Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
In 2018 you can’t spell pop culture without “Donald Glover.” Over the past couple of years, the comedian has won Emmys and Golden Globes for his role as a writer, creator, director, and star of Atlanta; his rap alter ego Childish Gambino has changed the musical landscape with Redbone and “This Is America”; and Glover has become the face of not one but two iconic film characters. Not only was he Lando Calrissian in the Solo movie, but he’s slated to play Simba in the live action Lion King adaptation.
It’s the year of Glover. So on the month and day that coincide numerically from his expulsion from a uterus it only feels right to remember one of the actor, creator, and comedian’s most delightful cameos. It’s time to remember when Glover played young Tracy Jordan in 30 Rock.
Over its history, 30 Rock had two live episodes. But “Live from Studio 6H” was its most blissfully meta installment. Both the East coast and West coast cut of the episode follow Liz (Tina Fey) arguing with Jack (Alec Baldwin) about why The Girlie Show should remain a live broadcast despite its many expenses and poor ratings. Packed with celebrity cameos and fake racist and sexist NBC shows, the Season 5 episode made a long-winded case for the odd, unexpected joys of live television. Anything could happen! And it often did.
Tracy (Tracy Morgan), 30 Rock’s constant wild card, unexpectedly sides with Liz, revealing that he got his start on live TV. That’s when Glover and all of his deeply-happy glory appears:
Glover performs a very silly dance as Tracy, wonderfully capturing the intentional ridiculousness of the older actor. But in 2018, it’s especially charming to see Glover in this position. With his somber demeanor and so-true-it-hurts art, it’s easy to forget just how effortlessly funny Glover can be.
Glover wrote for 30 Rock from 2008 to 2009, only leaving the series once he was cast in Community. But young Tracy Jordan wasn’t the only minor role he played while on Fey’s cult comedy. He also played a “clearly gay kid” in the audience while Tracy was giving a graduation speech and a stage assistant.
Happy birthday, Donald Glover. We know because you were raised as a Jehovah’s Witness there was a period of time when we weren’t supposed to celebrate the day of your birth, but we’re very happy you exist.
