On paper, 30 Rock sounds like a pretty straight-forward concept for a comedy. The struggles of a late-night sketch show have plenty of opportunities for comedy, if not a bit plain. However, the show is so great because of the truly bizarre characters that inhabit this world. So much of the show’s humor came from the fact that it wasn’t too concerned with operating in the real world and allowed its characters to be truly out-there.
There really aren’t any normal characters on the show but some are more unusual than the rest. These ridiculous people help to make the show more memorable and solidify it as one of the best television comedies of all-time. Here are the weirdest characters from 30 Rock.
Frank Rossitano
The fact that Frank is a grown man but dresses like a lazy 13-year-old is probably the most normal thing about him. He is one of the writers on TGS and is a massive man-child. He lives with his mother and obsesses over comic books, video games, and all matter of other juvenile things.
He seems completely awkward around beautiful women and the one long-lasting relationship he has had was with his middle school teacher, which ended with her going to prison. Frank is a complete slob and seems aware of his disgusting lifestyle but makes zero changes.
Hazel Wassername
Hazel is, for a time, Kenneth’s replacement as head page at NBC. However, Hazel is far more ambitious and diabolical than Kenneth. She uses her position to climb the ladder at NBC. She also develops an obsession with Liz and tries to kill Jenna on several occasions.
Hazel is able to manipulate Kenneth and tries to weasel her way on to appearing on TGS before being fired. She is a pathological liar with some very disturbing ideas of a healthy sex life.
Len Wosniak
Len is a private detective who is occasionally hired by Jack for various assignments. Despite being somewhat effective at his job, his methods are certainly unorthodox.
He is a fan of wearing disguises on his assignments and claims to have once been a part of a group of undercover cops who posed as high school students, similar to 21 Jump Street. Despite being terrible at the undercover work, he ends up enjoying going undercover so much as a female school teacher that he decides to keep that identity.
Devon Banks
Devon Banks is Jack Donaghy’s main rival on the show. He is a competitive and tenacious businessman, as well as a repressed homosexual. He harbors deep sexual feelings for Kenneth and continuously tries to get with him in creepy ways.
He eventually leaves the business world behind and embraces his gay lifestyle, but doesn’t abandon his quest to ruin Jack. He even uses his adopted children as pawns in his quest for revenge. Perhaps weirdest of all, he claims to prefer cold pizza.
Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth is the dedicated and loyal page at NBC. He is a kind to everyone but his very odd upbringing means he seems very unfamiliar with normal society. He was raised in a very rural and impoverished area of Georgia. He is very religious, but it’s unclear what religion he practices except that it is extremely strict.
He looks young but there have been several hints that he may be one of the oldest characters on the show. He is often shocked and appalled by the behavior of those around him but still considers just about everyone he meets to be his best friend.
Lutz
Lutz is another one of the writers on TGS and is the butt of many people’s insults. His background is a confusing mess, stating that he is part Inuit despite nothing suggesting that to be true. He is apparently a gay man but seems terrified by the prospect of people finding out, even though no one seems to care anything about him.
He is constantly embarrassing himself with his clumsy and awkward behavior. He often gets physically injured though, again, no one cares. It is also implied that he might be impersonating his own mother which opens up a bunch of other questions.
Kathy Geiss
Kathy Geiss is the simple-minded daughter of General Electric’s CEO, Don Geiss. She eventually becomes Devon Banks’ fiancée although she seems pretty oblivious of that fact. She doesn’t have any interest in the family business and spends her time on her own interests, including unicorns and Mark Wahlberg.
She barely ever speaks and has some obsession with putting inedible objects in her mouth. Some of the few ideas she has as CEO include a new unicorn mascot and a machine that hugs the elderly (which ends up crushing them).
Jenna Maroney
Jenna was the star of TGS before Tracy Jordan came along, and she is Liz’s best friend. She is also a terribly conceited person who cares only for herself and goes to extreme lengths to get attention. In an attempt to become a massive star, she continues to take bad roles in questionable projects like “The Rural Juror.”
Jenna is extremely mean and inconsiderate to those she views as beneath her, which is basically anyone. She surrounds herself with an entourage of ridiculous characters, takes drastic measures to conceal her age, and seems to have had a very turbulent relationship with Mickey Rourke in the past.
Tracy Jordan
As he is introduced in the show, Tracy is a beloved comedy star who was in the midst of a scandal when he was found in the middle of traffic in his underwear and wielding a lightsaber. He only got weirder from there.
Tracy’s movies, while popular are ridiculous, with such titles as Honky Grandma be Trippin’, Sherlock Homie and Who Dat Ninja? He has an unexplained illness which requires him to take pills or else he’ll become more erratic and start seeing things. He believes in a number of insane conspiracies, some of which appear to be true, whether he knows it or not.
Dr. Leo Spaceman
Dr. Spaceman is introduced as Tracy before becoming a recurring character who offers his terrible medical advice to everyone on the show. He seems to know very little about medicine or even the human body. He attended Ho Chi Minh School of Medicine and has introduced himself as “Doctor” Leo Spaceman.
He maintains that medicine is not an actual science and that science can be whatever we want it to be. He also thinks patients need a big breakfast before surgery and people don’t actually need food to survive.
