30 Rock season 3


The third season of 30 Rock, an American television comedy series, consists of 22 episodes that aired from October 30, 2008 to May 14, 2009 on the NBC network in the United States. The show follows Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan, Alec Baldwin, Jane Krakowski, and others as they produce a fictitious live sketch comedy television series TGS. Salma Hayek and Jon Hamm make recurring guest appearances as love interests. The season was produced by Broadway Video, Little Stranger, and NBC Universal; the executive producers were series creator Fey, Lorne Michaels, Marci Klein, David Miner, and Robert Carlock.
In this season, Liz Lemon focuses on her personal life, trying to adopt a child and find a new romantic partner. Meanwhile, Jack Donaghy pursues a new relationship, Jenna Maroney undertakes a new Janis Joplin-based film project, and Tracy Jordan enjoys the success of his video game developed at the end of the previous season.
The third season aired under NBC's promotional banner "Comedy Night Done Right" on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The season was critically acclaimed and received 22 nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards, the most for a single show in 2009. The season broke 30 Rocks own record of 17 nominations for the most nominated comedy season at the Primetime Emmys. The season was released on DVD as a three-disc boxed set under the title 30 Rock: Season 3 on September 22, 2009, by Universal Studios.

Synopsis

Season 3 continues from the epilogue of the Season 2 finale, "Cooter". Jack returns to NBC, Liz tries to adopt a baby, Tracy enjoys the success of his pornographic video game, and Jenna sues Tracy for not properly compensating her. Season-long plots include Jack meeting a new love interest, Elisa, and the search for his real father. Liz also finds a new love interest, Dr. Drew Baird, while going through cutbacks and discovering her potential to host a talk show. Jenna is cast as a Janis Joplin-type character in a biographical film that could not obtain the life rights to Janis Joplin.

Cast and characters

Ten actors received star billing. Tina Fey portrayed Liz Lemon, the head writer of a fictitious live-sketch-comedy television series TGS. The TGS cast consists of three actors. The lead actor is the loose cannon movie star Tracy Jordan, portrayed by Tracy Morgan. His co-stars are the dense Jenna Maroney, portrayed by Jane Krakowski, and Josh Girard, who is also a writer for TGS, portrayed by Lonny Ross. Ross's role in the show was substantially reduced this season, appearing in only four episodes as the character Josh is dismissed by his coworkers as "forgettable". Behind the scenes of TGS, Alec Baldwin played the NBC network executive Jack Donaghy and Jack McBrayer played the naïve NBC page Kenneth Parcell. Scott Adsit acted as the TGS producer Pete Hornberger. In the fictional writers' room, Judah Friedlander portrayed trucker hat-wearing staff writer Frank Rossitano, Keith Powell played the Harvard University alumnus and TGS staff writer James "Toofer" Spurlock, and Katrina Bowden acted as writers' assistant Cerie Xerox. Other cast members include Maulik Pancholy as Jonathan, Grizz Chapman as Grizz Griswold, and Kevin Brown as "Dot Com" Slattery. The cast featured recurring characters, including John Lutz as J.D. Lutz, and Chris Parnell as Dr. Leo Spaceman.
Salma Hayek had a recurring guest appearance in six episodes as Elisa, a nurse for Jack Donaghy's mother and Donaghy's eventual love interest. She first appeared in "Señor Macho Solo" and made her final appearance in "The Ones". TV critic Alan Sepinwall praised the show for finding the "comic potential" in Hayek, rather than casting her as "The Beautiful Woman Who the Funny Character is Lusting After," his characterization of her previous limited appearances in comedies. Steve Buscemi appeared in the episodes "The Natural Order" and "Mamma Mia" as Lenny Wosniak, a private detective occasionally hired by Donaghy. Alan Alda appeared in the episodes "Mamma Mia" and "Kidney Now!" as Milton Greene, a man believed to be Jack Donaghy's father. Jon Hamm also appears for a brief romance with Liz, which has a one-episode follow-up in season 4. Tina Fey said that, during casting, she asked Lorne Michaels whether Hamm was funny, and whether he was "a dick", before offering him the role.
Cameo appearances include Jennifer Aniston, Steve Martin, Megan Mullally, Peter Dinklage, and Oprah Winfrey. News articles announcing Aniston's appearance described 30 Rock as "a haven for guest appearances from big names in entertainment" due to its setting in the entertainment industry. The show's creators solicit guest appearances for particular storylines. Celebrity cameos have been described as a promotional marketing strategy for the show. Writing for The Daily News, Christina Kinon argues that the show succeeded in attracting cameos because they are also rewarding for the guest stars: seven of the guest stars in season two were nominated for Emmy Awards, and the show's humor gives serious stars a chance to be self-deprecating and "hip". Aniston's cameo episode, "The One with the Cast of Night Court", pokes fun at the show's use of cameos by using the title to reference Aniston's series Friends while focusing the plot around the fact that it also starred the cast of 1980s sitcom Night Court.

