30 Rock

NBC’s Fall 2012 Schedule: COMMUNITY Moved to Friday; Watch Clips from the New Shows Including Ryan Murphy’s THE NEW NORMAL

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 13th, 2012 at 12:26 pm

The upfronts are upon us! Yes, it’s that time of year again. All the networks will be unveiling their fall 2012 schedules throughout this week, announcing time slot shifts for seasoned shows and debuts for the pilots that made the cut to full-series.  Today NBC announced their line-up with a pretty disparaging shake-up to the old schedule: Community has been moved from its prime Thursday night slot to Friday (aka where your favorite shows go to die).  The fan-favorite series wasn’t guaranteed a fourth season pick-up, but the TV gods were merciful as the show was recently given a renewal for a 13-episode fourth season.  However, the Friday slot isn’t exactly great news.  The show’s young and vocal fanbase has kept the series alive, but I wonder how many will actually choose to stay in on Friday nights to watch the show live.

There is hope, as previous ratings-challenged yet critically loved series like Friday Night Lights and Fringe managed to squeak by on Friday.  That said, with a short episode order and the new Friday timeslot I’m getting the feeling that NBC doesn’t have much faith in the show’s future post-season four.  I guess we should be thankful that it’s even coming back at all.  Nevertheless, the network has a slew of new series (some promising) that they hope will catch on.  After the jump you’ll find descriptions and clips of all of NBC’s new series, so take a look at plot out your new fall 2012 TV schedule accordingly.

NBC Renews PARENTHOOD; Orders 13-Episode Final Season of 30 ROCK [Updated]

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 10th, 2012 at 2:33 pm

Two on-the-bubble NBC shows have officially been given the order for new seasons.  The critical favorite yet ratings challenged drama Parenthood has been renewed for a 15-episode fourth season (per TV Line).  Showrunner Jason Katims is no stranger to ratings issues despite favorable reviews, as he led the stellar Friday Night Lights through five seasons of “will it be renewed?” drama.  I’m a fan of the ensemble and tone of Parenthood, but Katims will most likely have his hands full next season as his medical pilot County is said to be close to a pick up.  That show will star Jason Ritter, who led the doomed The Event and has been a frequent guest star on Parenthood.

Hit the jump for news regarding renewals for The Office and a final season for 30 Rock, as well as speculation about the fate of Community and Parks and Recreation. [Update: The Office hasn't officially been renewed yet, but with deals almost done for the main cast members a renewal is expected]

NBC Comedy Outlook: 30 ROCK Gets 13-14 Episodes for Final Season; COMMUNITY and PARKS AND REC Still in the Running; Two More New Sitcom Orders

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: May 7th, 2012 at 8:26 pm

NBC already ordered three new half-hour sitcoms: The New Normal, Go On, and Save Me.  The network just added two more—1600 Penn and Animal Kingdom—which leaves little room for the many comedies that currently have a slot on the schedule.  What does that mean for the likes of 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, and Community?  Here are the bullet points:

• 30 Rock is looking at 13-14 more episodes for its seventh and reported final season.
• Whitney is unlikely to return; Up All Night has slightly better odds.
• Community and Parks and Rec are still very much in the running for renewal.

Hit the jump for details.

Alec Baldwin Says 30 ROCK’s Upcoming Seventh Season Will Be Its Last

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: April 16th, 2012 at 3:40 pm

This afternoon at a gathering of The National Press Club, during some lobbying for Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit group that advocates for increased federal funding of the arts, The Huffington Post reports that Alec Baldwin dropped some good and bad news for fans of the NBC comedy series 30 Rock. Apparently the actor will definitely be sticking around for the series’ entire seventh season this fall, but apparently that season of the Tina Fey show will be the last. Honestly, it makes sense considering the show would really lose one of its strongest parts if Baldwin were to really leave, and seven seasons is enough for almost any series, especially a comedy that runs an average of 24 episodes a season. The series is still going strong with outrageous jokes and hilarity, and while I’ll be sad to see it go, I’d rather see it finish on top rather than puttering out and getting canceled.

