Jenna Maroney
Encyclopedia
Jenna Maroney is a fictional character
on the American
television series
30 Rock
, played by Jane Krakowski
.
an Santa Barbara
, before leaving her mother, Verna for a "curly-haired surfer
" named Roberta. After that, her mother forced her to sit on every mall Santa's lap in Bakersfield in an attempt to find him. It is hinted that because of this, Jenna has developed "daddy issues". However, despite all this, Jenna claims she will always be her father's "little girl".
During Jenna's teen years, her mother moved what family she had left to Florida
in search of money, a husband, or "anything she could get her hands on". The high school Jenna attended was located on a boat, which subsequently sank.
Jenna started her singing career when she was young, by singing Christmas carols in Sears, as a distraction while her mother shoplifted. Jenna studied voice at Northwestern University
where she first met Liz Lemon
in 1993. By her own words, Jenna was "slutting it up" to get car dealership owners to put her in their commercials. She also studied at the Royal Tampa Academy of Dramatic Tricks where she majored in portraying prom queens and murdered runaways (mentioned in "Black Light Attack").
She has a sister who urinated in one of her eyes when she was little, which caused it to not open all the way. Jenna's other sister (or possibly the same one) has also died. She has a half-sister named Courtney, whose death is announced in a later episode. She also has a niece named Charlotte, who has drawn her pictures which Jenna finds offensive, despite them being perfectly innocent and childlike.
In "The Fighting Irish", Jenna states that she is a follower of Kabbalah
, which, in her words, "combines the fun part of Judaism
with magic
". She owns a condo in Clearwater, Florida, which implies she is also involved with Scientology
.
A recurring joke in the show is that Jenna has had many dysfunctional relationship
s. She has been engaged to a congressman (when she was 16 years old) and David Blaine
, and dated O. J. Simpson
, a music producer (hinted at having been RedOne
), a sniper, and a mob boss, and was in a three-way with Tom
and Roseanne Arnold
. Jenna's current boyfriend, Paul L'Astnamé (played by Will Forte
) is a "gender dysmorphic bi-genitalia pansexual" and a professional female impersonator most renowned for his performances as Jenna. They met when Paul was the winner of a Jenna Maroney look-alike contest (in which Jenna herself placed fourth).
, an obsessive need for attention. She is vain and self-centred and is willing to do anything for attention. In "Queen of Jordan
", she organises her own intervention for (fictional) alcoholism
because she believes audiences will respond to the "redemptive qualities" that such a storyline would have; however, she attempts to back out when she realises that going into rehab would take her away from the show. In "The Ones
", Pete suspects that Jenna might be a sociopath, after repeatedly poisoning Kenneth with strawberries, to date an attractive emergency medical technician
. Later in the episode, Pete downgraded her personality to extreme narcissism
, after she felt genuine remorse for her actions.
Throughout the course of the show, Jenna shows increasing concern for her acting career, which appears to be failing. She is in denial about her age; in "Black Light Attack!
", she is asked to audition for a role on Gossip Girl
, and mistakenly believes that she will be playing the part of a sixteen-year-old girl rather than her forty-year-old mother. Liz's attempts to convince her that she will be playing the part of the mother only further convince Jenna that she has been asked to audition for the role of the teenage daughter. Similarly, when Jack Donaghy
inadvertently started a rumour that Jenna was dead in "Jackie Jormp-Jomp
", Jenna interrupted her own memorial service to block out her birth date on a large picture of herself because it revealled that she was actually forty years old and not twenty-nine. Jenna also finds any excuse she can to sing, to the extent that she carries a microphone around in her handbag in case the opportunity to sing presents itself. She usually performs a musical number at the end of each episode of TGS, though it is implied that the cameras have stopped rolling and the show has ended by this time. She is easily manipulated into things - such as when the writing staff of TGS convinced her that Janis Joplin
ate a live cat when Jenna was researching the role for a Janis Joplin biopic - and is prone to celebrity fads.
