More Musings on 30 Rock & Five USA’s Nonsense

30 Rock: There is this insider’s TV blog called Complications Ensue that I found randomly one day. I’m studying to be a journalist so I have no desire to work in TV but I am a *massive* TV freak. It’s an interesting blog written by a TV writer, Alex Epstein, who clearly is an expert in the field of television.

When I was looking through the archives of this blog, I realised that the writer was not wild about shows I am a fanatic about like 30 Rock, then I found this post. I had no idea 30 Rock had ‘plussing’ as Epstein calls, which is, according to him when:

adding additional funny material to a scene that’s already funny.

This is why I think 30 Rock is so fantastic. I noticed it in the first series that the characters always had funny little extra things that they did. It always made me crease because as a viewer, it makes you realise how detailed the comedy is because you have to concentrate or you will miss the subtle jokes.

I am slightly confused with the route they are going for in the second series. I watched the new second series episodes last night on Five USA. They were better than last week’s episodes but I am starting to feel like the show has changed in that, it is more self-conscious. I know that it was critically lauded in the US with the first series but found it hard to break into the mainstream with a larger audience. I suspect that Tina has probably changed certain things to make it more mainstream but naturally, this does take away from the magic of the first series.

I will know for sure of my reservations when I watch next week’s episodes. I still think the show is great, but maybe it is trying to find its’ feet with the second series. Which brings me to…

Five USA: According to the irritating voice-over I heard last night after the episodes, 30 Rock is being moved to being at 10pm & 10.30pm instead of the 9pm slot. Again, Five USA are just not confident with the show. Maybe they have pushed it forward to catch more younger people but I just don’t understand why they cannot promote the show properly. It’s not pass the parcel – it’s a show that can be commercially successful if Five know what they are doing.

Like I said before, Dexter is successful (1 million viewers on ITV!) and it only has 12 episodes, whereas 30 Rock has more than 20 episodes yet numbers just in the thousands. Five need to think hard about what they are going to do.

NB: The best 30 Rock fansite I have found so far is Pregnant Cornbread. Any hardcore 30 Rock fans will understand the hilarious title.

Ratings Reflections: 30 Rock (Series 2)

The show was moved to Five USA for its’ second series. This has proven to be a double edged sword.

On the one hand, 30 Rock’s ratings have creeped up since its’ second series as you can see from the table I mocked up below:

Show	Series	Episode	Ratings	+/- Difference
30 Rock	2	1	63,000	n/a
30 Rock	2	3	115,000	+52,000

(Ratings Source: The Guardian TV Ratings)