page_title: Secret Santa (30 Rock)
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Secret Santa (30 Rock) / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: Cheyenne Jackson at a New York rally for same-sex marriage equality on May 17, 2009
context_page_description: "Secret Santa" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 66th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by series' creator Tina Fey and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller. It originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company in the United States on December 10, 2009. The episode featured appearances by actors Cheyenne Jackson as Danny Baker, Julianne Moore as Nancy Donovan, and Larry Wilcox playing himself.
  The episode centered on a gift-giving contest between Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy, Jenna Maroney's jealousy over new TGS with Tracy Jordan cast member Danny Baker's singing skills, and the writers—Frank Rossitano, James "Toofer" Spurlock, and J. D. Lutz —coming up with a fake religion to get out of NBC page Kenneth Parcell's "Secret Santa" scheme.
  Critical reception of the episode was generally less than favorable. According to the Nielsen ratings system, "Secret Santa" was watched by 7.54 million households during its original broadcast. The night the episode premiered, it was immediately preceded by an episode of The Office with the same title.
context_section_description: "Secret Santa" was written by series' creator, executive producer and lead actress Tina Fey. The director of this episode was Beth McCarthy-Miller, a long-time television director who worked with Fey on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. This was Fey's nineteenth writing credit, and McCarthy-Miller's ninth directed episode. "Secret Santa" originally aired on NBC as the eighth episode of the show's fourth season, and the 66th overall episode of the series, in the United States on December 10, 2009. It was filmed on November 5 and November 20, 2009.
  In November 2009, it was announced that actress Julianne Moore would guest star on 30 Rock as a love interest for Alec Baldwin's character, Jack Donaghy. Moore would later guest star in the episodes "Winter Madness", "Lee Marvin vs. Derek Jeter", "Emanuelle Goes to Dinosaur Land", and "I Do Do". In an interview with USA Today in October 2009, Fey said that Jack would find more enduring love in the upcoming season. "As we move into the back half of the season, we'd like to get [Jack] into a real adult relationship with some hurdles." In the same interview, Baldwin noted, "Fifty-year-old Jack running around still using women like a drug is not where I'd like him to end up." Actor Larry Wilcox made a cameo in this episode, though, he was in character playing Officer Jon Baker from his old days in the drama show CHiPs, as Liz Lemon had a teen crush on Wilcox. In one scene of this episode, Liz says "shark farts", and when asked about it in an April 2010 interview, Fey revealed that the term "was one that we ad-libbed that we ended up leaving in. The studio asked us not to leave it in, but we left it in."
  This was actor Cheyenne Jackson's second appearance as Danny on 30 Rock. He made his debut in the November 12, 2009, episode "The Problem Solvers". Fey had seen Jackson in the Broadway musicals Xanadu and Damn Yankees, the latter that starred Jane Krakowski, who plays Jenna Maroney on the show. According to Jackson in a November 2009 interview, Fey set up a meeting to interest him in a role on the program. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, it was revealed that it was Krakowski who brought Jackson to the attention of the 30 Rock producers. In the episode, Danny sang off-key during a duet with Jenna, in order to keep her happy. In regards of his off-pitch performance, Jackson said in an interview, "It's actually harder than you might think. I worked on it a lot to make it sound real and to make it sound believable. But I got some good, funny feedback from it, so I'm glad it worked out."
  One filmed scene from "Secret Santa" was cut out from the airing. Instead, the scene was featured on 30 Rock's season four DVD as part of the deleted scenes in the Bonus feature. In the scene, Liz goes to Vattene, a men's dress apparel retailer. She is there to buy a gift for Jack for Christmas but is shocked at the prices. She then sees a red neck tie and purchases it.
caption: Cheyenne Jackson made his second appearance as Danny Baker in "Secret Santa".
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