The 30 Rock Book
Inside the Iconic Show, from Blerg to EGOT
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Narrated by:
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Mike Roe
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By:
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Mike Roe
About this listen
A fascinating and hilarious deep dive into 30 Rock, Tina Fey's beloved modern classic comedy.
In the fall of 2006, NBC somehow unveiled two new shows set in the world of late-night sketch comedy: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and 30 Rock. It was Aaron Sorkin versus Tina Fey, and it was clear which series critics thought was more promising. The Baltimore Sun called it a competition 30 Rock "can't win". By November, the New York Times was noting lackluster ratings for both shows, and adding that 30 Rock was "perilously close to a flop".
But while Studio 60 was canceled after 22 episodes, Fey's madcap buddy comedy lasted 138 episodes. It resurrected the career of Alec Baldwin, survived an extended absence by Tracy Morgan, and permeated the culture - its breakneck pacing, oddball characters, and extremely rich joke writing are deeply beloved by millions of fans.
In this combination of narrative and oral history, culture writer and editor Mike Roe brings to life the history of the gloriously goofy show through interviews with the creators, stars, writers, and bit players.
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Homey Don't Play That!
- The Story of In Living Color and the Black Comedy Revolution
- By: David Peisner
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Few television shows revolutionized comedy as profoundly or have had such an enormous and continued impact on our culture as In Living Color. Inspired by Richard Pryor, Carol Burnett, and Eddie Murphy, Keenen Ivory Wayans created a television series unlike any that had come before it. In Living Color shaped American culture in ways both seen and unseen. Now, Homey Don't Play That! reveals the complete, captivating story of how In Living Color overcame enormous odds to become a major, zeitgeist-seizing hit.
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Wow, that sucked......
- By Just W on 10-11-18
By: David Peisner
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Best. Movie. Year. Ever.
- How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen
- By: Brian Raftery
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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From a veteran culture writer and modern movie expert, a celebration and analysis of the movies of 1999 - arguably the most groundbreaking year in American cinematic history.
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Like talking about movies with a friend
- By Shawn Inmon on 05-30-19
By: Brian Raftery
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Slayers & Vampires
- The Complete Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Buffy & Angel
- By: Mark A. Altman, Edward Gross
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin, Julie McKay
- Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Two decades after its groundbreaking debut, millions of fans worldwide remain enthralled with the incredible exploits of Joss Whedon's Buffy Summers as well as Angel. Now, go behind the scenes of these legendary series that ushered in the new Golden Age of Television, with the candid recollections of writers, creators, executives, programmers, critics, and cast members. Together they unveil the oftentimes shocking true story of how a failed motion picture became an acclaimed cult television series.
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Too much Joss schmoozing, too little new info
- By Onalee on 02-05-21
By: Mark A. Altman, and others
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Robert Altman
- The Oral Biography
- By: Mitchell Zuckoff
- Narrated by: Robert Altman, Warren Beatty, Cher, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Robert Altman - visionary director, hard-partying hedonist, eccentric family man, Hollywood legend - comes roaring to life in this rollicking cinematic biography, told in a chorus of voices that can only be called Altmanesque.
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Enthralling!
- By Wise & Careful Shopper on 10-17-10
By: Mitchell Zuckoff
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Ladies Who Punch
- The Explosive Inside Story of "The View"
- By: Ramin Setoodeh
- Narrated by: Ramin Setoodeh
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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When Barbara Walters launched The View, network executives told her that hosting it would tarnish her reputation. Instead, within 10 years, she’d revolutionized morning TV and made household names of her cohosts: Joy Behar, Star Jones, Meredith Vieira, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. But the daily chat fest didn’t just comment on the news. It became the news. And the headlines barely scratched the surface. Based on unprecedented access, award-winning journalist Ramin Setoodeh takes you backstage where the stars really spoke their minds.
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Please never let this author narrate again! Ever!
- By Sean McCormack on 04-05-19
By: Ramin Setoodeh
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Pictures at a Revolution
- Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood
- By: Mark Harris
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is the epic human drama behind the making of the five movies nominated for Best Picture in 1967 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Doctor Dolittle, and Bonnie and Clyde - and through them, the larger story of the cultural revolution that transformed Hollywood and America forever.
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Would It Be Too Much To Ask?
- By Casey Keller on 12-31-08
By: Mark Harris
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As If!
- The Oral History of Clueless, as Told by Amy Heckerling, the Cast, and the Crew
- By: Jen Chaney
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Will we ever get tired of watching Cher navigate Beverly Hills High School and discover true love in the movie Clueless? As if! Written by Amy Heckerling and starring Alicia Silverstone, Clueless is an enduring comedy classic that remains one of the most streamed movies on Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes even 20 years after its release. In the first book of its kind, Jen Chaney has compiled an oral history of the making of this iconic film using recollections and insights collected from key cast and crew members.
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Awesome book, awful narrator.
- By Anonymous on 08-08-15
By: Jen Chaney
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Robin Williams
- By: Emily Herbert
- Narrated by: Marston York
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Through roles in cherished films such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, Aladdin and Hook, he became the genial face of family comedy. His childlike enthusiasm was infectious, sweeping viewers away. Allied to his lightning-quick improvisation and ability to riff lewdly off any cue thrown at him, Robin was that rare thing - a true comic genius who appealed to adults and children equally. He could also play it straight, and empathetic depth came to him naturally.
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Good... but too many quotes
- By DDub on 11-09-18
By: Emily Herbert
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Caddyshack
- The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story
- By: Chris Nashawaty
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Caddyshack is one of the most beloved comedies of all time, a classic snobs vs. slobs story of working-class kids and the white-collar buffoons that make them haul their golf bags in the hot summer sun. It has sex, drugs, and one very memorable candy bar, but the movie we all know and love didn't start out that way, and everyone who made it certainly didn't have the word classic in mind as the cameras were rolling.
