franco.


title: 30 Rock

text: "30 Rock" premiered its fifth season on September 23, 2010. An episode of "30 Rock"'s fifth season was produced and broadcast live, twice, on the evening of October 14, 2010. The two separate performances resulted in a live telecast of the episode to American viewers on both the West and East Coasts, to ensure both would view a live performance. Produced in front of a live audience, the episode aired at 8:30 pm EDT and PDT on NBC. A ratings success, the episode was also met with positive reviews.


title: 30 Rock

text: Season five focuses on Liz Lemon's continuing relationship with Carol Burnett (Matt Damon), Jack's start into fatherhood with fiancée Avery Jessup (Elizabeth Banks), struggling with the merger of NBCUniversal with Kabletown, Tracy's foray into getting an EGOT, and Kenneth's attempt to get back to NBC. Aside from featuring the return of Rachel Dratch in "Live Show," other guest stars include Matt Damon, Elizabeth Banks, Susan Sarandon (as Frank's former teacher- who was in prison due to their relationship while he was a student- and present girlfriend), Paul Giamatti (as one of the "TGS" editors), Sherri Shepherd, Queen Latifah, Rob Reiner, John Amos, Jon Hamm (reprising his role as Drew, Liz Lemon's former love interest who despite being a doctor, she dumped for being too dumb), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (playing the reimagined version of Liz Lemon and also as herself playing this character in "Live Show"), Bill Hader, Chris Parnell, Kelsey Grammer (playing himself), Buck Henry, David Gregory, John Slattery, Daniel Sunjata, Will Forte, Kelly Coffield Park, Elaine Stritch, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Alan Alda, Cheyenne Jackson, Robert De Niro (playing himself), Dean Winters, Ken Howard, Vanessa Minnillo, Brian Williams (playing himself), Richard Belzer, Ice-T, John Cho, Chloë Grace Moretz (as Kaylie Hooper – the granddaughter of Kabletown CEO Hank Hooper and Jack's sworn enemy as heir to the Kabletown throne), Terrence Mann (as oceanographer Bob Ballard), Cristin Milioti (as Abby Flynn in ""TGS" Hates Women"), Eion Bailey, Adriane Lenox, Michael Keaton, Margaret Cho (as Avery's kidnapper, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il), and Tom Hanks (as himself in "100: Part 1" and "100: Part 2").


title: 30 Rock

text: Season six finds Liz emotionally maturing while in a new relationship; Jack continues to attempt to recover his wife from North Korea and find his identity at Kabletown, Kenneth moves up (and later down) the corporate ladder. Jenna reaches a new level of fame due to being a judge on a reality show and considers settling down with boyfriend Paul.


title: 30 Rock

text: Many LGBT groups called for Tracy Morgan's resignation or dismissal from the show due to anti-gay comments he made between the end of season five and the filming for season six. Morgan issued an apology and continued with his starring role. "30 Rock" had previously received an award from GLAAD, commending the show on its portrayal of LGBT themes and characters. The scandal inspired the second episode of the season, in which Tracy Jordan goes on an offensive rant during a standup set, forcing the show to apologize on his behalf after he mistakenly apologizes to Glad, the plastic bag company, instead of GLAAD.


title: 30 Rock

text: "30 Rock" returned for a final, abbreviated season consisting of 13 episodes, which began airing on October 4, 2012. Alec Baldwin reportedly approached NBC and offered to cut his pay for "30 Rock" to be renewed for a full seventh and eighth seasons, stating on Twitter: "I offered NBC to cut my pay 20% in order to have a full 7th and 8th seasons of "30 Rock". I realize times have changed."


title: 30 Rock

text: Season seven continues to develop the relationship between Liz and Criss (James Marsden), as the pair tries for children and considers getting married. Meanwhile, Jack attempts to improve his prospects at the company, first by trying to "tank" NBC and convince Kabletown CEO Hank Hooper (Ken Howard) to sell it, and later by plotting to discredit Hooper's granddaughter and future CEO, Kaylee Hooper (Chloë Grace Moretz). Ultimately, however, he begins to wonder if he is truly happy. Elsewhere, Tracy has found success with his new movie studio, which produces comedy films mostly starring African American actors, similarly to Tyler Perry; Jenna prepares to marry her long-term boyfriend Paul (Will Forte), and Kenneth has started a relationship with Hazel (Kristen Schaal), unaware that she is using him to get her moment on "TGS".


