Speaking to the viewers

Great TV has it rough. Critically acclaimed, clever shows are often cancelled, only to gain a cult following down the road. Arrested Development and Freaks and Geeks are examples of what happens in a market that cares more about profit than quality entertainment. Thankfully for us, NBC has given the Emmy award winning 30 Rock a second season despite its low ratings.

But that’s OK with show creator Tina Fey, because as she pointed out in recent conference-call interview, “Cheers was not the highest-rated show in the beginning.”

30 Rock is a workplace comedy television show, set behind-the-scenes of a fictional sketch comedy show called TGS with Tracy Jordan. Fey not only writes and produces the single-camera sitcom, she also stars as lead character Liz Lemon.

Lemon is the single-and-looking, wise cracking head writer of TGS. Considering Fey was the head writer of Saturday Night Live and co-anchored the show’s Weekend Update segment, its not hard to see where she gets her inspiration for 30 Rock.

When asked how similar she is to Liz Lemon she responded, “My first name is Elizabeth, but I’ve always gone by Tina even in, you know, from elementary school on. But, yeah, absolutely, Liz is absolutely a version of me. She’s this–some things where she’s different than me, but she’s mostly just pretty close to me.”

Much to the chagrin of nerdy boys everywhere longing for girls who love Star Wars (Tina’s character references the films almost every episode), she isn’t single. She only plays single characters in almost everything she writes for herself. She said that’s mainly because her husband wouldn’t like it.

“[He] said that basically if I made him a comedy character on TV he would kill me,” said Fey.

This is a luxury she doesn’t afford to give her bosses, namely Lorne Michaels, the producer of both 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live. Fey says Jack Donaghy is partially based on Lorne, but with obvious differences. Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin, is Lemon’s meddling, corporate-interested boss on the show.

Their work and out-of-work relationship is the basis for much of 30 Rock’s conflict. Donaghy became Liz’s boss during the first season of the show. And, as would be fitting to a meddling boss, his first order of business was to hire the mentally ill Hollywood actor Tracy Jordan, played by former SNL star Tracy Morgan, and to rename the show after him.

30 Rock is sandwiched between My Name is Earl and The Office on NBC’s surprisingly solid Thursday night line-up that conjures memories of the Seinfeld-spearheaded “Must See TV” years ago. All three shows on the current line-up are single camera situational comedies, but Fey likes to point out the difference between her show and the bread surrounding it, jokingly musing that this difference could be partially responsible for 30 Rock‘s low ratings.

“I noticed just the other week that we’re the only show where no one speaks directly to the audience because The Office has those confessionals and Earl and Scrubs use voice over… Maybe that’s why they don’t like us. Maybe they’re waiting for us to talk to them,” she said.

Speaking of Jerry Seinfeld, he made a rare guest appearance, playing himself, in the second season’s premiere, and will continue appearing in the next three episodes. Seinfeld’s appearance on 30 Rock stems from an in-show joke based around Donaghy’s decision to splice Seinfeld into every show in the fictional NBC line-up. The joke of course is that Seinfeld is really only on 30 Rock, and not any other show. Ratings boost anyone?

In the season premiere, Fey’s character returns from the show’s summer break after breaking up with her boyfriend. She says, “It is going to be a great year and I’m sure I’ll meet someone else.” Another self-aware jab, and I certainly hope she’s right.

30 Rock, NBC, Thursday, 8:30 pm.