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

New York Times:

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.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[MinnesotaWo]

08:05 PM on 10/13/2008

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]

05:00 PM on 10/13/2008

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

[3rdCitizen]

03:08 PM on 10/13/2008

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

[EllaBee]

01:12 PM on 10/13/2008

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]

02:35 PM on 10/13/2008

It is awfully uneven, isn't it.

[Cardinale18]

01:07 PM on 10/13/2008

True.

[mredder4]

09:51 AM on 10/13/2008

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]

09:17 AM on 10/13/2008

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]

09:42 AM on 10/13/2008

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

[Posterella]

10:39 AM on 10/13/2008

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]

12:01 PM on 10/13/2008

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!