title: 30 Rock

text: "30 Rock" has received many positive reviews from critics. Chris Harnick, writing in the "Huffington Post", has ranked it along with "I Love Lucy" and "Seinfeld" as one of the great TV comedies. The Writers Guild of America West listed it as the 21st best written TV series. Its series finale has been rated highly by several publications. HitFix ranked it the 15th best series final, IndieWire included it in its list of 16 best series finals, and HuffPost named it the 5th best.


title: 30 Rock

text: The first season of "30 Rock" was reviewed favorably by critics. "Metacritic" gave the pilot episode a Metascore—a weighted average based on the impressions of a select thirty-one critical reviews—of 67 out of 100. Robert Abele of "LA Weekly" declared that the show was a "weirdly appropriate and hilarious symbol of our times". "The Wall Street Journal"<nowiki>'s</nowiki> Dorothy Rabinowitz wrote that the "standard caution is relevant—debut episodes tend to be highly polished. All the more reason to enjoy the hilarious scenes and fine ensemble cast here". Some less favorable reviews were received from Brian Lowry of "Variety". Lowry said, "Despite her success with "Mean Girls", Fey mostly hits too-familiar notes in the pilot. Moreover, she's a limited protagonist, which is problematic." Maureen Ryan of the "Chicago Tribune" criticized ""30 Rock" for being less than the sum of its parts, and, as an entry in the single-camera comedy sweepstakes, it fails to show either the inspired inventiveness of "Arrested Development" or provide the surprisingly perceptive character studies of "The Office"".


title: 30 Rock

text: At the end of 2006, "LA Weekly" listed "30 Rock" as one of the best "Series of the Year". The show also appeared on similar year end "best of" 2006 lists published by "The New York Times", "The A.V. Club", "The Boston Globe", the "Chicago Sun-Times", "Entertainment Weekly", the "Los Angeles Times", the "Miami Herald", "People Weekly", and "TV Guide". The "Associated Press" wrote that NBC's "Thursday night comedy block—made up of "My Name Is Earl", "The Office", "Scrubs", and "30 Rock"—is consistently the best night of prime time viewing for any network." In 2007, it appeared on "The Boston Globe"<nowiki>'s</nowiki> "best of" list as well as the "best of" lists of the "Chicago Sun-Times", the "Chicago Tribune", "Entertainment Weekly", the "Los Angeles Times", "Newark Star-Ledger", "The New York Times", "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette", "The San Francisco Chronicle", "The San Jose Mercury News", "TV Guide" and "USA Today". "30 Rock" was named the best series of 2007 by "Entertainment Weekly".


title: 30 Rock

text: At the end of 2009, "Newsweek" magazine ranked "30 Rock" as the best comedy on TV in the past decade, and at the end of 2010, "Metacritic" reported that the show ranked 12th place in their list of collected Television Critic Top Ten Lists. At the end of 2012, a poll undertaken by "60 Minutes" and "Vanity Fair" named "30 Rock" the seventh greatest sitcom of all time. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America named "30 Rock" as one of the best-written television series of all time, ranking it at 21st place. In 2019, the series was ranked 12th on "The Guardian" newspaper's list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century.


title: 30 Rock

text: Capping its critically successful first season, "30 Rock" won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series and Elaine Stritch was awarded Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in September 2007 for her work as a guest actress in the season one finale episode, "Hiatus". Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin were nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Lead Actor in a comedy series categories, respectively. "Jack-Tor" and "Tracy Does Conan" were both nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. "30 Rock" received four Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Alec Baldwin received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 2007. Baldwin also received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series in 2007. The show also received various other guild award nominations during its first season and the Peabody Award.


title: 30 Rock

text: In 2008, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin both won Screen Actors Guild Awards. The series took home the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Series in 2008. It also received the Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Series – Comedy from the Producers Guild of America in 2008. "30 Rock" received 17 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for its second season, meaning it was the second-most nominated series of the year. These 17 nominations broke the record for the most nominations for a comedy series, meaning that "30 Rock" was the most-nominated comedy series for any individual Primetime Emmy Award year. The previous holder of this record was "The Larry Sanders Show" in 1996 with 16 nominations. "30 Rock" also won the Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.


