"30 Rock" Debut Still Weeks Away, Despite Tina Fey's Stardom

With her three Emmy Awards, her ubiquitous American Express commercials, and especially her must-see Sarah Palin impersonations, Tina Fey is not just the hottest star on NBC; she is about the hottest star in show business at the moment.

So where is "30 Rock?" The hugely praised but ratings-challenged comedy has yet to return to NBC even as interest in its creator and star, Ms. Fey, has exploded. Several executives inside NBC asked last week why NBC's entertainment division was waiting until Oct. 30 to get "30 Rock" back on the air.

Ben Silverman, the co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, said, "If we knew then what we know today about how hot Tina was going to be, would we do it differently? Maybe," he said.

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Comments

[MinnesotaWo]

30Rock has got to be THE best sitcom (if you can call it that) on t.v.....regardless of what Miss Fey has done with the Palin situation (I call it a situation, because it makes me feel better). Fey, Jordon, Baldwin....they are SO totally funny, and great comedic actors (and Fey as a writer as well). And the dude that plays Kenneth (sorry for not knowing his name)!!!! OMG!!!! He has me laughing more than anyone!!! LOVE THAT SHOW!!!!!

Palin.....BLURG!!!!!!

[irishgawdess]

Instead of '30 Rock' on Thurs' we get 'SNL Weekend Update on Thursday'. Good trade-off there during election season, I'd say.

[3rdCitizen]

People in network television are making stupid decisions?! I'm shocked! Shocked!

[EllaBee]

SNL should take a lesson from 30 rock! They have a funny skit about the election, ratings are high, but the rest of the show sucks.

[patianneb]

It is awfully uneven, isn't it.

[Cardinale18]

True.

[mredder4]

I almost feel bad that TV network executives have to make blind planning decisions without advanced knowledge of things like star power and sudden popularity, but they do. That being said, adaptation is the key to survivaly, so maybe over the past two weeks some discussions should have been taking place about how to adapt to the new situation. Personally, I am raging that I have to put up with more bloated hour-long Earl and Office episodes, when all I want is 30 Rock! (Well, and Scrubs, but NBC fumbled that awesome show over the last several years and ABC appears to be picking it up and running with it, but that's another story.)

Time to synergize the backwards overflow, people!

[StanTheManic]

SMART NBC -- they don't want to release Tina Fey's unfunny [30 Rock] work while she's on a roll with some funny [SNL] work.

If not for Alec Baldwin and the dude who plays "Kenny" I could never make it through 30 Rock on Fey's virtues alone.

[mredder4]

You're so wrong it's painful. Funniest comedy on television right now.

[Posterella]

What's funny is subjective. I happen to think "Curb Your Enthusiasm" is much funnier. Also, watching Palin try to sound informed and experienced is also funnier.

[legoh]

Waaaaaaaaaay off mark here. 30 Rock rocks!!! Each of the characters adds a special quirkiness that makes it funniest thing on TV right now.

yaaaaay Tina Fey!

[whit4brains]

I disagree. I think the reason the show is so funny is because everyone in the cast brings something to the show. I love 30 Rock and can't wait to start watching it again.

[bas1311]

I agree with you, Stan. Baldwin and Kenny were both hilarious for a while but their characters are already getting old and the show has only been on a couple years. The rest of the show is pedestrian at best. It's better now than the pilot, which was the worst half-hour of sitcom I've ever seen, but it's certainly not good. It rises to the level of enjoyable at times and other times, it's just hard to get through.

[andvoodoo2]

I think "30 Rock" is the funniest show on network television.