Main cast

Recurring cast

Guest stars

Episodes


Production

NBC announced the renewal of 30 Rock for a third season in April 2008, while the second season was midway through its run after a hiatus caused by the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. At the time, the show's viewership was considered modest in size but reportedly "among the most upscale on TV", justifying the renewal. The renewal of 30 Rock also coincided with Fey's increased public profile for her film Baby Mama. At the renewal, actor Jack McBrayer stated, "That anxiety we had last year has dissipated."
In September 2008, filming of season three was interrupted by Fey's appearances on late night sketch comedy Saturday Night Live, where she parodied then-Vice Presidential candidate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Fey's Saturday Night Live parodies of Sarah Palin delayed the release of the season, which premiered October 30, 2008. Fey expressed hope that the viral popularity of the SNL segments would increase the viewership of 30 Rock. Her schedule during the season's production was characterized as a grueling one, combining late nights writing and performing for both 30 Rock and SNL; the writers' assistant Tom Ceraulo describes writing "St. Valentine's Day" after a fourteen-hour shooting day with Fey "literally slapping herself to stay awake". As in previous seasons, production fell behind schedule as it proceeded; the season finale, "Kidney Now!", was written only a week before filming.
The third season was produced by Broadway Video, Little Stranger, Inc., and Universal Media Studios and aired on NBC. JoAnn Alfano, who had been an executive producer for the first and second seasons, departed prior to season three. Ron Weiner became a co-executive producer after being a story editor for the second season. Series regular Alec Baldwin became a producer for the third season. Season three's executive producers included Fey, the creator of the series, alongside Lorne Michaels, Marci Klein, David Miner, and Robert Carlock, with Jack Burditt, John Riggi, and Weiner acting as co-executive producers. The producers for the season were Jerry Kupfer, Don Scardino, and Baldwin with Diana Schmidt and Irene Burns as co-producers.
There were 11 directors through the season. Those who directed multiple episodes were series producer Don Scardino, Gail Mancuso, and Beth McCarthy. There were eight directors who each directed one episode throughout the season: Steve Buscemi, Todd Holland, Constantine Makris, John Riggi, Ken Whittingham, Tricia Brock, Millicent Shelton, and Scott Ellis. Riggi's direction of "Goodbye, My Friend" was his first time moving from writer to director; he directed frequently in future seasons. Series writers who penned episodes this season include Fey, Carlock, Burditt, Riggi, and Matt Hubbard.

Distribution

The season was broadcast in the United States under NBC's promotional banner "Comedy Night Done Right" on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time, immediately following The Office. In addition to the United States, 30 Rock was broadcast in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The Canadian broadcast was simulcast on Citytv. This season of 30 Rock was shown in Australia on the Seven Network at 11:30 p.m. local time. The third season began in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2009, on Comedy Central, moving from Five where the previous season had aired.
The season was released on DVD by Universal Studios on September 22, 2009, in the United States and Canada after it had completed an initial broadcast run on NBC, followed by an Australian release on November 11, 2009. The 3-disc set of 22 episodes has a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Surround 2.0 and 5.1, and English and Spanish subtitles. In addition to the episodes, the DVD set special features included unaired scenes, featurettes, and audio commentary on the select episodes, "Flu Shot", "Goodbye, My Friend", "The Bubble", "Apollo, Apollo", "The Ones", "Mamma Mia" and "Kidney Now!".