title: 30 Rock

text: In 2008, "30 Rock" completed a sweep of the major awards at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards. The show won Outstanding Comedy Series, Alec Baldwin was recognized as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and Tina Fey was given the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. This marked the eighth time in the Primetime Emmy Awards history that a show won best series plus best lead actor and actress. Tina Fey also won the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for the second-season finale episode, "Cooter".


title: 30 Rock

text: At the 66th Golden Globe Awards, "30 Rock" won the award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, Alec Baldwin won Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy, and Tina Fey won Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy.


title: 30 Rock

text: At the 67th Annual Peabody Awards, "30 Rock" received the Peabody Award for the show's 2007 episodes. Upon announcing the award, the Peabody Board commended the show for being "not only a great workplace comedy in the tradition of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", complete with fresh, indelible secondary characters, but also a sly, gleeful satire of corporate media, especially the network that airs it".


title: 30 Rock

text: In 2009, "30 Rock" received a record-breaking 22 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won five of them, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Baldwin), and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for "Reunion". It received 15 Primetime Emmy Award nominations in 2010, including the series' fourth consecutive nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Baldwin), and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Fey). "30 Rock" received 9 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, in 2011 and 13 in 2012.


title: 30 Rock

text: In 2013, "30 Rock"s seventh and final season received 13 Primetime Emmy Award nominations (the most of any comedy series and the most of any final season of a comedy series), including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Fey, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Baldwin, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Krakowski, directing, two nominations for writing, and its seventh consecutive nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, bringing the series' total number of nominations to 103. The series' casting directors won their third prize for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series, while Tina Fey and Tracey Wigfield won for their writing for the series finale, "Last Lunch".


title: 30 Rock

text: At the 19th Screen Actors Guild Awards, both Fey and Baldwin won for their performances in the Female and Male comedy categories, respectively, while the cast received their final nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.


title: 30 Rock

text: Below, "Rank" refers to how well "30 Rock" rated compared to other television series which aired during primetime hours of the corresponding television season; for example, in its first year, 101 television series were rated higher. The television season begins in September of any given year and ends in May of the following year. "Viewers" refers to the average number of viewers for all original episodes (broadcast in the series' regular timeslot) of "30 Rock" aired during the television season. Although the viewer average may be higher for some seasons than others, the rank will not necessarily be higher. This is due to the number of programs aired during primetime. In some seasons, more regular programs may be aired during primetime than in others.


title: 30 Rock

text: The pilot episode generated 8.13 million viewers, the series' highest ratings until that of its third-season premiere which garnered 8.5 million viewers. In its original timeslot of Wednesday at 8:00 pm EST, the show averaged 6.23 million viewers. "30 Rock" aired on Wednesdays for its first four episodes. The season's lowest ratings were achieved by "Jack the Writer" and "Hard Ball" which both achieved 4.61 million viewers. The season-two premiere, "SeinfeldVision" was viewed by 7.33 million viewers, the highest rating since the pilot. On January 10, 2008, "30 Rock" entered a hiatus due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The episode that aired on that date was viewed by 5.98 million viewers. The second-season finale, "Cooter", which aired on May 8, 2008, was viewed by 5.6 million viewers.


title: 30 Rock

text: On December 29, 2006, Nielsen Media Research (NMR) reported the results of having, for the first time, monitored viewers who use a digital video recorder to record shows for later viewing. NMR reported that "30 Rock" adds nearly 7.5% to its total audience every week as a result of viewers who use a DVR to record the show and then watch it within a week of its initial airing. A March 2007 report from "MAGNA Global", based on NMR data about viewership ranked by among adults 25–54, shows that as of the time of the report "30 Rock"s viewers have a median income of $65,000, high enough to place the show tied at 11th in affluence with several other shows. This is during a period where for the season "30 Rock" is tied at number 85 in the 18–49 demographic. During its second season, "30 Rock" ranked in fourth place, against all primetime programming, for television series which are watched by viewers with income above $100,000. Following Fey's popular impressions of Alaskan governor Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live", the third-season premiere was seen by 8.5 million viewers, making it the highest-viewed episode in the series. The premiere earned a 4.1 preliminary adults 18–49 rating, an increase of 21% from the second-season premiere.


