Kidney Now!
Encyclopedia
"Kidney Now!" is the twenty-second episode and season finale of the third season
of the American television comedy series 30 Rock
, and the 58th overall episode of the series. It was directed by series producer Don Scardino
, and written by show producers Jack Burditt
and Robert Carlock
. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) network in the United States on May 14, 2009. Guest stars in this episode include Alan Alda
, Kay Cannon
, Donald Glover
, Napiera Groves, Chris Parnell
, Paula Pell, and Sherri Shepherd
. In addition, "Kidney Now!" featured many musical guest stars including Clay Aiken
, Elvis Costello
, Mary J. Blige
, Sheryl Crow
, the Beastie Boys
(Mike D and Ad Rock), Steve Earle
, Adam Levine
, Sara Bareilles
, Wyclef Jean
, Norah Jones
, Talib Kweli
, Michael McDonald
, Rhett Miller
, Moby
, Robert Randolph, Rachael Yamagata
and Cyndi Lauper
, all as themselves.
In the episode, Jack Donaghy
(Alec Baldwin
) gets to know his newly discovered father, Milton Greene (Alda), but quickly learns that Milton needs a kidney transplant, and discovers he is not a suitable donor. As a result, Jack decides to use the liberal media to find an alternate way to get him a kidney donor. Meanwhile, people seek Liz Lemon
(Tina Fey
) out as a relationship expert as a result of her "Dealbreaker" sketches, and Kenneth Parcell
(Jack McBrayer
) helps Tracy Jordan
(Tracy Morgan
) deal with his embarrassment over not finishing high school.
The song, "He Needs a Kidney" was written by show composer and co-executive producer Jeff Richmond
. The concept of doing a charity concert was based on Robert Carlock and Tina Fey, the latter who is the series creator, agreeing to include a song performance in "Kidney Now!", but that it be an anthem like the 1985 charity song, "We Are the World
", as the cause was that the Milton Greene character is in need of a kidney donor. Following the airing of this 30 Rock episode, NBC released the musical performance video of "He Needs a Kidney" on iTunes
with all proceeds from the sales going to the National Kidney Foundation
.
"Kidney Now!" was generally, though not universally, well-received among television critics. According to the Nielsen Media Research
, this episode was watched by 5.7 million viewers. Jack Burditt and Robert Carlock were nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award
nomination in the category for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for their work in this episode. In addition, Tony Pipitone and Griffin Richardson received a Creative Arts Emmy Award nomination in the category for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (half-hour) and Animation.
(Alec Baldwin
) gets to know his newly discovered father, Milton Greene (Alan Alda
) but soon discovers Milton has a serious medical condition and is in search of a kidney donor. After discovering he is an unsuitable donor by Dr. Leo Spaceman (Chris Parnell
), Jack uses his contacts—musicians Clay Aiken
, Sara Bareilles
, the Beastie Boys
(Mike D and Ad-Rock), Mary J. Blige
, Elvis Costello
, Sheryl Crow
, Steve Earle
, Wyclef Jean
, Norah Jones
, Talib Kweli
, Cyndi Lauper
, Adam Levine
, Michael McDonald
, Rhett Miller
, Moby
, Robert Randolph, and Rachael Yamagata
—to arrange a charity benefit entitled "Kidney Now!" in attempt to find a donor for Milton.
Meanwhile, Liz Lemon
(Tina Fey
) gains notoriety after making an appearance on The Vontella Show, along with Jenna Maroney
(Jane Krakowski
), as a relationship expert after her "Dealbreaker" sketches on the fictitious comedy sketch show The Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan (TGS). As a result of the success she received as the relationship expert on The Vontella Show, Liz signs a book deal based on the sketch, and begins dispensing relationship advice to the female staff of TGS, and to Angie Jordan (Sherri Shepherd
) and Paula Hornberger (Paula Pell), the wives of TGS star Tracy Jordan
(Tracy Morgan
) and producer Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit
), respectively. Though, Tracy and Pete are upset with the advice Liz gave to their wives.
At the same time, Tracy is invited to speak at the graduation ceremony of his former high school (named after Frank Lucas
, the infamous Harlem drug lord). NBC page
and friend Kenneth Parcell
(Jack McBrayer
) tries to help him overcome troubling memories from his high school experience. Kenneth persuades Tracy to go to the graduation, which he does, where Tracy gives his speech and receives an honorary diploma.
, and written by 30 Rock producers Jack Burditt
and Robert Carlock
. This was Burditt and Carlock's fourth script collaboration, having penned the episodes "Cleveland
", "Subway Hero
", and "Sandwich Day
". This was Scardino's twenty-first directed episode. "Kidney Now!" originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 14, 2009, as the twenty-second episode and season finale of the show's third season
and the 58th overall episode of the series.
