from Defamer.com
Last month, Tina Fey announced that she was leaving SNL for her new NBC comedy "30 Rock" exec produced by SNL creator Lorne Michaels and also featuring Fey's castmate and friend Rachel Dratch, who was to play the star of the sketch show "The Girlie Show" around which the comedy is based. This week, that changed — twice.
From Wednesday's Variety:
Dratch was originally tapped to play Jenna DeCarlo, an actress on "The Girlie Show" -- the show-within-a-show on "30 Rock." But with the focus of "30 Rock" moving away from "The Girlie Show" and more toward the interaction among stars Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan, the show's exec producers decided to scrap Dratch's character.
Michaels told Variety that, instead, Dratch had been tapped to play a "wide variety of roles."
Cut to yesterday's Hollywood Reporter:
Jane Krakowski has joined the cast of NBC's upcoming comedy series "30 Rock." The former "Ally McBeal" actress will play the star of "The Girlie Show," a network variety show that serves as the backdrop for the workplace comedy, which stars Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin.
Krakowski is a Tony-winning actress and comedienne, so I'm sure she's a good choice, but it's hard to argue against Dratch's hilarity — or training — as an actual player on a sketch comedy show. For comedy fans who were excited about Rachel Dratch getting her shot in the spotlight, this is a real disappointment. It's also hard to overlook that she's being replaced by a babe-o-licious blonde. But it also makes sense, because for "30 Rock" to be credible it has to accurately portray the TV show it centers around — and, let's face it, a TV show is a helluva lot more likely to star that hot blonde. Which is, I guess, the point.
Krakowski to headline '30 Rock' [THR]
Dratch latched to multiple 'Rock' roles [Variety]
