Pete Hornberger

Pete Hornberger is the producer of TGS with Tracy Jordan, the closest thing to a normal, sane adult in Liz Lemon's chaotic orbit — married, exhausted, and quietly desperate to escape both his job and his home life. He handles logistics, absorbs abuse from all sides, and rarely gets to want anything for himself.

Scott Adsit plays the show's designated grown-up with a deadpan weariness that makes his rare outbursts land harder than louder characters' constant ones. Pete is the control group against which the rest of 30 Rock's insanity is measured, and Adsit's gift is making that thankless straight-man role genuinely, specifically funny.