-
bad news
How Dare NBC Make Us Wait Seven Months for New 30 Rock?
NBC has announced its fall TV schedule, and dropped in an immensely disappointing piece of news: the 30 Rock season premiere date is TBA. They say maybe winter; it's currently May. More »
-
tis the season
The End of Comedy As We Know It
So Housewives wasn't the only thing that ended last night. The rest of comedy did too. No more 30 Rock, Parks & Recreation, or The Office until autumn. Let's see where things were left. More » -
30 rock
Tracy Morgan Shirtless: Fact or Fiction?
We warned you this would happen. On last night's episode of 30 Rock, actor Tracy Morgan's real life crazies were spliced in with fictional ones. Because life is art! More » -
crazy people
Tracy Morgan's Real-Life Crazies Make It Onto 30 Rock
Tracy Morgan can't lose! The gonzo 30 Rock star makes bizarre TV appearances and doesn't get in trouble. We just laugh and love him more, and then the incident becomes a joke on 30. More » -
relief
Glory Be: People Are Finally Watching 30 Rock
Good news is rare in these worrisome times, but here among the rubble is a little ray of sunshine (mixed metaphors!) Critically-beloved 30 Rock is finally performing healthily in the ratings. More » -
lookalikes
Tina Fey Mistakes Robert Pattinson For Satan
Jimmy Fallon was mercifully blessed to have former Saturday Night Live/Weekend Update co-star Tina Fey on his second show. More » -
marketing
30 Rock's 'McFlurry' Episode: More Protestations of Purity
Last week we totally harshed on NBC's 30 Rock for writing McDonald's McFlurry into its script in such a sellout-y way. But it was all natural, no ad money, just for fun, allegedly! More » -
30 rock
'30 Rock' McFlurryGate Overshadowing More Persuasive iPhone-Contra Affair
For all the e-ink spilled over whether 30 Rock gave the McFlurry too much product placement last week (even Jane Krakowski is unsure now!), we think there's a different, far bigger case to be made. More » -
-
30 rock
Tina Fey Denies McFlurry Payola, Disowns Twitter Account
Last night's McFlurry-obsessed episode of 30 Rock? Totally not a McDonald's product placement, avers Tina Fey, the show's writer and star, and we must believe her, as she is everything right and good about America. More » -
nsfw-ish
Salma Hayek's Breasts Designated As New U.N. Ambassadors To Starving Children
Though her stint on 30 Rock has been drubbed throughout the blogosphere, Salma Hayek's campaign to win over television viewers has just taken a startling new turn: breastfeeding strangers on camera. More » -
30 rock
Jon Hamm Smothered In Frosting For '30 Rock' Appearance
Via Videogum, we bring you a sneak preview of Jon Hamm's "multi-episode arc" on 30 Rock, playing Liz Lemon's ice-cream-making, frosting-smeared pediatrician neighbor and crush object. (He debuts the episode after next.)
More » -
short ends
Diablo Cody OK After Last Year's Oscar Situation
· You think you had a traumatic 2008? Don't even get Diablo started. More » -
30 rock
Alec Baldwin Reveals The Secret To His '30 Rock' Performance: Bad Acting
Alec Baldwin has never been a shrinking violet, but his recent rash of revelations (like suicidal thoughts and coked-up alien gunfights) is candid to a fault. Now, he reveals his secret to acting: be bad! More » -
drugs
How A Coke-Addicted Alec Baldwin Found Solace In Killing Aliens
It's a well-known fact that in the 1980s, everyone did cocaine all the time. But how did people come down from their drug highs? In Alec Baldwin's case, sobriety arrived through destroying enormous insect aliens! More » -
tracy morgan
Rainy Day Typo Fun: 'Variety' Confuses Tracy Morgan For His '30 Rock' Character Edition!