title: 30 Rock

text: Two shows debuting on 2006–07 NBC lineup, "30 Rock" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", revolved around the off-camera happenings on a "Saturday Night Live"-analogue sketch comedy series. Similarities between the two led to speculation that only one of them would be picked up. Baldwin said, "I'd be stunned if NBC picked up both shows. And ours has the tougher task, as a comedy, because if it's not funny, that's it." Kevin Reilly, then president of NBC Entertainment, was supportive of Fey, describing the situation as a "high-class problem":


title: 30 Rock

text: Evidence of the overlapping subject matter between the shows, as well as the conflict between them, arose when Aaron Sorkin, the creator of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", asked Lorne Michaels to allow him to observe "Saturday Night Live" for a week, a request Michaels denied. Despite this, Sorkin sent Fey flowers after NBC announced it would pick up both series, and wished her luck with "30 Rock". Fey said, "it's just bad luck for me that in my first attempt at prime time I'm going up against the most powerful writer on television. I was joking that this would be the best pilot ever aired on Trio. And then Trio got canceled." Fey wound up "beating" Sorkin when "Studio 60" was canceled after one season and "30 Rock" was renewed for a second. Though "30 Rock"s first-season ratings proved lackluster and were lower than those of "Studio 60", "Studio 60" was more expensive to produce.


title: 30 Rock

text: One early promo for "30 Rock" portrayed Alec Baldwin mistakenly thinking he would meet Sorkin, and when asked on her "Ask Tina" space what she thought of the criticism that "30 Rock" received, Fey jokingly replied that people who did not like it were probably confusing it with "Studio 60". However, none of "30 Rock"s producers have given "Studio 60" any serious criticism, positive or negative. In a November 1, 2006, interview, Fey said she had seen the first two episodes of "Studio 60". When asked what her impressions were, she jokingly replied, "I can't do impressions of Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry."


title: 30 Rock

text: Some critics have compared "30 Rock" to "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", with parallels drawn between the relationship of Liz and Jack and that of Mary Richards and Lou Grant. It has also been compared to "That Girl". Like "That Girl" and "Mary Tyler Moore", "30 Rock" is a sitcom centering on an unmarried, brunette career woman living in a big city where she works in the television industry. "That Girl" was parodied in the opening segment of "30 Rock"s pilot.


title: 30 Rock

text: It was announced in 2009 that off-network syndication rights for "30 Rock" had been acquired by Comedy Central and WGN America for about $800,000 an episode. Between 2011 and 2012, the show was syndicated on local broadcast networks in the United States.


title: 30 Rock

text: In 2019, Tina Fey and "30 Rock" co-showrunner Robert Carlock received a straight-to-series order for an untitled comedy series from NBC. The original script was meant to see Baldwin reprise Jack Donaghy's role and was to follow his political career as mayor of New York following the series finale. Baldwin was in negotiations for a year to star in the project before dropping out. Ted Danson replaced Baldwin as the lead character, and the series setting was changed to Los Angeles to accommodate Danson's wish to remain in his home city. Following this, the series (now titled "Mr. Mayor") was rewritten to lose any connections to "30 Rock".


title: 30 Rock

text: On June 22, 2020, at the request of Fey and Carlock, NBC announced that four episodes of the series that depict actors in blackface would be removed from streaming services and taken off circulation on TV.


title: 30 Rock

text: Fey stated: "As we strive to do the work and do better in regards to race in America, we believe that these episodes featuring actors in race-changing makeup are best taken out of circulation. I understand now that 'intent' is not a free pass for white people to use these images. I apologize for pain they have caused". The episodes that were removed are the third season episode "Believe in the Stars" and the fifth season episode "Christmas Attack Zone", both of which featured Jenna in blackface; the sixth season episode "Live from Studio 6H", which featured guest star Jon Hamm in blackface; and the east coast version of the fifth season episode "Live Show". The lattermost's west coast version remained. The decision to remove the episodes came amid protests over the murder of George Floyd.


