Can 30 Rock on the graveyard shift?

Is 30 Rock the new Seinfeld? Monkey only asks after the smart US comedy has slowly been shunted back in the schedules by Channel Five, with the final episode in the first series airing at 11.45pm last night to an audience of just 200,000. The Tina Fey-written show, set behind the scenes of an NBC sketch show, is almost universally praised for its intelligent humour and witty plot lines by those who have seen it. However, the trouble is that fewer and fewer have been able to after it began its run in a 10.45pm slot with 700,000 viewers but was quietly shifted back an hour. Those with good memories will remember that BBC2 did the same trick with Seinfeld and The Larry Sanders Show, which both began in late night slots and often ended up in early morning ones. If only My Family would suffer the same fate.