We'll admit to having trouble ourselves keeping Tracy Morgan the very real blueberry muffin enthusiast separate from Tracy Jordan, the virtually identical interactive-porn magnate he plays on 30 Rock. -
politics
Alec Baldwin Not Really Sure About This Caroline Kennedy Chick
Typically, Alec Baldwin uses his platform to come out against easy targets like Sarah Palin and Dane Cook's vagina-like face. However, his ambivalent HuffPo blogging about Caroline Kennedy has been messing with his audience's mindgrapes. -
alec baldwin
Candid Alec Baldwin Explains Why Phil Collins Would Kick His Ass
A few weeks after Alec Baldwin stood up Washington Post readers expecting his chat-room take on 30 Rock, answering-machine etiquette and other topical news, the actor finally — and dramatically — upheld his commitment. -
tina fey
Tina Fey Breaks Campaign Promise, Forced to Play Sarah Palin Once More
Remember this lady, Sarah Palin? She was famous for appearing every Saturday night on the tee-vee, saying cute things about Russia, gays, and Katie Couric. Or maybe that was her portrayer, Tina Fey? -
dexter
WGA Awards Recognize Every Half-Decent Show On TV With Its Own, Worthless Nomination
The Writers Guild unveiled its 2009 TV nominees this afternoon, revealing a radical shift in taste that rotated only one new drama and two new comedies into the year's Best Series nominations — all replacing old nominees that weren't on the air this year. Let's hear it for attrition! -
30 rock
Advice Guru Tracy Morgan Reveals the Limitations of Your Dreams - To the Inch
Sure, Tracy Morgan might barely be the fourth-tier mascot for plugging 30 Rock, but put yourself in NBC's shoes while watching his haphazard run through reader-submitted questions at the network's Web site: If Tina Fey is teetering at the cusp of overexposure, Alec Baldwin is flaking on the Washington Post's own readers, and Jane Krakowski remains shellshocked from her time in Rosie O'Donnell's product-placement infantry, then who else is there? "President Obama of the Crayons" just wouldn't sound the same from Jack McBrayer. Or maybe it's just that there is such a thing as a stupid question. Find out either/or/both after the jump. -
tina fey
Tina Fey Trades The Secret Of The Scar For A Solo 'Vanity Fair' Cover
Every so often, Vanity Fair will consent to putting a television star on their hallowed cover, but there's typically an implicit bargain that actor has to make to earn it. Think back to Teri Hatcher, who grabbed VF's top spot only after revealing how childhood sexual abuse led to fantasies of suicide (which the magazine teased on its cover with some disconcertingly unclad pictures of the star, because of course). Now, Vanity Fair has placed Tina Fey on the cover — an utterly justified spot, to be sure — and has finally nudged the actress and her husband to reveal something Fey always said she wouldn't: just how she got that famous facial scar. -
alec baldwin
Alec Baldwin Not Quite Ready For Your Questions About Fatherhood After All
Washington Post readers expecting an audience with Alec Baldwin last hour were disappointed when the star backed out of his live chat appearance at what appears to be the last minute. "Alec is running a few minutes behind schedule," the editors noted shortly after 1 p.m. "We should be starting soon." And then, not long afterward, the final indignity: "Alec Baldwin had to cancel. We will try to reschedule for either later in the day or a future date." Probably just something about an overlooked sushi date with his daughter; that's the life of a working Dad for you. More » -
30 rock
Did Steve Martin Undo The '30 Rock' Celebrity Cameo Curse?
Well, that depends on how you define "undo." Ratings-wise, it's down a tenth from Jennifer Aniston's episode last week, which itself was down from Oprah's the week previous. (THR suggests that's not so much a bad sign for the sitcom as it is a natural settling after the season premiere bump it enjoyed following Feylinmania.) But if you define it as a return to form, then yes, something about Martin's presence—playing Gavin Volure, an agoraphobic Ted Turner type you later find out is actually under house arrest for embezzlement and racketeering—clicked the show back into all cylinders after a subpar third season start. Among its gems: the introduction of the term "away-toilet situation" into the popular lexicon, hand-puppet voodoo, and a description of Toronto as being "just like New York, but without all the stuff." Then there's the first date sequence above, in which Volure unwittingly presents himself as Lemon's sexless, TV show-goofing dream man. [30 Rock Full Episodes] -
jennifer aniston
Uncool, America. We realize it must have been a rough week for Jennifer Aniston, so we were hoping we could pass along some great news that her guest appearance on 30 Rock last night as a...woman who likes to do a lot of things but is ultimately crazy but not in a particularly ha-ha funny way?...boosted the show's ratings. Unfortunately, a season low of 7.5 million tuned in for the episode, which also happened to feature three Night Court cast members. Anthony Edwards's return to ER, however, boosted the show by 1.2 million viewers to 9.8 million. The moral? We're not really sure. Put Michael J. Fox on Kath & Kim and see what happens. [E! Online] -
trade roundup
Clint Eastwood's 'Hereafter' To Gloss Over African-American Ghost History
· DreamWorks is in talks with Clint Eastwood to direct ghost movie Hereafter, which Spike Lee will later decry as featuring only white ghosts. ("Where are the black spirits?! You mean to tell me sheets don't come in brown? Another chapter of African-American afterlife history whitewashed by The Man.") [Variety] More » -
tina fey
Tina Fey Suggests That Defamer Has Some Issues
Few things made us laugh harder than Tina Fey's devastatingly precise Sarah Palin send-ups on Saturday Night Live this season (or the fact that the quote that will be attributed to the candidate for all time, "I can see Russia from my house," was said not by Palin but by Fey). Still, as the hardest working woman in comedy was repeatedly spirited away from her 30 Rock duties, we grew worried for her — after all, she has a show, a kid, a book, an Emmy, an upcoming Steve Carell romcom... couldn't Lorne Michaels let the woman rest? We voiced our concerns after the SNL sketch where Fey appeared with the actual John McCain (her sixth appearance on the show this season), and now Fey is telling EW that she took our words to heart: More » -
heroes
Is Killing a Great Series the Answer to Stopping Bad TV?