title: 30 Rock

text: On June 16, 2020, NBC announced that it would produce a one-off, hour-long reunion special, which premiered on July 16. The hour-long special aired with no commercial interruptions, but featured promotions and tie-ins for programs airing across NBCUniversal properties (including its new streaming platform Peacock) for the 2020-21 television season — effectively acting as a substitute for a physical upfronts presentation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The special was produced with the involvement of NBCUniversal Creative Partnerships. The same day, an accompanying online summit for media and advertisers included an early screening of the special, while the special became available on Peacock and aired on other NBCUniversal cable networks on July 17. A number of major NBC affiliate groups declined to air the special, citing concerns over its aim to be a vehicle for promoting NBCUniversal's cable networks and Peacock.


title: 30 Rock

text: Universal Studios Home Entertainment released all seven seasons on DVD in addition to releasing a complete collection bundle. The complete DVD and Blu-ray sets were released through Mill Creek Entertainment on April 21, 2020.


title: 30 Rock

text: Episodes of "30 Rock" are available to download for a per-episode fee, to U.S. residents only, via Amazon Video, Apple's iTunes Store, Google Play. Back when the show was still running, it was also available on the now-defunct "NBC Direct" service. In addition to paid downloads, all seven seasons can be streamed on Hulu in the U.S. with a paid subscription, having moved there from Netflix on October 1, 2017, under a new agreement with NBCUniversal Television and New Media Distribution. The previous Netflix deal had existed for much of the show's run, and lasted several years after.


title: 30 Rock

text: All 7 seasons of "30 Rock" (barring the aforementioned four episodes removed from circulation) returned to Netflix on August 1, 2021, and were removed from the service on July 31, 2022, and the series moved to Peacock while remaining on Hulu.


title: The College Dropout

text: The College Dropout is the debut studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on February 10, 2004, by Def Jam Recordings and Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. In the years leading up to release, West had received praise for his production work for rappers such as Jay-Z and Talib Kweli, but faced difficulty being accepted as an artist in his own right by figures in the music industry. Intent on pursuing a solo career, he signed a record deal with Roc-A-Fella and recorded the album over a period of four years, beginning in 1999.


title: The College Dropout

text: The production of "The College Dropout" was primarily handled by West and showcased his "chipmunk soul" musical style, which made use of sped-up, pitch shifted vocal samples from soul and R&B records, in addition to West's own drum programming, string accompaniments, and gospel choirs; the album also features contributions from Jay-Z, Mos Def, Jamie Foxx, Syleena Johnson, and Ludacris, among others. Diverging from the then-dominant gangster persona in hip hop, West's lyrics concern themes of family, self-consciousness, materialism, religion, racism, and higher education.


title: The College Dropout

text: "The College Dropout" debuted at number two on the US "Billboard" 200, selling 441,000 copies in its first week of sales. It was a large-scale commercial success, becoming West's best-selling album in the United States, with domestic sales of over 3.4 million copies by 2014 and was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2020. The album was promoted with singles such as "Through the Wire", "Jesus Walks", "All Falls Down", and "Slow Jamz", the latter two of which peaked within the top ten of the "Billboard" Hot 100, with "Slow Jamz" becoming West's first number-one single as a lead artist.


title: The College Dropout

text: A widespread critical success, "The College Dropout" was praised for West's production, humorous and emotional raps, and the music's balance of self-examination and mainstream sensibilities. The album earned the rapper several accolades, including nominations for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album at the 2005 Grammy Awards, winning for the latter. It has since been named by numerous publications as one of the greatest albums of all time, including "Rolling Stone" and "NME", who ranked it at 74 and 273 respectively on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time lists, and is credited for popularizing the chipmunk soul and conscious rap subgenres in the 2000s.


title: The College Dropout

text: Kanye West began his early production career in the mid-1990s, making beats primarily for burgeoning local artists, eventually developing a style that involved speeding up vocal samples from classic soul records. For a time, he acted as a ghost producer for Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie. Due to his association with D-Dot, West wasn't able to release a solo album, so he formed and became a member and producer of the Go-Getters, a late-1990s Chicago rap group composed of him, GLC, Timmy G, Really Doe, and Arrowstar. The group released their first and only studio album "World Record Holders" in 1999. West came to achieve recognition with his contributions to Jay-Z's influential 2001 album "The Blueprint". "The Blueprint" has been named by "Rolling Stone" as the 252nd greatest album of all time and the critical and financial success of the album generated substantial interest in West as a producer. Serving as an in-house producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, West produced records for other artists from the label, including Beanie Sigel, Freeway, and Cam'ron. He also crafted hit songs for Ludacris, Alicia Keys, and Janet Jackson.


