30 Rock

This article is about the TV series. For the skyscraper located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, see GE Building.

30 Rock
Created by	Tina Fey
Starring	Tina Fey Alec Baldwin Tracy Morgan Jane Krakowski Jack McBrayer Scott Adsit Judah Friedlander Katrina Bowden Keith Powell Lonny Ross
Theme music composer	Jeff Richmond
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	28 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Lorne Michaels Tina Fey Joann Alfano Marci Klein David Miner
Production locations	New York City, New York, USA
Camera setup	Single-camera setup
Running time	21 minutes (without commercials)
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	October 11, 2006 – present

30 Rock is an Emmy Award-winning American sitcom that debuted on NBC 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, home of NBC's New York City headquarters and studios. 30 Rock is a workplace comedy set in that building; it follows the cast and crew of a fictional SNL-esque sketch comedy called TGS with Tracy Jordan.

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. Starting with season two, Katrina Bowden as Cerie, Keith Powell as James "Toofer" Spurlock, and Lonny Ross as Josh Girard also became series regulars.

In the show's first year, it ranked a low #102 in the Nielsen Ratings but managed to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. In her acceptance speech, Fey jokingly thanked "our dozens and dozens of viewers" for supporting the show.

Overview

See also: List of 30 Rock episodes

Typically, the main story arc in each episode centers on Liz and her attempts to steer the show through one crisis or another while she struggles with her social life. 30 Rock typically features Liz and TGS's producer Pete Hornberger as the "straight" or "sane" ones who must deal with the show's cast of eccentric characters.

Its titular setting is a fictional version of the headquarters of General Electric subsidiary NBC, based on the real life NBC broadcasting company (which produces 30 Rock in real life). 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 jazzy 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", "Cleveland", "Seinfeld Vision" and "Jack Gets In The Game") included short original songs, three of which were performed by Jane Krakowski (Krakowski is a singer in addition to an actress). The episode "Cleveland" also popularized the now widely used nickname "The Cleve" for the city, after Alec Baldwin's character quipped, "We'd all like to flee to the Cleve".

Unlike most television shows set in New York City, 30 Rock is actually filmed in the city. Although establishing shots of 30 Rock are often repeated, outdoor scenes are filmed on location at Rockefeller Center or in other parts of New York City. Most of the indoor scenes are filmed at Silvercup Studios in Queens. In "Cleveland" and "Hiatus", Battery Park City, Manhattan and Douglaston, Queens doubled for Cleveland, Ohio and Needmore, Pennsylvania respectively.

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.

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 clichés (alternately avoiding and embracing them) has been one of 30 Rock's hallmarks.

Characters

Although Fey's Liz Lemon is clearly 30 Rock's main character and its dramatic center, the show also has an ensemble cast. Fey, Baldwin, and Morgan are the only actors to appear in every episode.

File:30 Rock season 1 epiosode 11.jpg

Liz (Fey) and Jenna (Krakowski) aboard an elevator with the title characters of the episode "The Head and the Hair"

File:30 Rock season 1 epiosode 14.jpg

Tracy (Morgan), Jack (Baldwin) and Kenneth (McBrayer) at a golfing event in "The C Word"

• Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) — The protagonist of the series, Liz is the head writer of TGS. She spends a great deal of time and energy trying to maintain her show's artistic integrity or, at the very least, keep it running. Consequently, she has a very sparse and unsuccessful social life and is especially a failure when it comes to dating.
• Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) — Jack is Liz's unctuous, business-minded boss and his attempts to commercialize TGS can put him at odds with her. Nevertheless, Jack often looks out for her and he appreciates her creative abilities. Jack's title is "Executive Vice President for East Coast Television and Microwave Programming" with General Electric.
• Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) — A popular, unpredictable, low-brow movie star/comedian who is hired, at Jack's insistence, to be the new star of TGS. Tracy seems to be at least mildly insane, but his attempts to maintain his "crazy" image in the public eye go well beyond whatever level of actual mental derangement he suffers from. The other characters often strive to keep him under control.
• Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) — The female lead of TGS and a long-time friend of Liz. Jenna seems to be considerably less intelligent than Liz and she is often portrayed as being a dumb blonde. Jenna's acting career outside of TGS is implied to not be doing well and she is therefore often on edge. Liz often acts as her rock.
• Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer) — A young Southern-born NBC page at the studio where the show is filmed. Kenneth is not particularly bright, but he is always very cheerful and friendly. He is extremely pleased with his menial job since he loves television so much. His innocence is at times suspect, and in one episode, Jack deadpans: "In five years, we'll either be working for him... or be dead by his hand."
• Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit) - The show's producer and often Liz's confidant. A friendly-but-not-too-friendly, married-but-not-blind, middle-aged-but-not-at-all-old man, he is the most "normal" and "sane" character on the show.
• Frank Rossitano (Judah Friedlander) - A childish, sarcastic and quick-witted writer for the show. He always wears a trucker hat, with a different short phrase in every scene; e.g., "EXTRA CHEESE" OR "1,000,000 POINTS."
• Cerie (Katrina Bowden) (Season Two-, recurring previously) - A sexy and attractive receptionist for The Girlie Show. Cerie sometimes wears revealing outfits to work, has no interest in television, and is often portrayed as clueless. Her life's ambition is to be a "young hot mom" and "marry rich and then design handbags." One story arc involves her upcoming marriage to the unseen Arus.
• James "Toofer" Spurlock (Keith Powell) (Season Two-, recurring previously) - An uptight, straight-laced, sarcastic writer for the show. He generally writes for Tracy, but is constantly at odds with his stereotypical portrayals. Toofer is so named because he is African American and from Harvard, supposedly a "two-for-one" deal.
• Josh Girard (Lonny Ross) (Season Two-, recurring previously) - A juvenile, not-too-bright actor and writer on the show. Josh is known mostly for his impressions. He was the male star of the show before Tracy was hired.
• Minor characters - There are many notable recurring characters on the show, principally Dr. Leo Spaceman (Chris Parnell), Jonathan (Maulik Pancholy), Grizz (Grizz Chapman), and Dot Com (Kevin Brown).

Rachel Dratch's characters

Rachel Dratch, also an SNL alumna, portrays various roles according to the scripts' needs. Characters played by her have included:

• Greta Johanssen, TGS's cat wrangler, in "Pilot", "The Baby Show" and "The C Word"
• Maria, a Hispanic maid, in "The Aftermath"
• Elizabeth Taylor in "Jack Meets Dennis"
• "Blue Dude", a hallucination seen by Tracy and later Liz, in "Tracy Does Conan"
• Pamela Smew, a group therapist in charge of sensitivity training, in "The Break Up"
• Barbara Walters in "The Rural Juror"
• Vlem, a trashy prostitute, in "Up All Night"
• Martha Blanch, a right-wing activist, in "Hard Ball"
• Dr. Beauvoir, Liz's doctor, in "Hiatus"

Notable guest stars

The show's first season featured numerous guest stars, appearing as themselves and as characters. Although Jerry Seinfeld appeared in the second season premiere, Fey plans to cut back on the use of guests:

I would really like to try to live in the world of the characters we've created for a little bit. We had a lot of great guest stars last year, but I also feel like there's a lot we could explore with the characters that we have. And I'd like to leave a little breathing room in the show, to let viewers keep up a little. I feel like sometimes it was a little too dense, the shows last year. In a way, [it was] the thing that made Arrested Development so great, but I wonder if it will help new viewers come to the show if it's a little less packed.

Appearing as characters

• Jason Sudeikis as Floyd ("Up All Night", "The Source Awards", "The Fighting Irish", "Fireworks", "Corporate Crush", "Cleveland", "Hiatus")
• Dean Winters as Dennis Duffy ("Jack Meets Dennis", "Tracy Does Conan", "The Break Up")
• Emily Mortimer as Phoebe ("Corporate Crush", "Cleveland", "Hiatus")
• Will Arnett as Devon Banks ("Fireworks", "Jack Gets in the Game")
• Isabella Rossellini as Bianca Donaghy ("Black Tie", "Up All Night")
• Rip Torn as Don Geiss ("The C Word", "Corporate Crush", "Jack Gets in the Game")
• Stephanie March as Gretchen Thomas ("Blind Date")
• Bob Wiltfong as Studio Executive ("The Rural Juror")
• Peter Hermann as Gray "The Hair" ("The Head and the Hair")
• Paul Reubens as Gerhardt Habsburg ("Black Tie")
• Will Forte as Tomas ("Black Tie")
• Sherri Shepherd as Angie Jordan ("Up All Night", "Jack Gets in the Game", "The Collection")
• Wayne Brady as Steven Black ("The Source Awards")
• LL Cool J as Ridikolous ("The Source Awards")
• Nathan Lane as Eddie Donaghy ("The Fighting Irish")
• Anna Chlumsky as Liz Lemler, a.k.a. "Other Liz" ("The Fighting Irish")
• Molly Shannon as Katherine Catherine ("The Fighting Irish")
• Sean Hayes as Jesse Parcell ("Hiatus")
• Elaine Stritch as Colleen Donaghy ("Hiatus")
• Steve Buscemi as Lem ("The Collection")
• Carrie Fisher as Rosemary Howard ("Rosemary's Baby")
• David Schwimmer as Jared a.k.a. Greenzo ("Greenzo")
• Edie Falco as Celeste "C.C." Cunningham, D - Vermont ("Somebody to Love", "Secrets and Lies")
• Fred Armisen as Raheem Haddad ("Somebody to Love")
• Kristen Wiig as Candace Van Der Shark in the Lifetime Movie "A Dog Took My Face, and Gave Me a Better Face to Change the World: The Celeste Cunningham Story" ("Somebody to Love")

