Miracle at 30 Rock: A second season

Friday Night Lights

By Tabloid Baby | Wednesday, April 4, 2007 | 4:15 pm | 10 Comments

30%20rock.jpg

When Saturday Night Live honcho Lorne Michaels threw a tantrum over NBC’s pickup of Aaron Sorkin’s high-priced, highly-anticipated Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip and forced the network to take 30 Rock, his own SNL-inspired behind-the-scenes-at-a-sketch-show-series-with-a-number-in-the-title– created by and starring his own not-ready-for-prime time player Tina Fey– there weren’t high expectations that the sop was long for the prime time schedule.

Well guess which NBC SNL-inspired behind-the-scenes-at-a-sketch-show-series-with-a-number-in-the-title has been given a second season? Hint: it’s not Studio 60.

After months of fits and starts, 30 Rock gradually came into its own as a smart, off-the-wall, hilarious half hour comedy, thanks to breakout performances by male cast members Alec Baldwin, Jack McBrayer and Tracy Morgan, who quietly hijacked the show from the chunky and clunky Ms. Fey and standard blonde beauty co-star Jane Krakowski, who the network forced in to replace Fey’s less telegenic casting choice and BFF Rachel Dratch.Fey worked to force NBC’s hand a couple of weeks back, telling writers that entertainment president Kevin Reilly all but promised her a renewal because he’s a fan. And today, that seems to be the rationale behind Reilly’s decision. Rock has averaged a 2.7 rating/7 share among 18 to 49 year-olds, which would have killed any other show. And even with his official renewal, Reilly compares Rock to The Office– not because of its quality, but its slow build.

NBC will air repeats of the show over the summer and plans a major relaunch in fall.

30 Rock has also won its share of awards, has people talking and does have Alec Baldwin in its cast– but as we see by NBC’s decision to let Aaron Sorkin tape the rest of the Studio 60 season even though it’s a goner– somebody there likes self-referential SNL-inspired-behind-the-scenes-at-a-sketch-show-series-with-numbers-in-the-titles.

(NBC also has a critical hit with Friday Night Lights, but that’s not about a sketch comedy show, so its renewal is still up in the air.)

–Tabloid Baby

10 Comments

  1. 1
    James Leer
    Posted April 5, 2007 at 1:32 am

    Wow. Tabloid Baby is an idiot. Tina Fey is “chunky”? She owes her renewal to her “male cast members”?

    Seriously, is there some way to boot this guy off the site? He seems to go totally against the spirit of TVGasm. I’ve liked this place for a while, but it’s just not worth it anymore.

  2. 2
    DeaconGTG
    Posted April 5, 2007 at 5:28 am

    Well TB did have Chunky in the correct sentence, but it should have been placed before Alec Baldwin. Great performance, but he could use a treadmill.

  3. 3
    audreeeee
    Posted April 5, 2007 at 8:23 am

    I think her bottom still qualifies as ‘junk’ not ‘chunk’, and I don’t mind some junk in the trunk. And I like Tina on the show as much as the guys, but please don’t stop being snarky, it’s not like your name is “Daily Affirmation Baby” or anything.

  4. 4
    JTContinental
    Posted April 5, 2007 at 9:01 am

    The difference is in the delivery, TB. Flipit is funny.

  5. 5
    Anonymous
    Posted April 6, 2007 at 8:55 am

    I’m thankful that 30 Rock has been picked up for a second season. The show brings me much joy.

    and Tina Fey isn’t chunky; she’s perfect :-)

  6. 6
    K J
    Posted April 6, 2007 at 11:29 am

    Wow – while I’m excited about the 30 Rock renewal, I think a LOT of credit is DUE to Tina Fey – a main writer on this show and a wonderful character. And she is FAR from chunky – in fact, I think she looks great – healthy and normal. Kudos for the show, but a completely sexist article.

  7. 7
    Adah
    Posted April 6, 2007 at 12:36 pm

    Tina Fey is awesome, and it’s the Liz Lemon role that makes 30 Rock a cohesive whole. Your recapper is obviously misogynistic and a moron.

  8. 8
    Anonymous
    Posted April 6, 2007 at 3:03 pm

    So the implication is that Tina Fey forced the hand of the *network president* by saying he liked her show? Sure, that happened.

    This article is bizarre.

  9. 9
    Anonymous
    Posted April 6, 2007 at 5:34 pm

    You’re an ass. So…there’s that.

  10. 10
    Mimi
    Posted April 6, 2007 at 10:48 pm

    So the males make the show funny, even though Tina’s a creator, writer, EP, lead actress? The females are useless and overshadowed? I don’t know how to respond here–don’t even know what you’re trying to say, really. Reilly has stated over and over that he’s being patient with the show because it’s like The Office in that both of them are great shows that needed to find an audience–that’s talking quality there, as in both of them are top-notch. You saying otherwise confuses me.

    I think Tina Fey is awesome, and she’s improved so much over the course of the season. I love Baldwin, Morgan, and McBrayer, but Tina’s the real gem to me (and saying that she’s chunky is a gross exaggeration).

    Don’t mess with the decider!

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