"Hiatus" is the twenty-first and season finale episode of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's first season of '' 30 Rock''. It was written by series creator and executive producer

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...

, and was directed by

Don Scardino Donald Joseph Scardino (born February 17, 1949) is an American television director and producer and a former actor. Career Acting Scardino was born in New York City, to jazz musician parents, Dorothy Denny Scardino and Charles Scardino. His f ...

. It first aired on April 26, 2007 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Guest stars in the episode included

Katrina Bowden Katrina Bowden (born September 19, 1988) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Cerie on the NBC sitcom '' 30 Rock'' (2006–2013) and as Flo Fulton on the CBS daytime soap opera '' The Bold and the Beautiful'' (2019–pre ...

Kevin Brown Kevin Brown may refer to: Entertainment * Kevin Brown (blues musician) (born 1950), English blues guitarist * Kevin Brown (author) (born 1960), American journalist and translator * Kevin Brown (poet) (born 1970), American poet and teacher * Kevin ...

Grizz Chapman Grizzwald "Grizz" Chapman (born April 16, 1974) is an American television actor best known for his recurring role as Grizz on the NBC series ''30 Rock''. A June 2007 interview with rollingout.com lists Chapman's height as . In his commentary f ...

Rachel Dratch Rachel Susan Dratch (born February 22, 1966) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. After she graduated from Dartmouth College she moved to Chicago to study improvisational theatre at The Second City and ImprovOlympic. Her breakthrough r ...

Sean Hayes Sean Patrick Hayes (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He is best known for playing Jack McFarland on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'', for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award, four SAG Awards, and one American Com ...

Emily Mortimer Emily Kathleen Anne Mortimer (born 6 October 1971) is a British-American actress. She began acting in stage productions and has since appeared in several film and television roles. In 2003, she won an Independent Spirit Award for her performanc ...

, Chris Parnell,

Lonny Ross Lonny Ross (born 1978) is an American comedy actor and writer. Early life Ross was born in Wantagh, New York. He attended and graduated from Wantagh High School in 1996. Acting career As part of the ensemble on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'', he r ...

Elaine Stritch Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, best known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films a ...

, and

Jason Sudeikis Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 20 ...

Lester Holt Lester Don Holt Jr. (born March 8, 1959) is an American journalist and news anchor for the weekday edition of ''NBC Nightly News'' and ''Dateline NBC''. On June 18, 2015, Holt was made the permanent anchor of ''NBC Nightly News'' following the ...

appeared as himself in this episode. The episode focuses on the imminent

season finale A season finale (British English: last in the series; Australian English: season final) is the final episode of a season of a television program. This is often the final episode to be produced for a few months or longer, and, as such, will try ...

of ''TGS with Tracy Jordan'', a fictional sketch comedy series which airs live on Friday nights.

Liz Lemon Elizabeth Miervaldis Lemon is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American television series ''30 Rock''. She created and writes for the fictional comedy-sketch show ''The Girlie Show'' and later ''TGS with Tracy Jordan''. She is po ...

(played by Tina Fey) is frantic because

Tracy Jordan Tracy Jordan is a fictional character in the American television series ''30 Rock'', played by the actor Tracy Morgan. The character is a movie star whose personality traits and life events are taken from Morgan's own life. In 2010, ''Entertain ...

(

Tracy Morgan Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor best known for his television work as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1996–2003) and for his role as Tracy Jordan in the sitcom ''30 Rock'' (2006 ...

) is still missing and

Jack Donaghy John Francis "Jack" Donaghy ( ) is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'', airing from 2006 to 2013. The character was created by series creator Tina Fey, and is portrayed by Alec Baldwin. He was introduced as the Vice President of Ea ...

's ( Alec Baldwin) health threatens his marriage to Phoebe (

Plot

After going on the run from the Black Crusaders, Tracy has traveled to Needmore, Pennsylvania (an actual town located in Belfast Township, Fulton County, Pennsylvania) to stay with

Kenneth Parcell Andromakennethamblesorton "Kenneth" Ellen Parcell is a fictional character on the NBC comedy television series, ''30 Rock'', portrayed by Jack McBrayer. Originally a supporting character in the first two episodes of the series, the show's produ ...

's (

Jack McBrayer Jack McBrayer (; born May 27, 1973) is an American actor and comedian, who gained national exposure for his portrayal of characters on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' and as Kenneth Parcell in '' 30 Rock''. For his role in ''30 Rock'' he was ...

