Tina Fey's 30 Rock was always a little more acerbic than its comedy contemporaries. The sitcom, which parodied the production of a thinly veiled Saturday Night Live stand-in, thought it was being progressive with its edgy and sometimes mean-spirited sense of humor. As such, 30 Rock often dealt explicitly with issues like race and gender, but too often, attempts to lampoon bigotry didn't quite stay on the right side of the line the show was trying to walk.
Many of 30 Rock's "jokes" haven't aged well, and in an effort to deal with any potential fallout preemptively, Fey and NBC have decided to pull four episodes that involve instances of blackface from syndication and streaming. These are the four episodes that will no longer be available.
"Believe in the Stars" - Season 3, Episode 2
The plot of this episode involves Liz Lemon having to return to Chicago for Jury Duty. While under the influence of a sedative during her flight, she has a long conversation with Oprah Winfrey, who happens to have been seated next to her. The use of blackface comes into play when Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) demands compensation from Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) for her voice work in his X-rated video game. In an experiment to determine who has it worse -- black people or women -- Jenna and Tracy use the show's costume and makeup resources to switch identities, to not very convincing effect. Things escalate, and Fey recruits Oprah to settle their differences, only to discover that her interactions with the mogul were a hallucination.
"Live Show" (East Coast Version) - Season 5, Episode 4
30 Rock's "Live Show" was actually filmed twice, which means two different versions of the episode exist. It's Liz Lemon's 40th birthday, but the cast and crew don't seem to care or have anything planned. The format of this episode was designed to allow for easily filmable cameos by celebrities like Matt Damon and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. But it's frequent guest star Jon Hamm's performance as Drew Baird, Liz's handsome but stupid neighbor and love interest, who is the reason for the episode's removal. Baird, who has lost his hands, is featured with a black hand transplant. The East Coast version also includes a news chyron that describes President Obama as the "Kenyan liar."
"Christmas Attack Zone" - Season 5, Episode 10
Like most 30 Rock episodes, "Christmas Attack Zone" moves at a pretty frenetic pace and involves several disjointed storylines. Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) invites Liz to come home with him for Christmas and becomes unwittingly involved in the drama between him, his mother and his pregnant girlfriend. Tracy is nominated for a Golden Globe for a serious, gritty movie called Hard to Watch, and scrambles to halt the release of his less prestigious movie, The Chunks 2: A Very Chunky Christmas, to help his chances. Jenna Maroney is, again, the problematic presence. She and boyfriend Paul (Will Forte) both wear Black Swan costumes to a New Year's party. Paul is dressed like Natalie Portman's titular ballerina, Jenna is dressed -- in full blackface -- like former Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann.
"Live from Studio 6H" - Season 6, Episode 19
This episode marks a return to both live production and instances of blackface involving Jon Hamm. Its premise is the meta idea that network executives are threatening to turn the in-world show, TGS, into a prerecorded program, to save money. Kenneth the Page (Jack McBrayer) locks everyone in a room and teaches them the importance of live television. "Live from Studio 6H," like "Live Show" before it, was written to accommodate guest stars. This time it's Paul McCartney, Kim Kardashian, Donald Glover and a slew of SNL alums in flashback and fake video clips. One of those is a reference to Amos & Andy where Hamm is styled like an offensive stereotype in one of 30 Rock's most tone-deaf attempts at satire.