30 Rock Going Green, Fuh'Real

When I wrote my 30 Rock spec, "Going Green," I thought I'd chosen a pitch perfect topic for the show. Green business was in the news-- it was hip, trendy, and most importantly it fit the characters. Liz Lemon had already laid down her liberal leanings in a handful of episodes. "Just because I think gay dudes should be allowed to adopt kids and we should all have hybrid cars doesn't mean I don't love America." Wink.


Well, I took that liberal guilt and love for fuel efficiency and turned it into a script. And now I'm reading that I was RIGHT. That's such a PERFECT topic for 30 Rock that they, y'know, decided to do it themselves. They're even bringing celeb-politico Al Gore on for a guest spot during NBC's Green is Universal week. Now I have to pay the price for my foresight.

There are a couple goals a spec needs to accomplish. One is capturing the voice of a show. Woo! Mission Accomplished! Another is being a fresh sample. Woo! My script is officially useless!

The shelf life of a spec script is pretty short, it seems. I didn't even get a chance to do much with it. I was able to submit it for the WB Writers Workshop and another contest. And just like that, it's kaput.

But if you ask me, this is a pretty nice problem to have. If anything, this should only bolster my confidence as a writer while pushing me to keep working on fresh, new samples. Just because the staff writers voided my spec script doesn't mean I don't love Tina Fey. Hard.