Jenna is easily threatened by anyone who displays any degree of talent, and will go out of her way to sabotage their efforts in order to protect her position. Her usual response to these situations is to lock herself in her dressing room, forcing Liz to extricate her. Despite being best friends, Jenna is a constant source of frustration for Liz, often distracting her with insignificant problems and demanding Liz fix them straight away. She is generally hated by the crew of TGS, but believes that everyone loves her despite of her frequent abuse of them. In "Retreat to Move Forward
," she has a one night stand with Frank Rossitano. Frank asks Jenna to not mention the incident, which angers Jenna, as she perceives Frank to be a loser and that it should be she who is more embarrassed. Later, Jenna states that Duane "Dog" Chapman (Dog the Bounty Hunter) is the "second-grossest guy [she's] been with," alluding that Frank is the first.
Generally, she also fits into the "dumb blonde
" stereotype as well as the stereotype of actresses being air headed and self-centered. Off-camera, she is conceited, frequently lies about her age and uses her sexuality (i.e., flirting
) to get her way with men. She tries to appear smart to her fans and to the general public, even going as far as telling Life & Style
magazine her favorite book is the Quran. Sometimes her views get her in hot water with the public, even when she is misquoted, such as when Maxim
asked her about her view on the Iraq War, Jenna misheard, thought she was being asked about theatre troupes rather than troops and declared "I hate the troops". In order to improve her public image, Jenna was put on the show Hardball with Chris Matthews
, but confused Barack Obama
with Osama bin Laden
. Finally, she a musical number about America, but sparklers that are supposed to spin don't and they inadvertently show as swastika
s.
Jenna has had a number of feuds with Tracy, who she believes is favored by the show's producers. They have debated over numerous issues, including who has it worse, black men or women. They have worked together, though, such as when they believed that Kenneth was a murderer hiding dead bodies in his bedroom and when they were co-hosts of the Macy's St. Patrick's Day Parade, which resulted in Jenna falling asleep on live TV and Tracy repeatedly saying "fuck
". In addition to Tracy, she considers Jenny McCarthy
to be her "nemesis" and she also has an ongoing feud with Raven-Symoné
, for undisclosed reasons. Jenna and Tracy particularly work together when they feel they are being ignored. In "Audition Day
", they discover Jack has asked Liz to add an extra cast member to TGS, and that Liz's preferred candidate is someone Jenna has held a grudge against since childhood. Seeing this as a threat to both their positions on the show, Jenna and Tracy drive around Manhattan
looking for as many actors as they can find in the hopes one of them will impress Liz and Jack more than Jenna's rival.
: The Musical in 1997, where she appears to have played Rachel Ticotin
's character. She was nominated for a CableACE Award
for her work on HBO's Arliss
. She appeared for three episodes on the show Night Court
as a werewolf
lawyer and is blamed by the cast for leading to the show's cancellation. She also appeared in an episode of Law & Order
as a "lady rapist
" and from a poster in her dressing room, had also starred in a production of the Broadway musical Evita.
Jenna was the star of The Girlie Show, a sketch comedy series that was created by her friend Liz Lemon
. Jenna's star billing is reduced drastically when Jack Donaghy
is hired as a new network vice president and brings in Tracy Jordan
, a popular but unpredictable actor. Jack further decides that Tracy is a higher priority than Jenna, so he orders the show's title change to TGS with Tracy Jordan. This makes Jenna furious because she is no longer the star of the show, and believed that Liz gave in to Jack's demands. In addition she finds herself at the mercy of Tracy's antics, the writing staff's constant pranks, and Jack's constant avoidance of her (his reason is that she is not promotable for the show). But despite all this, Liz assures Jenna that her future on the show is safe (Lemon forces Jack to sign a contract stating he will never fire Jenna in the pilot).
When she is not working on TGS, Jenna stars in a series of low-budget films, including her first starring role, "The Rural Juror
", written by John Grisham
's brother Kevin; Take My Hand, a romantic comedy that went through so many re-writes that it became a torture porn film; "Jackie Jormp-Jomp
", a biopic based on the life of Janis Joplin
, but Joplin's name could not be used for legal reasons; and "Nightstalkers", a werewolf
film to be shot in Iceland
that had production shot down when the producers realised they only had one minute of darkness per day.
One of her characters on the show is "Pam, the Overly-Confident Morbidly Obese Woman," for which she must wear a fat suit. In "The Rural Juror," she appears in a sketch as Paris Hilton
, where "most of the jokes were about the nose."
While on the first season hiatus, Jenna starred in the Broadway
adaptation of Mystic Pizza
, was required to eat 32 slices of pizza on stage every week, and had gained a significant amount of weight by the premiere of season 2. Jack's observation was that she either needed to lose 30 or gain 60 pounds, because anything in between is not acceptable on broadcast television. She was unable to control her appetite, and her attempts at bizarre crash diets, such as the "Japanese Porn Star Diet" (which involved eating only paper), proved to be ineffective. She was equally successful at disguising the weight (drawing the eye up, not standing next to fit and attractive women, etc.). Although Dr. Spaceman suggested radical surgery and offered to prescribe her crystal meth
, she instead decided to keep the weight on after doing a sketch called "Me Want Food," which proved to be popular with viewers. However, her catchphase did not last long, as she soon lost her desire to eat, and so lost the weight she had gained despite Kenneth Parcell
's attempts to force-feed her.
In The Fabian Strategy, Jenna gets a pay increase and becomes a producer of TGS with Tracy Jordan, which was put into her contract because no one really believed the show would reach a fifth season. Things go well for Pete because Jenna is the one firing people and he doesn't have to deal with it. But Jenna forces him to fire her after finding out that it will bring the budget down to what Jack wants.
In Live Show
, Jenna claims she has never broken character during a performance, stating that she was on stage in Pippin
with Irene Ryan
when she died, yet continued performing.
contest). She has apparently been a somewhat successful dance pop superstar overseas, with one of her hits, a risque number entitled "Muffin Top" reaching number-one in Israel
and number four in Japan
. Additionally, she sang a single entitled "Chocolate Rainbow" (a possible nod to the infamous viral video
Chocolate Rain
), which never was never heard on the show. She has had the honor of singing at the United Nations. Jenna also joined celebrities such as Sheryl Crow
in performing the charity single "Kidney Now!" to help find a kidney donor, though she was not invited to this performance. In the fourth season premiere, Jenna decided that she needed to "go country
" to help her career, and in a promotion for NBC's tennis coverage, she made her Country debut with the single "Tennis Night In America."
Jenna has several albums, including one which was produced by Phil Spector
's original pilot script for 30 Rock, Jenna was named "Jenna DeCarlo", and The Girlie Show was entitled Friday Night Bits with Jenna DeCarlo. In the unaired pilot for the show, Rachel Dratch
, a former SNL cast member, played the role of Jenna. In August 2006, executive producer Lorne Michaels
announced that Dratch would be replaced as Jenna. Later in the month, NBC announced that Krakowski had replaced Dratch, and that the character was renamed "Jenna Maroney".
Despite being credited as a regular, the character does not appear in every episode, having been absent from five of the twenty-one episodes of the first season and three of the fifteen episodes of the second season.
In 2009, 2010, and 2011, Krakowski was nominated for an Emmy Award
for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the role.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
, played by Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
.
Fictional biography
Jenna was born Ystrepa Grokovitz on February 24, 1969 and grew up in Bakersfield. Jenna's father, Werner (or possibly Travis) Maroney, worked in a fast food restaurant in suburbSuburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
an Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, before leaving her mother, Verna for a "curly-haired surfer
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
" named Roberta. After that, her mother forced her to sit on every mall Santa's lap in Bakersfield in an attempt to find him. It is hinted that because of this, Jenna has developed "daddy issues". However, despite all this, Jenna claims she will always be her father's "little girl".
During Jenna's teen years, her mother moved what family she had left to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in search of money, a husband, or "anything she could get her hands on". The high school Jenna attended was located on a boat, which subsequently sank.
Jenna started her singing career when she was young, by singing Christmas carols in Sears, as a distraction while her mother shoplifted. Jenna studied voice at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
where she first met Liz Lemon
Liz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.-Personal history:...
in 1993. By her own words, Jenna was "slutting it up" to get car dealership owners to put her in their commercials. She also studied at the Royal Tampa Academy of Dramatic Tricks where she majored in portraying prom queens and murdered runaways (mentioned in "Black Light Attack").
She has a sister who urinated in one of her eyes when she was little, which caused it to not open all the way. Jenna's other sister (or possibly the same one) has also died. She has a half-sister named Courtney, whose death is announced in a later episode. She also has a niece named Charlotte, who has drawn her pictures which Jenna finds offensive, despite them being perfectly innocent and childlike.
