During 30 Rock‘s seven-year run, Liz Lemon had quite a few dating misadventures. Between a pale Englishman named Wesley Snipes and a pilot named Carol Burnett, Lemon could never seem to find the right guy before she finally did. Here’s a look at the guys Liz Lemon had to get through to get to Mr. Right.
Dennis Duffy
For years, Dennis Duffy (Dean Winters) was a practically inescapable part of Liz’s life. She dated him longer than anyone else, and clearly saw something in him, despite his obvious stupidity and general douchebaggery. Eventually, Liz realized that most of her good memories of the Beeper King involved whatever she was eating at the time. Plus, he was featured on To Catch a Predator, which is definitely a deal breaker.
Floyd DeBarber
After Liz receives a bouquet of flowers that Floyd DeBarber (Jason Sudeikis) actually meant to give to his accountant girlfriend, Liz Lemler, Lemon develops a crush. Naturally, she decides to fire the other Liz so she can be closer to Floyd, but Jack hires Lemler back after sensing an HR nightmare on the horizon.
Liz’s crush on Floyd becomes so intense that she goes so far as to pretend that she’s an alcoholic after accidentally following him into an AA meeting. They eventually end up together, but ultimately break up after Floyd gets a new job in his hometown of Cleveland.
Dr. Drew Baird
Perhaps Liz’s most handsome boyfriend (he was played by Jon Hamm, after all), Drew was well-intentioned, but he lived in a handsomeness “bubble” that no one wanted to pierce, despite how awful he was at nearly everything he did. In the end, Drew chooses to continue living as a putz who skirts by on his good looks rather than accept his flaws.
Wesley Snipes
Liz and Wesley (Michael Sheen) didn’t really like each other at all, but after running into each other repeatedly, they decided that the world was telling them to settle for each other. That didn’t last long, though, as his unpleasantness eventually became too much to deal with. If there’s one bit of wisdom that Wesley left us with, though, it’s that he’s spot on when he says that Wesley Snipes makes a lot more sense as the name of an “un-athletic, pale Englishman,” than a black action star.
Carol Burnett
Liz and Carol initially seem as though they might be meant for each other. After all, they seem like they have so much in common. But cracks emerge as the relationship progresses, and it all comes to a head when Liz finds herself within Carol’s grasp as a passenger on a plane, one he’s set to fly in an episode that confirms one of my worst fears about pilots: They’ll delay a flight as long as they want just to keep everyone at bay.
Criss Chros
In season six, Liz finally met Mr. Right, Criss Chros (James Marsden). Initially, the pair dated in secret because Liz was afraid that Jack would disapprove of the organic hot dog vendor. While he didn’t take to his slacker nature right away, Jack eventually realized that Criss was probably the perfect guy for Liz.
After deciding that they wanted to have children, Liz and Criss got married in order to make the adoption process easier. They would eventually adopt two children who were remarkably similar to Tracy and Jenna, bringing everything full circle.
