Information About30 Rock |
''30 Rock'' is a Golden Globe Award -winning and Emmy Award -nominated NBC Sitcom that debuted in the United States on October 11 , 2006 . The show was created by former '' Saturday Night Live '' (''SNL'') performer and Head Writer Tina Fey , who stars in the show and has written numerous episodes, including The Pilot . Fey is also one of the show's executive producers. The show's title comes from a nickname for 30 Rockefeller Plaza, also known as the GE Building , which is the headquarters of NBC's New York City studios, including SNL's Studio 8H. As the title suggests, the show is a workplace comedy set in this building. Specifically, it follows the cast and crew of a fictional ''SNL''-esque Sketch Comedy show that was originally called ''The Girlie Show'', but was renamed ''TGS with Tracy Jordan'' in " The Aftermath ". Fey portrays Liz Lemon , the head writer of ''TGS'' and the show's Protagonist . Other important characters include her oily boss Jack Donaghy ( Alec Baldwin ), TGS's purportedly insane star Tracy Jordan ( Tracy Morgan ) and Liz's neurotic best friend Jenna Maroney ( Jane Krakowski ), who is also part of the cast of ''TGS''. The supporting cast of ''30 Rock'' includes Jack McBrayer as Kenneth Parcell , Scott Adsit as Pete Hornberger and Judah Friedlander as Frank Rossitano . OVERVIEW See Also: List of 30 Rock episodes Typically, the principal plotline in each episode centers on Liz and her attempts to steer the show through one crisis or another while she struggles to maintain a social life. There have also been a handful of episodes (" The Break Up ", " The Fighting Irish ", etc.) in which Liz instead deals mainly with her own weaknesses and insecurities. Liz's love life is particularly unsuccessful and suitable romantic interests have so far proven to be short-lived. The show's self-awareness of this and other sitcom Cliché s (at times avoiding and embracing them) has been one of 30 Rock's hallmarks. 30 Rock's dynamic generally plays Liz and TGS's producer Pete Hornberger as the "straight" or "sane" ones who must deal with the show's cast of eccentric and bizarre characters. Liz and Pete themselves have, however, been shown to have their own quirks and peculiarities, especially Liz with her slightly Geek y persona. Pete, who seems to function primarily as Liz's confidant, does not often have a large role and there have so far been two episodes in which he does not appear. Most episodes include one or two Subplot s that do not involve Liz, although there are some (" Tracy Does Conan ", " The Baby Show ", etc.) in which she becomes entangled in all the plotlines. The first few episodes of season one mainly involved Liz trying to keep Jack from meddling with her show, but, as the season progressed, the character of Jack Donaghy became less villainous and the show became more focused on its characters' Personal Lives . The origin of this shift can be traced to " Jack Meets Dennis " in which Jack decides to "mentor" Liz and she reluctantly agrees when she finds she has no better alternative. By this point, Jack seems to have gained some respect for Liz's writing abilities and has apparently ceased trying to alter ''TGS''. Nevertheless, ''30 Rock'' continues to Satirize the Commercialism of the television industry. The show seems to strive for Verisimilitude . Its titular setting is the headquarters of General Electric subsidiary NBC, which produces ''30 Rock'' in real life, and the show frequently references the fact that its characters work for these companies. Episodes are set more-or-less around the time that they air (for example, the date is given as January 17 , 2007 in " The Head And The Hair ", which aired on January 18 ). ''30 Rock'' also contains frequent references to contemporary events. For example, when Liz became obsessed with firing her romantic rival in "The Fighting Irish", she and Pete discussed Lisa Nowak 's attack on Colleen Shipman. Like the other three sitcoms in NBC's Thursday-night lineup ('' My Name Is Earl '', '' The Office '' and '' Scrubs ''), ''30 Rock'' uses a Single-camera Setup and does not have a Laugh Track . The show features a Jazz y score that heightens comical moments. The music is composed by Fey's husband Jeff Richmond , who is also a producer for ''30 Rock'' and appears in some episodes as TGS's piano player. Four episodes (" Pilot ", " Jack-tor ", " Hard Ball " and " Cleveland ") included short original Song s, two of which were performed by Jane Krakowski (Krakowski is a Singer in addition to an Actress ). Unlike most television shows set in New York City, including respectively. CHARACTERS Although Fey's Liz Lemon is clearly 30 Rock's main character and its dramatic center, the show boasts a large Ensemble Cast . Thus far, Fey, Baldwin, Morgan and Friedlander are the only actors to appear in every episode, though Friedlander didn't have any lines in " Hiatus ". with the title characters of the episode " The Head And The Hair "]] ing event in " The C Word "]]
Rachel Dratch's characters Rachel Dratch , also an ''SNL'' alumna, portrays various roles according to the scripts' needs. Characters played by her have included:
NOTABLE GUEST STARS The show's first season featured numerous guest stars, appearing as themselves and as characters. Although '' Appearing as themselves
Appearing as characters
EPISODES AND U.S. RATINGS Seasonal USA TV Ratings Based on average total viewers per episode of ''30 Rock'': The show is set to return for its second season on October 4. {Link without Title} Weekly In the following summary, " Rating " is the percentage of all households with televisions that tuned to the show, and " Share " is the percentage of all televisions ''in use at that time'' that are tuned in. Unless otherwise cited, the overnight rating and share information comes from Zap2It4 The following week, the numbers are updated with the final Nielsen numbers from TVWeek.com.6 Additional ratings information, including the 18–49 rating, comes from BroadcastingCable.7 Viewer numbers and rank numbers come from Google Groups.8 DVR ratings On December 29 2006 , Nielsen Media Research reported the results of having, for the first time, monitored viewers who use a Digital Video Recorder to pre-record shows for later viewing. According to the Nielsen numbers, ''30 Rock'' had the fifth-largest increase (viewers who use a DVR to record the show and then watch it within a week of its initial airing). According to Nielsen, ''30 Rock'' adds nearly 7.5% to its total audience every week as a result of these "live plus seven" viewers.9 Ratings among the affluent A report from MAGNA Global , based on Nielsen Media Research data about viewership ranked by among adults 25–54, shows that as of the time of the report ''30 Rock'''s viewers have a median income of $65,000, high enough to place the show tied at 11th in affluence with several other shows. This is during a period where for the season ''30 Rock'' is tied at No. 85 in the 18–49 demographic.10 CRITICAL RECEPTION In its fall 2006 preview of new shows, '': "We're very high on {Link without Title} . He's obviously the breakout performer on the series. We like him, the network likes him, viewers like him, everybody likes him." On December 22 the '' The Wall Street Journal '' cited ''30 Rock'' as the one comedy that, along with two dramas, was evidence that "this year's lineup yields the strongest signs yet that some sort of life force is returning to network television after years of absence." It added that "the show grows sharper weekly, more hilariously assured in its wild satiric reach," calling it a "wildly funny enterprise." In its 2006 year end issue, '''' wrote that NBC's "Thursday night comedy block—made up of '' My Name Is Earl '', '' The Office '', ''Scrubs'', and ''30 Rock''—is consistently the best night of prime time viewing for any network."http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/526251.html On February 14 2007 , '' Entertainment Weekly '' published an updated review of ''30 Rock'', giving the show an "A".http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20011875,00.html On February 28 2007 , Tim Goodman in the San Francisco Chronicle called: "''30 Rock'', the funniest sitcom of the new season and a show that has made a startling creative growth from its pilot to where it is now," adding "''30 Rock'' is not to be missed. {Link without Title} this could be the beginning of the next great sitcom."http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/28/DDGDEOBS0H17.DTL PRODUCTION Crew Producers :Executive producers: Tina Fey, Joann Alfano , Marci Klein , David Miner and Lorne Michaels :Co-executive producers: Robert Carlock , Brett Baer , Dave Finkel , Jack Burditt and John Riggi :Supervising producer: Adam Bernstein :Producers: Jerry Kupfer and Jeff Richmond :Co-producers: Irene Burns , Matt Hubbard and Margo Myers Other crew :Directors: Don Scardino , Adam Bernstein , Gail Mancuso , Michael Engler and Beth McCarthy :Writing staff: Brett Baer , Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon , Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Dave Finkel , Daisy Gardner , Donald Glover , Matt Hubbard and John Riggi :Original music: Jeff Richmond :Editors: Ken Eluto and Doug Abel :Cinematographers: Vanja Cernjul , Tom Houghton and Michael Trim :Production designers: Keith Raywood and Teresa Mastropierro :Art direction: Loren Weeks and Fred Kolo :Set decoration: Jennifer Greenberg :Costume designer: Tom Broecker :Casting: Jennifer McNamara Background Four years before its premiere, Fey pitched the show that would become ''30 Rock'' to NBC as a sitcom about Cable News . NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly felt, in the words of '' Time '', that "Fey was using the news setting as a fig leaf for her own experience and encouraged her to write what she knew."[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1535853,00.html The show was subsequently reworked to revolve around an ''SNL''-esque show. The show underwent several changes during the months leading up to and following its debut. A May 2006 press release mentioned that sketches from ''The Girlie Show'' would be made available in their entirety on NBC's broadband website, DotComedy.com.11 This aspect of the series was abandoned prior to its debut. Originally, Rachel Dratch , Fey's longtime comedy partner and fellow ''SNL'' alumna, was to portray Jenna, whose surname was DeCarlo at that time. Dratch played the role in the show's original pilot, but in August 2006, Krakowski was announced as Dratch's replacement, with Dratch remaining involved in the show playing various characters.http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-janekrakowskijoins30rock,0,1779072.story Additionally, Jenna's last name was changed to Maroney. Fey attributed the need for the change to the role itself, one Fey called a "straight-ahead acting part" better suited for Krakowski; Fey said she and Dratch "were both very excited about this new direction. is so delightful when she's deep in character and she's going to be playing a range of different characters."http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/2006/10/08/1978793-cp.html "I think it's something that'll help the show be unique. And I think it brings a little sketch sensibility into a show where you're not going to see sketches."http://www.avclub.com/content/node/54729 An interview with Dratch revealed that she would appear in at least six episodes (she ended up appearing in eleven first-season episodes) and confirmed the reason for the change: I think the big thing was—at least what they told me—that at first they wanted to have more comedy sketches in the show. Then they decided they weren’t going to focus on the sketches, so they needed more of a sitcom actress, as opposed to a character actress....That’s the party line, at least—it’s what I can tell my parents! Broadcast history The changes prior to the debut did not help the show's early ratings. The " (the second episode) were down 21 percent.http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_8013.asp Although the second episode's ratings were revealed on the same day that NBC announced plans to replace expensive scripted shows in the 8–9pm time slot with reality series and game shows,http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=adnD7teOTjhg the network demonstrated an apparent confidence in the series a week later, announcing a new time slot for the show (Thursdays at 9:30pm ET) beginning in mid-November. The move helped reestablish a two-hour block of comedies on an evening NBC once promoted as Must See TV . The began, the show's Fourth Episode attracted 4.61 million viewers in its fourth week, making it 85th in Nielsen's prime-time television rankings.http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-tvratingstext8nov08,0,364549.story after a brief run during which it never entered the BBM Nielsen top 30.http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/artslife/story.html?id=719b0999-5265-4342-bace-c83a7d26ef2a&k=87589 CTV has since re-added the show to its lineup on Sundays at 8:30pm ET. NBC waited until episode continued its rise, drawing 6.8 million viewers and attracting its highest 18–49 demographic, 3.2. On , competing against new episodes of ''CSI'' (" Sweet Jane ") and ''Grey's Anatomy'' (" Six Days, Part 2 "), attracted 5.04 million viewers, the fewest since the beginning of the November 2006 sweeps, and 80th