2008 Woodie Awards
'30 Rock' comes back for seconds
Colin McGlinchey
Issue date: 10/8/07 Section: Entertainment
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Last Thursday, NBC's potent comedy lineup saw another one if its standout shows return, as "30 Rock" had its second season premiere. The comedy from Tina Fey, who was the former head writer of "Saturday Night Live," has been critically praised since its premiere in 2006 and has netted a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy (Alec Baldwin) and also several Emmys, including Outstanding Comedy Series. Unfortunately, critical acclaim doesn't always lead to ratings glory, as "Arrested Development" proved to us a few years back, and "30 Rock" was almost not picked up for its second season.
Instead of canceling the show, however, NBC has decided to go all out to try and improve the ratings, including putting it in the middle of the network's strong Thursday night lineup as well as lining up an all-star list of guest stars, including Jerry Seinfeld. The question remains though, whether or not this show has the chops to walk the line between critical acclaim and still earn legions of fans like "The Office," the show that it precedes on Thursday nights.
"30 Rock," named for the address of NBC studios in New York City (30 Rockefeller Plaza, also where the show is filmed) is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer of "Saturday Night Live," a job that she held from 1999 to 2006. "30 Rock" follows the happenings on the set of the fictional "The Girlie Show." Fey plays Liz Lemon, the head writer of the show, as she deals with eccentric actors, over bearing bosses and the hassle of trying to balance a personal life and run a TV show at the same time.
Alec Baldwin plays her boss, Jack Donaghy, to perfection. Donaghy is often the funniest character on the show as he learns the ropes of running a mildly successful TV show. He is essentially a parody of our cross marketing obsessed times as he used to work for GE, which owns NBC, and was sent to run the show after he created an oven that cooks food three different ways at the same time. This of course, in GE's eyes, qualifies him to run a TV show.
Instead of canceling the show, however, NBC has decided to go all out to try and improve the ratings, including putting it in the middle of the network's strong Thursday night lineup as well as lining up an all-star list of guest stars, including Jerry Seinfeld. The question remains though, whether or not this show has the chops to walk the line between critical acclaim and still earn legions of fans like "The Office," the show that it precedes on Thursday nights.
"30 Rock," named for the address of NBC studios in New York City (30 Rockefeller Plaza, also where the show is filmed) is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer of "Saturday Night Live," a job that she held from 1999 to 2006. "30 Rock" follows the happenings on the set of the fictional "The Girlie Show." Fey plays Liz Lemon, the head writer of the show, as she deals with eccentric actors, over bearing bosses and the hassle of trying to balance a personal life and run a TV show at the same time.
Alec Baldwin plays her boss, Jack Donaghy, to perfection. Donaghy is often the funniest character on the show as he learns the ropes of running a mildly successful TV show. He is essentially a parody of our cross marketing obsessed times as he used to work for GE, which owns NBC, and was sent to run the show after he created an oven that cooks food three different ways at the same time. This of course, in GE's eyes, qualifies him to run a TV show.
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