) cousin, Jesse Parcell (

). Liz is stressed as the season finale of ''TGS with Tracy Jordan'' is nearing, and Tracy cannot be found. Liz and Jack force Tracy's whereabouts from Kenneth, who they send to bring him back. Tracy realizes that he wants to go back to the city, but Jesse kidnaps him. Kenneth, accompanied by Dot-Com and Grizz, manages to rescue Tracy and get him back in time for the show's finale. Jack is livid when his mother,

Colleen Donaghy ''30 Rock'' is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey, which aired on NBC. The series takes place behind the scenes of a fictional live sketch comedy series, also airing on NBC; the name "30 Rock" refers to the address of the ...

(

), visits him when she is in town to attend his ex-wife

Bianca Bianca is a feminine given name. It means "white" and is an Italian cognate of Blanche. Variants * Blanche: French * Bianca: Italian * Bianka ( Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, German, English, French, Icelandic, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, C ...

's (

Isabella Rossellini Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini (born 18 June 1952) is an Italian-American actress, author, philanthropist, and model. The daughter of the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and the Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted ...

) wedding to Vincent Folley. Colleen takes an immediate dislike to Jack's fiancée, Phoebe, but takes a liking to Liz, whom she originally mistakes for Phoebe. The stress of his approaching wedding and the arrival of his mother prompt Jack to have a heart attack. While at the hospital, Colleen uses a heart monitor as a lie detector, on Jack, which leads him to revealing that he does not love Phoebe. They break off their engagement. Liz and Floyd (

) are struggling to maintain a long distance relationship, since Floyd's move to

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. Liz later reveals to Jack that she and Floyd have separated.

Production

The scenes set in Needmore, Pennsylvania were actually filmed in Douglaston, Queens. Similarly, the scenes in Cleveland from the previous episode were filmed in Battery Park City, Manhattan. The character Jesse Parcell taking in Tracy Jordan during his hard times, mirrors the Stephen King novel made movie,

Misery (novel) ''Misery'' is an American psychological horror thriller novel written by Stephen King and first published by Viking Press on June 8, 1987. The novel's narrative is based on the relationship of its two main characters – the romance novelist P ...

, in which an over-obsessed fan of an author takes in the author but ends up forcing them to stay with them, under the guise of "Being their biggest fan".

Reception

"Hiatus" brought in an average of 4.7 million viewers. The episode also achieved a 2.4/6 in the key 18–49-year-old demographic. The 2.4 refers to 2.4% of all people of ages 18–49 years old in the U.S., and the 6 refers to 6% of all people of ages 18–49 years old watching television at the time of the broadcast in the U.S. This episode was watched by 200,000 people upon its original broadcast in the United Kingdom. Robert Canning of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

said that this episode left him feeling "a bit cheated." He said that this was because "the storylines we've loved for weeks all failed to come to a satisfying end." He added that "after a string of stellar episodes, it's not surprising ''30 Rock'' eventually faltered." Canning rated this episode with a "6.5 out of 10." Matt Webb Mitovich of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' wrote that he "didn't find this episode ''quite'' as manic as the previous few, but that's probably because it had actual story to progress and threads to tie up." Elaine Stritch's appearance in this episode earned her a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

. Stritch would later appear as Colleen in the episodes " Ludachristmas," which was part of season two; "

Christmas Special Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared in in literature and Christmas music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptatio ...

" and " The Natural Order" in

season three A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

; " The Moms" in season four; "

Christmas Attack Zone "Christmas Attack Zone" is the tenth episode of the fifth season of the American television comedy series '' 30 Rock'', and the 90th overall episode of the series. It was written by show story editor Tracey Wigfield and directed by co-executive ...

" in season five; "

Meet the Woggels! "Meet the Woggels!" is the seventeenth episode of the sixth season of the American television comedy series ''30 Rock'', and the 120th overall episode of the series. It was directed by Linda Mendoza, and written by Ron Weiner. The episode origin ...

" in season six; and "

My Whole Life Is Thunder "My Whole Life Is Thunder" is the eighth episode of the seventh season of the American television comedy series '' 30 Rock'', and the 133rd overall episode of the series. It was directed by Linda Mendoza and written by Jack Burditt and Colleen ...

" in the show's seventh and final season.

References

External links

* {{good article 2007 American television episodes 30 Rock (season 1) episodes Television episodes written by Tina Fey