"Kidney Now!" was first read by its cast
on March 5, 2009; it was filmed on March 16–17, 2009. "He Needs a Kidney", the charity song featured in this episode, was written by show composer and co-executive producer Jeff Richmond
. Richmond is married to series creator, executive producer and lead actress Tina Fey. In discussion of the development of "Kidney Now!", Richmond said that Carlock and Fey "were trying to figure out a way to heightened Jack's dad in getting a kidney and how they're going to deal with that", and that the two came to the decision to "take advantage of the singing", as they have done so in the past with different 30 Rock episodes, in which the show's characters have sung songs. Carlock and Fey agreed to the idea that a song be included in the season finale, but that it be an anthem like the 1985 charity song, "We Are the World
", as the cause is that the Milton Greene character is in need of a kidney donor. "Basically, the parameters were if 'We Are the World' but they want to get a kidney. I think we had angles that everyone has two kidneys and you'll only need one kidney, and we thought 'Alright, we'll get some distance on that'", said Richmond. While working on the track, Fey suggested to Richmond that he incorporate Milton Greene's name in one part of the song, which he did, as this was sung by singers Cyndi Lauper
and Robert Randolph.
Giancarlo Vulcano, a music editor and associate arranger on the show, revealed that Richmond taught him the song one morning at Silvercup Studios
—where the show is filmed—and they played the first-half of "He Needs a Kidney" at the script's read-through. According to Vulcano, the 30 Rock staff loved the song and the two were satisfied with the reception of it. While arranging the instrumentation, Richmond hired violin
ists for the episode's background music and for "He Needs a Kidney", which according to him he usually does not get the opportunity to have a lot of violin sounds on the show. The recording sessions with the musical guests took place on Stage 1 at Silvercup Studios; Stage 1 serves as the set for TGS Tracy Jordan, a fictitious comedy sketch show featured on 30 Rock. Richmond and Vulcano were complimentary towards the musicians—Clay Aiken
, Sara Bareilles
, the Beastie Boys
(Mike D and Ad-Rock), Mary J. Blige
, Elvis Costello
, Sheryl Crow
, Steve Earle
, Wyclef Jean
, Norah Jones
, Talib Kweli
, Cyndi Lauper, Adam Levine
, Michael McDonald
, Rhett Miller
, Moby
, Robert Randolph, and Rachael Yamagata
—who performed "He Needs a Kidney". In the DVD commentary for this episode, Richmond believed that the entire song would not make it into the airing. Elvis Costello was once approached to do an appearance on 30 Rock, but the appearance fell-through. At an Oscar's party, Fey ran into Costello and asked him if he could appear, which he agreed to. According to Fey, none of the music artists got paid as they all did the charity concert for free. The reason for this was due to a joke in the song in which Sheryl Crow was the only individual to get paid, as the rest did it for free. Following the broadcast of this episode of 30 Rock, the musical performance video was made available for digital download on iTunes
with all the proceeds from the sales going to the National Kidney Foundation
.
According to Fey, there were discussions on whether or not to use a real talk show host from New York, for the "Dealbreakers" segment, but ultimately decided to make one up and went with actress Napiera Groves who plays talk show host Vontella in "Kidney Now!". The Tracy character plot was based on Tracy Morgan who in real-life was given a diploma by his former high school, DeWitt Clinton High School
. Like the Tracy character, who dropped out of high school, though, due to his inability to dissect a frog, Morgan dropped out of DeWitt Clinton when his father became ill. Jack and Liz's scene, along with Tracy and Kenneth's, at the end where they watch the charity concert, was filmed the day before the musical number took place. "They were pretending to look at the singing", revealed Fey. They forced that shot in so that the episode not just end with the performance.
Professor Milton Greene was played by guest actor Alan Alda
, best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce from the television series M*A*S*H. This was Alda's second appearance, having appeared in the previous episode "Mamma Mia
". In a scene of "Kidney Now!", Tracy breaks down crying and says "There is no baby. I was chicken! I was chicken!" then Milton, who sees this, asks "A guy crying about a chicken and a baby? I thought this was a comedy show." This was a reference to Alda's M*A*S*H character in the series finale episode in which Hawkeye breaks down after realizing he had seen a woman smother her baby to death, not a chicken as Hawkeye had originally recalled in his repressed mind. Comedian actor Chris Parnell, who played Dr. Leo Spaceman in the season finale, has appeared in the main cast of Saturday Night Live
(SNL), a weekly sketch comedy
series which airs on NBC in the United States. Fey was the head writer
on SNL from 1999 until 2006. Comedienne actress Sherri Shepherd
reprised her role as Angie Jordan, the wife of Tracy, for the fifth time. Paula Pell made her second guest spot as the character Paula Hornberger, the wife of Pete Hornberger, played by Scott Adsit
. In "Kidney Now!", Angie and Paula ask Liz for relationship advice. In addition, 30 Rock writers Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon
, and Donald Glover
appear in the episode; Burditt and Cannon appear in The Vontella Show segment as members from the audience who ask Liz questions. When Tracy accepts an honorary diploma from his former high school, in his speech, Tracy outs
Glover's character. The success of the benefit concert for Milton is not explicitly referenced until Alda's character alludes to it in the season five
episode "Christmas Attack Zone
", though in the season four
episode "Into the Crevasse
", Milton is shown to have finished his book entitled From Peanut to President, a biography of U.S. President Jimmy Carter
.
