30 Rock

With television now coming upon the third month of the writers' guild strike, all but a handful of shows have been on strict repeat mode for a month now.  Among the last few standing with remaining new material still to air is NBC's 30 Rock.

The Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning comedy is scheduled to broadcast what stands to be its last original episode for the current 2007-2008 season on Thursday, January 10.  One of the mainstays on 30 Rock is Judah Friedlander, who plays TGS writer, Frank Rossitano.  He may be one of those who might actually have something to be grateful for as the writers' walkout continues.

Friedlander recently spoke with North Jersey Media, in conjunction with his performance at Caroline's in Manhattan two weekends ago.  The comedian talked about carrying over his trademark trucker's hat, oversized spectacles and generally unkempt appearance from his stand-up routines to film appearances and his eventual role on 30 Rock.

"30 Rock is something you film every day for seven or eight months,” Friedlander declared.  “For doing a character like that on a daily basis, I did not want to have to do something where I would not look like I normally do.  The way I look like when I do stand-up - the hat, the glasses, the long hair, the sideburns -- that's what I look like every day.”

“A TV show could go on for six years.  That's about six years of your life when you're never ever looking or acting like yourself...that would drive me nuts,” the comic/actor added.  He also admitted that those goofy large glasses are actually prescription ones that he wears on a daily basis.

When asked what's unique about his 30 Rock character, Friedlander had this to say:  “I think I'm the only character on the show who is from New Jersey.  I imagine he's from Lyndhurst.  I play an Italian guy, and Lyndhurst has a pretty big Italian neighborhood.”

Finally, Friedlander spoke about balancing his stand-up performances with his acting commitments.

“Stand-up for me is still my first love and still my home base and still what I love to do the most.  Even when I'm taping 30 Rock, if I have an off day, the night before I'm doing stand-up.  Now, because of the writers' strike, our show was shut down four or five weeks ago, so now I have even more time to be doing stand-up.”


-Rosario Santiago, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: NBC, North Jersey Media Group
(Image Courtesy of NBC)