30 Rock (esteemed winner of the 30 Rock vs. Studio 60 deathmatch)

Started by ono, September 18, 2006, 08:00:42 PM

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grand theft sparrow

Life and death matters don't matter shit in comedies, that's the difference (Scrubs being the only current exception).  Imagine if The Office was an hour long drama.  It would have been cancelled after 2 episodes.  Why?  "Because nothing happens."  "Why should I care about people in an office?"  "I can go to work to see that."  So the article's point about the stakes is very valid.  If no one's dead, dying, kidnapped, raped, having supernatural experiences, or exists in real life, most people aren't going to watch.  And you can't possibly get any lower stakes than behind the scenes on a TV show.  Even Friday Night Lights and Six Degrees seem to be suffering for the same reason.

Quote from: I Love a Magician on November 03, 2006, 11:40:43 PM
30 Rock is real god damn good.

Every episode is better than the last.  The subtle jab at Studio 60 this week was a nice touch.

Kal

NBC just confirmed that STUDIO 60 got a FULL SEASON order... so its not going anywhere yet. They probably will make a couple of changes, but they believe the show will get better and grow in audience. It had like a 10% increase of audience this week.


Pubrick

Quote from: kal on November 08, 2006, 11:53:15 PM
It had like a 10% increase of audience this week.

yeah, cos they thought it was the last episode.
under the paving stones.

ProgWRX

hopefully the show will have a chance to get better... not to compare it to West wing, but most of the articles say that it didnt really catch on until the second season..

:yabbse-thumbup:
-Carlos

JG

I just watched 30 rock for the first time since the premiere.  Its really charming and has a very distinct personality. Tracy Morgan is underrated. 

I don't like Scrubs but Thursday night on NBC is shaping up to be really good. 

pete

this past night's 45-minute long 30 rock was THE SHIT.  oh my god it was good.  it doesn't have the manic energy of arrested development but it's got the same vein.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

grand theft sparrow

Quote from: JG on November 16, 2006, 09:04:41 PM
I don't like Scrubs but Thursday night on NBC is shaping up to be really good. 

This is the overall best Thursday night lineup they've ever had.  And I like that they're promoting it as a night of comedy without laugh-tracks.

Chest Rockwell

Quote from: pete on November 17, 2006, 01:27:55 AM
it doesn't have the manic energy of arrested development but it's got the same vein.
Don't jinx it.

RegularKarate

Quote from: Chest Rockwell on November 17, 2006, 09:34:59 AM
Quote from: pete on November 17, 2006, 01:27:55 AM
it doesn't have the manic energy of arrested development but it's got the same vein.
Don't jinx it.

It's on Thursdays now.. it's not going to get cancelled... instead it will live well beyond the point it needs to die.


MacGuffin

Quote from: RegularKarate on November 17, 2006, 02:01:22 PMIt's on Thursdays now.. it's not going to get cancelled... instead it will live well beyond the point it needs to die.

Did you just compare 30 Rock to Joey?
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

RegularKarate

Quote from: MacGuffin on November 17, 2006, 02:15:09 PM
Quote from: RegularKarate on November 17, 2006, 02:01:22 PMIt's on Thursdays now.. it's not going to get cancelled... instead it will live well beyond the point it needs to die.

Did you just compare 30 Rock to Joey?

what? no... Joey's still fresh and young... I keep waiting for the next season to start... I'm hoping to see some Friends visit in the upcoming episodes.

Kal

Bad news is that the ratings for 30 Rock on Thursday were even lower than ever... it always happens that they have a terrific lineup and ratings suck... fucking country.

The Office also doesnt get what it deserves. Same as Studio 60 and Friday Night Lights. Tought break for NBC who has some of the best shows this season, but only Heroes does well. They also end up making money with Deal or No Deal. Stupid country....


MacGuffin

Sorkin grateful sun will still rise for 'Sunset'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

The problem, as Aaron Sorkin sees it, is that we all now watch the ins and outs of the television and movie businesses as if we're viewing a sporting event.

