The Freakiest ‘30 Rock’ Pop-Culture Predictions That Actually Came True

5 ‘MILF Island’ Becomes A Real Reality Show

Almost immediately after the first uncomfortable promo for TLC’s tropical reality show MILF Manor hit the internet, 30 Rock fans arrived in force to announce that the show about a bunch of cougars all trying to sleep with each others’ sons was as unoriginal as it was obscene. Actually, the overtly oedipal nature of MILF Manor, which included a challenge wherein the moms were asked to identify their offspring by feeling up the bare torsos of the boys while blindfolded, was somehow even worse than the 30 Rock version.

4 KFC Stole Tracy Jordan’s Meat Invention

“The Tracy Jordan Meat Machine” was supposed to be one of those parody products that sitcoms feature for some prop comedy, but after the Season One episode “The Rural Juror” aired, a certain chicken giant apparently put in an order for a few thousand units. “Meat is the new bread” is more-or-less the idea behind the Double Down, a bacon and cheese sandwich with fried chicken for buns, meaning KFC copied Tracy’s homework. But, then again, there’s probably been a few hundred stoners out there who had similar ideas for snacking.

3 The Return of ‘Night Court’

In the 30 Rock Season Three episode “The One with the Cast of Night Court,” page Kenneth Parcell is disappointed to find that the hastily reassembled Night Court reunion featuring original actors Harry Anderson, Markie Post and Charlie Robinson was much more acrimonious than anticipated. Kenneth would be even more traumatized to learn that, when NBC brought back Night Court for real in 2023, none of those original cast members would begrudgingly reprise their roles, seeing as Post, Robinson and Anderson had all passed on. Only John Larroquette remains in the new series, sadly remarking recently, “It's like I see ghosts.”

2 Bill Cosby Is A Monster

To be fair, when “The Bubble” first aired in 2009, anyone who had been paying attention knew that Cosby already had an abominable number of rape accusations and ensuing lawsuits under his belt, even if 30 Rock writer and stand-up star Hannibal Buress hadn’t blown the doors off the story for the general public just yet. Additionally, Fey had been subtly sounding the alarm on Cosby’s bad behavior for years, though this hilariously dark reminder of his monstrosity went over the heads of most viewers at the time of airing.

1 Alec Baldwin Falls for A Woman With A Fake Accent

One of the more bizarre moments in Alec Baldwin’s already bonkers personal life came in 2020 when his young wife Hilaria was hit with a “cultural appropriation” accusation. In a shocking scandal, an army of nosey Twitter users uncovered the fact that the “Spanish” yoga instructor wasn’t born in Mallorca, as she previously claimed, and knew very well what the English word for “cucumber” is, seeing as English is her first language. Despite the bizarre accent she put on in interviews and press junkets, the Baldwin bride is from Boston — how do you like them apples?

Emily Mortimer’s performance as the bird-boned, artificially accented seductress Phoebe in the final three episodes of 30 Rock Season One was, strangely, the blueprint for Baldwin’s future love life. Maybe Hilaria has vertigo, too.