‘30 Rock’ cast preps for thrill of live TV episode

The TV industry spoof show “30 Rock” is going to be shot and aired live for the first time this week.

NEW YORK: The TV industry spoof show “30 Rock” is going on live for the first time this week. The happy cast of improvising actors was almost giddy at the prospect of things going wrong on live television. Stars from the show are excited at their up coming performances, “so much can go wrong but then there’s a certain thrill to things going wrong.”

Emmy-winning executive producer and star Tina Fey told reporters that like a typical “30 Rock” episode there will be three different stories, with one pegged around her character Liz Lemon’s  and her fortieth birthday.

“One story is that no one remembers Liz’s birthday, another is that Jack Donaghy (played by Alec Badwin) is trying to give up drinking while his fiancée is pregnant and he’s not enjoying it. And there’s another story with Tracy Morgan making some discoveries about how fun it is to act up on live TV,” said Fey.

Matt Damon and “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm are widely expected to guest star in Thursday’s live episode on NBC. The idea was first inspired by the cast putting on a live benefit show during the 2008 Hollywood writers’ strike.

The cast will perform one show for the US East Coast broadcast, and do it all over again for the West Coast three hours later.

Fey and “30 Rock” actor Tracy Morgan, are sketch show veterans for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL); Baldwin has hosted “SNL” more than a dozen times and actor Jane Krakowski is a Broadway veteran.

Morgan, plays the unpredictable star of the variety show depicted in “30 Rock”, is expected to be the wild card for the live performance as well.

Impromptu swearing and timing are also deep rooted concerns for the shows live performance. Taped episodes usually run several minutes long and are cut before airing, whereas audience laughter is also hard to gauge.

“Another character is going to be present and that’s the live audience, and it does change the timing,” said Krakowski.

There will also be ‘outlandish costumes’ as Krakowski’s and Morgan’s characters will play other roles within the show.

“I come from the world of theatre and usually the second performance is the one where things go wrong,” she said. “It’s going to be really exciting; I think the adrenaline is going to be crazy high that day.”

Jack McBrayer, who plays page Kenneth Parcell, is worried that “sometimes if we mess up lines or something, a knee-jerk reaction is to swear. I’m kind of worried about swearing.”

The live episode will be broadcast straight from the Rockefeller Center in New York, the home of TV network NBC and “SNL”.

Published in The Express Tribune ,October 14^th, 2010.