One filmed scene from "Kidney Now!" was cut out from the airing. Instead, the scene was featured on 30 Rock' s season three DVD as part of the deleted scenes in the Bonus feature. In the scene, Liz enters the TGS writer's room, and tells the writing staff that she got recognized from her appearance on The Vontella Show as the relationship expert from "Dealbreakers". Pete cannot believe that Liz gave actual relationship advice on the program, citing Liz's own past relationship faults.
, "Kidney Now!" was watched by 5.7 million viewers during its original United States broadcast. The rating was an 8 percent drop in viewership from the previous week's episode, "Mamma Mia
", which was seen by 6.2 million American viewers. The show claimed a 2.8 rating/7 share among viewers aged 18 to 49, meaning that 2.8 percent of all people in that group, and 7 percent of all people from that group watching television at the time, watched the episode. Jack Burditt and Robert Carlock received a Primetime Emmy Award
nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for their work on "Kidney Now!", but they lost it to fellow 30 Rock writer Matt Hubbard
for the episode "Reunion
" at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards
. At the same awards show, Tony Pipitone and Griffin Richardson were nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (half-hour) and Animation.
IGN
contributor Robert Canning wrote that the ending from this episode "did have a season finale feel to it with the big musical number. [...] Still, it was a great season, and I loved going out with two of the best characters on TV summing up the moment perfectly – Liz: 'We sure had quite a year.' Jack: 'What are you talking about? It's May.'" Canning gave it an 8.5 out of 10 rating. Television columnist Alan Sepinwall for The Star-Ledger
wrote that the "all-star cast of musicians" featured were not able to dominate the episode "to the point where the episode didn't work." Sepinwall, however, added that despite "Kidney Now!" not being a classic 30 Rock episode "it was [still] funny enough – which, I suppose, also makes it an appropriate finale for this uneven season." Further in the review, Sepinwall was complimentary towards Liz's plot, writing that the character's sequence on The Vontella Show was "hilarious, and a fine demonstration of how much confidence Tina Fey has gained as an actress over the years." The A.V. Club
' s Nathan Rabin also enjoyed the Liz character, reporting that she "delivered a virtuoso performance in [The Vontella Show], instantly homing in on the fatal flaw in every relationship and obliterating it with highly quotable sass." In discussion to Tracy's plot, Rabin opined it was the "weakest of the various threads" in this episode. Bob Sassone
of AOL
's TV Squad confessed in his recap that he was going to summarize "Kidney Now!" as "a little disappointing, but then I hit rewind on my DVR and watched it again and realized, wow, they actually hit all of the season finale notes rather perfectly [...] This episode was quite funny."
Rick Porter of Zap2it
worried how the series would fit in "the likes" of Elvis Costello, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Clay Aiken and Adam Levine "without it overwhelming the episode", and reported that the answer to that "turned out to be 'very effectively.'" In regards to the storylines, itself, he noted that Jack's quest in getting Milton a kidney "balanced nicely" with Liz's story, and that Tracy's "had some good moments". In conclusion, Porter wrote "For a show that doesn't always know how to end episodes, it's done really well at ending seasons." TV Guide Magazine
' s Sandra Kofler wrote that the "He Needs a Kidney" song was hilarious, and that it "stole [30 Rock' s] season finale." Patrick Goldstein, a contributor for the Los Angeles Times
, was favorable to the musical number, reporting "[t]he song itself is a hoot, highlighted by a wonderful spoken-word kidney donation pitch that begins with Costello saying: 'Listen, when someone starts talking in the middle of a song, you know it's serious.'" Entertainment Weekly
contributor Annie Barrett said "Kidney Now!" was "sweet and all", and noted that the "Vontella-as-Tyra
spoof" was "brilliant." Time
contributor James Poniewozik
wrote that this episode "was a fitting end for a guest-star-heavy ... season of 30 Rock", but added that the finale overall was "maybe average", however, "the ending at least delivered the goods, with the best sitcom celebrity benefit song".
30 Rock (season 3)
The third season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, consists of 22 episodes and began airing on October 30, 2008 on the NBC network in the United States...
of the American television comedy 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...
, and the 58th overall episode of the series. It was directed by series producer Don Scardino
Don Scardino
Don Scardino is an American television director and producer and a former actor.-Acting:Born in New York City, Scardino began his career as an actor. His first Broadway credit was as an understudy in The Playroom in 1965. Additional Broadway acting credits include Johnny No-Trump, Godspell, and...
