“30 Rock” to Return With Timely Kim Jong Il Jokes

Remember that Jack Donaghy's wife had been kidnapped by the North Korean dictator last season...

When last we left him, "30 Rock's' Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) learned that his wife, Avery (Elizabeth Banks), had been kidnapped by dictator Kim Jong Il while on assignment in North Korea.

Looks like real life has written an interesting twist into that storyline when "30 Rock" returns on January 12th.

Producer Robert Carlock has confirmed to Us Weekly that the recent death of Kim Jong Il has forced series star and creator Tina Fey and her writers scrambling to rework scripts.

"Jack's love life is pretty complicated and it just got more complicated because I think, technically, Avery is the First Lady of North Korea," Carlock says, referencing the fact that Avery had become Kim Jong Il's unwilling mistress. 

"We sort of went back to the script because we'd already shot eight or nine episodes and we realized that luckily we hadn't referred to King Jong Il by name yet -- just to North Korea in general," adds Carlock. "We can't go back and address the changes there, but the fun puzzle is turning around and trying to figure out how to get her out of there and how to continue things."

Kim Jong Il was portrayed on the show by comedian Margaret Cho in drag. Carlock claims she may return.

"Maybe we'll have to have Margaret Cho showing up again having faked her death, because she wants to get a gig on a morning talk show."

"30 Rock" season six premieres on NBC on January 12th. We suspect Jack will be running North Korea by the 19th.

Selected Reading: MSNBC, US Weekly, Hollywood.com

Contact Us