NBC Sitcom Pilot Review: 30 Rock - Premieres October 11th; Mini-DVD Review: Starsky & Hutch: The Complete Fourth Season (Oct. 17)

Saturday, October 07, 2006

NBC Sitcom Pilot Review: 30 Rock - Premieres October 11th; Mini-DVD Review: Starsky & Hutch: The Complete Fourth Season (Oct. 17)

30 Rock - Wednesdays at 8:00PM ET/PT on NBC
Premieres October 11th at 8:00PM ET/PT

Emmy Award winner Tina Fey (NBC’s "Saturday Night Live," "Mean Girls") writes, executive-produces and stars as Liz Lemon in NBC’s "30 Rock," a workplace comedy where the workplace exists behind-the-scenes of a live variety show. The show is told through the comedic voice of Fey and features Alec Baldwin ("The Aviator,” “The Cooler” ) as Jack Donaghy, the brash new network executive who has turned the show upside down with his meddling ways.

The single Lemon is living every comedy writer's dream - head writer on a demanding, live TV program in New York City. Her life is jolted when Donaghy interferes with her show, and bullies Lemon into convincing Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan, "Saturday Night Live," "The Longest Yard") -- a wild and unpredictable movie star -- to join the cast. Now Lemon must manage the unmanageable so that the show -- and her dream -- can go on.

Also rounding out the cast in the half hour comedy are: Jane Krakowski ("Ally McBeal" as Jenna Maroney), Scott Adsit (“Kicking and Screaming” as Pete Hornberger,) the variety show’s producer, Jack McBrayer (“Arrested Development” as Kenneth the Page,) the over-eager NBC Page -- a highly sought-after entry level position with the network, and Rachel Dratch (“Saturday Night Live” in multiple roles).

"30 Rock" is executive produced by Lorne Michaels.

Cast: Tina Fey as Liz Lemon, Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy, Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan, Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney, Scott Adsit as Pete Hornberger, Jack McBrayer as Kenneth the Page, Rachel Dratch (various roles)

Read our review of the pilot episode here.

Discuss the show after you watch it on Wednesday on our message board.

Related Links:

NBC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

30 Rock Photo Gallery

Look for our review of the other new NBC sitcom, Twenty Good Years, on Monday.

And welcome to another edition of Saturday mini-DVD reviews! Today we take a look at Sony Picture Home Entertainment's Starsky & Hutch: The Complete Fourth Season. The classic '70s series comes to an end on DVD in this final season. See skees53's mini-DVD review of Starsky & Hutch: The Complete Fourth Season.

Starsky & Hutch: The Complete Fourth Season (Sony, $49.95) contains all 22 episodes of the final season of the classic detective action-drama on a five disc set. Starsky and Hutch were the two coolest detectives of the 1970s cruising around their fictional city (Was it Los Angeles? We'll never know!) in their ever-so-famous Ford Gran Torino getting the scum off of the street, one episode at a time. The fourth season includes the duo getting involved in cases of rape, moonshiners, contract killers, counterfeiting (by Starsky's own brother???), and possibly even the duo going into voluntary retirement. And for the loyal fans of Starsky & Hutch, the season also includes what may be the most infamous episode of the show: "Dandruff," where Starsky and Hutch go undercover as hairdressers to catch a diamond thief. Clearly the writers were running out of stories! Sadly, Sony has skimped on the special features once again for this season, but it should come as a relief to consumers that the episodes in the set all appear to be unedited and that the video and audio quality is superb, perhaps even better than the quality from previous releases. The set is packaged in a very thick five-panel digipak with five episodes on each disc, except for Disc 5 which contains only two episodes. Even though this was obviously not the best season of Starsky & Hutch, this is still a great DVD set with some good episodes!
-- Reviewed by skees53

(4/5 stars)

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Starsky & Hutch TV.com Page

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, June 7

Night Court - "Just Tuesday" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Abby makes a mistake in the courtroom, she decides to adopt an all-business approach to get things back on track, but her new style catches everyone off guard.

Night Court - "Dan v. Dating" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
With Abby's encouragement, Dan attempts to venture back into the dating world, but reigniting his love life proves more complicated than anticipated; Gurgs and Olivia search for a new office and find something they weren't expecting.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang Inflates" (FXX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Dennis and Mac get into inflatable furniture to deal with the economy's inflation; Dee tries to find a place to crash after being evicted by her greedy landlord; Charlie wants to pitch Frank his investment idea.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - " Frank Shoots Every Member of the Gang" (FXX, 10:33PM ET/PT)
After Frank shoots Dennis and Dee, they resolve to take Frank's gun away; Mac and Charlie go on a road trip with their moms to get their inheritances.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 5)

Wednesday, June 7

Chris Perfetti (Abbott Elementary) - Watch Chris on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary/Fam/Instant Mom/Moesha/George/It's a Living) - Sheryl Lee is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Laura Benanti (Younger/The Detour/Go On/Starved) - Laura appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Ike Barinholtz (History of the World, Part II/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ben Schwwartz (The Afterparty/Space Force/Parks and Recreation) - Ben appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Betty Gilpin (GLOW/Nurse Jackie) - Betty is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Ken Jeong (Dr. Ken/Community) - Ken will be on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS. He will also be on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Crazy Ones) - Sarah appears on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia/Luis) - Charlie appears on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) - Chris is a guest on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Brittany Snow (Ben and Kate) - Brittany and entrepreneur Jaspre Guest talk about their online platform September Letters on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Never Have I Ever) - Maitreyi appears on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:45am.