Donald Glover to Play Tracy Jordan in 30 ROCK Live Episode

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: April 13th, 2012 at 10:04 am

Before he was the nerdy and naive Troy on Community, comedian Donald Glover was making a career for himself as a writer on 30 Rock. The actor can even be heard on character Tracy Jordan’s (played by Tracy Morgan) holiday song Werewolf Bar Mitzvah (one of my favorite gags to come out of the hilarious series). Now Glover will have a more prominent role as a guest star on the new forthcoming live episode of 30 Rock this month. TV Line has word that Glover will play a young version of Tracy Jordan. This will happen on the live episode which will air on April 26th. Apparently Glover’s impression of Tracy Jordan (who is basically a somewhat exaggerated version of Tracy Morgan) is almost perfect to the point that he even finished some of Morgan’s vocals on the aforementioned spooky, scary song when Morgan wasn’t available. Can you tell the difference when listening to the entire track after the jump?

30 ROCK Plans Another Live Episode for April 26th

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: March 29th, 2012 at 12:06 pm

Just as the series did back in 2010, 30 Rock is going even more meta again as the series, which has a sketch show similar to Saturday Night Live inside of the series (Inception!), will be doing another live episode. Tina Fey took on the task back in 2010, and now on Thursday, April 26th, the show will again be live from Studio 8H.

When their Kabletown bosses announce they will no longer pay for TGS to be a live show, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) realize their lives will actually be easier if they shoot canned episodes fast and cheap. Only Kenneth the Page (Jack McBrayer) objects, urging that nothing can replace the communal experience of live television. He tries to convince the TGS staff to fight for their right to be live by taking them and our audience through a magical look back at the illustrious history of Studio 6H. See what they did there? The episode will be done twice so both East and West coast audiences get the live treatment. The first live episode was a great success and it was clear the cast was having a lot of fun. There were plenty of cameos as well and this one should be no different.

SAG Award Winners Announced; THE HELP Wins Best Ensemble, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 29th, 2012 at 7:13 pm

The 2012 Screen Actors Guild Award winners were announced tonight, and The Help took home the top film prize, “Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture”.  The drama also took home awards for Best Actress (Viola Davis) and Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer).  If you think that’s no big deal in terms of affecting the Oscar race, I have one word for you: Crash.  Granted, The Help didn’t even pick up an Oscar nomination for Best Director, but actors make up the largest block of Academy voters (25 percent).  And as we’ve seen, actors really like movies that make us think we’ve defeated racism, which we totally have.  That’s why all African-American actors pull in huge salaries.  Actors like Will Smith and…Will Smith.  I wouldn’t put The Help ahead of The Artist just yet, but Davis and Spencer should now be considered serious contenders in their respective catagories (Spencer is almost at a lock at this point).

Bryan Cranston Goes to Space with ARCHER; Emma Stone and Others Will Stop By 30 ROCK

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: January 10th, 2012 at 1:38 pm

Later this year we’ll see Bryan Cranston in the sci-fi epic John Carter, but before that, the Breaking Bad star is heading into space along with the animated spy Archer for the two-part season finale. The new season doesn’t even begin until January 19th, but The Huffington Post reports the finale is already slated to have Cranston play Commander Drake an “earnest, conscientious astronaut” trying to stop mutiny aboard the International Space Station. In addition, series creator and executive producer Adam Reed also revealed that Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) and Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead) will also guest star in an upcoming episode where the Isis team heads to West Virginia to help Gillette’s marijuana farming brother (Rooker). McBrayer is perfectly suited for backwoods parts of West Virginia, but Cranston in space with some of the crew will be something special to behold. The third season of Archer begins on January 19th at 10/9c on FX.

Details on Emma Stone and others taking guest spots on 30 Rock after the jump.

COMMUNITY Not Canceled But Return Date is Unknown; Alec Baldwin Signs for Another Season of 30 ROCK

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: January 6th, 2012 at 12:05 pm

NBC is busy kicking off the Television Critics Association today, and a couple great bits of news came from NBC entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt. First, according to EW he revealed that for all those worried fans out there, Community has not been canceled, and while it’s been on hiatus, the third season will definitely air starting sometime in the spring, but a date is not set in stone just yet. When asked about the possibility for a fourth season, he replied simply, “I don’t know. Those are hard questions to answer at this point. We’ll make that decision closer to the upfront.” Hit the jump for news on Alec Baldwin‘s involvement in another season of 30 Rock.