"We can't wait to hear who won the boxoffice championship every Sunday," Sorkin pointed out last week. "And even the language is like sports: A film got 'crushed,' a TV show 'upended' something else. You'd never know in the case of TV, the ratings only affect the network and their advertisers. Yet it's discussed in the press as if it's of major importance to everyone."

It was this mindset that Sorkin believes nearly sank "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," the acclaimed NBC hour that he created and executive produces along with Thomas Schlamme -- and which got an unusually late full-season pickup order five days ago that will take it through next May.

Sorkin has this dream that the people who follow "Studio 60" "will start to pay attention to the show and not how many viewers are watching it -- or who's making it." But he figures to have a long wait, given the fact that the show didn't deserve a back-nine order given its paltry numbers. NBC can point out all it wants that the series has the highest concentration of households earning $75,000-plus of any show on TV. It's what you sell when trying to justify a move that seemingly makes little business sense. An elite audience simply doesn't cut it.

So why did NBC Entertainment chief Kevin Reilly pick up the back nine? Because in return, Warner Bros. TV agreed to drop the extravagant license fee (originally higher than some NASA missions) on a weekly production budget said to approach $3 million.
 
And beyond that, there was perhaps a mandate inside the programming suite at NBC Universal to save face and prove the naysayers wrong when they trumpeted with glee the show's imminent cancellation weeks before all over the Internet. That, and the fact Reilly has a little bit of the Brandon Tartikoff in him: an old-fashioned riverboat gambler who goes to great lengths to stick with stuff he believes in. (See: "The Office")

But Sorkin was put through plenty of hell en route to pick-up. As soon as critics had built "Studio 60" into the greatest thing since that little drama about politics Sorkin wrote and produced, they turned on the show. It wasn't funny. It didn't ring true. It was awkward. It was no "West Wing."

"I really look at it as just the cost of doing business," Sorkin said. "I knew the reaction to the show was going to be a little bit noisier than I'd prefer. But hopefully, we're finally starting to settle in a bit. 'West Wing' was a slower build than people remember. We were not a hit in Season 1. These things take time." As he noted during another recent interview, "If this were a play, we'd still be in previews."

Not that Sorkin needs any reminders this isn't exactly equity theater. In today's primetime TV landscape, you have to deliver immediately or you find yourself delivered to the curb. You can't survive on a full-service broadcast network if you attract only well-heeled folks in the 'burbs.

That "Studio 60" has thus far managed to beat the odds and some paltry numbers is all about Sorkin. A mere mortal showrunner would have been shunted aside weeks ago, particularly at a network whose parent company just announced plans to cut 700 jobs and pretty much exit the 8 o'clock scripted programming business.

It's the struggle, however, that fuels Sorkin's inspiration.

"It feels like it did when I did 'Sports Night,' " he says. "'West Wing' felt strange to me. This feels normal."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

MacGuffin

NBC orders more scripts for '30 Rock'

NBC has ordered three additional scripts of freshman comedy "30 Rock."

The order follows a three-script pickup the show received last month, bringing the total to six additional scripts.

The move follows a lackluster debut of the critically praised comedy on Thursday last week when a 40-minute episode of the show averaged 5.2 million viewers and a 2.4 rating/6 share among adults 18-49.

Created by and starring Tina Fey, "30 Rock" got off to a weak start on Wednesdays before being moved to Thursdays, where it will run at 9:30 p.m. after "Scrubs" beginning this week.

"30 Rock," from NBC Universal TV Studio and Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video TV, is set behind the scenes of a late-night sketch comedy show. Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski co-star.

"30 Rock" is one of three Nielsen-challenged new NBC series that received an order for three more scripts last month. The other two, the dramas "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "Friday Night Lights," have since been picked up for a full season.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

pete

Quote5.2 million viewers and a 2.4 rating/6 share among adults 18-49

is that good or bad?
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton