Conception
How many episodes were ordered for 30 Rock in the first season?
30 Rock
Development and production. In 2002, Fey was the head writer and a performer on the television show "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL"). She pitched the show that became "30 Rock" to NBC, originally as a sitcom about cable news. NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly felt that "Fey was using the news setting as a fig leaf for her own experience and encouraged her to write what she knew." The show was subsequently reworked to revolve around an "SNL"-style sketch show. After being presented to Reilly once more, the show was set to air during the 2005–2006 television season. Just before the deal went through, however, the show was nearly brushed aside by Anthony Lewis and Jack Melcher, two NBC executives who fought the idea, fearing that Fey's removal from "SNL" would result in a severe cut to the show's ratings. Eventually, Lewis gave in just a month before his retirement, and Melcher backed down. In May 2003, Fey signed a contract with NBC to remain in her "SNL" head writer position until at least the 2004–2005 television season and to develop a prime-time project to be produced by Broadway Video and NBC Universal. Filming was postponed due to Tina Fey's first pregnancy. During the 2004–2005 pilot season, a pilot was announced named "Untitled Tina Fey Project". The "30 Rock" pilot focused on the boss of a variety show who has to manage her relationships with the show's volatile star and its charismatic executive producer. The storyline evolved into one that dealt with a head writer of a variety show who dealt with both the stars as well as the show's new network executive. "30 Rock" was officially given the green light to air May 15, 2006, along with a 13-episode order. The series underwent further changes during the months leading up to and following its debut. A May 2006 press release mentioned that sketches from "The Girlie Show" would be made available in their entirety on NBC's broadband website, DotComedy.com. The idea was to air the fictitious "TGS with Tracy Jordan" online. This aspect of the series was abandoned prior to its debut.