While 30 Rock might be gone (though not forgotten), parts of its DNA live on through Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, as both sitcoms were created by the kooky comedic duo of Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. There have already been dozens of 30 Rock references that have showed up on the newer series — in everything from casting to recurring jokes to music — but we now know there was one special casting, a cameo, that just couldn’t work out in the end, despite good attempts. At a talk at the Tribeca Film Festival, Fey revealed that 30 Rock’s resident (and potentially immortal) golden boy Kenneth the Page was potentially going to have a fleeting cameo, due to the fact that actor Jack McBrayer was in New York and close enough to visit to their filming location at, yes, Rockefeller Center.
“I said, ‘Would you want to come down and just put on your weird ’70s suit like you’re still the president of NBC and just walk through the shot?’†Fey explained. “He had, like, a 30-minute break from this play, and he came down and got all suited up, and we just didn’t get it in time.†A season-four appearance is still very much on the table, though — because remember, there are only two things Kenneth loves in this world: everybody and television.