Fey, Ready For Second Season

[Mr. Television]

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs....708160346/1005

'30 Rock' ready for a second roll

By Matea Gold
Los Angeles Times


Just this spring, the prospects for "30 Rock" appeared grim.

The behind-the-scenes look at a late-night sketch-comedy show, whose debut was overshadowed by another NBC series set in a similar milieu, had suffered paltry ratings in its freshman year and appeared on the brink of cancellation.

So no one would blame creator Tina Fey for exulting in her recent change in fortune. After all, not only was her sitcom picked up for a second season (while its dramatic counterpart, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," met an untimely end), but "30 Rock" also garnered a whopping 10 Emmy nods, including one for comedy series, making it one of the most-nominated television programs of the last year.

But Fey is not rejoicing quite yet.

"It's very flattering that we're well thought of among our peers," said the show's executive producer and star, who also writes a large share of the episodes. "I'm hoping that maybe this will help other people know that the show even exists, and maybe we'll be able to pick up some viewers."

Last season, the sardonic workplace comedy, which gleefully plays off the dynamics between exasperated head writer Liz Lemon (Fey) and pompous network executive Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), drew glowing reviews but an average viewership of just 5.8 million people.

For Fey, renewal means a chance at a reprieve from the fate of programs such as "Arrested Development," whose critical acclaim couldn't stave off cancellation after failing to gain viewers.

"We do think about that a little bit because we want the show to be the show that we like, the show that we want to make, but we also want it to be accessible," she said, speaking by phone from the set of her new movie, "Baby Mama."

"So, definitely, that's one of our goals for this year - to really try to invite people to watch."

One of her strategies: shorter scripts.

"We were shooting scripts that were 33-34 pages long, and then jamming that into 21 1/2 minutes by talking fast and not letting anything breathe," Fey said. "While I think it makes the show good for reviewing, maybe we could leave a little more air around the jokes."

"30 Rock" is Fey's first prime-time venture, a revision of a project she unsuccessfully pitched NBC five years ago about a producer on a cable news show. Last year, then-entertainment President Kevin Reilly asked her to recast it by setting it in the environment Fey, then the head writer of "Saturday Night Live," knew best: a late-night comedy show.

The result is a crackling send-up of office politics, television culture and social mores. The program is shaped by the chemistry of its ensemble, including Tracy Morgan as volatile star Tracy Jordan, Jane Krakowski as the self-absorbed Jenna Maroney and fan favorite Jack McBrayer as Kenneth the page.

After nine seasons on "Saturday Night Live" during which time she penned the hit movie "Mean Girls," the 37-year-old found taking on a weekly sitcom like nothing she had attempted before.

"My husband and I kept saying, 'It's a marathon, it's not a sprint,' because it was a never-ending workload," said Fey, whose husband, Jeff Richmond, is the show's composer. "You shoot one episode and then you're editing the one from the week before and then you're working on the script for two weeks later. There were many times where I thought, This is a little too much work."'

But amid her exhaustion, Fey said she grew as a writer and an actress.

[TJL]

So glad this show is back.

Hopefully more people will watch this year, because I doubt NBC will give them another full season if the ratings are low.