In "The Fighting Irish", Jenna states that she is a follower of Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, which, in her words, "combines the fun part of Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
with magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
". She owns a condo in Clearwater, Florida, which implies she is also involved with Scientology
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
.
A recurring joke in the show is that Jenna has had many dysfunctional relationship
Intimate relationship
An intimate relationship is a particularly close interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Physical intimacy is characterized by romantic or passionate love and attachment, or sexual activity. The term is also sometimes used euphemistically for a sexual...
s. She has been engaged to a congressman (when she was 16 years old) and David Blaine
David Blaine
David Blaine is an American illusionist and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance, and has made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic. He has set and broken several world records...
, and dated O. J. Simpson
O. J. Simpson
Orenthal James "O. J." Simpson , nicknamed "The Juice", is a retired American collegiate and professional football player, football broadcaster, and actor...
, a music producer (hinted at having been RedOne
RedOne
Nadir Khayat , known by the stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan producer and songwriter. Renowned for co-producing hit singles such as "Just Dance", "Poker Face", "LoveGame", "Bad Romance", "Alejandro" and "Judas", he is attributed by some as the key to Lady Gaga's success...
), a sniper, and a mob boss, and was in a three-way with Tom
Tom Arnold (actor)
Thomas Dwaine "Tom" Arnold is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in many films, perhaps most notably True Lies . He was the host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period for four years.-Early life:...
and Roseanne Arnold
Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Cherrie Barr is an American actress, comedian, writer, television producer and director. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy at clubs before gaining fame for her role in the sitcom Roseanne. The show was a hit and lasted nine seasons, from 1988 to 1997...
. Jenna's current boyfriend, Paul L'Astnamé (played by Will Forte
Will Forte
Orville Willis Forte IV, better known as Will Forte , is an American actor, voice actor, comedian and writer best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2002–2010 and for starring in the SNL spin-off film MacGruber.-Early life:Forte was born in Alameda County, California, the son of...
) is a "gender dysmorphic bi-genitalia pansexual" and a professional female impersonator most renowned for his performances as Jenna. They met when Paul was the winner of a Jenna Maroney look-alike contest (in which Jenna herself placed fourth).
Personality
Jenna is shown to have histrionic personality disorderHistrionic personality disorder
Histrionic personality disorder is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention-seeking, including an excessive need for approval and inappropriately seductive behavior, usually beginning in early...
, an obsessive need for attention. She is vain and self-centred and is willing to do anything for attention. In "Queen of Jordan
Queen of Jordan (30 Rock)
"Queen of Jordan" is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 97th overall episode of the series. It was "written" by Tracey Wigfield and directed by Ken Whittingham. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company ...
", she organises her own intervention for (fictional) alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
because she believes audiences will respond to the "redemptive qualities" that such a storyline would have; however, she attempts to back out when she realises that going into rehab would take her away from the show. In "The Ones
The Ones (30 Rock)
"The Ones" is the nineteenth episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock. It was written by co-executive producer Jack Burditt, and directed by Beth McCarthy. The episode aired in the United States on April 23, 2009, on the National Broadcasting Company . Guest...
", Pete suspects that Jenna might be a sociopath, after repeatedly poisoning Kenneth with strawberries, to date an attractive emergency medical technician
Emergency medical technician
Emergency Medical Technician or Ambulance Technician are terms used in some countries to denote a healthcare provider of emergency medical services...
. Later in the episode, Pete downgraded her personality to extreme narcissism
Narcissism
Narcissism is a term with a wide range of meanings, depending on whether it is used to describe a central concept of psychoanalytic theory, a mental illness, a social or cultural problem, or simply a personality trait...
, after she felt genuine remorse for her actions.
Throughout the course of the show, Jenna shows increasing concern for her acting career, which appears to be failing. She is in denial about her age; in "Black Light Attack!
Black Light Attack!
"Black Light Attack!" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 68th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by Steve Hely and directed by series producer Don Scardino. It originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company ...