Appearing as themselves

• Ghostface Killah ("Jack-tor", "The Source Awards")
• Conan O'Brien ("Tracy Does Conan")
• Chris Hansen ("The Break-Up")
• Whoopi Goldberg ("The Rural Juror")
• John McEnroe ("The Head and the Hair")
• Joy Behar ("Up All Night")
• Chris Matthews ("Hard Ball")
• Tucker Carlson ("Hard Ball")
• Maury Povich ("Fireworks")
• Al Roker ("Fireworks")
• Lester Holt ("Cleveland", footage reused in "Hiatus")
• Jerry Seinfeld ("Seinfeld Vision")
• Jackie Mason ("The Collection")
• Meredith Viera ("Greenzo")
• Al Gore ("Greenzo")

TGS with Tracy Jordan

30 Rock
File:TGS with Tracy Jordan.PNG The logo of The Girlie Show with Tracy Jordan.
Genre	Sketch Comedy
Created by	Liz Lemon Jenna Maroney
Starring	Tracy Jordan (2006 onwards) Jenna Maroney Josh Girard
Theme music composer	Jeff Richmond
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producer	Pete Hornberger
Production locations	Studio 6H, 30 Rockerfeller Plaza, New York City, New York
Original release
Network	NBC
Related
30 Rock (The show in which TGS is set within)

TGS with Tracy Jordan is the ficticious show-within-a-show attached to the situation comedy 30 Rock. TGS, is it is commonly known as, airs weekly on NBC.

The show was named The Girlie Show up until at most the 2005-2006 television season. The show then started the the ficticious performers Jenna Maroney and Josh Girard. This was until Jack Donaghy was assigned the position of network executive for the show, he encouraged Liz Lemon to hire the "straight up mentally ill" actor Tracy Jordan, he also fired the producer Pete Hornberger, Hornberger was later hired again. The change of adding Tracy Jordan to the cast was unwanted by many, mainly by the show creator-head writer-executive producer Liz Lemon and the main star Jenna Maroney. The Girlie Show was later renamed TGS with Tracy Jordan much to Liz Lemon's protest.

The show is loosely based on Tina Fey's experiences on the popular NBC sketch comedy, Saturday Night Live.

TGS is filmed live in Studio 6H inside of GE headquarters, 30 Rockerfeller Plaza.

Tracy Jordan's wife, Angie Jordan was once offered the role of a consulting producer but refused.

Crew

Producer: Pete Hornberger

Head Writer: Liz Lemon

Writing Staff: James Spurlock, Frank Rossitano, J.D. Lutz, Rachel Baze, Sue, Josh Girard and Rosemary Howard (One episode)

Writers' Assistant: Cerie

Network Exectutive: Gary^†, Jack Donaghy

Original Music: Jeff Richmond^‡

Costume Designer: Lee

• ^† Formerly
• ^‡ In the real world

Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards

Result	Category	Recipient
Won	Outstanding Writing In A Comedy Series	Liz Lemon

Other Awards

Year	Result	Award	Category	Recipient
2007	Won	GE Award	GE Followship Award	Liz Lemon

Episodes and U.S. ratings

Seasonal

USA TV Ratings

Based on average total viewers per episode of 30 Rock:

