Me and My Emmy: 30 Rock's Robert Carlock

EMMY TALLY: Three

HOW HE GOT THE GOLD: As executive producer of 30 Rock, which won Outstanding Comedy Series for three years in a row starting in 2007.

NOW FOR THE NOMS: Carlock has 21 Emmy nominations, including 11 as writer and executive producer of 30 Rock. He’s also been nominated as a writer for Saturday Night Live and the Golden Globe Awards and as executive producer of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

SHOCK AND AH: “It’s tough to beat the delightful shock of the first win. You really think the whole place is exploding with cheers and applause, but when you lose, you realize it’s just the three rows around you.”

MAD MOTIVATION: “My Emmy statuettes are on top of a bookcase. They remind me of all the Emmys I didn’t win but obviously should have, and that fuels the rage that fuels my comedy. So, yes, I suppose they do inspire me.”

RICH SUBJECT: “As gratifying as that kind of recognition is, when I sit down to write, I’m not thinking about nominations. I’m thinking about money.”

MAKING A MULLIGAN: “Working in a new genre [for animated series Mulligan] pokes my brain in new ways. The possibilities and the challenges in animation are so different compared to live action. And you never find yourself shooting in New York in February on an outdoor ice rink at midnight, just watching the light go out of Jack McBrayer’s eyes.”

This article originally appeared in emmy magazine issue #2, 2024.