YOU GOTTA LAUGH WHEN YOU'RE AT `30 ROCK'.Byline: David Kronke Television Critic Life is pretty good for the tartly sardonic Liz Lemon Elizabeth "Liz" Lemon is the protagonist of the American situation comedy 30 Rock. She is portrayed by Tina Fey, who is also the creator of the series and its show runner. (Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (born May 18, 1970) is an Emmy-winning American writer, comedian and actress. Fey currently co-produces, writes and stars in the television program 30 Rock, a sitcom loosely based on her experiences at Saturday Night Live. ): She's head writer on NBC's successful sketch-comedy series ``The Girlie girl·ie also girl·y adj. Informal Featuring minimally clothed or naked women typically in pornographic contexts: girlie magazines. Show'' and likes her cast and colleagues. So, naturally, this cannot last, and sure enough, it's mere minutes into tonight's premiere of ``30 Rock'' that Liz is plagued by Jack Donaghy John Francis "Jack" Donaghy is a fictional character in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He is played by Alec Baldwin, who received an Emmy Award nomination, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of the character. (Alec Baldwin), an arrogant, meddling med·dle intr.v. med·dled, med·dling, med·dles 1. To intrude into other people's affairs or business; interfere. See Synonyms at interfere. 2. To handle something idly or ignorantly; tamper. executive for ``NBC-GE-Universal-Kmart.'' Jack insists on changes on the show -- ``You take things that are already working and you fix them,'' Liz summarizes incredulously. ``Sometimes you have to change things that are perfectly good just to make them your own,'' Jack rejoins. Namely, he wants to bring in Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan Tracy Morgan (born November 10 1968 in Bronx, New York) is an American actor perhaps best known as a member of the cast of Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2003. Morgan currently stars as Tracy Jordan in Emmy Award Winning NBC sitcom 30 Rock. ), a neurotic movie star -- any resemblance to Martin Lawrence is purely not actionable enough -- Jack happened to have met once. Liz takes a meeting with Jordan, which naturally winds up in a strip club, placing her desperately close to missing the broadcast of her live show. It's hard to see why ``The Girlie Show'' is such a hit, because what little we see of it looks awfully lame: Its jittery star (Jane Krakowski of ``Ally McBeal'') even seems to understand that she's not very good in certain sketches. ``30 Rock'' itself is better, though uneven. Next week's episode has some funny moments when ``The Girlie Show'' undergoes an extreme makeover and Liz and Tracy throw a lavish party after they hack off the entire cast and crew, though how Liz alienates her staff is a bit contrived: One would imagine a TV professional would understand there are live monitors on her set. Still, Baldwin is very funny as a self-assured oaf who promises devastation for anything in his path, and Fey is appealing as the headstrong head·strong adj. 1. Determined to have one's own way; stubbornly and often recklessly willful. See Synonyms at obstinate, unruly. 2. Resulting from willfulness and obstinacy. yet harried Liz. NBC's similar ``Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'' is more sharply written and performed, and there's little that suggests many viewers are that interested in the workings behind TV shows. But Fey's attitude seems to be, if life gives you Liz Lemon, forget lemonade: Make ``30 Rock.'' David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke@dailynews.com 30 ROCK - Three stars What: ``Saturday Night Live'' alumna Tina Fey's comedy looking behind the scenes at a ``Saturday Night Live''-style TV show. Hey, write what you know. Where: NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. (Channel 4). When: 8 tonight. In a nutshell: Uneven, though Fey as the show's head writer and Alec Baldwin as a pompous network executive are very funny. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Alec Baldwin, left, Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan are the behind-the-scenes players in a ``Saturday Night Live''-style sketch comedy show on NBC's new ``30 Rock,'' debuting tonight. |
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