Season	Timeslot (EDT)	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)	18–49 (Rank)
1	Wednesday 8:00 P.M. (October 11, 2006 - November 1, 2006) Thursday 9:30 P.M. (November 16, 2006 - March 8, 2007) Thursday 9:00 P.M. (April 5, 2007 - April 26, 2007)	October 11, 2006	April 26, 2007	2006–2007	#102	5.8	2.7/7 (#74)
2	Thursday 8:30 P.M. (October 4, 2007 - )	October 4, 2007	N/A	2007–2008	N/A	N/A	N/A

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 Zap2it. The following week, the numbers are updated with the final Nielsen numbers from TVWeek.com. Additional ratings information, including the 18–49 rating, comes from BroadcastingCable. Viewer numbers and rank numbers come from Google Groups.

Season One

Episode #	Title	Air Date	Rating	Share	18–49	Viewers	Rank
1	"Pilot"	October 11 2006	5.4	9	2.9	8.13	#58
2	"The Aftermath"	October 18 2006	3.9	6	2.3	5.71	#66
3	"Blind Date"	October 25 2006	3.9	6	2.2	6.01	#73
4	"Jack the Writer"	November 1 2006	3.2	5	1.7	4.61	#85
5	"Jack-tor"	November 16 2006	3.2	5	2.3	5.19	#75
6	"Jack Meets Dennis"	November 30 2006	3.7	6	2.7	5.96	#72
7	"Tracy Does Conan"	December 7 2006	4.2	6	3.2	6.84	#57
8	"The Break Up"	December 14 2006	4.0	6	2.8	5.94	#64
9	"The Baby Show"	January 4 2007	3.9	6	3.0	5.82	#76
10	"The Rural Juror"	January 11 2007	3.8	6	2.9	6.10	#65
11	"The Head and the Hair"	January 18 2007	3.4	5	2.4	5.04	#80
12	"Black Tie"	February 1 2007	3.6	5	2.9	5.71	#69
13	"Up All Night"	February 8 2007	3.5	5	2.5	5.17	#85
14	"The C Word"	February 15 2007	3.3	5	2.4	5.01	#86
15	"Hard Ball"	February 22 2007	3.1	5	2.4	4.61	#84
16	"The Source Awards"	March 1 2007	3.5	5	2.7	5.74	#74
17	"The Fighting Irish"	March 8 2007	3.3	5	2.5	5.15	#83
18	"Fireworks"	April 5 2007	3.5	6	2.5	5.37	#68
19	"Corporate Crush"	April 12 2007	3.4	5	2.6	5.07	#74
20	"Cleveland"	April 19 2007	3.3	5	2.4	5.16	#73
21	"Hiatus"	April 26 2007	3.1	6	2.4	4.72	#74

Season Two

Episode #	Title	Air Date	Rating	Share	18–49	Viewers	Rank
1(22)	"Seinfeld Vision"	October 4 2007	4.8	7	3.4	7.38	#60
2(23)	"Jack Gets in the Game"	October 11 2007	4.2	7	3.0	6.61	#66
3(24)	"The Collection"	October 18 2007	3.9	6	2.6	6.27	#72
4(25)	"Rosemary's Baby"	October 25 2007	4.1	6	3.1	6.53	#69
5(26)	"Greenzo"	November 8 2007	4.1	6	3.1	6.61	#62
6(27)	"Somebody to Love"	November 15 2007	4.0	6	3.2	6.47	#64

DVR ratings

On December 29 2006, Nielsen Media Research (NMR) reported the results of having, for the first time, monitored viewers who use a digital video recorder to record shows for later viewing. NMR reported that 30 Rock adds nearly 7.5% to its total audience every week as a result of viewers who use a DVR to record the show and then watch it within a week of its initial airing.

Ratings among the affluent

A report from MAGNA Global, based on NMR 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.

Critical reception

In its fall 2006 preview of new shows, TV Guide named 30 Rock the best new comedy. After five episodes, Tom Shales of The Washington Post wrote that the series has "consistently and considerably improved since its premiere" and called it "refreshingly bright, sweet and, lest one forget, funny." He described Baldwin's performance as "rare and rich" and a "crazy joy to watch" and declared McBrayer "the show's brightest discovery," quoting executive producer Lorne Michaels: "We're very high on [McBrayer]. He's obviously the breakout performer on the series. We like him, the network likes him, viewers like him, everybody likes him."

