NBC Promises No Musty TV This Fall

NEW YORK, May 15

Explosive!

Banner year!

We hit the gold mine!

No shuck and jive!

Not the same old, same old!

Heavy lifting at 9 o'clock!

That's NBC entertainment chief Kevin Reilly describing to reporters his new fall prime-time lineup -- a drama-laden roster that includes two new series, airing on consecutive nights, both of which riff on NBC's own "Saturday Night Live."

Sometimes there comes along a concept "so unique NBC only has two of them," Alec Baldwin cracked onstage Monday at Radio City Music Hall during NBC's afternoon dog-and-pony show for advertisers.

Baldwin plays the new, arrogant head of television and microwave programming at NBC/GE/Universal/Kmart in Tina Fey's homage to Tina Fey, "30 Rock." (That's also NBC's address in Manhattan, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, FYI.)

It's a new Wednesday sitcom about the female head writer of a show that bears an uncanny resemblance to "SNL" (on which Tina Fey is head writer). In "30 Rock," the Tina Fey character is played by -- who else? -- Tina Fey.

Turns out, it's hard to play yourself on TV, even when you write your own lines. In the clips shown to advertisers, she's a little stiff, but Baldwin and Tracy Morgan killed in clips shown to advertisers, and in person onstage.