30 Rock is the latest television show to have a revival during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was announced that the cast of the popular sitcom would be returning for a special episode next month.
30 Rock was an NBC comedy that aired for seven seasons from 2006-2013. It starred Tina Fey as Liz Lemon, the head writer of an NBC sketch comedy series. The series followed her as she dealt with her unpredictable cast members, eccentric writer's room, and conservative new boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin). The show was meant to parody what work was like behind the scenes on Fey's previous show Saturday Night Live, as well as broadly poke fun at the inner workings of NBC as a corporation. 30 Rock was a massive critical hit, receiving over 100 Emmy nominations and winning Outstanding Comedy Series three years in a row.
30 Rock will return for a one-hour episode on Thursday, July 16th. According to TVLine, the commercial-free special will also serve as an upfront event. It will showcase new and returning programming for all networks owned by NBCUniversal, including USA, E! Bravo, and Syfy. The episode will be shot remotely, with the entire original cast returning to reprise their roles. The special will also include guest stars from other shows under the NBCUniversal umbrella. Tina Fey and executive producer Robert Carlock expressed their excitement to return to the show after all these years in a statement, quoting one of the characters on the show: "...there are only two things we love in this world, television and everyone."
30 Rock is the second show starring an SNL alum to receive a revival during the pandemic. Parks and Recreation, a sitcom that also ran for seven seasons on NBC, aired a half-hour reunion special to raise money for Feeding America's COVID-19 charity. Every member of the original cast returned for the episode, and it followed Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope trying to make sure all of her friends and co-workers from Pawnee check on each other during quarantine. Another NBC sitcom, Community, had their own virtual reunion in May, performing a table read of one of their popular episodes and raising money for different COVID-19 relief efforts.
As filming for TV continues to be delayed, audiences have been discovering new shows as well as rewatching old favorites. Series like 30 Rock reuniting during the pandemic not only makes fans happy to see their favorite characters again but can also create a second wave of interest for a show that ended years ago. While not much is certain in entertainment during the Coronavirus pandemic, these reunion specials are guaranteed win-wins for both shows and their fans.
Source: TVLine