By Cara Sprunk
2:10pm PDT, Oct 16, 2021
Fifteen years ago, "30 Rock" made its triumphant premiere, introducing viewers to producer Liz Lemon and her eclectic group of colleagues and friends. In honor of the 15th anniversary of the series' premiere in October 2021, Wonderwall.com is taking a look back at the stars of this hilarious sitcom to see how they've changed since the show wrapped in 2013.
Keep reading to find out what everyone is up to now…
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Liz Lemon, played by Tina Fey, was the creator and producer of "The Girlie Show," which was rebranded as "TGS with Tracy Jordan" when "30 Rock" kicked off. Liz was constantly awkward, quirky and incredibly relatable, and throughout the show, her work and personal troubles produced endless comedic fodder.
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After "30 Rock," Tina Fey created and produced the Netflix comedy "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," on which she also occasionally appeared. (She earned a 2020 Emmy nomination for outstanding television movie for "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend.") On the big screen, Tina's starred in movies like "This Is Where I Leave You," "Sisters" and "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot." She also stays busy with her two daughters, Alice and Penelope, with composer Jeff Richmond. 2021 has been a pretty busy year for the multi-hyphenate: In addition to co-creating the Ted Danson-led sitcom, "Mr. Mayor," Tina popped up on episodes of Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building" alongside Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez and portrayed Dolly Parton on Peacock's musical comedy series "Girls5eva." Next up, Tina will appear in the film "Maggie Moore(s)."
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Throughout all seven seasons of "30 Rock," Alec Baldwin played network executive Jack Donaghy, who begins the show as the vice president of East Coast television at NBC and ends the show as the head of NBC — and as dad to daughter Liddy with Avery Jessup, played by Elizabeth Banks.
Since "30 Rock" ended in 2013, Alec Baldwin has been busy at home and on TV. On the personal front, he and wife Hilaria have grown their family. Since the series finale in January 2013, they've welcomed six children — daughters Carmen and Lucia and sons Rafael, Leonardo, Romeo and Eduardo. In addition to popping up on TV shows over the years including "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "The Looming Tower" and "Will & Grace," Alec has also made appearances in films like "Mission: Impossible — Fallout," "A Star Is Born" and "Motherless Brooklyn." Since 2021, he's portrayed Dr. Robert Henderson on Peacock's "Dr. Death." Alec's also made headlines for his portrayal of President Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live" — and won an Emmy for the performance in 2017.
Comedian Tracy Morgan played Tracy Jordan — a fictionalized version of himself — on "30 Rock." Tracy is forced upon Liz Lemon and her "The Girlie Show" sketch-comedy series by Jack Donaghy. The B-list movie star, who experiences revitalized success on "TGS," was the loose cannon of the show.
In June 2014, Tracy Morgan was involved in a serious car crash in New Jersey that involved numerous other cars and a Walmart tractor-trailer while he was on his way home from a stop on his "Turn It Funny" tour. His friend and collaborator James McNair was killed in the crash and Tracy suffered multiple injuries that required months of rehabilitation. In his first interview post-crash, he told "Today," "I have my good days and my bad days, where I forgot things." Thankfully, he's since returned to work. From 2018 to 2020, Tracy appeared on the TBS show "The Last O.G." and he'll next appear in the film "Triplets." In 2015, Tracy married longtime love Megan Wollover, with whom he has a daughter, Maven; they split in 2020. He also has three adult sons from his first marriage.
The diva of "TGS with Tracy Jordan" was Jenna Maroney, played by Jane Krakowski. Not only was she the endlessly attention-seeking star of Liz's show — she was also Liz's longtime BFF.
After seven seasons of playing Jenna Maroney, Jane Krakowski transitioned to playing out-of-touch socialite Jacqueline Voorhees on "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" (which her former co-star, Tina Fey, created and produced). She also headed to Broadway where she appeared in the play "She Loves Me," a performance that earned her a Tony Award nomination for best featured actress in a musical in 2016. She starred on the television series "Dickinson" from 2019 to 2021 and in 2021 popped up on the Apple TV+ series "Schmigadoon!" Jane reportedly split from British fashion designer Robert Godley, the father of her son, Bennett, in 2013. She's since been romantically linked to architect and designer David Rockwell.
Jack McBrayer played Kenneth Parcell, an NBC page who was eternally cheerful no matter what Jack Donaghy said about him. Kenneth had some of the best lines of the show, especially when it came to his references to his upbringing in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Jack McBrayer has continued to work on sitcoms. He memorably appeared on "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret" and played a recurring character on "The Middle" until 2018. He's also done voice-over work in projects including "Smurfs: The Lost Village," "Wander Over Yonder" and "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" and reprised his role as Felix in "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2" in 2018. He's also since landed voice roles on television shows like "Mapleworth Murders," "Bob's Burgers," "Star Trek: Lower Decks" and "Puppy Dog Pals." Details on his love life are slim, but Jack's been best friends with Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard for years.
Scott Adsit played "TGS" producer Peter Hornberger on "30 Rock." Pete was Liz Lemon's sane BFF (at least before she got close to Jack Donaghy), though he comes off as insane and pathetic (especially in the eyes of Jack) at many times.
Like Jack McBrayer, Scott Adsit has gotten into voice work since "30 Rock." He played Baymax, a loveable robot, in the Disney movie "Big Hero 6" in 2014 and has been reprising the role on the Disney Channel's "Big Hero Six: The Series" since 2017. Scott starred alongside Amy Sedaris on the Adult Swim show "The Heart, She Holler" in 2014 and from 2015 to 2019, he portrayed Greg Hart on "Veep."
