Every week we can be guaranteed that Tina Fey and the people at30 Rock will make fun of NBC in some way, whether it's product placement or The Jay Leno Show or last night's line about the green NBC peacock in the corner of the screen. Fey also isn't shy about dumping on NBC when she's away from the show either.
The other night she gave a speech at an Ad Council meeting at the Waldorf in New York. Her barbs were mostly about NBC's ratings, including pointing out that "NBC is sadly the fourth-place network. Actually we're in ninth place if you count the radio stations ahead of us right now." She also suggested that if the 1200 people in the audience watched NBC for just one night there would be a huge jump in the ratings.
I've been wondering what will happen if and when Comcast takes over NBC. Will they still have the HQ at 30 Rock? Will the show still be called 30 Rock? Fey suggested a new title: Industrial Park on the Schuyikill River.
(S04E06) "Oh brother. Are they really going to do something this year or just put that stupid green peacock in the corner of the screen?" - Liz, about NBC's Green Week
OK, I think we can all agree that this was one of the more disgusting episodes of 30 Rock. It's one thing to have Frank be really gross; we've seen that in previous episodes (the burping, the tank tops, the porn). But now we find out that he's urinating into jars in his office? I think that's officially holy crap disgusting, even if it does eventually help the Earth and give Jack flowers for his office.
It was also one of the least funny in a while, though that doesn't mean it didn't have its moments.
(S04E05) "He looks like all the guys in my magazines!" - janitor, about Danny
Another week, another "30 Rock isn't as good as it used to be" article. This one is from The Atlantic, of all places. The gist is this: "30 Rock used to be funny, but now it's not!" The Onion thinks so, too.
Oh, that's such crap.
I was talking to Joel about this earlier this week, and while it's probably true that the show doesn't have that "new car smell" anymore, so what? It isn't like the show is halfway through it's first season and it has fallen apart, the show is in its fourth season and it's still strong. This show has more jokes (and funny jokes) in one episode than most sitcoms have in six episodes. In fact, tonight's episode had more jokes before the opening credits than most shows have in six episodes.
And ladies, if you date a guy who doesn't think 30 Rock is still great? That's a dealbreaker.
Like most National Football League teams, the Kansas City Chiefs spend their free time creating parodies of NBC Thursday night comedies. So far they've done The Office (below) and 30 Rock (after the jump - warning: it plays automatically).
I don't know how funny these are, but they're well produced and cast. Which one do you think is better?
The poetry posts continue. OK, specifically, it's haikus this time. Jonathan, Jack Donaghy's assistant on 30 Rock, has always had a crush on his boss (remember the episode where he made the collage after Jack was demoted?), and in this web exclusive we find out how deep his feelings go. Love the Bluetooth while he's performing.
By the way, have you noticed that Jack has had a few different assistants over the past few seasons?
(S04E04) "That's what I'm talking about, empathy. It's about as useless as the Winter Olympics. This February on NBC." - Jack
Could this be the end of the "new TGS cast member" storyline on 30 Rock this season? Will the robot guy work out well or will he turn out to be a nightmare and Liz will have to find a replacement for him? I'm curious to see if this ends the storyline and they just use robot guy as a visual joke for the rest of the season, the cast member who is always in metallic makeup and never says a word. Or maybe he'll turn out to be someone brilliant and that will mean more jealousy and paranoia for Jenna and/or Tracy. I guess we'll have to wait and see where they go with it.
Well, we know that the singers from Glee were not welcomed into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade thanks to NBC's territorial attitude. Still, that doesn't mean we won't be watching on Turkey Day. NBC, in fact, will feature one of their own prominently that morning -- 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski will be singing an original song on a float.
It will not be a typical Jenna floppola, either. It's a song being written by the Emmy nominated team of Wesley Whatley and William Schermerhorn. And in case you don't know, Jane's a Tony-winning star who is not only hilarious as Jenna, but a really fine singer/dancer/actress.
That's not all. Alan Cumming is also set to perform in the parade, and it sounds like a doozy, too. He'll sing the Sinatra classic, "That's Life" on the M&M float. What the song, Cumming and Sinatra have to do with M&M candies is anyone's guess.
The ongoing plot this season on 30 Rock is the search for a new cast member for TGS. A certain NBC personality guest stars on tonight's episode to audition for Liz, which brings back memories of when she auditioned for commercials years earlier.
[Watch clips and episodes of 30 Rock and other shows at SlashControl.]
