NBC’S ’30 ROCK’ WILL PRODUCE NEW LIVE EPISODE ON APRIL 26 FROM STUDIO 8H IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – March 29, 2012 – 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.

For “30 Rock” embeddable clips and full episodes, visit NBC.com’s official show site: http://www.nbc.com/30-rock/

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“30 ROCK” CAST TO PERFORM LIVE EPISODE OF HIT EMMY-WINNING SERIES FROM ICONIC STUDIO 8H THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14

Two Versions Will Be Telecast to Make Event Live to East Coast Viewers at 8:30-9 p.m. (ET) and for West Coast Audience at 11:30 p.m.-12 a.m. (ET)

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – July 30, 2010 – The cast of NBC’s Emmy Award-winning comedy series “30 Rock” will perform a special live episode from famed studio 8H on Thursday, October 14 (8:30-9 p.m. ET).

The announcement was made by Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

“We’ve had great success with live episodes in the past, both in a creative sense and in the ratings,” said Bromstad. “I can’t imagine a series more suited to do an incredible live episode, thanks to its many cast, writers and producers, who hail from TV’s most renowned live series, ‘SNL.’”

In the series’ first live episode, two versions will be telecast — one live for the East Coast and one for the West Coast. The first show will be telecast at 8:30-9 p.m. (ET) for the East 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. CT).

Studio 8H is a famed studio at Rockefeller Center in New York that has been the home to ”Saturday Night Live” and many other famous television and radio programs on NBC.

“30 Rock” is told through the comedic voice of Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner Tina Fey as variety show producer Liz Lemon and features 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 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; Katrina Bowden as Lemon’s young, flighty assistant, Cerie; and Keith Powell as Toofer, the sophisticated yet sarcastic writer.

Nominated for 15 Emmy nominations (plus one for an interactive Emmy) earlier this month, “30 Rock” 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’s Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Awards in Comedy Episodic Television, three Writers Guild Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and two WGA Awards for Episodic Comedy and a Television Critics Association for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.

“30 Rock” is from Broadway Video & Little Stranger, Inc. in association with Universal Media Studios. The executive producers are Lorne Michaels (“Saturday Night Live”), Fey, Marci Klein (“Saturday Night Live”), David Miner (“Human Giant”) and Robert Carlock (“Friends”).

Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin comment on their Emmy Nominations

Tina Fey on her Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
“This is great and exciting news. Also, this seems like an appropriate time for me to announce to NBC that I will not be renewing my contract… with my gym.”

Tina Fey on “30 Rock’s” Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series
“This is great news. We’re grateful and excited. Especially since today is the fifth anniversary of the day NBC forgot to cancel us.”

Alec Baldwin on his Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
“Once again, I am grateful and delighted to be nominated. And I am deeply indebted to Tina, Robert Carlock, Lorne, Marci Klein and Jeff Zucker.”

30 ROCK – Season 3 (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

“Absolutely fantastic!  Fans of ’30 Rock’, the third season is another witty, hilarious and highly entertaining season.  And to make things even more better,  the third season of ’30 ROCK’ on DVD is full of special features  including seven audio commentary and many special features.  A solid release that is highly recommended!”

Images courtesy of © 2009 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: 30 ROCK – SEASON 3

DURATION: 8 hrs. and 6 minutes (22 episodes on 3 Discs)

DVD INFORMATION: English Dolby Digital 5.1, English SDH, Anamorphic Widescreen 1:78:1

COMPANY: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE:  September 22, 2009

Created by Tina Fey

Directed by Don Scardino, Gail Mancuso, Beth McCarthy-Miller, Scott Ellis

Written by Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Jack Burditt, John Riggi, Matt Hubbard, Kay Cannon, Ron Weiner, Jon Pollack, Tami Sagher, Donald Glover

Executive Producer: Tina Fey, Jerry Kupfer, Matt Hubbard, Lorne Michaels, David Miner, Jeff Richmond, Jack Burditt, Robert Carlock, Marci Klein, John Riggi

Producer: Don Scardino, Alec Baldwin

Co-Producer: Irene Burns, Diana Schmidt

Associate Prodcuer: Shannon Fogarty

Consulting Producer: Jon Pollack

Music by Jeff Richmond

Cinematography by Matthew Clark

Edited by Ken Eluto and Meg Reticker

Casting by Jennifer McNamara

Production Design by Keith Raywood, Teresa Mastropierro

Art Direction by Peter Baran

Set Decoration by Jennifer Greenberg

Costume Design by Tom Broecker

Starring:

