30 Rock – the shorter, funnier version of Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip – needs all the help it can get right now to stop it from getting axed; but whether or not one of its stars getting arrested for drink-driving counts as 'help' remains to be seen.
Tracy Morgan – the former crack-dealer turned Saturday Night Live regular turned drink driver turned sitcom star who plays an uncomfortably close version of himself on 30 Rock – was arrested in New York yesterday for drink-driving. It's unknown how Tracy Morgan's drink-driving arrest will affect the outcome of the ratings battle between 30 Rock and Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, but let's not worry too much – in the unlikely event that Tracy Morgan ends up in jail and a new series of 30 Rock is commissioned over Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, then perhaps 30 Rock can draft in Studio 60's token black character Simon Stiles as a replacement.
When aliens visit our waterlogged planet millions of years in the future like in AI and find hecklerspray flickering away on one lone working laptop, they'll come to see that the drink-drive arrest was the must-have celebrity accessory of 2006. Obviously the daddy of the drink-drive arrest was Mel Gibson – who managed to rope threatening sexual behaviour, anti-Semitic sentiments and the amusing new phrase "Sugar Tits" into his arrest – but Paris Hilton was arrested for drink-driving too, Michelle Rodriguez from Lost went to jail for drink-driving, everyone's favourite stinky-breathed lad's mag no mark model Caprice went to court for drink driving, the kid from The Sixth Sense got drunk, flipped his car and then pleaded no contest to drink-driving and a woman who gently knocked Ellen DeGeneres' car in the summer was also thought to have been a bit drunk.
And you know what they say – where a slightly woozy woman who bumps into Ellen DeGeneres leads, that bloke from 30 Rock follows; yesterday 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan was arrested for drink-driving in New York, as People reports:
Morgan, 38, was pulled over early Tuesday morning after allegedly "weaving back and forth, into the right and left lanes" while driving on the Henry Hudson Parkway, Edison Alban, a spokesman for the Manhattan District Attorney's office tells PEOPLE. He was booked at New York's 28th precinct and brought up on two misdemeanour counts of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated – one because he failed a Breathlyser test and another because he was observed swerving – and one count of operating a motor vehicle while impaired, Alban said.
This might not be the best news for 30 Rock. While NBC is only commissioning new 30 Rock episodes one at a time, it's already ordered a full series of infinitely smugger rival Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, and Tracy Morgan getting arrested again – he's still on probation for a similar charge from last year – might negatively affect its chances of seeing the series out. On the other hand, Tracy Morgan's arrest might have lured a new audience to 30 Rock as people tune in to see if the drink-driving man is actually very funny or not. Let's hope this isn't the case – if it works then the cast of rubbish Channel Four drama Goldplated will no doubt all start swigging bottles of moonshine in their cars in the hope that anyone – anyone at all – starts watching their awful TV show.
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30 Rock's Tracy Morgan Charged With DWI – People