, and written by show producers Jack Burditt
Jack Burditt
Jack Burditt is an American producer and screenwriter who has worked on many television shows.He has worked as a writer on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock...
and Robert Carlock
Robert Carlock
Robert Carlock is an American television producer and screenwriter most widely known for his work as a writer for several NBC television comedies, particularly his work with Tina Fey as show runners for 30 Rock.-Early years:...
. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
(NBC) network in the United States on May 14, 2009. Guest stars in this episode include Alan Alda
Alan Alda
Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
, Kay Cannon
Kay Cannon
Kay Cannon is an American television writer and actress who is best known for her work as an Emmy nominated writer and producer for the NBC series 30 Rock.-Biography:...
, Donald Glover
Donald Glover
Donald McKinley Glover is an American actor, writer, comedian, and musician. Glover first came to attention for his work in the sketch group Derrick Comedy, and is best known for his role as community college student Troy Barnes on the NBC comedy series Community...
, Napiera Groves, Chris Parnell
Chris Parnell
Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
, Paula Pell, and Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Evonne Shepherd is an American comedienne, actress, and television personality. She is one of five co-hosts on the ABC daytime talkshow, The View, as well as being the current host of the Newlywed Game and having a recurring role as Angie Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock...
. In addition, "Kidney Now!" featured many musical guest stars including Clay Aiken
Clay Aiken
Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and author who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
, 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...
, the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
(Mike D and Ad Rock), Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
, Adam Levine
Adam Levine
Adam Noah Levine is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the front man and guitarist for the pop rock band Maroon 5. He is also a coach on the American talent show The Voice.-Early life:...
, Sara Bareilles
Sara Bareilles
Sara Beth Bareilles is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She achieved mainstream success in 2007 with the hit single "Love Song", which brought her into the number one spot on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. She has sold over 1 million records in the United States alone and has been...
, Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
, Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
, Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...
, Michael McDonald
Michael McDonald (singer)
Michael McDonald is a five-time Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter. McDonald is known for a soulful baritone singing style and a multi-octave range. He began his career singing back-up vocals with Steely Dan...
, Rhett Miller
Rhett Miller
Stewart Ransom Miller II , better-known as Rhett Miller is the lead singer of the alternative country band Old 97's and a successful solo musician. He graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas, a private boys' school in Dallas in 1989 and briefly attended Sarah Lawrence College on a creative...
, Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, Robert Randolph, Rachael Yamagata
Rachael Yamagata
Rachael Yamagata is an American singer-songwriter and pianist from Arlington, Virginia. She began her musical career with the band Bumpus before becoming a solo artist and releasing four EP's and three studio albums...
and Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, all as themselves.
In the episode, 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....
(Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
) gets to know his newly discovered father, Milton Greene (Alda), but quickly learns that Milton needs a kidney transplant, and discovers he is not a suitable donor. As a result, Jack decides to use the liberal media to find an alternate way to get him a kidney donor. Meanwhile, people seek 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:...
(Tina Fey
Tina 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...
) out as a relationship expert as a result of her "Dealbreaker" sketches, and 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...
(Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his characters on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"...
) helps 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:...
(Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
) deal with his embarrassment over not finishing high school.
The song, "He Needs a Kidney" was written by show composer and co-executive producer Jeff Richmond
Jeff Richmond
Jeffrey "Jeff" Wayne Richmond is an American composer, actor and television producer. Richmond currently produces and composes the music for 30 Rock, a sitcom created by and starring his wife Tina Fey.-Career:...
. The concept of doing a charity concert was based on Robert Carlock and Tina Fey, the latter who is the series creator, agreeing to include a song performance in "Kidney Now!", but that it be an anthem like the 1985 charity song, "We Are the World
We Are the World
"We Are the World" is a song and charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World...
", as the cause was that the Milton Greene character is in need of a kidney donor. Following the airing of this 30 Rock episode, NBC released the musical performance video of "He Needs a Kidney" on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
with all proceeds from the sales going to the National Kidney Foundation
National Kidney Foundation
The National Kidney Foundation, Inc. is a major voluntary health organization in the United States, headquartered in New York City...
.
"Kidney Now!" was generally, though not universally, well-received among television critics. According to the Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, this episode was watched by 5.7 million viewers. Jack Burditt and Robert Carlock were nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nomination in the category for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for their work in this episode. In addition, Tony Pipitone and Griffin Richardson received a Creative Arts Emmy Award nomination in the category for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (half-hour) and Animation.
Plot
Jack DonaghyJack 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....
(Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
) gets to know his newly discovered father, Milton Greene (Alan Alda
Alan Alda
Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
) but soon discovers Milton has a serious medical condition and is in search of a kidney donor. After discovering he is an unsuitable donor by Dr. Leo Spaceman (Chris Parnell
Chris Parnell
Thomas Christopher "Chris" Parnell is an American comic actor best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998–2006 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Leo Spaceman on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series 30 Rock. Parnell also voices Cyril Figgis on the FX animated comedy...