Tina Fey as Liz Lemon

Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan

Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney

Jack McBrayer as Kenneth Parcell

Scott Adsit as Pet Hornbeger

Judah Friedlander as Frank Rossitano

Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy

Katrina Bowden as Cerie

Keith Powell as Toofer

Maulik Pancholy as Jonathan

Kevin Brown as Dot Com

Grizz Chapman as Grizz

Lonny Ross as Josh Girard

John Lutz as Lutz

Alan Alda as Milton Green

Nancy O’Dell as herself

Paula Pell as Paula Hornberger

Donald Glover as Gay Kid

Tracie Jules as Gerhardt’s Friend

Bobbb’e J. Thompson as Tracy Jr.

Kay Cannon as Human Table

Brian Stack as Howard Jorgensen

Steve Buscemi as Lenny Wosniak

Todd Buonopane as Jeffrey Weinerslav

Jon Hamm as Dr. Drew Baird

Sue Galloway as Sue

Sherri Shepherd as Angie Jordan

Rip Torn as Don Geiss

Chris Parnell as Dr. Leo Spacerman

Dean Winters as Dennis Duffy

Salma Hayek as Elisa

Elaine Stritch as Colleen Donaghy

Meredith Vieira as Herself

Jennifer Aniston as Claire Harper

Re-enjoy the complete third season of the Primetime Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award-winning comedy 30 Rock, hailed by The New York Times as “its third season” and by The Sun as a “comedy… shown on NBC… [which is a] network.” Primetime Emmy®, Golden Globe® and SAG® Award winner (and show creator) Tina Fey and Primetime Emmy®, Golden Globe® and SAG® Award winner Alec Baldwin star as corporate executive Jack Donaghy and TV writer Liz Lemon (reverse respectively). Together, Jack and Liz manage the workplace chaos with no help from Liz’s loose-cannon stars Tracy Jordan and Jenna Maroney (Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski) and hapless NBC page Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer). The end result is topless break-dancing, professional tetherball, geriatric kidnapping, bird murder, sexual espionage, Appalachian witchcraft, patricide, gay lion tattoos and important life lessons learned from Sasquatches. Join in the behind-the-scenes fun with lots of exclusive content and all 22 episodes of the acclaimed third season of 30 Rock from executive producer Lorne Michaels (Hot Rod).

“30 Rock”, the NBC sitcom that has the most Emmy Awards (22) for a single year for a comedy series.  An award-winning series that is critically acclaimed series that in its first and second year, despite being a series that critics raved about, the series has had its challenge due to its low viewership.

Fortunately, NBC has supported this series and greenlighted a fourth season because “30 ROCK” is unique and one of those rare delights that is on network television.  Humorous, entertaining but literally, just a fantastic comedy that has solid writing and a talented cast.

30 Rock is the shortened address of where NBC Studios is located in New York City, ala 30 Rockefeller Plaza.  The show revolves around the crew and the cast of the live sketch comedy “The Girlie Show” which is written by head writer Liz Lemon (Tina Fey, “Saturday Night Live”, “Baby Mama”, “Mean Girls”) and stars actress Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski, “Ally McBeal”).  But Liz’s boss, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin, “Knots Landing”, “Beetlejuice”, “Pearl Harbor”) decides to add comedian Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan, “Saturday Night Live”, “Scare Tactics”) to spice up the show and rename it “TGS with Tracy Jordan”.

The show focuses on what goes behind-the-scenes of the creation of the show and what is going on in the personal lives of several of the main characters (primarily focusing on the lives of Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy) and focuses on relationships and the unique friendship that Jack and Liz tend to develop, while the two deal with their own love life but also their interaction with the writers of TGS and the NBC Page Kenneth Parcell (Jack MacBrayer, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, “Arrested Development”).