In its 2006 year end issue, Entertainment Weekly listed 30 Rock fourth on a list of ten best "Series of the Year." The show also appeared on similar year end "best of" 2006 lists in the New York Daily News, LA Weekly, and the New York Times. The Associated Press 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."

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. [...] this could be the beginning of the next great sitcom."

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

Assistant Editor: Alex Minnick

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

Sound Mixer: Griffin Richardson

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 [he] encouraged her to write what she knew." 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. 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. 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. 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. [Dratch is] so delightful when she's deep in character and she's going to be playing a range of different characters." "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." An interview with Dratch revealed that she would appear in at least six 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

Season one

The changes prior to the debut did not help the show's early ratings. The show's pilot episode attracted 8.13 million viewers, third in its time slot and 58th for the week. The ratings for "The Aftermath" (the second episode) were down 21 percent.

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, 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 third episode attracted 6.01 million viewers, making it 73rd in Nielsen's prime-time television in the U.S. As November sweeps 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.

CTV, which had broadcast the first four or five episodes in Canada, dropped the show effective November 30 after a brief run during which it never entered the BBM Nielsen top 30. CTV later re-added the show to its lineup on Sundays at 8:30pm ET, but moved the show to its secondary A-Channel system for the show's second season.

NBC waited until December 1 to commit to a full season of the show, announcing the commitment the day after the show followed Scrubs for the first time. The 30 November episode drew 6.6 million viewers, nearly a million more than the previously televised episode and only 1.5 million fewer viewers that the show's pilot. The increase in viewership occurred in spite of the show's new time slot, opposite the second halves of Grey's Anatomy and a repeat of CSI, two of the three most highly-rated scripted series of the November 2006 sweeps. The December 7 episode continued its rise, drawing 6.8 million viewers and attracting its highest 18–49 demographic, 3.2.

On January 17 NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly announced that he expected 30 Rock "to return next season"; the next day's episode, 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.

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..

Then on March 12 NBC announced that 30 Rock would return sooner than previously stated. On April 5 30 Rock returned for a 35 minute super-sized episode at (8:40pm ET) following a new episode of The Office. The following week 30 Rock moved to its new time at (9:00pm ET), where it finished the rest of the first season. The season finale aired on April 26 2007.

Between season one and two

On April 4 2007 it was announced that 30 Rock had been renewed for a full second season of 22 episodes.

The following day (April 5) Reilly explained that despite its so-so ratings even though it retained 80% of its lead-in, he notes that the renewal of 30 Rock demonstrates NBC's commitment to the series, plus he added that the decision to move it to the 9PM slot was due to having the show serve as a better lead-in for The Office than Scrubs: "There was some evidence that Scrubs while a qualitatively good match is not demographically necessarily the best flow for the show."

Following some negative publicity in his personal life, Baldwin announced his intentions to leave television the day after 30 Rock’s season finale. On June 4, Fey revealed that Baldwin had changed his mind and would be returning for the second season.

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. It won two Emmy awards on September 16 - Best Comedy Series and for Best Guest Starring Actress in a Comedy series (Elaine Stritch for Hiatus).

On September 4, 2007, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released 30 Rock - The Complete First Season on Region 1 DVD. The three disc collection includes all twenty-one episodes with subtitles in English and Spanish and with an anamorphic widescreen format. The DVD includes one audio commentary with Fey, as well as others.

Season two

The show began its second season on October 4, 2007 with a guest appearance by Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld's was criticized as using the appearance as a plug for his upcoming feature film Bee Movie. Seinfeld, NBC and GE stated that this was done as metahumor.

The show's writers, including Fey, ceased writing new episodes with the advent of the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike on November 5, 2007. Production ended due to lack of scripts on November 9.

On November 19, 2007, in the midst of the writer's strike, the actors staged a live performance of a yet-unaired script at the UCB Theater, a 150-seat black box in the basement of a supermarket, to raise money for the laid-off production assistants of the show. The event was called "30 Rock Live!" and featured improvised commercials and a live musical score.

References and similarities to other media

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Early conflict

Two shows debuting on 2006–07 NBC lineup, 30 Rock and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, revolved around the off-camera happenings on a sketch comedy series. Similarities between the two led to speculation that only one of them would be picked up. Baldwin said "I'd be stunned if NBC picked up both shows. And ours has the tougher task, as a comedy, because if it’s not funny, that’s it." Kevin Reilly, then president of NBC Entertainment, was supportive of Fey, describing the situation as a "high-class problem":

I just can't imagine the audience would look at both shows, choose one and cancel the other out. In some ways, why is it any different than when there have been three or four cop shows on any schedule, or Scrubs and ER, which are totally very different?

