Sunday 10 October 2010

30 Rock - My favourite TV show

This is currently my favourite programme. I've just spent the last month working my way through the first three series on DVD box set.

It’s the funniest comedy I’ve seen in years. If you haven't seen it yet you can have a look at some clips in the video below.


I'm now about to order series 4.



The creator and star of 30 Rock is the American actress and comedian Tina Fey.

I first became aware of her during the 2008 US Presidential elections. She came to the world’s attention following her painfully hilarious impersonations of Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.

You can see for yourself below.



I then remember reading a feature about her last year in the Sunday Times Culture section, which mentioned her critically acclaimed comedy 30 Rock.

At the time, my American TV show attentions were dedicated to watching The Wire. Following The Wire I moved onto Mad Men, which I’m now up to date on.

That meant I finally had time to check out 30 Rock. After catching a couple of episodes on Paramount’s Comedy Central channel I decided to buy series 1 & 2.

So what’s the show all about?

Fey plays the lead character Liz Lemon. She’s head writer on a sketch show called The Girlie Show, which is loosely based on Saturday night live.

The name comes from the fact the show’s based at the NBC studio address 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

A typical episode focuses on her attempts to control the two main stars of the show, the manic Eddie Murphy type character Tracy Jordan and the self obsessed Jenna Moroney, played by Jane Krakowski who I remember from Ally McBeal

When she’s not massaging their egos she also trying to juggle the demands of her work and personal life.

Professionally she’s trying to manage a team of wayward writers, as well as meet the demands of her boss, the corporate executive Jack Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin.

In her personal life, she’s a single late 30 something women, struggling to find Mr Right, and a biological clock ticking louder and louder.

Many aspects of the show are autobiographical and reflect Fey’s own experience of being a head writer on Saturday Night Live.

Her original idea was to set the show on a 24 hour news channel, but after pitching the idea to tv network NBC she was encouraged to write something a little closer to home.

30 Rock is one of those typical American series, where you constantly read rave reviews about, is loved by the critics, and yet is watched by very few people.

Despite this, it’s now into its 5th Season, and you get the impression that it’s a well respected show judging by the amount of guest appearances and cameos from A list actors and celebrities.

Just off the top of my head, the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, David Schwimmer, Oprah Winfrey, Salma Hayek, Steve Martin, and Jennifer Anniston have all made an appearance. It’s really quite impressive the amount of top stars that appear on the show.

If you get the chance, I’d definitely recommend checking 30 Rock out.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for this lovely sharing. 30 Rock is am awesome show and I watch each episode of this show online.

    ReplyDelete