page_title: Pilot (30 Rock)
section_title: Casting
hierarchical_section_title: Pilot (30 Rock) / Production / Casting
caption_attribution_description: English: Alec Baldwin speaking at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California.
context_page_description: The pilot episode of the American situation comedy series 30 Rock premiered on October 10, 2006, on the CTV Television Network in Canada, and October 11, 2006, on NBC in the United States. The episode was directed by Adam Bernstein and written by Tina Fey, the series' creator, executive producer, and lead actor.
  In 2002, Tina Fey, then head writer of Saturday Night Live, pitched the idea for a series about a cable news network to NBC, which rejected it. Two years later, Fey approached NBC with a similar idea: a behind-the-scenes look at The Girlie Show, a television show similar to SNL. NBC approved the series in May 2006 and production began shortly after. Although the episode received generally positive reviews, it finished third in its timeslot among all viewers and among adults aged 18 to 49. Critics praised the performances of Jack McBrayer and Jane Krakowski, who played Kenneth Parcell and Jenna Maroney, respectively.
  Several characters are introduced in the pilot: Liz Lemon, the head writer of a sketch comedy series called The Girlie Show; Jack Donaghy, the network executive; Kenneth Parcell, the NBC page; and the writing staff and cast of Lemon's show.
context_section_description: Fey worked with Jennifer McNamara and Adam Bernstein for the casting of the series. Their first decision was for Fey to portray the lead character, Liz Lemon. Fey acknowledged similarities between Liz and her own life when she became head writer on SNL, primarily a heavy focus on her job. Fey asked one of her castmates on SNL, Tracy Morgan, to play Tracy Jordan. Morgan believed the role was "right up [his] alley and it was tailor made for [him]", and Fey noted that Tracy Jordan "acts wild" like Tracy Morgan did at SNL.
  Fey wrote the character of naïve NBC page Kenneth Parcell with her friend Jack McBrayer, who has been described as "the show's brightest discovery", in mind. She has said that she "really wanted him for that part and was very happy when no one objected". Shortly after McBrayer's casting, Alec Baldwin was cast as Jack Donaghy, the "totally uncensored" vice president of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming. Fey had written the part with Baldwin in mind, but was "very pleasantly surprised when he agreed to do it". As the series progressed, "the push-pull [relationship] between Fey's character, Liz Lemon, the harried head writer of The Girlie Show, and Alec Baldwin's domineering network executive, Jack Donaghy" helped the show find "its rhythm".
  Judah Friedlander was cast as the staff writer of The Girlie Show, Frank Rossitano. Before auditioning for the role, Friedlander and Fey had never met. His character was based on at least two writers with whom Fey used to work at SNL, but he "certainly brought some of [his] own things to it, as well", including his trucker hat-wearing persona. Fey based the role of Pete Hornberger, a long-time friend of Liz's and producer of The Girlie Show, on Scott Adsit, who agreed to portray the character.
  In an unaired pilot for 30 Rock, Rachel Dratch, a former SNL cast member, originally played the role of Jenna DeCarlo. In August 2006, executive producer Lorne Michaels announced that Dratch would be replaced as Jenna, but would portray different roles in other episodes.  In the retooled pilot, Dratch appears as The Girlie Show's cat wrangler. Later in the month, NBC announced that Jane Krakowski had replaced Dratch in the role of Jenna, and that the character was renamed Jenna Maroney. Michaels said that "everyone is thrilled that she is joining the cast", and thought she was going to be a "perfect fit".
caption: The part of Jack Donaghy was written with Alec Baldwin in mind.
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