", she is asked to audition for a role on Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
, and mistakenly believes that she will be playing the part of a sixteen-year-old girl rather than her forty-year-old mother. Liz's attempts to convince her that she will be playing the part of the mother only further convince Jenna that she has been asked to audition for the role of the teenage daughter. Similarly, when Jack Donaghy
Jack Donaghy
John Francis "Jack" Donaghy is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He is the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric and later Kabletown....
inadvertently started a rumour that Jenna was dead in "Jackie Jormp-Jomp
Jackie Jormp-Jomp
"Jackie Jormp-Jomp" is the eighteenth episode of the third season of the American television series 30 Rock. It was directed by series producer Don Scardino, and written by executive story editor Kay Cannon and script co-coordinator Tracey Wigfield. The episode originally aired on the National...
", Jenna interrupted her own memorial service to block out her birth date on a large picture of herself because it revealled that she was actually forty years old and not twenty-nine. Jenna also finds any excuse she can to sing, to the extent that she carries a microphone around in her handbag in case the opportunity to sing presents itself. She usually performs a musical number at the end of each episode of TGS, though it is implied that the cameras have stopped rolling and the show has ended by this time. She is easily manipulated into things - such as when the writing staff of TGS convinced her that Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
ate a live cat when Jenna was researching the role for a Janis Joplin biopic - and is prone to celebrity fads.
Jenna is easily threatened by anyone who displays any degree of talent, and will go out of her way to sabotage their efforts in order to protect her position. Her usual response to these situations is to lock herself in her dressing room, forcing Liz to extricate her. Despite being best friends, Jenna is a constant source of frustration for Liz, often distracting her with insignificant problems and demanding Liz fix them straight away. She is generally hated by the crew of TGS, but believes that everyone loves her despite of her frequent abuse of them. In "Retreat to Move Forward
Retreat to Move Forward
"Retreat to Move Forward" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 45th overall episode of the series. It was written by executive story editor Tami Sagher and directed by Steve Buscemi. The episode originally aired on the National...
," she has a one night stand with Frank Rossitano. Frank asks Jenna to not mention the incident, which angers Jenna, as she perceives Frank to be a loser and that it should be she who is more embarrassed. Later, Jenna states that Duane "Dog" Chapman (Dog the Bounty Hunter) is the "second-grossest guy [she's] been with," alluding that Frank is the first.
Generally, she also fits into the "dumb blonde
Dumb blonde
The blonde stereotype, the stereotypical perception of blond-haired women, has two aspects. On one hand, over the history, blonde hair in women has been considered attractive and desirable...
" stereotype as well as the stereotype of actresses being air headed and self-centered. Off-camera, she is conceited, frequently lies about her age and uses her sexuality (i.e., flirting
Flirting
Flirting is a playful, romantic, or sexual overture by one person to another subtly indicating an interest in a deeper relationship with the other person, and can involve verbal communication as well as body language...
) to get her way with men. She tries to appear smart to her fans and to the general public, even going as far as telling Life & Style
Life & Style (magazine)
Life & Style, officially Life & Style Weekly is an American celebrity gossip magazine, launched in 2004 by the Bauer publishing conglomerate....
magazine her favorite book is the Quran. Sometimes her views get her in hot water with the public, even when she is misquoted, such as when Maxim
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
asked her about her view on the Iraq War, Jenna misheard, thought she was being asked about theatre troupes rather than troops and declared "I hate the troops". In order to improve her public image, Jenna was put on the show Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews
Hardball with Chris Matthews is a talk show on MSNBC, broadcast weekdays at 5 and 7 PM hosted by Chris Matthews. It originally aired on now-defunct America's Talking and later CNBC. The current title was derived from a book Matthews wrote in 1988, Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told by One Who...
, but confused Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
with Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
. Finally, she a musical number about America, but sparklers that are supposed to spin don't and they inadvertently show as swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
s.
Jenna has had a number of feuds with Tracy, who she believes is favored by the show's producers. They have debated over numerous issues, including who has it worse, black men or women. They have worked together, though, such as when they believed that Kenneth was a murderer hiding dead bodies in his bedroom and when they were co-hosts of the Macy's St. Patrick's Day Parade, which resulted in Jenna falling asleep on live TV and Tracy repeatedly saying "fuck
Fuck
"Fuck" is an English word that is generally considered obscene which, in its most literal meaning, refers to the act of sexual intercourse. By extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed."Fuck" can be used as a verb, adverb,...
