"I will tell you one thing," he said. "And that is our show next year is our last year of the show." Though Baldwin has made no secret of the fact that he plans to leave 30 Rock in 2012, this was the first time we've heard that the show itself would close up shop, too. But Baldwin says it's a done deal that Fey will be leaving. "Our contracts are expired [in 2012], and Tina is gonna have a big career directing films and writing. She's going to be the next Elaine May. She'll be great." Tina Fey's reps declined to comment.added: Poniewozik says don't panic. "I tend to treat this kind of news like deaths on 24: I need to see a wound to the head, and preferably a burned body, before I believe it. Katie Couric will, someday, not be CBS' anchor' Vieira will, someday, not host Today; 30 Rock will, someday, go off the air. But I don't consider any a done deal until they're done deals—that goes double for anyone's claim, more than a year in advance, that a certain show is ending. The Sopranos and other shows taught us how these deadlines can move. Alec Baldwin? Well, let's just say, he's an excellent actor, and he says stuff sometimes."
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
AMBITION IS THE WILLINGNESS TO KILL THE THINGS YOU LOVE AND EAT THEM IN ORDER TO STAY ALIVE. HAVEN'T YOU EVER READ MY THROW PILLOW? Alec Baldwin dropped a bomb to a NYMag reporter at a benefit last night:
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I mean no disrespect to Elaine May, but I think it would be a demotion for Fey to be the next Elaine May. She's not really a household name.
ReplyDeleteHow about being the next Woody Allen, only without all the icky stuff (and the films post-Deconstructing Harry)?
ReplyDeleteUnless it has a significant rebound, NBC is going to throw money at Fey in massive sums to get her to stick around, I expect. Everyone has a price, and I suspect they'll meet hers. Seriously, while NBC has a bunch of interesting pilots, the network remains in a shambles due to the Leno mess, and their one solid hit in the key demo is going to be dicey next year (though the reports we may have James Spader or Catherine Tate as the new boss are certainly intriguing). Add to that the ongoing uncertainty about football, which is NBC's promotional driver for the fall season, and I don't see it being a good year.
ReplyDeleteI think they're smart to get out in 2012. The show is still watchable, and still better than most of the crap on TV, but it's declined pretty steeply from its early brilliance. One more year feels about right.
ReplyDeleteJake, I couldn't agree more. The once great show has gone way downhill and it's time to end it while it can still be remembered for what it once was.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't put too much stock in this. Baldwin seems to say something like this every April. I think he just feels burned out at the end of every season and muses about quitting/ending the show.
ReplyDeleteI believe Baldwin's contract is up, and I have no doubt he'll walk away. He's gotten a profile bump/career reinvention as a result of the show, and wants to take advantage of it. (He's also made noise of running for elective office, but let's be honest, that's not going to happen.)
ReplyDeleteI don't think the show has had as steep a decline as many others do, but I've often said that the optimal length for a series is 5-6 years so that it doesn't start repeating itself.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else remember the line from early Season 1 (maybe the pilot?) where Jack looks at Kenneth and remarks "In five years we'll all either be working for him or dead by his hand?" Seems like there was always a five year plan.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure Fey has a price they can meet. She wrote a recent New Yorker article about the difficulties balancing work and family, and the tension of wanting badly to have a second child and worrying that putting it off too late would make it impossible, but at the same time knowing that she would be putting an entire show's worth of people out of work while she did so.
ReplyDeleteI'll remember that if Jack McBrayer kills Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey.
ReplyDeleteAnd this news, today, might lend strong support to Genevieve's point
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