How do you know when campaign season is over? Maybe when the boldest idea of the week comes from film and TV critic Marshall Fine, who argues today for the termination of TV series after one year. Even the hits! (Especially the hits, in fact.) And we might even sign on — with a few exceptions. More » -
tina fey
Lemon Party! Looks like Tina Fey's second, third, fourth, and fifth jobs this year have paid off, as 30 Rock premiered last night to the biggest numbers in the show's history. THR says the sitcom lured 8.5 million viewers and a 4.1 18-49 rating, up 21% from its premiere last year. We're a little confounded by the fact that Rock still lost 800,000 viewers of The Office — what do you people need, every character on the show to couple up? A premature guest stint from Steve Carell? Prolonged sexual tension between Frank and Cirie (actually, that one we could live with)? [THR] -
tracy morgan
Tracy Morgan Wants to Take Prince Behind a Middle School and Get Him Pregnant
Though 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin never fails to give good interview, we still have to give the edge to his costar Tracy Morgan, who is unafraid to tear off his shirt and make romantic entreaties to every lady in El Paso if that's what the situation requires. Now, in an interview with the November issue of Complex, Morgan extends his press tour winning streak with a graphic ode to what he would do to Prince if the singer veered more toward the distaff side of his own love symbol: More » -
30 rock
Wrap Your Mindgrapes Around This Scene from Next Week's '30 Rock' Premiere
If, like us, you have been furiously mainlining Sabor de Soledad thanks to the unconscionably long wait until 30 Rock's third season premiere, you're in luck: NBC has put the episode online in advance of its broadcast airing next week. For those of you who are still trapped at work and unable to spare a half-hour, we've excerpted one of the episode's funniest, earliest scenes: a confrontation between the deposed Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) and closeted usurper Devin Banks (Will Arnett). We can promise you a lot of homoeroticism, but sadly, no anal sex. [NBC] -
30 rock
Sandwich Girls? If the raft of special guest stars hadn't tipped you off that NBC would do anything to draw eyeballs to the new season of 30 Rock, how about this: they're spicing up their promos with hardcore anal sex! According to MyHogtown, a recent afternoon ad for 30 Rock that ran in the Greater Toronto area was inexplicably spliced with a snippet of hardcore porn featuring some backdoor action. If viewers couldn't believe their eyes, they were in luck: the porn-laden ad ran again less than twenty minutes later. Truly, a programming move worthy of MILF Island exec Jack Donaghy. [MyHogtown] -
30 rock
Tina Fey's Confirmed 'SNL' Appearance is News to Tina Fey
By now everyone has heard Ben Silverman's soggy rationale for reintroducing 30 Rock so late in the fall season — everyone except Tina Fey, it appears, whose sit-down today with the Associated Press revealed that she doesn't know when or even if she will revive her recurring Sarah Palin gig on Saturday Night Live. An NBC spokesperson corroborated the network's uncertainty. Who to believe? More » -
television
The Most Conservative and Most Liberal Shows On TV
The Gossip Girl kids have gotten political. Two of them at least, Penn Badgley who plays Dan and his off-screen ladylove Blake Lively, who plays his on-screen ladylove Serena. They're appearing in a MoveOn.org anti-McCain ad in which regular kids—including these two soap stars at that Hannah girl from that American Teenager documentary—condescend to their McCain-voting parents as if they were about to drink or take doobies. Har har. So Gossip Girl is a bit liberal, but it's not the only politicized show on the air. No indeed there are others, subtly (or not so) spouting rhetoric from both sides of the aisle. Our Photoshop expert Steve Dressler has created a simple chart that we'll explain after the jump. More » -
sex and the city
Six Degrees Of Carrie Bradshaw's Vagina
