The “30 Rock” reunion airs this Thursday at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET, but NBC’s affiliate stations have opted out of broadcasting the special.
The 12 NBC-owned stations, including those in New York and L.A., will air the special on Thursday. On Friday morning, NBC will post the full special to NBC.com, cable video on demand platforms and its new streaming service Peacock. The special will also air on NBCU cable networks (USA, SyFy, Bravo, Oxygen, E! and CNBC) on Friday. The reunion will not stream on Hulu.
Vulture reported that Gray Television, Hearst, Nexstar, Tegna and Sinclair Broadcasting Group, NBC’s local affiliates, have told NBC that they are planning to preempt Thursday’s remotely filmed hour, as station owners think the corporate-driven event is too much of a promotion for NBC’s Peacock streaming platform, which may drive viewers away from linear TV.
“30 Rock: A One-Time Special” will include appearances from cast members Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski and Jack McBrayer, reprising their “30 Rock” roles. The event will also double as an upfront special for the NBCUniversal properties.
The hour-long, commercial-free special will also feature guest appearances from talent from across NBCUniversal, highlighting new and returning programming from NBC, Telemundo, USA Network, SYFY, E! and Bravo.
“30 Rock” followed NBC executive Liz Lemon, portrayed by Fey, in a nonsensical New York City-based TV network. The upcoming special will preview the network’s programming for the upcoming 2020-2021 season as Liz navigates her life during the coronavirus pandemic.
NBC’s “30 Rock” aired from October 2006 to January 2013, winning 16 Emmys. The series is also the record-holder for most Emmy nominations in one season for any comedy series and received 103 Emmy nominations over seven seasons on NBC.
“We’re all happy to have this excuse to (remotely) work together again for NBC,” said “30 Rock” executive producers Fey and Robert Carlock said in a joint statement. “To quote Kenneth the Page, there are only two things we love in this world, television and everyone.”