), Jack uses his contacts—musicians Clay Aiken
Clay Aiken
Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and author who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released...
, Sara Bareilles
Sara Bareilles
Sara Beth Bareilles is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She achieved mainstream success in 2007 with the hit single "Love Song", which brought her into the number one spot on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. She has sold over 1 million records in the United States alone and has been...
, the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
(Mike D and Ad-Rock), Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, 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...
, Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
, Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
, Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
, Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...
, Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, Adam Levine
Adam Levine
Adam Noah Levine is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the front man and guitarist for the pop rock band Maroon 5. He is also a coach on the American talent show The Voice.-Early life:...
, Michael McDonald
Michael McDonald (singer)
Michael McDonald is a five-time Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter. McDonald is known for a soulful baritone singing style and a multi-octave range. He began his career singing back-up vocals with Steely Dan...
, Rhett Miller
Rhett Miller
Stewart Ransom Miller II , better-known as Rhett Miller is the lead singer of the alternative country band Old 97's and a successful solo musician. He graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas, a private boys' school in Dallas in 1989 and briefly attended Sarah Lawrence College on a creative...
, Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, Robert Randolph, and Rachael Yamagata
Rachael Yamagata
Rachael Yamagata is an American singer-songwriter and pianist from Arlington, Virginia. She began her musical career with the band Bumpus before becoming a solo artist and releasing four EP's and three studio albums...
—to arrange a charity benefit entitled "Kidney Now!" in attempt to find a donor for Milton.
Meanwhile, 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:...
(Tina Fey
Tina 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...
) gains notoriety after making an appearance on The Vontella Show, along with Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney
Jenna Maroney is a fictional character on the American television series 30 Rock, played by Jane Krakowski.-Fictional biography:Jenna was born Ystrepa Grokovitz on February 24, 1969 and grew up in Bakersfield...
(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...
), as a relationship expert after her "Dealbreaker" sketches on the fictitious comedy sketch show The Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan (TGS). As a result of the success she received as the relationship expert on The Vontella Show, Liz signs a book deal based on the sketch, and begins dispensing relationship advice to the female staff of TGS, and to Angie Jordan (Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Evonne Shepherd is an American comedienne, actress, and television personality. She is one of five co-hosts on the ABC daytime talkshow, The View, as well as being the current host of the Newlywed Game and having a recurring role as Angie Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock...
) and Paula Hornberger (Paula Pell), the wives of TGS star 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:...
(Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
) and producer Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit is an American actor, writer and improvisational comedian. He is currently co-starring as Pete Hornberger in the hit NBC comedy 30 Rock and worked in the Adult Swim stop-motion animation programs Moral Orel and Mary Shelley's Frankenhole.-1990s:After attending Columbia College Chicago,...
), respectively. Though, Tracy and Pete are upset with the advice Liz gave to their wives.
At the same time, Tracy is invited to speak at the graduation ceremony of his former high school (named after Frank Lucas
Frank Lucas (drug lord)
Frank Lucas is a former U.S. heroin dealer and organized crime boss who operated in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was particularly known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in the Golden Triangle...
, the infamous Harlem drug lord). NBC page
NBC page
An NBC page is a person usually in his or her early twenties working in various departments of the NBC television network during a one-year period as a training ground for careers in television broadcasting and entertainment...
and friend 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...
(Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer
Jack McBrayer is an American actor and comedian. He gained national exposure for his characters on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"...
) tries to help him overcome troubling memories from his high school experience. Kenneth persuades Tracy to go to the graduation, which he does, where Tracy gives his speech and receives an honorary diploma.
Production
"Kidney Now!" was directed by series producer Don ScardinoDon Scardino
Don Scardino is an American television director and producer and a former actor.-Acting:Born in New York City, Scardino began his career as an actor. His first Broadway credit was as an understudy in The Playroom in 1965. Additional Broadway acting credits include Johnny No-Trump, Godspell, and...
, and written by 30 Rock producers Jack Burditt
Jack Burditt
Jack Burditt is an American producer and screenwriter who has worked on many television shows.He has worked as a writer on the NBC comedy series 30 Rock...
and Robert Carlock
Robert Carlock
Robert Carlock is an American television producer and screenwriter most widely known for his work as a writer for several NBC television comedies, particularly his work with Tina Fey as show runners for 30 Rock.-Early years:...
. This was Burditt and Carlock's fourth script collaboration, having penned the episodes "Cleveland
Cleveland (30 Rock)
"Cleveland" is the twentieth episode of the first season of 30 Rock. It was written by one of the season's co-executive producers, Jack Burditt, and one of the season's executive producers, Robert Carlock. It was directed by Paul Feig. It first aired on April 19, 2007 on the NBC network in the...
