A Guide to 30 Rock and It's Characters

Want to start watching 30 Rock but afraid you would be lost? Fret not! Here is a quick rundown of the characters of the funniest show on television today:

Liz Lemon, played by the always hilarious and witty Tina Fey, is the head writer of a sketch comedy show called "The Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan." Based loosely on her experiences working at Saturday Night Live, Fey writes laugh out loud episodes week in and week out. Liz Lemon is arguably the most level headed of the characters. As head writer, her job is to be funny, all the while pleasing her arrogant, demanding boss Jack Donaghy.

In the series premier, Jack Donaghy, played by the incomparable Alec Baldwin, takes over as network executive. There is a lot of tension between him and Liz Lemon as he is usually demanding something ridiculous of her, while usually mocking what she's wearing. From mistakenly setting her up with a lesbian to trying to join the writing staff, Donaghy is a big part of what drives the show.

Liz's best friend, and the former star of "The Girlie Show" is Jenna Maroney, played by Jane Krakowski of Ally McBeal fame. Jenna is a bubbly airheaded actress who becomes jealous when, in hopes of increasing male viewership, they hire Tracy Jordan.

Tracy Jordan, played by Tracy Morgan of SNL, is a loose cannon but on Donaghy's request, he became frontrunner of the sketch comedy show, even changing the name of the show to "TGS with Tracy Jordan." Jenna and Tracy frequently butt heads since she is not used to being second fiddle. Liz usually gets stuck in the middle, trying to keep the show true to its roots while still appeasing crazy Tracy's whims. But that is the least of Tracy's worries, since he is usually more concerned with leaving work early without rehearsing and paranoid about being wanted by the "Black Crusaders" for playing negative black stereotypes.

Keeping the cast together is the lovable page, Kenneth Parcell. If you've ever been to NBC studios, you know that pages are the people that intern in various departments in the studio. Kenneth Parcell, played by Jack McBrayer, is a sweet Southern boy who loves television and inadvertently ends up being everyone's personal assistant. He is usually set up on Tracy watch to make sure he stays out of trouble, even becoming a member of his entourage at some point. He is usually frantically running around doing errands for the other characters.

Liz's team of writers, Frank (Judah Friedlander), Toofer (Keith Powell), Josh (Lonny Ross), and Pete (Scott Adsit) are usually giving her a hard time about who she's dating or about sketches.

The Emmy winning show is a clever take on the inner workings of a hectic workplace. This list of characters is nothing compared to the lucrative guest stars that frequent the show and round out the cast, like Will Arnett, Al Gore, David Schwimmer, and other SNL alums.