Michael A. Schuman - Tina Fey: TV Comedy Superstar

Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin as Liz and Jack on the first season of 30 Rock.

No one could accuse Tina Fey of taking things easy. For nine years, she was both a writer and actor on the classic television show, Saturday Night Live. She then wrote the script for and acted in the movie Mean Girls, a smash hit in 2004. Now in 2006, she was going to tackle something even bigger and more pressure filled. She was about to write and act in her own regular television comedy series.

She based her new show on her years at Saturday Night Live. It was titled 30 Rock, the nickname for NBCs street address in New York City: 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Fey had to devote full time to 30 Rock. Acting in a regular television show meant she was at the studio five days a week. She was also working on scripts seven days a week.

Every weekday in the summer of 2006, Fey left her apartment at about six oclock in the morning. She did not return home until about nine oclock at night. At first, she rarely saw her baby daughter, Alice. It was then arranged that she could bring Alice to the studio when convenient.

Those who work on new television are almost always concerned that their shows will flop. In fact, most new television programs last less than a year.

But Fey had a positive attitude and a backup plan. She said that if 30 Rock failed, she would at least be able to spend more time with Alice. Her hectic schedule made her appreciate working mothers. That was especially true one time when Alice had a bad cold. Fey spent fifteen hours a day working on 30 Rock. Then she was awake much of the night taking care of her sick baby. That caused Fey to say to allworking people, That lady next to you at your day job probably got thrown up on last night.

Fey soon discovered she had to deal with a unique problem. Another series based on Saturday Night Live would also be airing in the fall of 2006Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Its chief writer was the highly talented and respected scriptwriter Aaron Sorkin. Many experts felt anything Sorkin wrote would be hard to top. Fey said, Its just bad luck for me that in my first attempt at prime time [television] Im going up against the most powerful writer on television.

Unlike 30 Rock, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was a drama. Unlike 30 Rock, it was an hour long. Both programs were to air on the same network, NBC. Some critics said there would not be enough people interested in watching two fictional television programs about life behind the scenes at a real television program.

Feys 30 Rock costar Alec Baldwin announced, Id be stunned if NBC picked up both shows. And ours has the tougher task, as a comedy, because if it is not funny, thats it. Whereas a drama can start off as a hard-hitting medical show about real issues, and before you count to three, its about whos [dating] who.

30 Rock had problems soon after its debut show. There are so many characters that 30 Rock had trouble finding a focus. Viewers generally did not find the first few episodes funny. But within a few weeks, Fey and her staff discovered that the relationship between her character Liz and Lizs boss Jack, played by Baldwin, was becoming the shows main focus. Fey explained that somewhere around the fifth or sixth episode, we started to realize that [the Liz-Jack] dynamic was really working for us.

The majority of television critics agreed and 30 Rock started to receive rave reviews. But it did not have huge numbers of viewers. Although 30 Rocks audience was small compared to other comedies, it consisted of the more educated and wealthiest viewers. Commercial television is paid for by advertising from sponsers. 30 Rocks audience were among the most likely to spend money on products and services advertised during the show.

So despite its low numbers of viewers, on April 4, 2007, 30 Rock was renewed for a second season.

In September 2007, 30 Rock was awarded a great honor for any television program. It won the Emmy award for outstanding comedy series. Emmy awards are given by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Fey mocked her shows low audience numbers when she accepted the award on national television. She publicly thanked 30 Rocks dozens and dozens of viewers.

30 Rocks main competition, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, was canceled after its first season.