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Not Really About Caddyshack Until Hour 5
- By William M. on 07-01-18
By: Chris Nashawaty
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You Might Remember Me
- The Life and Times of Phil Hartman
- By: Mike Thomas
- Narrated by: Corey Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Both joyous tribute and serious biography, Mike Thomas' You Might Remember Me is a celebration of Phil Hartman's multi-faceted career and an exhaustively reported, warts-and-all examination of his often intriguing and sometimes complicated life - a powerful, humor-filled and disquieting portrait of a man who was loved by many, admired by millions and taken from them far too early.
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I Will Remember You Phil Hartman
- By Roxanna on 12-19-14
By: Mike Thomas
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We Don't Need Roads
- The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy
- By: Caseen Gaines
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Long before Marty McFly and Doc Brown traveled through time in a flying DeLorean, director Robert Zemeckis and his friend and writing partner Bob Gale worked tirelessly to break into the industry with a hit. For the first time ever, the story of how these two young filmmakers struck lightning is being told by those who witnessed it. We Don't Need Roads includes original interviews with Zemeckis, Gale, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Huey Lewis, and over 50 others who contributed to one of the most popular and profitable film trilogies of all time.
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Great for fans - good for others.
- By Pete Johns on 06-25-15
By: Caseen Gaines
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How to Save a Life
- The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy
- By: Lynette Rice
- Narrated by: Kate Mulligan
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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More than 15 years after its premiere, Grey’s Anatomy remains one of the most beloved dramas on television and ABC’s most important property. It typically wins its time slot and has ranked in the top 20 most watched shows in primetime for most of its 17-season run. It currently averages more than nine million viewers each week. How to Save a Life takes a totally unauthorized deep dive into the show’s humble start, while offering exclusive intel on the behind-the-scenes culture, the most heartbreaking departures, and the more polarizing plotlines.
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Perfect for fans
- By Pink Amy on 09-23-21
By: Lynette Rice
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This Is Your Captain Speaking
- My Fantastic Voyage through Hollywood, Faith, and Life
- By: Gavin MacLeod
- Narrated by: Gavin MacLeod
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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The remarkable life, career, and faith journey of the star of The Love Boat and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. For 16 years, millions of Americans welcomed Gavin MacLeod into their living rooms every Saturday night. This veteran of stage and screen transformed himself from a seasoned character actor into the leading, lovable father-figure of The Love Boat at the height of TV's boom years. For more than 30 years, Gavin MacLeod has served as the global ambassador for Princess Cruises.
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Get to know Gavin as a person, not the actor
- By Don Lance on 11-16-13
By: Gavin MacLeod
What listeners say about The 30 Rock Book
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Caitlin Cashin
- 05-20-22
Probably would have worked better as a podcast?
This is basically just a 30 Rock fan who happens to be an LA Times journalist talking about 30 Rock. It’s not especially in-depth, it spends a lot of time just recapping episodes, and doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. There are lots of podcasts that follow the format of a couple friends rewatching a series and talking about it - that’s about the level of depth we have here, but those podcasts generally have the advantage of fun rapport between the hosts. This book does not have that. Roe also quotes Jesse Thorn a lot, and while I’m a fan of Jesse and his work, I’m not sure why he’s being treated as an authoritative voice on 30 Rock. As far as a know, he’s just a big fan of the show and has interviewed a few cast members on Bullseye.
If you’re a 30 Rock fan looking for something easy to listen to while you do chores, it’s fine; but I wouldn’t go out of my way to read this one.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-26-22
ANATHING AND EVRATHING
I love 30 Rock. The author can write, but his narration sounds like Paul Scheer with a weird accent.
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- Geoffrey
- 01-15-23
Not much here, but fun reliving 30 Rock
Had its interesting moments, but as another reviewer said, way too much just summarizing every episode. As far as actual information goes, it was very sparse -- not much from any of the main actors and doesn't so much look to explain anything in the behind-the-scenes of the show. It's more like "here's the info/quotes I have, how do I make a book out of this?" What is included also focuses weirdly on people that make you go, why do I care what this person thinks about x? For example, leaning heavily on the actor who played the HR rep to expound on everything having to do with representation on the show. Finally, the author's narration isn't always easy to understand, and I found it grating, though got more used to it as it went on. Overall though it was a fine listen. Interesting enough.
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- Tim Simpson
- 05-01-24
very in depth
Its a pretty good listen , the narration is easy to hear, the material is fun, the only exception I take and I had to fast forward were the whole Racist, trans, and so on woke crap. Comedy is comedy and the funniest stuff happens to be ethnical in nature and every good comedian makes fun of minorities even making fun of their own ethnicity so get over it. it really does bring the book down. so I just skipped through it and kept listening.
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- Joe Mama
- 02-11-22
I really wanted to love this book...
I really wanted to love this book, but in the end it was a struggle to keep listening. In fact, for the last 8 chapters or so, I kept finding myself going to the Chapters page to see how much I still had to go. Ultimately, I felt I was too invested already to quit listening early.
Why? I would estimate that 2/3 of the book is the author giving summaries of the individual episodes. I loved the behind the scenes stories and especially the creative process in getting the show up and running and slugging it out (unofficially) with another NBC drama program about a "SNL-type" TV show, but there was far too little of those things. Also, in the final few chapters it became an essay on "What else has Tina Fey done in her career besides 30 Rock?" Again, interesting, but not what this book should have been. Overall. I'm disappointed.
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- Gareth
- 11-20-23
A glorified recap of 30 rock
This is just a glorified recap of the tv series .
Not worth it
Author recounts episode by episode
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