". In addition to Tracy, she considers Jenny McCarthy
Jenny McCarthy
Jennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy is an American model, comedian, actress, author, activist, and game show host. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for Playboy magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. McCarthy then parlayed her Playboy fame into a successful television and...
to be her "nemesis" and she also has an ongoing feud with Raven-Symoné
Raven-Symoné
Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman , known professionally as Raven-Symoné , or simply Raven, is an American actress, singer, songwriter, comedian, dancer, television producer and model. Symoné launched her successful career in 1989 after appearing in The Cosby Show as Olivia...
, for undisclosed reasons. Jenna and Tracy particularly work together when they feel they are being ignored. In "Audition Day
Audition Day
"Audition Day" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 62nd overall episode of the series. The episode was written by supervising producer Matt Hubbard and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller. It originally aired on the National Broadcasting...
", they discover Jack has asked Liz to add an extra cast member to TGS, and that Liz's preferred candidate is someone Jenna has held a grudge against since childhood. Seeing this as a threat to both their positions on the show, Jenna and Tracy drive around Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
looking for as many actors as they can find in the hopes one of them will impress Liz and Jack more than Jenna's rival.
Fictional acting career
Jenna started off in theater, in performances that included The Jenna Chronicles: A One-Womyn Show in 1996 and Con AirCon Air
Con Air is an Academy Award–nominated 1997 American action-thriller film directed by Simon West and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. It stars Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich...
: The Musical in 1997, where she appears to have played Rachel Ticotin
Rachel Ticotin
Rachel Ticotin is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Ticotin was born in Bronx, New York, the daughter of Iris Torres, a Puerto Rican educator, and Abe Ticotin, a Russian Jewish used car salesman. Her brother, Sahaj, is a musician and the lead singer for his rock group, Ra...
's character. She was nominated for a CableACE Award
CableACE Award
The CableACE Award was an award that was given from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in American cable television programming...
for her work on HBO's Arliss
Arliss
-Criticism:This show, which ran for seven seasons, is a prime example of how HBO differs from traditional networks due to its nature as a network its viewers specifically pay to be able to watch. Arliss was cited by so many viewers as the sole reason that they paid for the network that its...
. She appeared for three episodes on the show Night Court
Night Court
Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...
as a werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
lawyer and is blamed by the cast for leading to the show's cancellation. She also appeared in an episode of Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
as a "lady rapist
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
" and from a poster in her dressing room, had also starred in a production of the Broadway musical Evita.
Jenna was the star of The Girlie Show, a sketch comedy series that was created by her friend Liz Lemon
Liz Lemon
Elizabeth Miervaldis "Liz" Lemon is the main character of the American television series 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its showrunner.-Personal history:...
. Jenna's star billing is reduced drastically when Jack Donaghy
Jack Donaghy
John Francis "Jack" Donaghy is a fictional character on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He is the Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric and later Kabletown....
is hired as a new network vice president and brings in Tracy Jordan
Tracy Jordan
Ogbert Jordan, better known by his stage name, Tracy, is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, based on and played by Tracy Morgan.-Brief overview:...
, a popular but unpredictable actor. Jack further decides that Tracy is a higher priority than Jenna, so he orders the show's title change to TGS with Tracy Jordan. This makes Jenna furious because she is no longer the star of the show, and believed that Liz gave in to Jack's demands. In addition she finds herself at the mercy of Tracy's antics, the writing staff's constant pranks, and Jack's constant avoidance of her (his reason is that she is not promotable for the show). But despite all this, Liz assures Jenna that her future on the show is safe (Lemon forces Jack to sign a contract stating he will never fire Jenna in the pilot).
When she is not working on TGS, Jenna stars in a series of low-budget films, including her first starring role, "The Rural Juror
The Rural Juror
"The Rural Juror" is the tenth episode of the first season of 30 Rock and tenth episode of the series. It was written by Matt Hubbard and was directed by Beth McCarthy. The episode first aired on January 11, 2007, on the NBC network in the United States and December 13, 2007, on Five in the United...
", written by John Grisham
John Grisham
John Ray Grisham, Jr. is an American lawyer and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers.John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981 and practiced criminal law for about a decade...
's brother Kevin; Take My Hand, a romantic comedy that went through so many re-writes that it became a torture porn film; "Jackie Jormp-Jomp
Jackie Jormp-Jomp
"Jackie Jormp-Jomp" is the eighteenth episode of the third season of the American television series 30 Rock. It was directed by series producer Don Scardino, and written by executive story editor Kay Cannon and script co-coordinator Tracey Wigfield. The episode originally aired on the National...
