Over the course of seven seasons, 30 Rock detailed the adventures of the fictional sketch comedy series TGS with Tracy Jordan's crew. In the context of that world, Tracy was an incredibly popular standup comedian and actor. But he wasn't the only star in his family. His wife, Angie, had her own reality TV series. And not making Queen of Jordan a full-on 30 Rock spin-off still seems like a missed opportunity.
When Tracy started with TGS, his career had entered a bit of a lull. He was alienated by Hollywood and didn't have many big projects on the horizon. At the same time, TGS was having problems reaching a wider audience. Jack Donaghy suggested to Liz Lemon that she bring Tracy in, as it would benefit both of their careers. The plan worked well enough, though Tracy perfected the art of driving Liz insane over that season.
As the years went on, it became apparent that Tracy's lifestyle was not sustainable. That's not just referring to how absurdly the man spent his money. There were escaped animals in the building and an abandoned plan to buy two blimps and crash them into each other. The bigger problem was that he was dying, and likely quite soon. As Doctor Spacemen once pointed out, the vast majority of Tracy's body was essentially dead.
At that point, Angie realized that she needed a career of her own. That quest led to the birth of Queen of Jordan, a reality series that focused on Angie and her friends. The group included her stylist D'Fwan, Randi, Portia and occasionally her nephew Michael. Two episodes of 30 Rock were actually done as Queen of Jordan episodes, one in Season 5 and the other in Season 6. These episodes gave fans a taste of what a potential spin-off could look like.
But that spin-off never happened as 30 Rock came to an end. Those two Queen of Jordan episodes were in the top ten funniest of the entire series. They did a superb job satirizing the reality TV genre. In particular, Queen of Jordan was quite obviously using The Real Housewives as the basis for its structure. That comedy has only become more pertinent as The Real Housewives franchise has become bigger and all-encompassing.
Not turning Queen of Jordan into a full-on mockumentary series was a massive missed opportunity. Sherri Shepherd was incredible as Angie Jordan, and those faux-reality TV episodes put her vast comedic talents on display. On top of that, those same episodes featured a great cast only on the reality series, excluding D'Fwan, of course, who was a 30 Rock regular.
The two Queen of Jordan episodes that made it to air proved a veritable comedy gold mine worth taking advantage of. While it might not have worked on NBC at that time, there are now multiple streaming services that could be an excellent home for the series. Queen of Jordan is a missed opportunity that could still be turned into a relevant comedy series, pulling laughs out of a TV genre that often parodies itself.