“30 ROCK – Season 3″ features 22 episodes on three discs.  Included are (spoilerless summaries):

DISC: 1

• EPISODE 37 – DO-OVER – Liz wants to adopt but must must please the adoption evaluator (guest star Megan Mullally, “Will & Grace”).  Meanwhile, Jack returns and wants his job back.
• EPISODE 38 – BELIEVE IN THE STARS – During a flight back from Chicago, Liz tells her life to Oprah Winfrey.  Meanwhile, Tracy and Jenna try to outdo each other on who has the worst life.
• EPISODE 39 – THE ONE WITH THE CAST OF NIGHT COURT – Liz and Jenna’s friend Claire (guest star Jennifer Aniston, “Friends”, “Marley & Me”, “Office Space”) comes to visit and falls for Jack.  Meanwhile, Kenneth is depressed and Tracy tries to make him happy by reuniting the cast of “Night Court” (guest star Harry Anderson, Charles Robinson and Markie Post).
• EPISODE 40 – GAVIN VOLURE – Businessman Gavin Volure (Steve Martin) falls for Liz.  But Gavin has a big secret.
• EPISODE 41 – REUNION – Liz is convinced by Jack to go to her high school reunion and realizes how her fellow high school mates really feel about her.
• EPISODE 42 – CHRISTMAS SPECIAL – Liz takes pat in a charity to help underprivileged kids.  Meanwhile, Jack’s mother (Elaine Stritch) comes to visit and it stresses him out.
• EPISODE 43 – SENORA MACHO SOLO – Liz wants a child so bad that she mistakes a little person (Peter Dinklage) as a young boy.  Meanwhile, Jack starts to fall for his mother’s nurse Elisha (guest star Salma Hayek, “Ugly Betty”, “Traffic”, “Fools Rush In”).
• EPISODE 44 – FLU SHOT – Liz fights for the TGS staff to get flu shots but only a few shots are available.  Who will get them?  Meanwhile, Jack and Elisha want to spend more time with each other.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 45 – Retreat to Move Forward - With the corporate retreat coming up, Jack makes Liz accompany him.
• EPISODE 46 – Generalissimo – Jack wants to get closer to Elisha but her mother despises him because a Spanish soap opera villain named Generalissimo looks exactly like him.
• EPISODE 47 – St. Valentine’s Day – Liz goes on a date with Drew and Jack goes to church with Elisha.
• EPISODE 48 – Larry King – Tracy has an interview on “Larry King Live” and gives out bad financial advise to viewers.
• EPISODE 49 – Goodbye, My Friend – Liz becomes friends with a pregnant teenager working at the donut shop.
• EPISODE 50 – The Fun Cooker – Liz has to go to jury duty and without her to lead, the TGS staff goes nuts without her.
• EPISODE 51 – The Bubble – Liz starts to learn that her boyfriend Drew is living in a bubble and not familiar with reality.
• EPISODE 52 – Apollo, Apollo – Liz’s ex-boyfriend Dennis returns and Jack plans his perfect 50th birthday.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 53 – Cutbacks – With corporate budget cuts, the TGS crew worry about who will get fired.
• EPISODE 54 – Jackie Jormp-Jomp – With what happened in the last episode, Liz must learn to live her new life without TGS.
• EPISODE 55 – The Ones – With Jack thinking of taking the next step with Elisha, he goes to Tracy to learn about married life.
• EPISODE 56 – The Natural Order – Tracy and Liz experience something unique.   Meanwhile, Jenna adopts a pet Gibbon.
• EPISODE 57 – Mamma Mia – Liz and Tracy convince Jack to search for his real father.  Meanwhile, Tracy finds out that he may have an illegitimate child.
• EPISODE 58 – Kidney Now! – Jack’s father (Alan Alda) is going through major health problems, meanwhile Liz starts to get fame as a relationship expert.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“30 ROCK – SEASON 3″ is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 1:78:1.  The television series is shot via single camera and has that drama series style of quality.  But for the most part, the show is anamorphic widescreen and picture quality is satisfactory for what you would expect from television on DVD.

As for audio, audio is presented in English Dolby Digital 5.1.  For home theater owners with a receiver, the audio is front and channel driven with the dialogue being clear and understandable and the opening theme song coming quite lively.  But for the most part, the audio is satisfactory for a comedy.  Personally, I had my receiver set at stereo on all channels as my primary selection and preference in hearing the series.