Katrina Bowden played ditzy Cerie Xerox, Liz's pretty assistant on whom many of the male writers had a crush . Cerie unintentionally egged these crushes on with her revealing outfits in the office (which also led to Jenna Maroney feeling threatened by Cerie's beauty and youth).
Since wrapping her role as Cerie on "30 Rock," Katrina Bowden has balanced acting with becoming a fitness blogger. Between workouts, Katrina starred in the Hallmark movie "Love on the Slopes" and played Fortune on TNT's short-lived drama "Public Morals." From 2019 to 2021, Katrina portrayed Flo Logan on "The Bold and the Beautiful." A few months after the "30 Rock" finale, she married longtime love Ben Jorgensen, a musician, in New York.
Judah Friedlander played writer Frank Rossitano, whose style mirrored the actor's own — think trucker hats with sayings on them. Frank, a prolific writer for "TGS," was best known for his immature interests and sloppy way of dressing.
Post-"30 Rock," Judah Friedlander teamed up with his former co-stars again, appearing on two episodes of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" in 2017. The comedian has also worked on cult classics like "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp" and "Sharknado 2: The Second One."
Lonny Ross played Josh Girard, one of the stars of "The Girlie Show" and "TGS With Tracy Jordan." He was originally the male lead on "The Girlie Show" and worked as a writer for the show-within-a-show as well. However, on the fourth season of "30 Rock," he quit "TGS" and was written off the series.
After leaving "30 Rock" in 2009, Lonny Ross stayed busy doing shows like "Angry Old Man & Gay Teenage Runaway" and "Level Up." He also appeared on "Arrested Development" in 2013. In 2020, he appeared in the short film "Gary Got Involved!"
Maulik Pancholy played Jack Donaghy's assistant, Jonathan, on "30 Rock." Jonathan obsessively admired Jack and was disgusted by Liz Lemon. Throughout Jack's promotions and demotions, Jonathan was always by his side — even when he was briefly fired!
Maulik Pancholy has mostly stayed in the television sphere since wrapping "30 Rock." He did three seasons of voice work on "Sanjay and Craig," a Nickelodeon show on which he played title character Sanjay Patel. He's also appeared on shows like "Friends From College," "The Muppets" and "The Good Wife." In addition to popping up on other series like "Elementary," "Dynasty" and "The Good Fight," Maulik appeared on two episodes of Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building." In 2014, he married partner Ryan Corvaia.
Warren "Grizz" Chapman played Grizz, a member of Tracy Jordan's entourage. Grizz wore many hats during the show, acting as Tracy's talent manager, financial manager and more or less as his babysitter.
After the 2013 finale, Grizz Chapman had a stint on the TV show "Common Sense Police" and did the pilot "Mismanagement" with Kevin Brown, a fellow member of Tracy Jordan's entourage.
Dot Com, played by Kevin Brown, was another member of Tracy Jordan's entourage. The intelligent and rational friend-employee worked as Tracy's driver and cook and often brought some sanity amid Tracy's antics.
Since the finale, Kevin Brown has continued to act, appearing in movies like "Coach of the Year" and "Little West 12th Street." He's also done some television work, appearing on "White Collar," and did a pilot in 2015 for a show that was not picked up called "Mismanagement" with former co-star Grizz Chapman.
Another "TGS" writer was Johnny "J.D." Lutz, played by John Lutz, who was known for being especially lazy. He was also the subject of much mocking by his fellow writers about his body, sexuality and well-being.
In a very meta move, post-"30 Rock," John Lutz — a former "Saturday Night Live" writer — joined the "Late Night With Seth Meyers" writers' room. He remains married to Sue Galloway, who also played a writer on "30 Rock."
On "30 Rock," Keith Powell played James "Toofer" Spurlock, a very proud Harvard alum who writes for "TGS." Toofer often butted heads with Tracy, not liking how he portrayed African Americans. Toofer was endlessly teased in the writers room as he bragged about his alma mater.
After the show wrapped, Keith Powell turned his attention to his web series, "Keith Broke His Leg," which he created, wrote, directed and starred on with his wife, Jill Knox, whom he married in 2013. He also appeared on "About a Boy" from 2014 to 2015. He's appeared on television shows like "Lucifer," "Grace and Frankie" and "This Is Us." After tragically welcoming a stillborn son, Greyson, in 2018, Keith and Jill had a daughter, Dolyn Reed, in 2019.
Dean Winters played Dennis Duffy, Liz Lemon's on-and-off boyfriend on "30 Rock." He appeared intermittently throughout all seven seasons. The "Beeper King" was a very disliked character (and not just because he appeared on "To Catch a Predator") and thought to be a terrible match for Liz.
Dean Winters has stayed busy since "30 Rock," in part doing commercials for Allstate Insurance as "Mayhem." He's also done plenty of television work on "Battle Creek," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "Divorce" and, more recently, "Girls5eva." Like many "30 Rock" alums, he also had a small part on "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." Dean will next be seen in the films "Christmas vs. The Walters," "Street Justice," "Rites & Wrongs" and on the TV series "Joe Exotic."
Elizabeth Banks appeared on seasons 4 through 6 as Jack Donaghy's love interest-turned-wife, Avery Jessup. Avery, a conservative media personality, also gave birth to Jack's daughter, Liddy, at the end of season 5.
Elizabeth Banks remains busy behind and in front of the camera. She starred in the "Pitch Perfect" franchise and also directed the second installment and was a producer on all three movies. She's also starred in projects like "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp," "Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later" and the successful "Hunger Games" franchise. The mother of two, who's been married to producer Max Handelman since 2003, also starred in the 2020 miniseries "Mrs. America." She'll next appear in the films "Call Jane" and "Signal Hill."
