Search icon

Movies & TV

08th Aug 2019

The 30 Rock spin-off is still happening, just not how it was originally planned

Rory Cashin

We want to go to there.

138 episodes over seven years, winning 16 Emmys out of 103 nominations, it is safe to say that 30 Rock is one of the greatest TV comedies ever made.

That show’s co-creator and co-leading star Tina Fey has had plenty of success since then, including producing Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, writing multiple episodes of Great News, and starring in hits like Sisters, Baby Mama, and the upcoming Modern Love.

However, it should be no surprise NBC have been trying to get Fey involved in 30 Rock again, and for a long time, there had been a spin-off in the works as Jack Donaghey (Alec Baldwin), the former-Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for General Electric, would take centre stage as the Mayor of New York.

Baldwin recently backed out of the project entirely, but Fey and 30 Rock co-creator Robert Carlock simply reworked the show, picking it up from New York and dropping it on to the West Coast, as well as dropping any and all connections to the 30 Rock show itself.

As for Baldwin’s character? He is now being played by Ted Danson, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter:

“Writers and exec producers Fey and Carlock then went out to Ted Danson to take over the role… With the change, the show wound up moving to the streamer with a straight-to-series order. It’s unclear when the show will premiere as Danson is currently in production on the fourth and final season of NBC’s The Good Place.”

If you haven’t been watching, The Good Place is also one of the funniest shows of all time, so by their powers combined, this new show could be the greatest thing to happen to comedy since… well… 30 Rock and The Good Place.

However, the complete lack of 30 Rock connection does make us a little bit sad, as we were hoping to hear Jenna Maroney pronounce “Cam-er-ah!” one more time…

LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge