NBC's 30 ROCK to Produce New Live Episode 4/26

By: Mar. 29, 2012
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NBC's 30 ROCK, which achieved impressive ratings and critical acclaim with its first live episode in 2010 - goes live again on Thursday, April 26 (8:30-9 p.m. ET) from the iconic Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center in New York.

When their Kabletown bosses announce they will no longer pay for TGS to be a live show, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) realize their lives will actually be easier if they shoot canned episodes fast and cheap. Only Kenneth the Page (Jack McBrayer) objects, urging that nothing can replace the communal experience of live television. He tries to convince the TGS staff to fight for their right to be live by taking them and our audience through a magical look back at the illustrious history of Studio 6H.

The series' first live episode was on October 14, 2010. Beth McCarthy-Miller, who directed that episode, will return to direct the new live episode.

Once again, two versions of the same story will be telecast - one live for East Coast viewers and a second for the West Coast. The first show will be telecast at 8:30-9 p.m. (ET) and the cast will perform the same episode for a new broadcast at 11:30 p.m.-12 a.m. (ET) for the West. Central time zone viewers will be able to see the first live show at its regular time (7:30-8 p.m. ET).

Studio 8H is the famed studio that has been the home to "Saturday Night live" and many other memorable NBC television and radio programs.

Multiple award-winning comedy "30 Rock" is told through the comedic voice of Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner Tina Fey as variety show producer Liz Lemon. The series also features two-time Emmy and three-time Golden Globe winner Alec Baldwin as top network executive Jack Donaghy and Emmy nominee Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan, the unpredictable star of Lemon's hit variety show, "TGS with Tracy Jordan." Lemon constantly has her hands full, juggling corporate interference from Donaghy and off-the-handle star antics from Jordan, all while attempting to salvage her own personal life.

Also rounding out the cast are three-time Emmy nominee Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney, the co-star of "TGS"; Scott Adsit as the variety show's producer Pete Hornberger; Emmy nominee Jack McBrayer as Kenneth, the over-eager and effortlessly endearing NBC page; Judah Friedlander as Frank, the sardonic slacker on the writing staff; and Keith Powell as Toofer, the sophisticated yet sarcastic, Harvard-alum writer.

"30 Rock" has welcomed an impressive array of guest stars, including Elaine Stritch, who garnered a 2007 Emmy Award for her performance as Jack Donaghy's mother and Tim Conway, who won in 2008. Other Emmy-nominated guest stars include Alan Alda, Jennifer Aniston, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Steve Buscemi, Matt Damon, Edie Falco, Carrie Fisher, John Hamm, Steve Martin and Rip Torn.

Throughout the seasons, "30 Rock" has garnered 77 Emmy nominations, resulting in 14 wins. In 2009, the show won its third-straight Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series and tied the record for most comedy Emmys in a single season. "30 Rock" has also won a Golden Globe for Best Television Series, a Screen Actor's Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, three Producers Guild Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Awards in Comedy Episodic Television, three Writers Guild Awards (WGA) for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and two WGA Awards for Episodic Comedy and a Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.

"30 Rock" is from Broadway Video & Little Stranger, Inc. in association with Universal Television. The executive producers are Lorne Michaels ("Saturday Night Live"), Tina Fey, David Miner, Marci Klein ("Saturday Night Live"), Robert Carlock ("Friends"), Jeff Richmond and John Riggi.

 



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