30 Rock Gets No Lift From Jennifer Aniston

Tina Fey comedy falls to ratings season low, famous guest star or no

By Joal Ryan Nov 14, 2008 7:11 PMTags
30 Rock, Jennifer AnistonNicole Rivelli/NBC

So about those big-name guest stars on 30 Rock...

Last night's episode, featuring Jennifer Aniston, and, as an added bonus for fans of vintage NBC Thursdays, a Night Court cast reunion, was watched by a season-low 7.5 million, Nielsen estimates report.

The show's previous low (8.1 million) came a week ago, when no less than Oprah Winfrey appeared.

Overall, 30 Rock, bolstered more by Tina Fey's rising star than any one guest star, is bigger than ever, averaging 8.1 million through the first three weeks of its season.

Elsewhere last night, the return of Anthony Edwards to ER had an anti-Aniston effect: boosting the NBC show by 1.2 million viewers over last week, to 9.8 million overall.

CBS' CSI (18.9 million) was Thursday's most watched show.