There was a time when a place in Carrie Bradshaw's vagina was the most coveted hot spot in premium cable. Honest-to-goodness stars like Vince Vaughn and Mikhail Baryshnikov visited Carrie's wonder spot, but it's not what you could do for Bradshaw's bits, it's what Bradshaw's bits could do for you. Just like Courtney Love, who famously said, "I have a magic pussy, If you fuck me, you become a king," doing time in Carrie's nether regions is a one-way ticket to televised success in 2008. Carrie Bradshaw's boyfriend is officially the new Jerry Seinfeld's girlfriend, as TV stars like Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, and SatC's own Kristin Davis did it with Jerry before they hit the big time. After the jump, find out the four men who originally appeared as Carrie's beaux and are now part of the most critically acclaimed shows of the year. [Jezebel] -
ben silverman
Blergh: The New York Times is as fed up with the lack of 30 Rock as we are, noting that Tina Fey "is about the hottest star in show business at the moment" thanks to those Emmy wins, American Express commercials, and Sarah Palin guest spots, and yet the third season of the rating-challenged sitcom still hasn't yet premiered to take advantage of Fey's heat. Embattled NBC head Ben Silverman takes the blame: "If we knew then what we know today about how hot Tina was going to be, would we do it differently? Maybe." The "business juice"-quaffing Silverman then announced plans to incorporate Fey into several of his struggling new series; expect a new, Palin-like voice for KITT on Knight Rider and a Kath & Kim & Liz Lemon crossover to thrill audiences before 30 Rock's season premiere sometime in the year 2011. [NY Times] -
tina fey
Tina Fey Plans Potential Move to Outer Space In Case of Sarah Palin Victory
Though playing Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live has given a huge boost to Tina Fey's already percolating profile, Fey herself is not so keen on the added workload. Already, she has implored the Emmy press room to help vote an end her portrayal on November 5, and now Fey is telling TV Guide that if Palin wins the vice presidency, 30 Rock will have to find brand-new ways to shoot in low-oxygen environments: More » -
alec baldwin
Alec Baldwin Also Not a Fan of Dane Cook's Vagina-Like Face
Back in August, comedian Dane Cook assailed the marketing job for his upcoming movie My Best Friend's Girl, claiming that it was the "best / funniest film" he'd ever made but that its quality was overshadowed by a photoshopped poster that left his face looking like "Brittany Spears' [sic] vagina." Then, the film actually came out, and critics treated Cook's vulva-tastic mug like it was the least of the rom-com's problems. Now, co-star Alec Baldwin is leaping into the fray, admitting on his official website that he'd rather watch My Name is Earl than have to sit through My Best Friend's Girl again: More » -
30 rock
Finally, NBC Gives a Grateful Nation New '30 Rock' Footage
Though her multiple SNL appearances as Sarah Palin have certainly boosted Tina Fey's cultural cachet, true Fey nerds can have their thirst quenched by only one thing: new 30 Rock! NBC has cruelly delayed the third season premiere until November 6 (correction: November 6 is actually the date of the network-teased Oprah episode — October 30 will see the somewhat less-buzzworthy, Megan Mullally-guesting premiere), but the network parceled out a thirty-second morsel of the new season last night. More » -
alec baldwin
Does Alec Baldwin Have His Own Sarah Palin Impression? You Betcha
Tina Fey had better watch her back — if she continues with her cutting Sarah Palin impressions on Saturday Night Live, she might find herself fired (or sniped from above thanks to a far-afield Alaskan helicopter). Fortunately, her 30 Rock costar Alec Baldwin will be available to step into the breach: he unveiled his own Sarah Palin impression on Friday's edition of Real Time with Bill Maher. While the vocal mimicry isn't quite up to par with Fey's (or Baldwin's own tour-de-force 30 Rock therapy scene), we have to breathe a sigh of relief that Baldwin didn't call the candidate a "lipsticked, vile little pig." Thank goodness for small favors! [Real Time with Bill Maher via HuffPo]
















































