From being name-checked in the show to inserting Easter eggs for marketers.
Unable to put on its upfront pitch at Radio City in May, NBCUniversal put its star-studded upfront message on television. But first, NBCUniversal previewed its primetime upfront pitch reuniting the cast of 30 Rock for a one-hour special episode as the finale of a Creative Summit for ad clients and media buyers Thursday afternoon. The summit talked about the importance of creativity in solving business problems and the ways NBCU can work with marketers.
Not everyone will see the 30 Rock reunion that will air Thursday on NBC. Multiple station groups are preempting the hour-long special, which will double as an advertisement for NBCUniversal’s 2020-21 programming and its new streaming service, Peacock. The stations that are choosing to preempt the special come from station groups Gray Television, Hearst, Nexstar, Tegna and Sinclair Broadcast Group, an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap. While it’s not clear exactly how many of the stations are skipping the special, those collectively represent about half of NBC’s footprint.
NBCUniversal’s upfront will be hosted by Liz Lemon, Jack Donaghy and Tracy Jordan and be shown to the masses as a TV special, rather than an exclusive presentation for advertisers. NBC will air a TV special on July 16 that will bring back the cast of 30 Rock to tout NBCU’s 2020-21 programming. The hour-long, commercial-free event will premiere on NBC, and get a reboardcast the following day across USA Network, Bravo, E!, Oxygen, SYFY, and CNBC as well as being available to stream on Peacock. Along with 30 Rock castmembers, the special will feature guest appearances from talent from across NBCU’s portfolio.
Exclusives
Comcast has officially arrived in the city that never sleeps. The iconic “30 Rock” building is now the “Comcast Building” of Manhattan. And it’s for all to see. The building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza — known internationally for its Christmas tree, and more recently as the home of Tina Fey’s television comedy — has officially been renamed.
Just as Comcast moves forward with its plan to replace the GE sign atop the former RCA building with its own name and the NBC Peacock logo, NBCUniversal today announced a major overhaul and rehabilitation of 30 Rockefeller Plaza that will include the recreation of the original Art Deco-era design of the NBC portion of the lobby while adding high-tech upgrades.
’30 Rock’ Ends 7-Season Marathon Of Mirth
The NBC sitcom ended its run with just the right note: the sort befitting “30 Rock,” with its loopy storytelling mixed with joy in spoofing the culture of TV. Closure, if that’s what it is, came in a two-minute postscript on this hour episode Thursday.
Both Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin took home awards for the NBC sitcom that’s in its last season. But even on its way out, 30 Rock couldn’t beat Modern Family, which won the ensemble comedy honor at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for the third year in a row.
As It Nears The End, Lessons From ’30 Rock’
The ad industry might borrow a page from this nerdy NBC sitcom. Like her character Liz Lemon, Tina Fey is perhaps an unrecognized genius … just one who had to work harder to make her smarts seem sexy.
NBC Renews ‘Parenthood’ & ’30 Rock’
NBC is bringing back two more series: dramedy Parenthood and comedy 30 Rock. As expected, the pickup of 30 Rock will be for a seventh and final season, and it is expected to be abbreviated one, consisting of 13-14 episodes.
It looks like NBC’s 30 Rock will be back for a likely abbreviated seventh and final season, and like 30 Rock, all returning NBC comedy series are likely to get short orders. That would save some coin and allow NBC to pick up more new comedies.
The live zaniness went smoothly, with no noticeable technical glitches and one minor flubbed line, and included guest appearances by Paul McCartney, Jon Hamm, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, Fred Armisen and — in the second feed for the West Coast — Kim Kardashian,
NEW YORK (AP) — In a move to inject new life into its kookiness, “30 Rock” is going live this week. It will be the second such outing for the NBC comedy, which is normally a polished, single-camera filmed affair. It went live for a night in October 2010 with an episode performed during the […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alec Baldwin says he’s still a fan of NBC despite tweeting angrily last week that he was “leaving NBC just in time” after a “Today” show crew camped outside his apartment building. In Washington to push for arts funding, the actor said Monday that a big draw of joining the cast of […]
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) – Comedian and “30 Rock” cast member Tracy Morgan has been released from a hospital after collapsing during the Sundance Film Festival, and he says he’ll be back at work Tuesday. Morgan’s publicist, Lewis Kay, confirmed Monday that the actor left the Park City Medical Center after he suffered from exhaustion […]
NEW YORK (AP) — NBC comedy “30 Rock” often finds laughs in real-life events in the show business world it inhabits. But Thursday’s edition targeted one of its own cast members, Tracy Morgan, who found himself in real-life hot water last June after making anti-gay remarks during a stand-up appearance in Nashville, Tenn. On the […]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alec Baldwin says he was kicked off a plane Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport after having words with a flight attendant over an “addicting” word game he was playing on his cellphone. The “30 Rock” actor was asked to get off a New York City-bound flight for playing “Words with […]
Powerful CMS Puts Clips At Your Fingertips
[vzaarthumb:866114]DG Entertainment’s TVPro/MoviePro content management system can find just the right clip from TV shows or films by entering key words that describe characters, action, dialog and location. Even more importantly, all of that content is cross-referenced and annotated in context, using metatags.
In TV land, two actresses reign supreme: Tina Fey and Eva Longoria. According to Forbes, both women are tied for the title of highest-paid female star on television with $13 million made between May 2010 and May 2011.
NBCU Gives Off-Net ’30 Rock’ Local Spins
[vzaarthumb:839883]To promote the broadcast syndication launch of the Tina Fey sitcom, NBCU Domestic Television engaged DG Entertainment and 2C Media to help it create a promotion campaign that had a number of goals: to introduce the show to each station’s audience; to emphasize its sharp and funny inside view of the TV buiness; and develop special local appeal through a series of custom, personalized spots.
NBC Chairman of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt and 30 Rock Executive Producer Tina Fey issued statements lamenting series star Tracy Morgan’s anti-gay remarks at a recent stand-up performance, which went viral after an attendee posted them on Facebook. But they didn’t boot him off the show — yet.
Alec Baldwin tells New York’s Vulture magazine that “next year is our last year of the show.” However, he’s the only one saying that.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “30 Rock” star Tracy Morgan is recovering from a kidney transplant. A statement released Monday by Morgan’s publicist says Morgan is doing well and taking “much-needed time” to recover from the surgery earlier this month. The statement says the actor-comedian looks forward to returning to work on the New York-based NBC […]
With its entertainment lineup largely underperforming this fall, NBC is making wholesale changes for midseason with moves on every night, including a rarely-seen on broadcast TV 10-11 p.m. comedy block for an all-comedy Thursday. It also renews 30 Rock.
