NBC will renew its critically acclaimed comedy “30 Rock” (returning to the network’s lineup on Thursday, April 5, with a special supersized episode at 8:40 p.m. – 9:20 p.m. ET) for the 2007-08 season, it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment. The series will settle into its new time period of 9:00 – 9:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 12 for the remaining episodes.
“From the beginning, ’30 Rock’ has proven to be the kind of quality comedy that doesn’t come around very often, and we are very pleased to have this show back for a second season,” said Reilly. “We expect it to continue to build its increasingly loyal audience and become another of NBC’s classic comedy series.”
The freshman comedy has earned critical plaudits since its premiere last October while Alec Baldwin, one of the series stars, won Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards for his spot-on performance as Jack Donaghy, a brash network executive.
Season to date, “30 Rock” is averaging a 2.7 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49 and 5.8 million viewers overall. With its most recent regular-slot telecast on March 8, “30 Rock” delivered a best-yet 89 percent retention of its 18-49 lead-in from “Scrubs” and with its six most recent regular-slot editions, “30 Rock” has retained more than 80 percent of its lead-in from “Scrubs.”
“30 Rock” is told through the comedic voice of the Emmy Award-winning Tina Fey (NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” Mean Girls) and features Baldwin (The Departed, The Cooler) as Donaghy, who has turned the show upside down with his meddling ways. Fey, as the single Liz Lemon, is living every comedy writer’s dream — head writer on a demanding, live TV program in New York City.
Her life is jolted when Donaghy interferes with her show, and bullies Lemon into convincing Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan, “Saturday Night Live,” The Longest Yard), a wild and unpredictable movie star, to join the cast. Now Lemon must manage the unmanageable so that the show — and her dream — can go on.
Also rounding out the cast in the half-hour comedy are: Jane Krakowski (“Ally McBeal”) as Jenna Maroney, the other star of “TGS With Tracy Jordan”; Scott Adsit as Pete Hornberger, the variety show’s producer; Jack McBrayer as Kenneth the Page, the over-eager NBC Page — a highly sought-after, entry-level position with the network; and Judah Friedlander as Frank, the crass and wisecracking writer. Rachel Dratch, also from “Saturday Night Live,” appears in multiple episodes, playing a variety of different characters on the series.
“30 Rock” is from Broadway Video and NBC Universal Television Studio. The executive producers are Lorne Michaels (“Saturday Night Live”), Fey, JoAnn Alfano (“Sons & Daughters”), Marci Klein (“Saturday Night Live”), David Miner (“The Tracy Morgan Show”) and Robert Carlock (“The Dana Carvey Show”).
