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What to Watch if You Like 30 Rock
They don't make 'em like 30 Rock anymore — at least, that's one popular sentiment regarding the hit sitcom created by and starring Tina Fey, which premiered on NBC in 2006. 30 Rock's influence lingers on in countless comedies about the entertainment industry and corporate America, though few shows manage to match its acerbic wit — or its bold willingness to get cutting at a time when most sitcoms were prioritizing warm fuzzies. As one fan concisely put it on social media, "'30 Rock is mean' yeah it's for haters. shut up. go watch ted lasso."
If you've already watched all seven seasons of this award-winning comedy, check out these 10 TV shows that will scratch that 30 Rock itch — some vaguely wholesome, most cynical, but all very, very funny.
More recommendations:
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was Tina Fey and Robert Carlock's second time striking gold. Like their first series, it wouldn't work without the pitch-perfect cast, anchored by Ellie Kemper as the title character: a 29-year-old woman recently rescued after 15 years in a bunker as part of an abusive doomsday cult. The show never shies away from acknowledging the darkness of that premise — Kimmy's childlike, relentless positivity is clearly a defense mechanism — but it's ultimately an uplifting story about a young woman taking control of her life. And the show's quirky, colorful version of New York combined with warm, funny performances from Tituss Burgess, Carol Kane, and Jane Krakowski make Kimmy Schmidt a slightly warmer, more consistently absurdist viewing experience than 30 Rock.
Girls5eva
Fey, Carlock, and David Miner have produced a number of other shows in the post-30 Rock era, including Tracey Wigfield's underseen NBC sitcom Great News. But my favorite from the team has to be Girls5eva, Meredith Scardino's musical comedy. Centered on a '90s girl group reuniting decades later, this one features singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles and Broadway star Renée Elise Goldsberry as the Liz Lemon and Jenna Maroney equivalents, with Busy Philipps and Paula Pell rounding out the group. Even in the general feel and pace of the jokes, Girls5eva will feel very familiar to 30 Rock fans, though its future is currently unclear since moving from Peacock to Netflix for the third season.
The Larry Sanders Show
Like many shows on the list, this '90s HBO comedy garnered effusive critical reviews without ever attracting a huge audience or earning many awards. But Garry Shandling and Dennis Klein's half-hour showbiz sitcom about a scummy yet charming late-night host named Larry Sanders (Shandling) had a significant influence on future TV comedies like 30 Rock, with its caustic humor, celebrity guest stars, and a naturalistic yet cinematic feel — not to mention the carefully detailed rendering of its toxically insular behind-the-scenes world.
The Other Two
This one is a personal favorite. The Other Two, perhaps more than other show, might be the true heir apparent to 30 Rock. It's a show that intuitively understands the landscape of the entertainment industry, the internet, and pop culture in general — including its intersections with politics and activism. For three seasons, former dancer Brooke (Heléne Yorke) and aspiring actor Cary Dubek (Drew Tarver) were sneakily two of the most loathsome yet strangely empathetic characters on TV, torn between caring for their Bieber-esque younger brother "ChaseDreams" (Case Walker) and stage-mom Pat (Molly Shannon) and prioritizing their own professional and personal lives. The show also introduced the world to Brooke's on-again-off-again love interest Lance (Josh Segarra), a preternaturally charming himbo who should be a model for chill boyfriends everywhere.
BoJack Horseman
Like many shows, BoJack Horseman takes place in a colorful animated world populated by talking animals, most voiced by famous actors and comedians. Unlike most shows, the main character of this one is a washed-up alcoholic horse actor dealing with depression and a whole host of other demons from his past. With its sharp, darkly funny exploration of subjects as wide-ranging as racism, sexuality, abortion, and mass shootings, BoJack is one of the 2010s' best satires of America as a whole — and Hollywood (or Hollywoo, rather) more specifically. But it also happens to double as an antihero drama, arguably just as harrowing and sad as Mad Men or Succession.
Barry
Barry is easily the most violent and purely feel-bad show on this list, but there's a reason for that: Hollywood is a pretty dark place. This is a show about an ex-Marine who becomes a hitman and uses an acting class to help process his war trauma — but it's also surprisingly goofy, even in its deeply bleak final two seasons. (After all, it was created by Bill Hader.) Like 30 Rock before it, the show expertly skewers the bizarreness of stardom, along with the fickle trends of film and TV in general. But above all, Barry is a character study that illustrates all the ways we rely on stories to understand our own feelings and decisions, to hilarious and often devastating effect.
Difficult People
There's cynical, and then there's genuinely edgy, and Julie Klausner's three-season sitcom Difficult People was never not willing to really go there. Sometimes that just meant lighthearted celebrity roasts and weirdly specific yet timely references to pop culture moments du jour. Other times, the show got away with irreverently joking about high-profile alleged sex pests like Kevin Spacey and Bryan Singer, often before their allegations were widely known. Starring Billy Eichner and Klausner as jaded comics scoffing their way around New York City, the show also shares 30 Rock's gift for creatively random TV show ideas, as when Julie pitched "Glee, but with dogs," "a Botched spin-off where Dr. Terry Dubrow's leather jacket becomes sentient and solves crimes," and "American Horror Story: We Promise We Thought It Through This Time," among others.
Party Down
Every episode of this cult Starz comedy takes place at a different event catered by the titular Los Angeles-based company. Most of the cater-waiter main characters are struggling actors, musicians, and writers, which provides the show a unique comedic angle on the Hollywood machine — especially when that means serving drinks and canapés to the types of stars they dream of one day becoming themselves. Unlike 30 Rock, Party Down features one pretty earnest ongoing will-they-won't-they relationship. But compared to similar (albeit more popular) workplace sitcoms from the same time, like the early seasons of Parks and Recreation and the later seasons of the U.S. Office, it maintained its broadly anti-work stance, pairing a bitter disappointment with almost every hopeful ending. The 2023 revival season may have landed a little more on the "sweet" side of bittersweet, but it's also one of the few TV resurrections that truly feel like a fitting continuation.
Better Off Ted
Beyond just the TV world, 30 Rock was also an astute satire of corporate media. In that regard, it has a lot in common with the critically acclaimed but underrated ABC sitcom Better Off Ted, which aired its two seasons during the same window as Seasons 3 and 4 of 30 Rock. Here, the workplace setting is a classic evil conglomerate called Veridian Dynamics, where the protagonist Ted (Jay Harrington) heads the research and development department. With the show's moral ambiguity and regular fourth-wall breaks — Ted narrates by directly addressing the audience on camera — it feels ahead of its time.
Only Murders in the Building
Every season of this cozy murder-mystery series set in an opulent Upper West Side apartment building tackles new angles on the world of entertainment and media, beginning with the show's central celebration and critique of true-crime podcasts. While the yearly mysteries have begun to lose some of their intrigue and overall coherence, the clever banter and chemistry of its podcasting trio — artist Mabel (Selena Gomez), semi-retired actor Charles (Steve Martin), and Broadway director Oliver (Martin Short) — have stayed strong. And Only Murders in the Building's fourth season features an unprecedented slate of famous guest stars, with Eva Longoria, Eugene Levy, and Zach Galifianakis playing versions of themselves who happen to be stepping into the roles of Mabel, Charles, and Oliver in a movie adaptation of the podcast. That opens up the possibility for more 30 Rock-esque meta hijinks than ever.