", "Subway Hero
Subway Hero
"Subway Hero" is the twelfth episode of the second season of 30 Rock and thirty-third episode of the series. It was written by Jack Burditt, one of the series' co-executive producers, and executive producer Robert Carlock. It was directed by Don Scardino. It aired on April 17, 2008 on the NBC...
", and "Sandwich Day
Sandwich Day
"Sandwich Day" is the fourteenth episode of the second season of 30 Rock and the thirty-fifth episode overall. It was written by one of the season's executive producers, Robert Carlock, and one of the season's co-executive producers, Jack Burditt. The episode was directed by one of the season's...
". This was Scardino's twenty-first directed episode. "Kidney Now!" originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 14, 2009, as the twenty-second episode and season finale of the show's third season
30 Rock (season 3)
The third season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, consists of 22 episodes and began airing on October 30, 2008 on the NBC network in the United States...
and the 58th overall episode of the series.
"Kidney Now!" was first read by its cast
Read-through
The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted....
on March 5, 2009; it was filmed on March 16–17, 2009. "He Needs a Kidney", the charity song featured in this episode, was written by show composer and co-executive producer Jeff Richmond
Jeff Richmond
Jeffrey "Jeff" Wayne Richmond is an American composer, actor and television producer. Richmond currently produces and composes the music for 30 Rock, a sitcom created by and starring his wife Tina Fey.-Career:...
. Richmond is married to series creator, executive producer and lead actress Tina Fey. In discussion of the development of "Kidney Now!", Richmond said that Carlock and Fey "were trying to figure out a way to heightened Jack's dad in getting a kidney and how they're going to deal with that", and that the two came to the decision to "take advantage of the singing", as they have done so in the past with different 30 Rock episodes, in which the show's characters have sung songs. Carlock and Fey agreed to the idea that a song be included in the season finale, but that it be an anthem like the 1985 charity song, "We Are the World
We Are the World
"We Are the World" is a song and charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World...
", as the cause is that the Milton Greene character is in need of a kidney donor. "Basically, the parameters were if 'We Are the World' but they want to get a kidney. I think we had angles that everyone has two kidneys and you'll only need one kidney, and we thought 'Alright, we'll get some distance on that'", said Richmond. While working on the track, Fey suggested to Richmond that he incorporate Milton Greene's name in one part of the song, which he did, as this was sung by singers Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
and Robert Randolph.
Giancarlo Vulcano, a music editor and associate arranger on the show, revealed that Richmond taught him the song one morning at Silvercup Studios
Silvercup Studios
Silvercup Studios is the largest film and television production facility in New York City. Located in the neighborhood of Long Island City, in the borough of Queens, the studio complex has been operating since 1983 in the former Silvercup Bakery building...
—where the show is filmed—and they played the first-half of "He Needs a Kidney" at the script's read-through. According to Vulcano, the 30 Rock staff loved the song and the two were satisfied with the reception of it. While arranging the instrumentation, Richmond hired violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ists for the episode's background music and for "He Needs a Kidney", which according to him he usually does not get the opportunity to have a lot of violin sounds on the show. The recording sessions with the musical guests took place on Stage 1 at Silvercup Studios; Stage 1 serves as the set for TGS Tracy Jordan, a fictitious comedy sketch show featured on 30 Rock. Richmond and Vulcano were complimentary towards the musicians—Clay Aiken
Clay Aiken
Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and author who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released...
, Sara Bareilles
Sara Bareilles
Sara Beth Bareilles is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She achieved mainstream success in 2007 with the hit single "Love Song", which brought her into the number one spot on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. She has sold over 1 million records in the United States alone and has been...
, the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
(Mike D and Ad-Rock), Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, 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...
, Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
, Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
, Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
, Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...
, Cyndi Lauper, Adam Levine
Adam Levine
Adam Noah Levine is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the front man and guitarist for the pop rock band Maroon 5. He is also a coach on the American talent show The Voice.-Early life:...
, Michael McDonald
Michael McDonald (singer)
Michael McDonald is a five-time Grammy Award winning American singer and songwriter. McDonald is known for a soulful baritone singing style and a multi-octave range. He began his career singing back-up vocals with Steely Dan...
, Rhett Miller
Rhett Miller
Stewart Ransom Miller II , better-known as Rhett Miller is the lead singer of the alternative country band Old 97's and a successful solo musician. He graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas, a private boys' school in Dallas in 1989 and briefly attended Sarah Lawrence College on a creative...
, Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, Robert Randolph, and Rachael Yamagata
Rachael Yamagata
Rachael Yamagata is an American singer-songwriter and pianist from Arlington, Virginia. She began her musical career with the band Bumpus before becoming a solo artist and releasing four EP's and three studio albums...