2012 Art Directors Guild Award Nominees Include HUGO, HARRY POTTER, DRIVE, and GAME OF THRONES

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: January 3rd, 2012 at 8:56 pm

I like to see the guild awards, because the specificity allows for nominees that you won’t see on more general lists.  The Art Directors Guild is especially interesting because they separate the films into three categories: period, fantasy, and contemporary.  The 15 nominees highlight everything from Oscar favorites Hugo and The Artist, to crowd-pleasers Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Captain America, to poorly received films like Cowboys & Aliens and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  There’s a similar contrast in the TV nominees between the classy HBO programs you’d expect (Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, and Mildred Pierce) and the critical punching bags American Horror Story and The Playboy Club.  The full list of nominees is after the break.

30 ROCK Season Five DVD Review

by Rob Wieland    Posted: December 11th, 2011 at 6:39 am

30 Rock has come a long way from being the “Untitled Tina Fey Project”. While it hasn’t been a ratings blockbuster, it’s crawled its way inside pop culture in a way other shows would kill for. It’s also launched (and relaunched) the careers of its leads, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. The fifth season of a show is a milestone of its success, since it now has enough episodes to sell to syndicators. Being able to sell the same work multiple times is always a good feeling. Does the show still have what it takes? Hit the jump to take a look at how season five pans out.

Producers Guild Awards Announces Television Series Nominees Including MODERN FAMILY, GAME OF THRONES, DEXTER, and More

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: December 7th, 2011 at 11:21 am

With awards season in full swing, the Producers Guild of America has just announced the television series nominees for the 23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards which will be announced on January 21, 2012 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. In the comedy category, I can’t believe a show with such inconsistent writing quality as Glee beats out something like Community, but there you have it. There’s still some deserving nominations with Modern Family and Parks and Recreation though. On the dramatic side of things Game of Thrones gets some well-earned loved for their first season and both Mad Men and Dexter continue their collection of accolades. For the rest of the nominees in each category as well as talk shows, competition shows and non-fictions shows, hit the jump.

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS and THE DAILY SHOW Star Kristen Schaal to Guest Star on 30 ROCK

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: November 17th, 2011 at 2:51 pm

On the TV side of things, Kristen Schaal has turned in some hilarious supporting performances on Flight of the Conchords as the band’s one and only super fan, and the bunny-eared daughter on Bob’s Burgers, not to mention showing up as a contributor to The Daily Show from time to time. Now THR reports the comedienne has snagged a multi-episode arc on 30 Rock when the show returns early next year. Right now her role is being kept under wraps, but guest stars usually get to have a lot of fun, especially in the case of multi-episode guests like Jon Hamm and Jason Sudeikis. She’s a quirky and hilarious actress, and adding her to 30 Rock for awhile should be a great treat. You can next see Schaal in an adorable but brief role in The Muppets next week.

NBC Unveils New Midseason Schedule; COMMUNITY Benched to Make Way for 30 ROCK Return

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: November 14th, 2011 at 3:46 pm

NBC has released their midseason schedule, and there’ve been quite a few shakeups. The much-derided Whitney moves to Wednesdays, Up All Night will settle in as part of the Thursday night comedy line-up, and gone is the Maria Bello-starred cop drama Prime Suspect. It appears that NBC has finally given up on the drama series, which has been struggling ratings-wise for quite a while. My biggest complaint, though, is the complete absence of Community. The show, which is one of the smartest and best shows on television right now, is nowhere to be seen on the schedule. While the series hasn’t exactly been a ratings juggernaut, it’s captured the hearts of critics and fans alike as one of the most innovative (and at times rather strange) comedies to grace our TV screens. Hit the jump for much more.

Guest Star Casting: James Marsden Heading to 30 ROCK and Lizzy Caplan Meeting NEW GIRL

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: October 5th, 2011 at 2:51 pm

From Jon Hamm to Jason Sudeikis, television producer Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) has had her fair share of male suitors on 30 Rock. Now one more gentlemen might be added to the mix. EW has word that James Marsden has been set to guest star on at least one episode of the hilarious NBC comedy, and while the network isn’t detailing his character just yet, there’s speculation that he might be a love interest for Lemon as a casting call when out last month for a man aged between 36 and 40. Since that character in question was described as “California-bred with liberal values and a youthful innocence. Easy-going but confident with a strong sense of self,” that sounds like a perfect role for Marsden.

Details on a new guest star for Fox’s freshman series New Girl after the jump.

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