title: The College Dropout

text: Although he had attained success as a producer, Kanye West aspired to be a rapper, but had struggled to attain a record deal. Record companies ignored him because he did not portray the gangsta image prominent in mainstream hip hop at the time. After a series of meetings with Capitol Records, West was ultimately denied an artist deal. According to Capitol Record's A&R, Joe Weinberger, he was approached by West and almost signed a deal with him, but another person in the company convinced Capitol's president not to. Desperate to keep West from defecting to another label, then-label head Damon Dash reluctantly signed West to Roc-A-Fella Records. Jay-Z, West's colleague, later admitted that Roc-A-Fella was initially reluctant to support West as a rapper, claiming that many saw him as a producer first and foremost, and that his background contrasted with that of his labelmates.


title: The College Dropout

text: West's breakthrough came a year later on October 23, 2002, when, while driving home from a California recording studio after working late, he fell asleep at the wheel and was involved in a near-fatal car crash. The crash left him with a shattered jaw, which had to be wired shut in reconstructive surgery. The accident inspired West; two weeks after being admitted to a hospital, he recorded a song at the Record Plant with his jaw still wired shut. The composition, "Through the Wire", expressed West's experience after the accident, and helped lay the foundation for his debut album, as according to West "all the better artists have expressed what they were going through". West added that "the album was my medicine", as working on the record distracted him from the pain. "Through the Wire" was first available on West's "Get Well Soon..." mixtape, released December 2002. At the same time, West announced that he was working on an album called "The College Dropout", whose overall theme was to "make your own decisions. Don't let society tell you, 'This is what you have to do.'"


title: The College Dropout

text: West began recording "The College Dropout" in 1999, taking four years to complete. Recording sessions took place at Record Plant in Los Angeles, California, but the production featured on the record took place elsewhere over the course of several years. According to John Monopoly, West's friend, manager and business partner, the album "...[didn't have] a particular start date. He's been gathering beats for years. He was always producing with the intention of being a rapper. There's beats on the album he's been literally saving for himself for years". At one point, West hovered between making a portion of the production in the studio and the majority within his own apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey. Because it was a two-bedroom apartment, West was able to set up a home studio in one of the rooms and his bedroom in the other.


title: The College Dropout

text: West brought a Louis Vuitton backpack filled with old disks and demos to the studio, producing tracks in less than fifteen minutes at a time. He recorded the remainder of the album in Los Angeles while recovering from the car accident. Once he had completed the album, it was leaked months before its release date. However, West decided to use the opportunity to review the album, and "The College Dropout" was significantly remixed, remastered, and revised before being released. As a result, certain tracks originally destined for the album were subsequently retracted, among them "Keep the Receipt" with Ol' Dirty Bastard and "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" with Consequence. West meticulously refined the production, adding string arrangements, gospel choirs, improved drum programming and new verses. On his personal blog in 2009, West stated he was most inspired by "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" and listened to the album every day while working on "The College Dropout".


title: The College Dropout

text: The song "School Spirit" was censored for the album because Aretha Franklin would not allow the rapper to sample her music without censorship being promised. It was revealed by Plain Pat that there were around three other versions of the song, but West disliked them. Pat said in reference to the Franklin sample: "That song would have been so weak if we didn't get that sample cleared". In 2011, an uncensored version of the track was distributed online.


title: The College Dropout

text: West finished recording around December 2003, according to his older cousin and singer Tony Williams, who was recruited by the rapper two weeks before the album's deadline to contribute vocals. Williams had impressed West by singing improvisations to "Spaceship" during one of their drives together. The singer later recounted recording with West for "The College Dropout" at the Record Plant: "I get in, go in the booth, start vibing out on 'Spaceship' and finished it up. At that point he was like, 'Ok, Well let me see what you do on this song.' I think that's when we did 'Last Call.' One song lead to another, and by the end of the weekend, I was on like five songs. Then we did the 'I'll Fly Away' join". In a January 2020 interview with "GQ", West revealed that around 30 to 40 percent of the album was recorded on a Roland VS-1680.