From "30 Rock" to "Ted Lasso," Jack Burditt Brings Cleveland Roots to Major TV Shows

In the 20th episode of the first season of the NBC comedy show 30 Rock, Cleveland is a star. The plot follows the show’s main character Liz Lemon (played by Tina Fey) as she briefly considers moving out of New York City to an idealized version of Cleveland with her boyfriend Floyd (Jason Sudeikis).

The episode is packed with jokes about Cleveland, and many of those jokes were written by Northeast Ohio native Jack Burditt, who co-wrote the episode with Robert Carlock. Though it aired nearly 20 years ago, the episode remains beloved by Clevelanders and fans of the show.

“I wrote those jokes, all of that,” Burditt says, “because of my absolute love for Cleveland.”

Since those years spent working on 30 Rock, Burditt has gone on to be involved in shows like Last Man Standing, Modern Family, Frasier and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. He even once wrote a TV show pilot set in Cleveland, based on his own life, that was never made. Currently, he’s working as the executive producer of Ted Lasso’s new season, working with Sudeikis once again.

“I hope people like this new season. I really do feel a lot of pressure because if people don't like it, I'm the new guy,” Burditt says. “It’s also incredible to join a show like this. I feel very fortunate. I'm glad I was nice to Jason on set 20 years ago.”

We talked with Burditt in an episode of The CLE Connection, Cleveland Magazine’s podcast that takes a look at Cleveland’s surprising ties to major pop culture moments. 

Burditt still says that 30 Rock is one of his favorite projects he’s ever been involved in, and he shared some memories around the Cleveland episode and how it came to be.

Jack Burditt: “What's so funny is with the Cleveland episode too, that was the first season when we were making that episode. When we were making that episode, we thought this was kind of the end. We weren't doing well in the ratings, and we thought, ‘Yeah, I don't know if we're coming back for a second season.’ So we're trying to get in a lot of stories too, that we wanted to do.

“We got a second season, and then eventually seven seasons. And honestly, I think Kevin Reilly was the president of NBC. Our ratings were bad. Friday Night Lights had started that year; their ratings were bad, and he picked up both the shows despite the bad ratings, and I think it wound up forcing him out, I think they were mad. But I mean, he was proven right on that. I mean, I'm a big Friday Night Lights fan.

“That's sort of what I remember when we were shooting that episode, was just not knowing whether this was going to be the second-to-last episode ever of that show, and I had so much fun on it. When I started working with Tina and Robert Carlock, I just thought, ‘Oh, these are the people I was always meant to write with.’ It was magic.”

Hear more from Burditt in our podcast, which is streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and more.

Listen to more episodes of The CLE Connection:

• Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Gets its Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

• Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears' Very-Cleveland Origin Stories

• Bad Luck Brian and Chicken Salad: What It's Like to Go Viral in Northeast Ohio

• How Howard The Duck Became Marvel’s Cleveland-Based Comic Book Character

• This Cleveland Vocalist Sings on the World’s Biggest Stages

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