The One to Watch: '30 Rock'

With ‘Studio 60’ being essentially stillborn, its humour and topics neither appealing to audiences or critics, it’s been announced the show won’t be back for a second series. Never fear, Tina Fey, who as far as I know is the first woman of ‘Saturday Night Live’ to make a name for herself, is stepping outside her comfort zone, producing and starring in ’30 Rock’ a sitcom based around a live comedy sketch show broadcast from New York. The instantly recognisable name amongst the cast is Alec Baldwin, who having mastered playing supporting characters on the big screen has done the same here to Golden Globe winning effect. As ever we need some comparisons to shows of old so that we don’t fear this frightening new prospect and indeed its makers have positioned it as a Mary Tyler Moore type show, centred around a brunette trying to make it in a man’s world. Let’s look upon it as ‘Behind the Scenes of a TV Show Mark 2’ and hope for good things. Thursday, 10.30, TV3