in Nielsen rankings.http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et-tvratingstext24jan24,0,184006.htmlstory On February 2 NBC announced that ''30 Rock'' would take a six-week break after the March 8 episode so the network can test out '' Andy Barker P.I. ''. Zap2it.com (02-02-07) Then on 2007 . Zap2it.com (03-12-07) On April 4 2007 it was announced that 30 Rock had been renewed for a full second season of 22 episodes. Yahoo News (04-05-07) The following day (, 2007 Following the negative publicity resulting from , Fey stated that Baldwin would be voluntarily returning for the second season and denied rumors, reported by '' In Touch Weekly '', that Baldwin had made her cry on set. "Fey: Baldwin voluntarily returns to 'Rock'" On , 2007 episode will fall into the designated week. {Link without Title} On July 19 , 2007 , ''30 Rock'' earned ten Emmy nominations, the second-most of any comedy series (after Ugly Betty , with eleven), including Best Comedy, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Writing. Already it has won one of its ten nominations, that of Best Guest Starring Actress in a Comedy series (Elaine Stritch for Hiatus ). From EMMY.org (September 8, 2007) DVD release On with Fey. "Cover Art & Commentaries for Season 1" REFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES TO OTHER MEDIA ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'' Early conflict ''30 Rock'' was one of two shows on the '' Kevin Reilly , then president of NBC Entertainment, was supportive of Fey, describing the situation as a "high-class problem": Evidence of the overlapping subject matter between the shows (as well as the conflict between them) is the fact that Sorkin asked . And then Trio got canceled." Fey wound up "winning" over "the most powerful writer on television" when ''Studio 60'' was canceled after one season and ''30 Rock'' was renewed for a second. Though ''30 Rock'''s first-season ratings proved lackluster and were lower than those of ''Studio 60'', ''Studio 60'' drew increasingly mixed reviews and proved to be more expensive to produce. ''30 Rock'', on the other hand, attracted increasingly positive reviews and experienced less viewer fallout. Jokes and references ''30 Rock'''s crew have often made jokes about the similarity with ''Studio 60''. For example, one early promo for ''30 Rock'' portrayed Alec Baldwin mistakingly thinking he would meet Sorkinhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=yIPTJPXdl0w and, when asked on her "Ask Tina" space what she thought of criticism ''30 Rock'' got, Fey jokingly replied that people who didn't like it were probably confusing it with ''Studio 60''. At least three ''30 Rock'' episodes have subtly parodied ''Studio 60'':
However, none of ''30 Rock'''s producers have given ''Studio 60'' any serious criticism, positive or negative. In a November 1 , 2006 interview, Fey said she'd seen the first two episodes of ''Studio 60''. When asked what her impressions were, she jokingly replied, "I can't do Impressions of Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry ." {Link without Title} The producers of ''Studio 60'' have made no official comments about ''30 Rock''. ''That Girl'' and ''Mary Tyler Moore'' Critics have often compared ''30 Rock'' to '' and is much less upbeat. The Title Sequence used in 30 Rock's pilot (which was not used in later episodes) was stylistically reminiscent of the opening sequences to ''That Girl'' and ''Mary Tyler Moore''. A promotional video included on NBC's ''30 Rock'' website depicts a Montage Sequence of Liz struggling at romance while an updated version of "Love is All Around" (the same version featured in '' Mary And Rhoda '' plays in the background.[http://www.nbc.com/30_Rock/video/#mea=147821 ''Star Wars'' ''30 Rock'' contains frequent references to the '' Star Wars '' series. It has been established that Liz Lemon is a ''Star Wars'' fan.
''3rd Rock from the Sun'' The show's name is similar to ''3rd Rock'', the commonly used short title for ''.http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117957465.html?nav=globes Tracy Morgan and Elaine Stritch appeared on both shows. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTERS ''30 Rock'' is broadcast on the following stations around the world. Stations are listed in the order in which ''30 Rock'' first premiered on them. AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS REFERENCES AND FOOTNOTES EXTERNAL LINKS
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