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Appearing in a handful of episodes, 30 Rock’s version of sitcom actor Kelsey Grammer is an accomplished con man and raconteur of epic proportions.
Without question, Kesley Grammer is one of the most legendary sitcom actors of all time. He spent many years portraying Frasier Crane on the hit shows Cheers and then Frasier, winning both Emmys and Golden Globes for the character. But that’s not the most interesting character Grammer has played. Without question, that title belongs to the fictionalized version of himself he played on 30 Rock, a skilled con man and raconteur extraordinaire.
30 Rock‘s focus was the fictional NBC series TGS with Tracy Jordan. It was a sketch comedy show similar in design to the long-running series Saturday Night Live. This was the series that made Tina Fey a household name before moving into the world of sitcoms. Like SNL, 3o Rock was loaded with guest stars, each playing a different part, some as one-off characters and others in recurring roles.
While Matt Damon, Elizabeth Smart, LL Cool J and Salma Hayek made appearances as other people, Kelsey Grammer appeared ostensibly as himself. But he wasn’t a guest on TGS. Instead, Jenna Maroney and Kenneth Parcell brought him in to help with various scams. In this version of reality, Kelsey Grammer was apparently some sort of master con man who lived his life like he was perpetually in an Ocean’s Eleven sequel.
Grammer made his first appearance in Season 5, Episode 5. Jenna and Kenneth accidentally stumbled into a scam involving Carvel ice cream cakes. When they needed to make one final score before getting out, they brought Grammer in to help them get the job done. This was the founding of the team known as the Best Friends Gang, an oddly nice name for a group of people running scams together.
They would reunite in Season 6, Episodes 2 and 3. Pete Hornberger had gone into a nearby custodial closet to drink by himself and eventually blackout. Jenna and Kenneth erroneously believed they had injured Pete, not realizing he was just ridiculously drunk. Instead of getting medical help, they brought in Grammer to help them frame Pete as a pervert who was pleasuring himself in his office.
His plan actually involved him putting on a spontaneous one-man stage play about the life of President Abraham Lincoln. While viewers didn’t get to see much of the play, it was reputedly an absolute tour de force. It was an interesting use of Grammer’s healthy and well-honed skills from his tenure in the live theater. At the same time, why it had to be about Abraham Lincoln was never satisfactorily explained.
In all probability, the 30 Rock version of Kelsey Grammer is a far cry away from the sitcom actor fans have known for decades. At the same time, Grammer doesn’t exactly live his personal life out in the open. For all people know, he is an accomplished con artist in his spare time. And if he’s not, this version of Grammer was still incredibly funny and unexpected touch to some of the best episodes 30 Rock produced during its seven-season run.
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