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2007 Emmy Nominations

The 2007 Emmy nominations were announced moments ago.  Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live all received numerous nods.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (5 nominations)
* Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series
* Outstanding Cinematography ("Pilot")
* Outstanding Direction ("Pilot")
* Outstanding Guest Actor (John Goodman)
* Outstanding Guest Actor (Eli Wallach)

30 Rock (10 nominations)
* Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series
* Outstanding Comedy Series
* Outstanding Direction (The Breakup)
* Outstanding Guest Actress (Elaine Stritch)
* Outstanding Lead Actor (Alec Baldwin)
* Outstanding Lead Actress (Tina Fey)
* Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
* Outstanding Sound Editing
* Outstanding Writing ("Jack-Tor")
* Outstanding Writing ("Tracy Does Conan")

Saturday Night Live (3 nominations)
* Outstanding Directing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program (Alec Baldwin)
* Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics (D*ck in a Box)
* Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video For A Series (Alec Baldwin)

New Time Slot for 30 Rock

NBC's critically acclaimed but low-rated 30 Rock, currently on hiatus in place of new sitcom Andy Barker, P.I. (which debuts on March 15 at 9:30 p.m. ET), will be back earlier than expected and moving into a new time period, Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.

30 Rock will return with a “super-sized” episode on Thursday, April 5 at 8:40 p.m., followed by its official 9 p.m. debut on April 12. Last fall, 30 Rock launched Wednesday at 8 p.m., but was moved to Thursday at 9:30 p.m. four weeks into its run.

Andy Barker, P.I. will conclude its initial run on April 5 at 9:50 p.m. ET, while current Thursday 9 p.m. occupant Scrubs moves into the 9:30 p.m. half-hour on April 12.

Screen Actors Guild Winners

I know it sounds like I'm repeating myself, but congrats to former Saturday Night Live star Eddie Murphy and 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin for winning Screen Actors Guild awards at last night's ceremony.

Murphy won the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role award for his work in the movie Dreamgirls. 

Baldwin won for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series.

You can find a complete list of all the winners here.

Golden Globe Winners

Congrats to former Saturday Night Live star Eddie Murphy and 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin for winning Golden Globe awards at last night's ceremony.

Murphy won the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture award for his work in the movie Dreamgirls. 

Baldwin, in arguably the night's most competitive category, won for Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series.

You can find a complete list of all the winners here.

Have Alec Baldwin Call Your Friends

Remember when Samuel L. Jackson called you on the phone, yelling at you to go see his new movie Snakes on a Plane?  That worked well, didn't it?

NBC is hoping that this time the celebrity telemarketing scheme will pay off.  If you head over to this page, you can create a personalized message from 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin, and then "he" will call your friends and/or family to promote his show and then act creepy, telling them that he's calling from outside their bedroom window for example.

The site doesn't seem to work very well with Mozilla Firefox, so be aware that you might need to use Internet Explorer to get things up and running.

30 Rock Picked Up for a Full Season

Variety reports that following an encouraging perfomance Thursday night, NBC has picked up a full season of the Lorne Michaels series 30 Rock.

The show, which stars Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin, was the last remaining Peacock bubble series. While NBC brass liked the show creatively, execs wanted to see how it performed last night in its new 9:30 Thursday timeslot behind Scrubs.

Prelim Nielsen numbers have 30 Rock scoring its best adults 18-49 rating yet, up 25% from its week-ago numbers.

NBC has now ordered full seasons of all of its new shows, save for the canceled Kidnapped and 20 Good Years.

NBC orders more scripts for "30 Rock"

From Reuters:

NBC has ordered three additional scripts of freshman comedy 30 Rock, which got off to a lackluster start despite critical praise.

The order follows a three-script pickup the show received last month, bringing the total to six additional scripts.

Created by and starring Tina Fey, 30 Rock is set behind the scenes of a late-night sketch comedy show. Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski co-star. It was moved from Wednesday to Thursday last week and averaged just 5.2 million viewers for a 40-minute episode.

30 Rock is one of three Nielsen-challenged new NBC series that received an order for three more scripts last month. The other two, the dramas Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Friday Night Lights, have since been picked up for a full season.

Meanwhile, 30 Rock and ABC's drama The Nine are the only two freshman series whose fate is still up in the air.

Nine, which was a given an order for four additional scripts last month, is struggling in the Wednesday 10 p.m. time slot and looks unlikely to continue beyond its original order.

Free Episode of 30 Rock on iTunes

If you have an iPod, jet on over to iTunes to download a free episode of NBC's 30 Rock.  Better hurry though, it's a limited time offer.

The free episode is "Blind Date", episode 3 of the young comedy series.

Tina Fey Interview

The A.V. Club interviewed Tina Fey after the debut of her show 30 Rock (but before the announcement of the massive budget cuts unleashed by NBC).

The interview (which is fairly in-depth as opposed to most internet pieces), touches on Fey's background, her years at Saturday Night Live, working with Alec Baldwin, thoughts on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and potentially turning 30 Rock into a game show.

A choice excerpt:

AVC: Have you watched Studio 60?
TF: I've seen the first two episodes.

AVC: What are your impressions?
TF: I can't do impressions of Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry. [Pause.] A little joke. No, no impressions.

Sure it's a joke from Airplane II: The Sequel, but it still works.

Continue reading the Tina Fey interview...

Changes For 30 Rock Sooner Than Expected

NBC's low-rated new comedy Twenty Good Years is moving off the schedule earlier than previously planned.

Originally, the network was to keep its 8-9 p.m. Wednesday comedy block of 30 Rock and Twenty Good Years intact through next week. Now the network will air an extended two-hour edition of The Biggest Loser from 8-10 p.m. on November 8.

The news comes on the heels of the lowest-ever ratings for both comedies this past week, with a 1.8 rating/5 share among adults 18-49 for 30 Rock and a 1.5/4 for Years.

30 Rock is slated to move to Thursday beginning November 16.