NBC's Great News Is Here to Fill the 30 Rock-Sized Hole in Your Heart
The zany new NBC comedy, which premieres Tuesday, is produced by Tina Fey and her partner Robert Carlock, and created by Tracey Wigfield, who shared an Emmy with Fey for co-writing the 30 Rock series finale.
Like Robert De Niro in Meyers' winsome film, Carol has a lot of wisdom to impart, but she's also kind of wackadoo and predictably wreaks all sorts of crazy havoc for Katie and her colleagues, which includes her executive producer/potential love interest Greg (Adam Campbell), her best work pal/video guru Justin (Horatio Sanz), bizarre meteorologist Beth (Wigfield), and The Breakdown co-anchors Chuck (John Michale Higgins) and Portia (Nicole Richie).
Must-see new shows It'd be easy to dismiss Great News as another "overbearing mother all up in her kid's business" story if not for the palpable affection between mother and daughter.
Great News deploys the same comic beats, rhythms, jokes, pop culture references, one-liners and sight gags as 30 Rock.
Wigfield is also a Mindy Project alum and Great News also bears some similarities to that, from the will-they-won't-they office romance to a certain softness (versus 30 Rock's edginess) that comes from a parental ingredient, and to some of its unevenness as well.
The full 10-episode season was made available for review and the last handful of episodes features a fun serialized arc with the Candy Crush-esque app Biscuit Blitz.