Subtitles are presented in English SDH.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“30 ROCK – Season 3″ includes quite a number of special features:

DISC 1:

• Flu Shot Episode Commentary with Tina Fey & Jeff Richmond

DISC 2:

• Goodbye, My Friend Commentary with Judah Friedlander & John Lutz
• The Bubble Commentary with Jon Hamm & Jack McBrayer
• Apollo, Apollo Commentary with Jack Burditt & Robert Carlock

DISC 3:

• The Ones Commentary with Jane Krakowski & Jack McBrayer
• Mamma Mia Commentary with Alan Alda
• Kidney Now! Commentary with Tina Fey & Jeff Richmond
• Behind-the-Scenes with the Muppets- (3:10) Tina Fey gives commentary about the Muppets being used on the show and designed after the cast.  Behind-the-scenes footage of how the Muppets are being used.
• 1-900-OKFace – (1:09) The embarrassing commercial of Liz Lemon’s first and only acting role as Bijou.
• Kidney Now! Table Read – (31:26) The table read for the show with video on the top of the cast going through their scripts and the actual script being shown on the bottom.
• Making of “He Needs a Kidney” - (12:23) The Making of Kidney! Now.  A featurette about the final episode of Season 3 which shows how music would become instrumental in this episode.
• Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery – (2:06) A photo montage of the crew and cast of “30 Rock”.
• Alec Baldwin’s SNL Monologue – (4:50) The opening monologue for Alec Baldwin’s appearance on “Saturday Night Live” with Jack McBrayer.
• Tracy Jordan’s Rant – (2:08) Tracy Jordan going off on the camera operator.
• Award Acceptance Speeches – Featuring award acceptance speeches for “Emmy’s – Outstanding Lead Actress – Comedy Series” (1:19), “Emmy’s – Outstanding Lead Actor – Comedy Series” (1:05) and “Golden Globes – Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy” (1:18).

I absolutely love “30 ROCK”.  The third season showed no signs of slowdown and every episode, you just want to laugh because the characters are hilarious but most of all, the writing is just top notch.  And all 22 episodes in the third season does not disappoint at all.

With the second season DVD release from last year, the show was really facing major challenges as the Writers Guild Strike really cut down on the episodes and no one knew if NBC was going to cancel the show but they gave it some time and next thing you know, the show won many awards.  The fact that the show has been nominated for 22 awards in 2009 alone is a testament of how people respect the show’s writing and its talent.  As mentioned earlier in my review, “30 ROCK” is one of those rare and unique shows on television and everything manages to work perfectly.

I’ve watched Season 3 on television and I couldn’t wait to watch the episodes again, that’s how much I really enjoy this series.  It’s witty, fun and comedy that is highly entertaining!  In fact, as for favorite episodes, there is just so many.  From finding out who Liz Lemon was talking to on the plane ride in the episode “Believe in the Stars”, to see the reuniting of the “Night Court” characters and also see Jennifer Aniston’s “Claire” getting into mischief in “The One with the Cast of Night Court”, Kenneth going on a date with a blind staffer with Tracy’s help in “St. Valentine’s Day”, Jack seeing a duplicate of himself on the Spanish soap opera in “Generalissimo” or Liz and Jack visiting Liz’s high school reunion in the episode titled “Reunion”.  There are just too many fantastic episodes from this third season, that I can’t see any fan being disappointed.

As for the DVD release of “30 ROCK – Season 3″, this DVD is literally a solid release.  Not only do you get all 22 episodes, 7 audio commentary (and the good news is that they give a variety of talent, even guest stars a chance to take part in the audio commentary) but you also get a good number of other special features that really round out this wonderful DVD release.  Overall, the show is wonderful and the only thing I can hope for is that Universal considers releasing “30 Rock” on Blu-ray via High Definition.

But there is nothing negative I can say about this release.   It’s a solid release and fans of the series will definitely get their money’s worth!  “30 ROCK – Season 3″ is highly recommended.

30 Rock’s Jane Krakowski at the 66th Golden Globe Awards

picapp: Jane Krakowski at the 66th Golden Globe Awards ceremnony, held at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles, CA, USA on January 11, 2009. Photo by Lionel Hahn/ABACAUSA.COM (Pictured : Jane Krakowski) Photo via Newscom Photo via Newscom. Content © 2009 Newscom . All rights reserved.