", a biopic based on the life of Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, but Joplin's name could not be used for legal reasons; and "Nightstalkers", a werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
film to be shot in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
that had production shot down when the producers realised they only had one minute of darkness per day.
One of her characters on the show is "Pam, the Overly-Confident Morbidly Obese Woman," for which she must wear a fat suit. In "The Rural Juror," she appears in a sketch as Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
, where "most of the jokes were about the nose."
While on the first season hiatus, Jenna starred in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
adaptation of Mystic Pizza
Mystic Pizza
Mystic Pizza is a 1988 American coming of age film directed by Donald Petrie and starring Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, and Lili Taylor.The title of the film was based on a pizza shop that caught the eye of Hollywood screen writer, Amy Holden Jones...
, was required to eat 32 slices of pizza on stage every week, and had gained a significant amount of weight by the premiere of season 2. Jack's observation was that she either needed to lose 30 or gain 60 pounds, because anything in between is not acceptable on broadcast television. She was unable to control her appetite, and her attempts at bizarre crash diets, such as the "Japanese Porn Star Diet" (which involved eating only paper), proved to be ineffective. She was equally successful at disguising the weight (drawing the eye up, not standing next to fit and attractive women, etc.). Although Dr. Spaceman suggested radical surgery and offered to prescribe her crystal meth
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
, she instead decided to keep the weight on after doing a sketch called "Me Want Food," which proved to be popular with viewers. However, her catchphase did not last long, as she soon lost her desire to eat, and so lost the weight she had gained despite Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth Parcell
Kenneth Ellen Parcell is a fictional character in the comedy television series 30 Rock. He is portrayed by actor Jack McBrayer and first appeared on television in the 30 Rock episode "Pilot" on October 10, 2006...
's attempts to force-feed her.
In The Fabian Strategy, Jenna gets a pay increase and becomes a producer of TGS with Tracy Jordan, which was put into her contract because no one really believed the show would reach a fifth season. Things go well for Pete because Jenna is the one firing people and he doesn't have to deal with it. But Jenna forces him to fire her after finding out that it will bring the budget down to what Jack wants.
In Live Show
Live Show
"Live Show" is the fourth episode of the fifth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 84th overall episode of the series. It was directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller, and co-written by series creator Tina Fey and co-showrunner and executive producer Robert Carlock...
, Jenna claims she has never broken character during a performance, stating that she was on stage in Pippin
Pippin (musical)
Pippin is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production, also contributed to the libretto...
with Irene Ryan
Irene Ryan
Irene Ryan was an American actress, one of the few entertainers who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television and Broadway....
when she died, yet continued performing.
Fictional music career
Jenna is also a singer (and possibly a rapper, having once participated in a Gangsta rapGangsta rap
Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
contest). She has apparently been a somewhat successful dance pop superstar overseas, with one of her hits, a risque number entitled "Muffin Top" reaching number-one in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and number four in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Additionally, she sang a single entitled "Chocolate Rainbow" (a possible nod to the infamous viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
Chocolate Rain
Chocolate Rain
"Chocolate Rain" is a song and music video performed by American Internet personality Tay Zonday. After being posted on YouTube on April 22, 2007, the song quickly became popular. , the video has over 74,000,000 views. The music video portrays a bespectacled Zonday in a recording studio wearing a...
), which never was never heard on the show. She has had the honor of singing at the United Nations. Jenna also joined celebrities such as Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
in performing the charity single "Kidney Now!" to help find a kidney donor, though she was not invited to this performance. In the fourth season premiere, Jenna decided that she needed to "go country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
" to help her career, and in a promotion for NBC's tennis coverage, she made her Country debut with the single "Tennis Night In America."
Fictional filmography
- TGS with Tracy Jordan—Various Characters (Seasons 1-5)/Producer (one episode)
- The Rural Juror—Constance Justice
- A show in the Law & Order franchiseLaw & Order (franchise)The Law & Order franchise is a number of related American television series created by Dick Wolf and originally broadcast on NBC, all of which deal with some aspect of the criminal justice system...
(most likely Law & Order: Special Victims UnitLaw & Order: Special Victims UnitLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
)—a "lady rapist" - Jenna Gets Hard—a sexually charged exercise video.