Allison already gave you the news that James Franco is going to guest star on 30 Rock, and now Kristin over at E! has done a little detective work and has news about another casting coup for the NBC show (possible spoilers follow).
An E! correspondent talked to Alec Baldwin on the red carpet at an Elle party and Baldwin told her that he's getting a new love interest on the show. When asked who, he wouldn't say, but looked around and said it was someone who was near to them.
Wouldn't you love to know who's giving actor James Franco career advice these days? I'm not knocking him or her, but I'd love to figure out the strategy. Or maybe this is just Franco being Franco (like Manny being Manny, for you baseball fans out there)?
James has just started filming his two-month arc on General Hospital -- check out the first pic (right) -- and now Michael Ausiello reports that James Franco will do a guest spot on 30 Rock.
How's that for a career trajectory -- from box office bonanza (Spider-Man) to Oscar feature (Milk) to daytime soap (General Hospital) to Emmy-winning sitcom (30 Rock). He's like a human pinball machine looking for a perfect score!
Choosing these two guys, however, is not complicated. It's actually pretty damn clever. Both men are very funny, very comfortable in the moment -- a necessity for a complicated show like the Oscars when anything can go wrong -- and they bring a lot of good will and star power to the proceedings.
(S04E03) "I met JJ Abrams once, and I don't know what this means, but he said that the island was just Hurley's dream." - Jenna
In a typical 30 Rock episode, not all of the plots always work. While the A plot will be great, B and C will be lame. If A and B are great, then C will be lame. If A and C are great, B will be lame. Sometimes A is great and B is fair, but C will be really unnecessary and forced. Sometimes there will just be an A and it's great, and there will be dashes of B and C. I don't know where I'm going with this because I was terrible at algebra.
Oh yeah: tonight A, B, and C all clicked, and that made for a very good 30 Rock.
I'm sure that Halloween isn't the main focus of tonight's episode of 30 Rock (Liz and Jack going to Kenneth's hometown to audition people for TGS is), but this clip flashes back to a party from last year that Frank, Lutz, and Toofer had. I'm trying to remember if 30 Rock did a Halloween show last year and if this contradicts it.
Rules are meant to be broken... especially for these ten television characters. For them, the rest of the world has one standard to live by and they have another. It makes them interesting and fun to watch... you just wouldn't necessarily want to be the person having to deal with them because they could drive you to distraction. Here's my ten pack of characters who live in a world of their own, according to no rules except their own. From the not-too-bad to the really bad.
10. Patrick Jane, The Mentalist
You would think that as a consultant to the CBI -- California Bureau of Investigation -- Patrick Jane would be compelled to uphold the rules and regulations of the department. However, Jane is a free spirit when it comes to office protocol. He does his own thing. For instance, bugging the office of a CBI higher-up is definitely not kosher. Jane doesn't care; he did it anyway and will probably get away with it.
As my Thursday afternoon time slot to interview Tracy Morgan came closer, I knew I was in for an interesting twenty minutes. As most people have seen and heard over the years, interviewing Tracy is an amusement park ride that even Busch Gardens couldn't conceive. He's blunt. His emotions rise and fall quicker than a roller coaster. And you never know what he's going to say.
When I got to talk to him, he had been interviewing all day in support of his surprisingly emotional and inspirational memoir I Am The New Black, and he was tired. But there was a lot of stuff I wanted to ask him about, only some of which involved his well-publicized smackdowns of SNL co-stars Cheri Oteri and Chris Kattan. There was also his criticism of David Israel and Jim O'Doherty, the creators of The Tracy Morgan Show, and just the general details about his rough upbringing in the Bronx and Brooklyn in the '70s and '80s. Tracy didn't disappoint.
So, buckle up folks, and get ready for a fun ride. Audio and a transcript is after the jump.
Every week we can be guaranteed that Tina Fey and the people at 30 Rock will make fun of NBC in some way, whether it's product placement or The Jay Leno Show or last night's line about the green NBC peacock in the corner of the screen. Fey also isn't shy about dumping on NBC when she's away from the show either.
(S04E06) "Oh brother. Are they really going to do something this year or just put that stupid green peacock in the corner of the screen?" - Liz, about NBC's Green Week
Well, we know that the singers from Glee were not welcomed into the 
Allison already gave you the news that 
Wouldn't you love to know who's giving actor 
The 
As my Thursday afternoon time slot to interview 
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
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Let's talk about spoilers ...
