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The Fabian Strategy

episode of 30 Rock (S5 E1)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 18, 2026
Entity authorityQ7732975 ↗
Source-derived summary

"The Fabian Strategy" is the first episode of the fifth season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 81st overall episode of the series. It was directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller, and written by series creator, executive producer and lead actress Tina Fey. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on September 23, 2010. Guest stars in this episode include Mario Brassard, Matt Damon, Jan Owen, Paula Pell, and Jeffrey Schara.

In the episode, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) interferes in Liz Lemon's (Fey) relationship with Carol (Damon) as he is determined to help Liz have a relationship that lasts for once. At the same time, Jack struggles to compromise with his girlfriend Avery Jessup (Elizabeth Banks) as she redecorates his apartment. Meanwhile, Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) has trouble coming to terms with Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer) getting fired as an NBC page and Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) becomes a producer of the fictional sketch comedy show The Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan (TGS). This episode also continued a story arc involving Carol as a love interest for Liz, which began in the previous episode, the season finale of the show's fourth season "I Do Do".

Before the airing, NBC moved the program to a new timeslot at 8:30 p.m., moving it from its 9:30 p.m. slot.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “The Fabian Strategy” as episode of 30 Rock (S5 E1). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fabian, Strategy and episode.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2010—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2010-09-23. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Fabian, Strategy and episode providing the first useful test.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7732975. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2010.

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This entry incorporates text from “The Fabian Strategy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.