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Studio 60 Gets Additional Scripts Order, 30 Rock Close

Four more new series -- ABC's Help Me Help You, The Nine and Men in Trees and NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip -- have received orders for additional scripts.

The ABC shows have been picked up for four more scripts, while Studio 60 -- a high-profile underperformer -- has been given an order for three.

In a stark contrast this year, aside from the two shows that already have been canceled -- CBS' Smith and NBC's Kidnapped -- virtually every other freshman show on the Big Four has received an order for additional scripts, including all the new Fox series: Vanished, Standoff, Justice, 'Till Death and Happy Hour, NBC's Friday Night Lights and Studio 60, ABC's The Nine and Help Me, with NBC's 30 Rock also close to an extra scripts pickup.

Continue reading "Networks hedge bets on new shows"...

NBC Remakes Two Hour Comedy Block

It seemed like common sense to a lot of us.  But it's been said that those with common sense don't work in television.

NBC is refocusing its Thursday night lineup to exactly what brought them the most success going back to when The Cosby Show ruled the airwaves.  That's right, they're going with sitcoms from 8pm-10pm.

Starting on November 30th, NBC's lineup on Thursdays will be My Name Is Earl at 8pm ET, The Office at 8:30pm ET, Scrubs at 9pm ET and 30 Rock at 9:30pm ET.  ER will follow at 10pm ET.

Two weeks earlier on Thursday, November 16, NBC will run special "supersized" 40-minute episodes of My Name Is Earl, The Office and 30 Rock.

This is especially good news for 30 Rock, which will now have the benefit of following three strong shows.

Continue reading "NBC Remakes Two Hour Comedy Block"...

Forget the Cheerleader — Save NBC

NBC is in big financial trouble these days.  The once proud network will be laying off workers and cutting scripted shows to a minimum, replacing them instead with mindless reality and game shows.

TVGuide.com has a list of suggestions on how to save the network.  Number six on the list is the only one that bothers me...

6. Kill SNL and its Progeny — Having two shows spoofing your own irrelevant late night show is painful enough. Studio 60, 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live should all go away. That means big cash savings, and lots of empty time slots to play with.

Continue reading "Forget the Cheerleader — Save NBC"... 

NBC Wednesday sitcoms get a beating

30 Rock might not be with us much longer.

According to an article in Media Life Magazine, last night's ratings for the second episode of the Tina Fey / Alec Baldwin sitcom dropped 21% from the show's already low debut ratings.  At the same time, NBC announced that they're refocusing their 8pm strategies, moving away from scripted entertainment and shifting to lower cost (and lower IQ) reality and game shows.

30 Rock finished fifth in its timeslot.

Continue reading "NBC Wednesday sitcoms get a beating"...

'30 Rock' Co-Star Rachel Dratch on Her So-Called Demotion

Rachel Rolls With It: The 30 Rock co-star on her so-called demotion, and what she tells her parents.
By Emma Rosenblum
New York Magazine

After seven years at Saturday Night Live, Rachel Dratch is, er, was, starring in Tina Fey’s NBC sitcom 30 Rock, which debuted last week. She spoke to Emma Rosenblum about her downsized role and why she’s not a Debbie Downer about it. (Wah-wah!)

Is it strange to watch SNL now?
Yeah, I went out with Chris Parnell and some friends when it’s been on—I have to make sure I have something really fun to do.

Yikes, didn’t Parnell just get fired?
I know! He’s handling it well.

How did you get involved in 30 Rock?
Tina told me there was a part for me in it, and I didn’t ask much since we’ve worked together for so long. I just sort of rode the wave—until they told me to get off the wave.

You mean how, after the pilot was made, they switched you from a lead role to playing a bunch of different characters?
Yeah, exactly.

What happened there?
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 very diplomatic.
Ha! Yes, I’m phrasing this all very nicely. That’s the party line, at least—it’s what I can tell my parents!

Were you pissed?
Well, when Tina told me I was going to play different characters each show, I was actually psyched about it, because it sounded really unique. But then the media kind of ran with this “demotion” thing, so that was kind of a bummer. But whatever, I’m over it.

How many episodes will you be in?
Six, but that’s a whole other thing. I was kind of like, Why do I only have six? But then I decided I shouldn’t open my trap too much, so I just left it at that.

What do you think of Studio 60?
What’s weird to me about it is that they’re so serious about comedy. In the real comedy world, no one’s like, “We’ve got to change people!”

What’s it like working with Alec Baldwin?
I haven’t really worked with him that much, except for when I was starring in that first pilot. Cough, cough.

From 'Saturday Night Live' To Wednesday Night Dead

By Lisa de Moraes
WashingtonPost.com

Another highly anticipated -- at least by critics -- new series fizzled Wednesday night.

"30 Rock," Tina Fey's much-ballyhooed "SNL" -ish comedy series, scared up only 8.1 million viewers in the third week of the new TV season.

NBC's other "SNL"-ish series, Aaron Sorkin's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," opened during Premiere Week to a crowd of 13.4 million, which was considered a disappointment.

We should note that "30 Rock" aired at 8 p.m., while "Studio 60" aired at 10, when more homes use television. Also, NBC hasn't tried comedy in Fey's 8 p.m. Wednesday time slot since, like, forever.

Oh wait, that's not my problem.

Only four new series on the four major networks opened to a smaller crowd so far this TV season than did Fey's.

They are NBC's sent-to-Saturday-to-die-with-dignity drama "Kidnapped" (7.6 million viewers), NBC's high school football drama "Friday Night Lights" (7.2 million), NBC's new old-guys sitcom "20 Good Years" (7.1 million), which premiered right after Fey's sitcom on Wednesday, and Fox's probably canceled "Happy Hour" (7 million).

Here's an interesting stat: While pundits expected the "20 Good Years" audience to skew very old, because it stars John Lithgow, who's very old (61 next week) by TV standards, and Jeffrey Tambor, who's even older (62), the median age of that show's premiere audience was just barely over 48 years, while the median age of "30 Rock" was just under 48 years -- 47.7 years, to be exact.

The median age of the "Studio 60" audience in its first broadcast was 48 years.

In fact, fully 17 percent of Fey's audience was 65 or older. So she might want to stop nicking "grandparents" over and over again in interviews, saying they're the only ones who are going confuse her "SNL" knockoff show with Sorkin's.

Fey finished third in her time slot among the 18-to-34-year-olds she covets, behind ABC's ballroom dancing and the CW's "America's Next Top Model."

Among 18-to-49-year-olds, "30 Rock" finished behind ABC's dance competition and even CBS's new the-sky-is-falling drama "Jericho," and that stars Gerald McRaney, for goodness' sake.

CBS celebrated by giving "Jericho," which also stars Skeet Ulrich, a full-season order.