30 Rock: When SNL became a living cartoon

[TMC]

https://mutantreviewersmovies.com/20...iving-cartoon/

I’ve never been much of a fan of Saturday Night Live, aside from movie spinoffs like Wayne’s World, so I really didn’t expect to get pulled into a television series that satirizes the behind-the-scenes antics of that show.

Initially, I only paid attention to it because 2006 was the year when we had two competing SNL-styled sitcoms: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and 30 Rock. Studio 60, with Aaron Sorkin and Matthew Perry on board, was expected to become the clear winner, but that show only lasted a single season while 30 Rock ascended to a full seven year-run.

Eventually I gave it a try, slowly warmed up to the show over its fine-but-not-amazing first season, and graduated into a full-fledged fanboy by season two. To this day, 30 Rock has a secure spot in my rotating stable of favorite sitcom watches with other titles like Community, Arrested Development, and Newsradio.

Created by former SNL head writer and performer Tina Fey, 30 Rock began as a thinly veiled satire of what it takes to run a weekly sketch comedy show behind the scenes. In the show, Fey plays Liz Lemon, the head writer of TGS, a female-centric show starring her best friend Jenna (Jane Krakowski). But when her boss dies and is abruptly replaced by Six Sigma alpha male Jack (Alec Baldwin), Liz’s show is forced to take on Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), a highly unstable but popular movie star.