- ShopRite SupermarketsShopRite (United States)ShopRite Supermarkets is a retailers' cooperative chain of supermarkets in the northeastern United States, with stores in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania...
— Commercial Spokesperson - ArlissArliss-Criticism:This show, which ran for seven seasons, is a prime example of how HBO differs from traditional networks due to its nature as a network its viewers specifically pay to be able to watch. Arliss was cited by so many viewers as the sole reason that they paid for the network that its...
— Received a CableACE AwardCableACE AwardThe CableACE Award was an award that was given from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in American cable television programming...
nomination for a guest spot on the show - Mystic PizzaMystic PizzaMystic Pizza is a 1988 American coming of age film directed by Donald Petrie and starring Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, and Lili Taylor.The title of the film was based on a pizza shop that caught the eye of Hollywood screen writer, Amy Holden Jones...
: The Musical — Summer 2007 stage show Broadway and the 2007 film adaptation - The New Mickey Mouse Club — as a Mouseketeer
- Night CourtNight CourtNight Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...
— three-episode arc as Sparky Monroe (a werewolf lawyer). The rest of the cast blamed Maroney for the show's early cancellation. - She also has "slutted it up" for car dealers so she could be in their commercials
- Hushed Rapings — Jenna played criminal profiler Jill St. Ferrari in this Lifetime original miniseries.
- Sing Them Blues, White Girl: The Jackie Jormp-Jomp Story — Janis JoplinJanis JoplinJanis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
-inspired character in an as-yet unreleased biopic. - Evita
- Videos for a Japanese KaraokeKaraokeis a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
company. - Trivial PursuitTrivial PursuitTrivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports...
: The Movie-Arts & Literature - Gossip GirlGossip GirlGossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
- Emmanuelle Goes to Dinosaur Land — Made for TV softcore porn movie
- Sister, Can You Spare A Breast? - a Lifetime Original Movie. She bribed the HFPAHollywood Foreign Press AssociationThe Hollywood Foreign Press Association is an organization composed of working journalists who cover the United States film industry for a variety of outlets, including newspapers and magazines in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Today, the 90 members of the HFPA represent at least 55...
into giving her a Golden GlobeGolden Globe AwardThe Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
award (or, probably, nomination), but they were so offended that they banned her for life (from getting a nomination or award). - Take My Hand, a torture-porn movie like Saw. In fact, according to Jenna, "The producers of this movie [Take My Hand] rented Saw and watched it."
Singles
- "Muffin Top" (Season 1, Season 3)
- "Chocolate Rainbow" (mentioned in Season 3, but never played)
- "Tennis Night" (Season 4)
- "It's Your Birthday, Slut" (Season 5, Episode"Live Show")
Jenna has several albums, including one which was produced by Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
Fictional Stage Work
- Mystic PizzaMystic PizzaMystic Pizza is a 1988 American coming of age film directed by Donald Petrie and starring Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts, and Lili Taylor.The title of the film was based on a pizza shop that caught the eye of Hollywood screen writer, Amy Holden Jones...
: The Musical — Summer 2007 stage show Broadway - Evita - Broadway
- PippinPippin (musical)Pippin is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production, also contributed to the libretto...
(with Irene Ryan)- Broadway - Peter PanPeter PanPeter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
- Broadway (Tampa) - The Jenna Chronicles - One woman show
- Con AirCon AirCon Air is an Academy Award–nominated 1997 American action-thriller film directed by Simon West and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. It stars Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich...
- Musical 1997
Behind the Scenes
In Tina FeyTina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
's original pilot script for 30 Rock, Jenna was named "Jenna DeCarlo", and The Girlie Show was entitled Friday Night Bits with Jenna DeCarlo. In the unaired pilot for the show, Rachel Dratch
Rachel Dratch
Rachel Susan Dratch is an American comic actress best known for her roles as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...
, a former SNL cast member, played the role of Jenna. In August 2006, executive producer Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
announced that Dratch would be replaced as Jenna. Later in the month, NBC announced that Krakowski had replaced Dratch, and that the character was renamed "Jenna Maroney".
Despite being credited as a regular, the character does not appear in every episode, having been absent from five of the twenty-one episodes of the first season and three of the fifteen episodes of the second season.
In 2009, 2010, and 2011, Krakowski was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the role.