30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: The Untold History

Book excerpt: The Untold History of Television provides an exciting glimpse behind the scenes of the groundbreaking series that have defined the landscape of popular culture. Comedy has been a staple of broadcast television since the inception of the medium. And from Lucille Ball to Carol Burnett to Mary Tyler Moore, women have proved themselves more than adept at delivering a joke. But women's contribution to comedy goes far beyond perfect timing—the women who have advanced comedy on television have developed, produced, written, and starred in the shows that are now considered comedy classics. 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt are just two of the many modern comedies in which women have played key roles—although in this case, a single woman, Tina Fey, is the creative genius behind both. Through the voice of Liz Lemon, 30 Rock tackled topics ranging from race to politics to age, and over the course of its seven seasons won an impressive ninety Emmy nominations. Fey continues to tackle difficult subjects in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, this time through the lens of the enthusiastically naive Kimmy, a kidnapping victim who refuses to let her past experiences define her. The ebook contains information about the inception and development of the series, thought-provoking episode analysis, and on-the-set stories about the cast and crew.