7 TV Shows to Watch if You Like ’30 Rock’
All 7 seasons of the NBC comedy 30 Rock are available to binge on Hulu. Tina Fey created the show inspired by her experiences on Saturday Night Live, though the world of TGS was wilder than SNL. 30 Rock was both a Hollywood industry satire and a universally relatable workplace comedy with career and dating foibles.
So, if you’ve burned through all seven seasons of 30 Rock you may be looking for something new to watch. Showbiz Cheat Sheet is here to help. Here are seven more shows you can watch if you like 30 Rock.
If you like ‘30 Rock,’ ‘Studio 60’ was the dramatic version of it
When 30 Rock premiered on NBC in 2006, it wasn’t the only show about the backstage workings of a variety show. Aaron Sorkin created Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip the same season, and NBC put both on the air!
In Studio 60, Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford played writers of the fictional variety show Studio 60, which was essentially SNL transposed to Los Angeles. Though not without humor, Sorkin’s take explored the dramatic toll writing a weekly show can take, as well as exploring other broadcast concerns like the FCC and corporate mergers. The drama only lasted one season but it’s worth seeking out, and available for streaming purchase.
If you like ‘30 Rock,’ ‘The Larry Sanders Show’ is the original inside baseball comedy
On HBO in the ‘90s, Garry Shandling created a comedy about a late night talk show. Larry Sanders (Shandling) hosted the show with sidekick Hank (Jeffrey Tambor) and producer Arthur (Rip Torn).
The point was to satirize goofy late night shenanigans but more so the behind the scenes shenanigans that were just coming to light in the transition from Johnny Carson to Jay Leno at NBC, leaving David Letterman bolting for CBS. Celebrities played themselves as talk show guests and the brilliant satire is still streaming on HBO Max.
‘Episodes’ was another comedy about comedy writers
Tina Fey isn’t the only writer who shared her experiences and turned them into comedy. Friends co-creator David Crane and Mad About You writer Jeffrey Klarik created Episodes for Showtime. Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig played British producers who come to America for the Hollywood adaptation of the series.
Matt LeBlanc played himself as the American star of the adaptation. LeBlanc sent up his nice guy persona making the LeBlanc of Episodes a real A-hole. He wasn’t the only problem though, as Hollywood backstabbing reared its head. Episodes is still streaming on Showtime.
If you like ‘30 Rock,’ ‘Girls5eva’ is Tina Fey’s musical
Fey and her 30 Rock partner Robert Carlock produced this comedy created by Meredith Scardino. In a similar style to 30 Rock, Girls5eva depicts the reunion of a ‘90s one hit wonder girls band. Instead of television, Girls5eva shows how ridiculous the music business is, and as a bonus they sing hilarious, but catchy, songs, too. The first two seasons are streaming on Peacock and season 3 is moving to Netflix.
If you like ‘30 Rock,’ check out the follow-up ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’
After 30 Rock ended, Fey and Carlock created Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. When NBC passed on it, it became their first Netflix show, and Scardino wrote for them. 30 Rock star Jane Krakowski returned as a wealthy divorcee but the focus was on cult survivor Kimmy Schmidt (Ellie Kemper) and her reacclimation to the world.
Kimmy Schmidt also employed the same style as 30 Rock, but focused on Kimmy’s innocence and misunderstanding of the world she’d been sheltered from. All four seasons and a special are streaming on Netflix.
‘Action’ also tackled behind the scenes Hollywood
Perhaps network television wasn’t ready for Action in 1999. Jay Mohr played producer Peter Dragon whose unscrupulous wheelings and dealings led to comic hijinks. It only lasted one season but its Hollywood satire wasn’t inaccurate. The season is available for purchase on Prime Video.
‘Entourage’ gets all the credit
Entourage may be the highest profile inside Hollywood comedy. It doesn’t focus on writers the way 30 Rock did, and it’s also very much about bros trying to get laid. But, it had celebrity cameos and its storylines about superhero films and artistic integrity proved prescient. The series and theatrical movie are streaming on HBO Max.
