February 19, 2025 The Best Source of News, Culture, Lifestyle for Culver City, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Palms and West Los Angeles

Team Behind “30 Rock” Presents New Series, “Great News”

“Great News,” a comedy from the team behind “30 Rock,” starring Briga Heelan as a producer whose mother (Andrea Martin) becomes an intern at the same cable news show, premieres at 9 p.m. Tuesday evening on NBC with back-to-back episodes.

“They’re two women who really love each other and are intermeshed with each other in a way people will find really relatable and sweet,” creator Tracey Wigfield told City News Service.

Wigfield said “Great News” “is sort of based on my relationship with my mom” and Martin’s character Carol “is basically just my mom that I stole from my real life.”

Wigfield was a writer on the 2006-13 NBC comedy “30 Rock” and said her mother “would come visit sets a lot. She would hang and sort of embarrass me and never leave and loved being there so much.”

Because comedy often comes from uncomfortable situations and “the more uncomfortable the better,” Wigfield said when she was thinking about creating a show based on her mother she thought “what would be the worst place to have her?”

She quickly realized it would be working in the same office.

Wigfield describes “Great News” as a “hopeful, happy show” about a woman in her 60s starting over after being a stay-at-home mother for 30 years and other characters “who are in places in their life where they are feeling stuck and deciding to go after the life they want.”

Tina Fey, who created and starred in “30 Rock,” is among “Great News”‘ executive producers, along with Robert Carlock, Jack Burditt and David Miner, who were also executive producers on “30 Rock.”

“Where this show and `30 Rock’ share some DNA is that it’s a funny show with a lot of fast-paced jokes per page, but the show is very different,” Wigfield said.

To Fey, “Great News” “is about the relationships.”

“For a series to sustain itself, it does have to be about the people and the relationships,” Fey said during January’s Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour.

John Michael Higgins co-stars as the difficult-to-please anchor of “The Breakdown” and Nicole Richie as a young hip co-anchor who “really wants to report about Snapchat and lipstick and anything kind of pertaining to her,” Richie said.

Fey called Richie, best known for her role on the 2003-2005 Fox alternative series “The Simple Life,” “a really funny person.”

“She has an instant likability,” Fey said. “I think the kind of instincts that she has, you cannot teach them. She has a very easy, good comedy instinct in terms of timing, in terms of scale of performance.”

Higgins describes his character as being “on the downward slope of whatever happened to the news in general … authoritative, paternal, bloviating.”

“I actually have quite a lot of reverence for some of those old bloviating talking heads,” said Higgins, who has appeared in such films as “Best in Show,” “We Bought a Zoo” and “Bad Teacher.”

“There is something distinguished and reassuring about that type of presence … but it is a style of interaction with the public that is fading and our stories deal a lot with the fade.”

The cast also includes Adam Campbell as the dashing young executive producer managing the hosts whims and tantrums and Horatio Sanz as a seen-it- all video editor happy to dole out zen-like advice.

Wigfield portrays the creepy resident meteorologist.

“I love to perform, and it was really kind of exciting that I got to write a part for myself and a part that I think is funny and that I wanted to play,” said Wigfield, who also had a recurring role on the Burditt-produced Fox/Hulu comedy “The Mindy Show” as Dr. Lauren Neustadter, a love interest of Dr. Peter Prentice (Adam Pally).

NBC-Great-News-AboutImage-1920x1080-KO

Related Posts

New Report Ranks Culver City as a Top Place to Age, But Challenges Remain

February 18, 2025

February 18, 2025

Survey Highlights Strengths and Key Areas for Improvement in Senior Living A newly released report shows that 81% of surveyed...

Free Legal and Recovery Workshops for Los Angeles Residents Affected By Wildfires

February 18, 2025

February 18, 2025

Public Counsel Offers Expert Guidance on Rebuilding, Avoiding Scams, Trauma Public Counsel, a nonprofit public interest law firm dedicated to...

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s LA Home Burglarized on Valentine’s Day

February 18, 2025

February 18, 2025

Burglary Part of a Growing Trend of High-Profile Crimes in Los Angeles The Los Angeles home of actress Nicole Kidman...

UCLA Students Protest Suspension of Pro-Palestinian Groups On Campus

February 18, 2025

February 18, 2025

Demonstrators March After University Suspends Student Organizations Groups of students gathered on the UCLA campus Tuesday afternoon to protest the...

Metro LA to Begin Ticketing Bus Lane Violators with Camera Enforcement

February 17, 2025

February 17, 2025

Motorists Parked in Bus Lanes Will Face $293 Fines For Each Infraction Drivers who park in bus lanes will soon...

The Department of Public Health to Hold Virtual Town Hall on Post-Fire Air, Soil, and Water Safety

February 17, 2025

February 17, 2025

LA County Officials Will Discuss Environmental Testing, Recovery Efforts The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health will hold a...

Los Angeles County Launches $32.2 Million Relief Grant for Wildfire Victims

February 17, 2025

February 17, 2025

Eligible Households Affected by the Palisades Fires Can Apply Soon The Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs...

Culver City Police Seek Suspect in Weekend Battery Incident

February 17, 2025

February 17, 2025

Man Accused of Assaulting a Victim is Still at Large Authorities are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying a...

(Video) Enjoy Beach Proximity and Prime Amenities at Ocean View Hotel

February 17, 2025

February 17, 2025

For More Info, Go To Oceanviewsantamonica.com For More Info, Go To https://t.co/RmxV3mgYCs pic.twitter.com/30oSvl7Zvf — Westside Today (@WestsideLAToday) February 17, 2025

Deadly Stabbing Outside Popular Santa Monica Bar on Saturday

February 16, 2025

February 16, 2025

One Man Killed, Another Injured in Early Morning Attack The Bungalow, a popular restaurant and bar in Santa Monica, was...

Iconic Gloria Vanderbilt Estate Hits the Market for the First Time in 72 Years

February 16, 2025

February 16, 2025

Historic Beverly Hills Mansion With Star-Studded Past Listed at $16.5 Million For the first time in 72 years, the historic...

Melrose Avenue Businesses Forced to Close After Floodwaters Inundate Stores

February 16, 2025

February 16, 2025

Heavy Rains Turned Melrose Avenue Into a River, Causing Severe Damage  Heavy rainfall in the Fairfax District caused flooding on...

State Farm Faces Scrutiny Over Emergency Rate Hike Request From State Official

February 16, 2025

February 16, 2025

Commissioner Lara Demands Answers on Financial Stability and Consumer Impact California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has responded to State Farm’s...

UCLA Suspends Pro-Palestinian Student Groups Following Protest at UC Regent’s Home

February 13, 2025

February 13, 2025

Chancellor Cites Potential Student Code Violations; Student Groups Reject Allegations UCLA has suspended two pro-Palestinian student organizations following a protest...

Flash Flood Warning Issued for Burn Areas, LAFD Officer Swept off Road by Debris

February 13, 2025

February 13, 2025

Storm Damage Closes Pacific Coast Highway, Officials Urge Caution Not even members of the LAFD are being spared from the...