TV Shows

’30 Rock: A One-Time Special’ Trailer Delivers Nostalgia, Liz Lemon Fighting Over Pandemic Mask

The upcoming 30 Rock reunion special now has a teaser, and it certainly reflects life in 2020. The […]

The upcoming 30 Rock reunion special now has a teaser, and it certainly reflects life in 2020. The reunion was first announced back in June, which will not only revive the beloved sitcom, but also help promote NBC‘s upcoming streaming service, Peacock. It will air on NBC on Thursday, July 16 at 8 p.m. ET.

As the teaser indicates, NBC is promoting this as “a first-of-its-kind all-audience upfront event,” meaning it will be shown to viewers, instead of press and industry insiders. The whole special was be filmed remotely and will air without commercials. Afterward, it will be added to the network’s new streaming platform Peacock, along with (most of) the sitcom’s entire backlog. Star and creator Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski and Jack McBrayer will all be reprising their roles.

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Peacock is technically available now, but only for Xfinity Flex cable subscribers, which launched there on April 15 before the company’s X1 subscribers got access on May 1. The platform will officially launch on July 15, and will include a free tier, which allows viewers can watch some of Peacock’s catalog with no subscription charge, but with commercials. The full version, Peacock Premium, will be available at no charge for Xfinity subscribers and $5 per month for others. Finally, an ad-free version of Peacock Premium will cost $10 per month.

While 30 Rock will be available to stream on Peacock, a handful of episodes will not be, as requested by Fey and series EP Robert Carlock. In a letter penned by the two, they asked that the episodes are “best taken out of circulation” and apologized “for pain they have caused.” Citing their efforts “to do the work and do better in regards to race in America,” the two acknowledged that “‘intent’ is not a free pass for white people to use these images.” They added that “going forward, no comedy-loving kid needs to stumble on these tropes and be stung by their ugliness.” They also thanked “NBCUniversal for honoring this request,” though former NBC anchor Megyn Kelly had some thoughts of her own.

The four episodes in question include “Believe In The Stars” (Season 3, Episode 2), “Christmas Attack Zone” (Season 5, Episode 10), “Live from Studio 6H” (Season 6, Episode 19), and the East Coast version of “The Live Show” (Season 5, Episode 4). Two of the episodes featured Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) in blackface.