It's hard to imagine 30 Rock without Alec Baldwin's brilliant portrayal of NBC head Jack Donaghy, but according to Baldwin himself, that almost became the case at the end of season five. "It was a low point," the actor told Rolling Stone in a new interview, explaining that he felt there was a "quality contol" issue in the writers room, and that the scripts were growing weak.
"Though even anemic 30 Rock writing is still better than everybody else’s writing. I go, ‘I’m going to get the f---k out of here, I’m done,’ because I’m an employee, I don’t have any say," Baldwin said. "So season five ends, and I’m saying ‘Next year, I’m done,’ then I come back, and season six is really good, we all had fun."
Though unfortunate, this Chevy Chase vs. Community-esque behavior from the actor isn't too surprising - he's made comments about leaving NBC for years, and even tweeted about it last April.
Baldwin continued to the magazine that it was ultimately creator and star Tina Fey who was ready to move on from 30 Rock with season seven, and he personally would have stayed for a few more years. "Tina always had her antenna up, but this year was the first time she came in and laid down on the couch on set, and you could tell, she's a mom. She's f---ing wiped out."
The second-half of season seven - the show's last - will premiere tomorrow night on NBC.
RELATED: The 25 Best TV Shows of 2012
[via The Hollywood Reporter]
