It’s a pretty nifty trick Tina Fey and company have pulled off, putting a screwball comedy on TV – one that manages to capture current zeitgeist no less – in the middle of downward trending viewership and reality TV.
As often happens with TV shows that bend conventional formats, this one’s been called a critical success but hasn’t necessarily enjoyed great ratings.
As of February 2009, ‘30 Rock’ has been nominated for 79 different awards and won 27 of them, including 7 primetime Emmys and 5 Golden Globes.[1] Ms. Fey’s (frankly, hilarious) spoofs of Sarah Palin during the final months of the recent election season helped push her and the show out there, but as Emily Friedman of ABC News reports:
“While the third season of ‘30 Rock’ started off well, Neilsen Media Research estimates that the show garnered 8.7 million viewers for its Oct. 30 premiere, the program’s ratings have since slipped.”
Pretty much. The bottom line is that during the season to date, ‘30 Rock’ is the 69th ranked show in the primetime lineup.[2]
What the hell! It’s really good!
This week’s episode, ‘Generalissimo’ let Alec Baldwin’s hysterical abilities with mimicry loose again. Playing an actor playing a quasi dictator-general in a Mexican telenovela, he acts – with himself – playing his Jack Donaghy character. What? Go ahead, click the link above and check it out for free, courtesy of NBC.
Here’s another Alec Baldwin gem from last season’s, ‘Rosemary’s Baby’. Jack Donaghy’s channeling Tracy Jordan’s family members during a session with the, um, ‘NBC therapist’:
The show’s pretty damn good, though. Seriously, would Paul Reubens do a guest spot (as Gerhardt Habsburg in ‘Black Tie’) on something that wasn’t cool? And that was in its first season! And look, they’re not just amusing us here, they’re even amusing themselves. The current season episode with Jennifer Aniston was titled, ‘The One with the Cast of ‘Night Court’. Get it? That’s the way they used to title all the ‘Friends’ episodes!
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wakingupslowly
Judy Berman
Steve Blevins
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emma peel
spotted_mind
Salon.com
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is there a way to protest? i'll sign any petition or whatever. way to harsh my mellow, man. :)
love love love and gratitude for your wonderful friendship, comfort and understanding
Just to be clear, I haven’t heard any news that the show’s currently in danger of being cancelled. It’s just that various similar format programs were barely renewed for this season. CBS’s ‘How I Met Your Mother’ is one of them, and it’s ranked 44th as compared to the 69th ranking for ‘30 Rock’ during the same time frame. The point is, no matter how many awards it has, unless the ‘30 Rock’ ratings/viewership improve over the remainder of this season, it’s no guarantee that it’ll return next year.
Doesn't matter, the show fills a key demographic of 25+ working gals who watch slightly unconventional sitcoms. That's a huge market... I can't think of any others on NBC anyway. Alec is great but is he the only middle-aged comic actor who can play such a part? Seriously, that shouldn't be a problem. Don't women make most of the purchasing decisions these days? Advertisers would be fools not to see that.
And Brie – you’re the 2nd person to recommend that one to me. I’ll have to check it out now. Thanks for the tip.