They
say there are no good roles for women anymore; but in TV land,
it seems sisters are doing it for themselves. Grey’s
Anatomy, the CSI franchises, Heroes, Big
Love and Weeds all feature strong female characters.
Now Tina Fey (a Saturday Night Live stalwart) has her
own show in the form of 30 Rock. Pity the 7 Network here
aren’t up with the program.
An important thing to note about this series is
that Fey is a writer first and an actress second. She’s
scripted nearly 200 SNL episodes, as well as the feature
film Mean Girls; so she knows her way around a word processor.
The fact that she plays the head writer of a TV show means not
just that she’s very comfortable with the part, but the
situations explored in the show have a ring of truth about them.
The basic premise of the show has Fey’s character
Linda Lemon having to deal with new boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin)
as his hare-brained ideas threaten to derail the network TV show
on which they work. The network is part of a multinational, diversified
corporation; and Jack has inexplicably found his way from overseeing
ovens to overseeing the network’s TV shows. Of course, he
has the fatal combination of being both hopelessly inept and unwaveringly
self-assured. One of his first ideas is to inject possibly insane
male star Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) into Linda’s female-friendly
program, ‘The Girlie Show’ (which later morphs into
‘TGS with Tracy Jordan’). Bizarrely, it’s a
success with the audience, and Tracy becomes a permanent fixture.
Quite apart from Jack, Linda has to mediate amongst the sometimes
fragile egos of the show’s staff members, who include her
best friend Jenna (Jane Krakowski).
Now
I know what you’re thinking – workplace comedy, so
it has to be like The Office, right? Well, yes and no.
It bears a passing similarity to The Office (specifically the
US version) in that the humour is largely understated, and the
show adopts a kind of fly-on-the-wall approach to the various
situations explored. But, let’s face it, a TV network is
a much more exciting place to work than a paper company; and the
show’s main focus is on delving into ‘the biz’.
As such, Entourage is probably a closer comparison than
The Office.
One of the more interesting aspects of the show
is that it’s actually set in the American NBC network that
produces it. As such, Fey and her team not only get to sling insults
the way of ‘the boss’, but get paid for doing it.
Sweet! Can you imagine say Channel 9 here commissioning a show
that lampooned its own inner workings – not bloody likely
mate.
Fey is naturally the glue that holds the show together;
and she does an admirable job pulling double-duty as star and
writer. She gives Linda a down-to-Earth quality, mixed with some
New York sass and Woody Allen-style neuroses. Alec Baldwin is
superb as the not-a-clue Jack (indeed, the role scored him an
Emmy nomination). Tracy Morgan, another SNL alumnist, gets some
of the best moments as Tracy Jordan. The character is clearly
modelled very closely on Eddie Murphy, and Morgan has a lot of
fun with the part. And of course, no one does ditzy quite like
Jane Krakowski can.
30 Rock is another of those shows dumped
by its network in non-ratings period, and with a poor timeslot
to boot. Come on Seven – this show deserves a lot better
than this. That it’s preceded, at least on Monday nights,
by repeats of Grey’s Anatomy merely serves to highlight
the shabby treatment it’s receiving. It’s time for
those who appreciate sharply written, incisive television to stand
up and be counted. Tell Seven you’re mad as hell, and you’re
not going to take it any more…
Phil James
To see a backgrounder on
30 Rock, click the play button below:
They
say there are no good roles for women anymore; but in TV land,
it seems sisters are doing it for themselves. Grey’s
Anatomy, the CSI franchises, Heroes, Big
Love and Weeds all feature strong female characters.
Now Tina Fey (a Saturday Night Live stalwart) has her
own show in the form of 30 Rock. Pity the 7 Network here
aren’t up with the program.
Now
I know what you’re thinking – workplace comedy, so
it has to be like The Office, right? Well, yes and no.
It bears a passing similarity to The Office (specifically the
US version) in that the humour is largely understated, and the
show adopts a kind of fly-on-the-wall approach to the various
situations explored. But, let’s face it, a TV network is
a much more exciting place to work than a paper company; and the
show’s main focus is on delving into ‘the biz’.
As such, Entourage is probably a closer comparison than
The Office.