—who performed "He Needs a Kidney". In the DVD commentary for this episode, Richmond believed that the entire song would not make it into the airing. Elvis Costello was once approached to do an appearance on 30 Rock, but the appearance fell-through. At an Oscar's party, Fey ran into Costello and asked him if he could appear, which he agreed to. According to Fey, none of the music artists got paid as they all did the charity concert for free. The reason for this was due to a joke in the song in which Sheryl Crow was the only individual to get paid, as the rest did it for free. Following the broadcast of this episode of 30 Rock, the musical performance video was made available for digital download on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
with all the proceeds from the sales going to the National Kidney Foundation
National Kidney Foundation
The National Kidney Foundation, Inc. is a major voluntary health organization in the United States, headquartered in New York City...
.
According to Fey, there were discussions on whether or not to use a real talk show host from New York, for the "Dealbreakers" segment, but ultimately decided to make one up and went with actress Napiera Groves who plays talk show host Vontella in "Kidney Now!". The Tracy character plot was based on Tracy Morgan who in real-life was given a diploma by his former high school, DeWitt Clinton High School
DeWitt Clinton High School
DeWitt Clinton High School is an American high school located in the Bronx, New York City, New York.-History:Clinton opened in 1897 at 60 West 13th Street at the northern end of Greenwich Village under the name of Boys High School, although this Boys High School was not related to the one in Brooklyn...
. Like the Tracy character, who dropped out of high school, though, due to his inability to dissect a frog, Morgan dropped out of DeWitt Clinton when his father became ill. Jack and Liz's scene, along with Tracy and Kenneth's, at the end where they watch the charity concert, was filmed the day before the musical number took place. "They were pretending to look at the singing", revealed Fey. They forced that shot in so that the episode not just end with the performance.
Professor Milton Greene was played by guest actor Alan Alda
Alan Alda
Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
, best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce from the television series M*A*S*H. This was Alda's second appearance, having appeared in the previous episode "Mamma Mia
Mamma Mia (30 Rock)
"Mamma Mia" is the twenty-first episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 57th overall episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producer Ron Weiner and directed by series producer Don Scardino. The episode originally aired on the National...
". In a scene of "Kidney Now!", Tracy breaks down crying and says "There is no baby. I was chicken! I was chicken!" then Milton, who sees this, asks "A guy crying about a chicken and a baby? I thought this was a comedy show." This was a reference to Alda's M*A*S*H character in the series finale episode in which Hawkeye breaks down after realizing he had seen a woman smother her baby to death, not a chicken as Hawkeye had originally recalled in his repressed mind. Comedian actor Chris Parnell, who played Dr. Leo Spaceman in the season finale, has appeared in the main cast of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(SNL), a weekly sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
series which airs on NBC in the United States. Fey was the head writer
Head writer
A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
on SNL from 1999 until 2006. Comedienne actress Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Shepherd
Sherri Evonne Shepherd is an American comedienne, actress, and television personality. She is one of five co-hosts on the ABC daytime talkshow, The View, as well as being the current host of the Newlywed Game and having a recurring role as Angie Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock...
reprised her role as Angie Jordan, the wife of Tracy, for the fifth time. Paula Pell made her second guest spot as the character Paula Hornberger, the wife of Pete Hornberger, played by Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit
Scott Adsit is an American actor, writer and improvisational comedian. He is currently co-starring as Pete Hornberger in the hit NBC comedy 30 Rock and worked in the Adult Swim stop-motion animation programs Moral Orel and Mary Shelley's Frankenhole.-1990s:After attending Columbia College Chicago,...
. In "Kidney Now!", Angie and Paula ask Liz for relationship advice. In addition, 30 Rock writers Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon
Kay Cannon
Kay Cannon is an American television writer and actress who is best known for her work as an Emmy nominated writer and producer for the NBC series 30 Rock.-Biography:...
, and Donald Glover
Donald Glover
Donald McKinley Glover is an American actor, writer, comedian, and musician. Glover first came to attention for his work in the sketch group Derrick Comedy, and is best known for his role as community college student Troy Barnes on the NBC comedy series Community...
appear in the episode; Burditt and Cannon appear in The Vontella Show segment as members from the audience who ask Liz questions. When Tracy accepts an honorary diploma from his former high school, in his speech, Tracy outs
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
Glover's character. The success of the benefit concert for Milton is not explicitly referenced until Alda's character alludes to it in the season five
30 Rock (season 5)
The fifth season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series on the NBC network in the United States, began airing on September 23, 2010. NBC announced on March 5, 2010 that 30 Rock would be returning for a fifth season in the 2010–2011 television season...
episode "Christmas Attack Zone
Christmas Attack Zone
"Christmas Attack Zone" is the tenth episode of the fifth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 90th overall episode of the series. It was written by show story editor Tracey Wigfield and directed by co-executive producer John Riggi. It originally aired on the National...
", though in the season four
30 Rock (season 4)
The fourth season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, consists of 23 episodes and began airing on October 15, 2009, on the National Broadcasting Company network in the United States...
episode "Into the Crevasse
Into the Crevasse
"Into the Crevasse" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 60th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by co-showrunner and executive producer Robert Carlock and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller. It originally aired on...
", Milton is shown to have finished his book entitled From Peanut to President, a biography of U.S. President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
.
One filmed scene from "Kidney Now!" was cut out from the airing. Instead, the scene was featured on 30 Rock
Reception
According to the Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, "Kidney Now!" was watched by 5.7 million viewers during its original United States broadcast. The rating was an 8 percent drop in viewership from the previous week's episode, "Mamma Mia
Mamma Mia (30 Rock)
"Mamma Mia" is the twenty-first episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 57th overall episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producer Ron Weiner and directed by series producer Don Scardino. The episode originally aired on the National...
", which was seen by 6.2 million American viewers. The show claimed a 2.8 rating/7 share among viewers aged 18 to 49, meaning that 2.8 percent of all people in that group, and 7 percent of all people from that group watching television at the time, watched the episode. Jack Burditt and Robert Carlock received a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for their work on "Kidney Now!", but they lost it to fellow 30 Rock writer Matt Hubbard
Matt Hubbard
Matt Hubbard is an American television writer and screenwriter who has worked on many television shows. He graduated from Beverly High School, in Beverly, Massachusetts in the class of 1996, where he excelled in the English Department. He later went on to attend Harvard University where he was an...
for the episode "Reunion
Reunion (30 Rock)
"Reunion" is the fifth episode of the third season of American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 41st episode of the series overall. It was written by supervising producer Matt Hubbard and directed by Beth McCarthy. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company network...
" at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards
61st Primetime Emmy Awards
The 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards took place on September 20, 2009. CBS broadcast the Primetime event and E! the Creative Arts event; both take place at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The nominations for the Awards were announced on July 16....
. At the same awards show, Tony Pipitone and Griffin Richardson were nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (half-hour) and Animation.
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
contributor Robert Canning wrote that the ending from this episode "did have a season finale feel to it with the big musical number. [...] Still, it was a great season, and I loved going out with two of the best characters on TV summing up the moment perfectly – Liz: 'We sure had quite a year.' Jack: 'What are you talking about? It's May.'" Canning gave it an 8.5 out of 10 rating. Television columnist Alan Sepinwall for The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
wrote that the "all-star cast of musicians" featured were not able to dominate the episode "to the point where the episode didn't work." Sepinwall, however, added that despite "Kidney Now!" not being a classic 30 Rock episode "it was [still] funny enough – which, I suppose, also makes it an appropriate finale for this uneven season." Further in the review, Sepinwall was complimentary towards Liz's plot, writing that the character's sequence on The Vontella Show was "hilarious, and a fine demonstration of how much confidence Tina Fey has gained as an actress over the years." The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
Bob Sassone
Bob Sassone is an American writer. He was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, to Italian and Portuguese parents. He is the youngest of seven children....
of AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
's TV Squad confessed in his recap that he was going to summarize "Kidney Now!" as "a little disappointing, but then I hit rewind on my DVR and watched it again and realized, wow, they actually hit all of the season finale notes rather perfectly [...] This episode was quite funny."
Rick Porter of Zap2it
Zap2it
Zap2it is an American website and affiliate network that provides news, photos and video, local TV listings and movie showtimes. The site is produced by Tribune Media Services , part of the publishing division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
worried how the series would fit in "the likes" of Elvis Costello, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Clay Aiken and Adam Levine "without it overwhelming the episode", and reported that the answer to that "turned out to be 'very effectively.'" In regards to the storylines, itself, he noted that Jack's quest in getting Milton a kidney "balanced nicely" with Liz's story, and that Tracy's "had some good moments". In conclusion, Porter wrote "For a show that doesn't always know how to end episodes, it's done really well at ending seasons." TV Guide Magazine
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, was favorable to the musical number, reporting "[t]he song itself is a hoot, highlighted by a wonderful spoken-word kidney donation pitch that begins with Costello saying: 'Listen, when someone starts talking in the middle of a song, you know it's serious.'" Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
contributor Annie Barrett said "Kidney Now!" was "sweet and all", and noted that the "Vontella-as-Tyra
Tyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks is an American model, media personality, actress, occasional singer, author and businesswoman. She first became famous as a model, but television appearances were her commercial breakthrough...
spoof" was "brilliant." Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
contributor James Poniewozik
James Poniewozik
James Poniewozik is an American journalist and television critic. He writes Times Tuned In column and has a blog with the same name.Originally from Monroe, MI, Poniewozik attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, graduating with a BA in English. He subsequently attended the graduate program...
wrote that this episode "was a fitting end for a guest-star-heavy ... season of 30 Rock", but added that the finale overall was "maybe average", however, "the ending at least delivered the goods, with the best sitcom celebrity benefit song".
External links
- "Kidney Now!," at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...