Reception

Critical reception

Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave the season a rating of 84/100 from 17 reviews, signifying "universal acclaim". On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, the season has an approval rating of 93% with an average score of 8.3 out of 10 based on 40 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Brandishing its trademark silliness with vigor, 30 Rocks third season hits the ground running and cements its reputation as one of the smartest, funniest comedies on television." Robert Canning of IGN called the third season "a series at the top of its game", scoring the season a 9.3 out of 10. In particular, Canning noted that the "first half of the year ... had the most focus." Eight of the season's episodes made Varietys list of the show's "Best 30 Episodes, Ranked" with "Reunion" the highest ranked at fourth place. Canning said the premiere episode "Do-Over" was "filled to capacity with comedy", called "Señor Macho Solo" "near perfect", and said the story for the finale "Kidney Now!" was "fun" but "average for a season finale." Jeremy Medina of Paste reviewed the premiere, saying it was "like the first day of school after summer vacation: sort of awkward at times, but fast and buoyant and warmly familiar all the same". /Film ranked the season the third-best of the show's seven seasons. Alynda Wheat of Entertainment Weekly, reviewing the DVD release, gave the season an A−. The season also drew praise for Tracy Morgan and Jack McBrayer's performances. Brian Lowry of Variety was more critical, calling the third season "wildly uneven" and saying 30 Rock was "merely a good comedy whose shortcomings prevent it from joining the ranks of great ones."

Ratings

Before the start of the season, the show had a reputation for high critical praise but relatively modest viewership, averaging around 6 million viewers per week; before the premiere, Fey said "I would like the audience to go up just enough so that people don't have to refer to it as 'the ratings-challenged 30 Rock anymore." The season premiere, "Do-Over", received 8.7 million viewers and became the highest-viewed episode of the series. The sixth episode "Christmas Special" then broke that record, garnering 8.9 million viewers. Both episodes exceeded the show's previous record of 8.1 million for "Pilot", and represented an increase of more than 3 million from the previous season's finale. Digital Video Recorder accounted for an average additional 1.2 million viewers for episodes of the third season. In December 2008, 30 Rock was the most popular series among upscale viewers, defined as those who have an income higher than $100,000 a year, on the broadcast networks. The show averaged 7.7 million viewers through the first ten episodes, a ratings level that Variety called "solid" and credited to pairing the show with The Office on NBC's Thursday schedule. Fey's increased public profile and the second season's record-breaking Emmy awards have also been noted as drivers for increased attention. The season finale, "Kidney Now!", aired on May 14, 2009, and was viewed by 5.7 million viewers. The second-lowest viewership of the season, this was less than expected, especially given the episode's focus on an ensemble musical performance by a large number of celebrities. In future seasons, ratings would continue to decline, with this season's best episodes representing the show's peak.

Awards and nominations

Season three of 30 Rock received 22 Emmy Award nominations, the most for a show in 2009, breaking 30 Rock own record for the most nominated comedy in a single award year. At the 61st Emmy Awards, 30 Rock was nominated for thirteen Primetime Emmy Awards and won three: the show as a whole won "Outstanding Comedy Series", Alec Baldwin won "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series" for his role as Jack Donaghy, and Matt Hubbard won "Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series" for his work on "Reunion". Four of the five episodes nominated for "Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series" were from 30 Rock. Tina Fey, though nominated, did not win "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series", which she had won the previous year; Toni Collette from The United States of Tara won instead. CNN called the decision a "mild surprise", saying Fey was the "heavy favorite". The show also had nine nominations at the 2009 Creative Arts Emmy Awards and won two: "Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series" and "Outstanding Picture Editing for a Comedy Series", for the episode "Apollo, Apollo". Steve Martin, Jon Hamm, Alan Alda, Jennifer Aniston, and Elaine Stritch were all nominated for their guest appearances; the wins went to Justin Timberlake and Fey for their appearances on Saturday Night Live.
At the 15th Screen Actors Guild Awards, 30 Rock won "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" while Fey and Baldwin won "Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series" and "Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series", respectively. The show, Fey, and Baldwin also won in their respective categories at the 66th Golden Globe Awards, and received nominations at the 14th Satellite Awards and the 25th Television Critics Association Awards.