As any regular STA reader knows, I’m a big Conan O’Brien fan. Even though I wish he would still go back and write episodes for “The Simpsons,” I’ve been totally grossed out by the way Jay Leno and NBC have treated Conan during his stint on “The Tonight Show.” One of the upsides of the whole late night war, though, is all the awesome television coming out of it. Conan has not pulled any punches, making fun of NBC and Leno as much as he can before leaving the network. This clip, though, was one of the best yet: a crossover with fellow NBC star Jack McBrayer in character as 30 Rock’s Kenneth the Page. And what was Kenneth doing at the Tonight Show? Giving a studio tour, of course.
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STA wants to offer a very hearty congratulations to Jack McBrayer, who was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Jack plays Kenneth the Page on 30 Rock, and he’s up against some stiff competition, including Neil Patrick “The NPH” Harris (who might have an edge, as he’s hosting the ceremony), Rainn Wilson (Dwight from “The Office”) and his own costar Tracy Morgan.
What are Jack’s odds for taking home a statue? It is definitely possible to win an Emmy for playing an assistant - just ask America Ferrera.
To relive some of your favorite Kennethisms, check out this post.
I have been way behind on 30 Rock this season, but got caught up over the weekend. And it turns out I missed a major assistant-y episode: because of cutbacks at the company, Jack (Alec Baldwin) had to fire his lovestruck assistant Jonathan. But since a top executive like Jack can’t go without an assistant, he did a pretty realistic thing. He forced Kenneth (Jack McBrayer), the dutiful NBC page, to take on a combo job, becoming his assistant - for no additional pay, of course. The whole episode is here (it’s about 22 minutes, so wait til your lunch break or after you get home).
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a former Rhodes scholar and the son of Indian immigrants, is one of the hottest properties in the Republican party. He was even chosen to deliver the party’s official response to President Obama’s recent address to Congress. Jindal’s outfit (navy blazer, striped tie) and demeanor (kinda dorky) have been drawing lots of comparisons to an STA favorite - Kenneth “The Page” Parcells of 30 Rock. So many comparisons, in fact, that Jack McBrayer went on Jimmy Fallon’s show in character as Kenneth to weigh in. Following? Here’s the video:
I love, love, love 30 Rock. While it’s Kenneth the Page who, as a de facto assistant, who has gotten the most love around this site, the rest of the cast is awesome in their own right. However, just because a TV workplace seems like fun to watch, that doesn’t mean it would be fun to actually have to work there. Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon is pretty endearing, but would she be a totally distant, passive-agressive boss? Would all the funny writers room moments actually wear on your nerves at some point? Television Without Pity takes a hard look at the whether it would be worth working at 30 Rock.
And when that’s done, enjoy this NBC page manual made by Kenneth himself.
I love Jack McBrayer as Kenneth the Page on 30 Rock (OK, fine, I pretty much love everything about 30 Rock). Here’s a montage of some of his funniest scenes, including the one where he tries to ’sing’ the Seinfeld theme song when he gets to ride in the NBC elevator with Jerry Seinfeld.
Thanks to Jack McBrayer’s consistently brilliant job playing Kenneth on 30 Rock, it can seem like being an NBC page is really badass. The truth, as always, is a little more complex. The New York Times recently did a profile of these assistant/intern hybrids. Some of the highlights:
- Famous former pages include Michael Eisner, Regis Philbin, Eva Marie Saint, and Ted Koppel (who shares the following supericky quote: “I dated my way through the New York City Rockettes.” Glad he clarified that he wasn’t boning Detroit or Minneapolis Rockettes.)
- Pages make $10 an hour. Yes, you read that properly.
- 60-85 pages are hired a year, out of 7,000 applicants. That makes it more difficult to be a page than to get into Yale.
- The book that pages must memorize in order to give studio tours (a major component of the job) are 75 pages long.
There are also some fun page facts in this article I wrote last year (blatant self-promotion over now), particularly a bit about how often the blazers get washed.
We have been pretty unabashed about our love for Kenneth, the NBC page played by Jack McBrayer on NBC’s “30 Rock.” Guess we’re not the only ones. The one and only Mariah Carey hired Jack to appear–in character–in her new music video for “Touch My Body.”
If you’ve never watched NBC’s 30 Rock, the Emmy-winning sitcom about the behind-the-scenes goings-on at an SNL-type show (God, that was a lot of hyphens), you should be. The hilarious show, written by the girlcrush worthy Tina Fey, has so many smart, quotable lines per show that we have to watch each episode a couple of times to catch them all. And many of the best lines come out of the mouth of assistant Kenneth, an NBC page who is the calm, naive counterpoint to all the eccentric personalities on the show.
Whether he’s being drafted into high-strung star Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan)’s entourage, being dared to try to kiss hottie receptionist Cerie (Katrina Bowden), getting sent on ridiculous errands by network exec Jack (Alec Baldwin) or being charged with the task of making leading actress Jenna (Jane Krakowski) eat, Kenneth’s good manners and wide-eyed innocence always crack us up. For going above and beyond the duties of even the most overworked celebrity assistant, Kenneth, we salute you.