from NBC.com
It's five minutes to the television premiere of NBC's "30 Rock," the new comedy from SNL's Tina Fey starring SNL's Tracy Morgan and SNL hosting stalwart (and HuffPo stalwart) Alec Baldwin plus SNL's Rachel Dratch in a show set on set of a fictious late-night variety show, not to be confused with that other NBC show set on set of a fictitious late-night variety show, both eerily similar to this late-night variety show. Coincidence? Obviously not but what's equally non-coincidental is that "30 Rock" is funny, sharp, and tons of fun; NBC put the pilot up online this weekend (it's here if you're computer-bound) and ETP clicked, saw, and enjoyed. It's amazing — with some actual airtime, Tracy Morgan is pretty damn hilarious. Who knew he had more in him than Astronaut Jones and Woodrow the guy who lived in a sewer? Watch in particular for UCB's Jack McBrayer as "Kenneth The Page" to break out but good.
In any case, Tina Fey has joined the ranks of the bloggerati here, hoping that you're going to be watching:
Hi, this is Tina Fey. I'm in New York at a little party we're having for our cast and crew. We're eating chicken wings and getting ready to watch the show and I hope you're doing the same. Especially the chicken wings part.
She wants you to know that she loves everyone in this cast — and she'll be back after the premiere to "answer your questions." So get 'em ready!
Ok it's on. Enjoy!
Update: "Five inches, but it's thick." It's 5 minutes in and already there are so many classic lines. And is it us, or does the comedy writers room actually seem to be filled with comedy writers? Studio 60, listen up.
Update to the update: Great review of the pilot from NY comedy scene stalwart aLive From New York.
Update to the update's update: Unreal. That woman must have bionic fingers. HUNDREDS of questions racked up in the last half-hour and she's whipping through them. So far she's revealed that SNLer Chris Parnell will be guesting in Episode Six (warming our hearts),
she likes writing better than acting (though she certainly looked like she was having fun in the pole-dancing scene), and that Baldwin's top-dog big-boss character isn't based on anyone she knows, nope, not at all: "Alec is not quite based on a real person. His character is more "corporate" than anybody I ever knew." Re: The Jane Krakowski/Rachel Dratch kerfuffle: "Jane's great. Rachel's great. I think it's working out great for the show. What do you guys think?" (see Tina's full comment here.)