Evidence of the overlapping subject matter between the shows (as well as the conflict between them) is the fact that Aaron Sorkin, the Studio 60 creator, asked Lorne Michaels to allow him to observe SNL for a week, a request Michaels denied. Despite this, Sorkin sent Fey flowers and wished her luck with 30 Rock after NBC announced it would pick up both shows. Said Fey, "It's just bad luck for me that in my first attempt at prime time I'm going up against the most powerful writer on television. I was joking that this would be the best pilot ever aired on Trio. 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, then won the Emmy for best comedy series.

Jokes and references

30 Rock's crew have reportedly made jokes about the similarity with Studio 60. For example, one early promo for 30 Rock portrayed Alec Baldwin mistakenly thinking he would meet Sorkin 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:

• "Jack the Writer" contains a self-referencing walk and talk sequence, such sequences being commonly used on Studio 60.
• "Jack-tor" - Liz tries to quote global education statistics, only to mess up and realize that she doesn't know what she is talking about.
• "Jack Meets Dennis" - Liz says the upcoming show will be "worse than that time we did that Gillbert and Sullivan parody". The second episode of Studio 60, "The Cold Open," included a parody of the Major-General's Song on the show-within-the-show.

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."

That Girl and Mary Tyler Moore

Critics have often compared 30 Rock to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, with parallels especially being drawn between the relationship of Liz and Jack and that of Mary Richards and Lou Grant. It has also been compared to That Girl. Like That Girl and Mary Tyler Moore, 30 Rock is a sitcom centering on an unmarried, brunette career woman living in a big city where she works in the television industry.

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.

The Music Man

In the episode "Jack Gets in the Game", there are two references to Meredith Wilson's "The Music Man". Tracy mentioning that he was presented a key to the city of Gary, Indiana references the name of a song in the play. Later, a man at Don Geiss' home is identified as "Winthrop", a character in the show.

Variety Magazine

Around the sets set inside 30 Rock, many covers of a magazine named "Voracity" can be seen, mostly with image of cast members of TGS (For example, a cover featuring Tracy Jordan can be seen behind Jenna in the cold open of "The Baby Show"). This is a clear reference to the media magazine Variety.

Awards and nominations

Primetime Emmy Awards

Year	Result	Category	Recipient
2007	Nominated	Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series
2007	Nominated	Oustanding Directing for a Comedy Series	Scott Ellis for "The Break Up"
2007	Nominated	Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music	Jeff Richmond for "Hard Ball"
2007	Nominated	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Alec Baldwin
2007	Nominated	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series	Tina Fey
2007	Won	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series	Elaine Stritch for "Hiatus"
2007	Won	Outstanding Comedy Series
2007	Nominated	Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (half-hour) and Animation	for "Corporate Crush"
2007	Nominated	Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Robert Carlock for "Jack-tor"
2007	Nominated	Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Tina Fey for "Tracy Does Conan"

Other major television awards

Year	Result	Award	Category	Recipient
2007	Nominated	TV Critics Award	New Program of the Year
2007	Nominated	TV Critics Award	Achievement in Comedy
2007	Won	TV Critics Award	Individual Achievement in Comedy	Alec Baldwin
2007	Nominated	TV Critics Award	Individual Achievement in Comedy	Tina Fey
2007	Won	Gracie Allen Awards	Outstanding Female Lead in a Comedy Series	Tina Fey
2007	Nominated	GLAAD Media Awards	Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular gay character)	for "Blind Date"
2007	Nominated	Writers Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Comedy Series	Brett Baer, Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Dave Finkel, Daisy Gardner, Donald Glover, Matt Hubbard, John Riggi
2007	Nominated	Writers Guild of America Awards	Outstanding New Series	Brett Baer, Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Dave Finkel, Daisy Gardner, Donald Glover, Matt Hubbard, John Riggi
2007	Nominated	Directors Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series	Adam Bernstein, for the Pilot
2007	Won	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series	Alec Baldwin
2007	Won	Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical	Alec Baldwin
2007	Nominated	People's Choice Awards	Favorite New TV Comedy

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External links

• 30 Rock at TV Guide
• Full streaming episodes of 30 Rock ( only) at nbc.com
• Free full episodes of 30 Rock