Rachel Dratch’s role in NBC’s new Tina Fey sitcom, “30 Rock,” has been significantly downsized, according to a report from EW’s Popwatch. In the original pilot, Dratch played the star of “The Girly Show,” the sitcom’s show-within-a-show. Now, however, “The Girly Show” is called “Friday Night Bits,” and Dratch’s character is no longer the star. In fact, Dratch no longer has a character per se:
Instead, rather than play a singular actor on FNB, she will play multiple roles in the universe of 30 Rock. 30 Rock executive producer Lorne Michaels told Variety that in the series premiere, for example, Dratch plays a cat wrangler who provides animals for FNB. That character could recur on 30 Rock, but Dratch will also play different people who appear just once.
A sign of trouble for Tina’s pet project before it even airs…or a smart move by the show’s producers? Though too much tinkering with any pilot is often a bad sign, this move seems a wise one. Having seen the pilot, I can say with confidence that Dratch was its weakest element…and giving her the chance to play an infinite number of the offbeat characters at which she excels is a much better idea than allowing her to struggle in a role that never played to her strengths in the first place.
So, Dratch may be taking a hit to the ego in the short term, but in the long run both she and the show should be better off.
Now, please: Just promise us that Debbie Downer will never darken the doorways of “30 Rock.”
