Alec Baldwin's New HBO Show Includes Him Playing An NYC Mayor & He Should Bring These Jack Donaghy Traits With Him

March 6, 2015

It has been less than two years since 30 Rock went off the air, but I miss Jack Donaghy something fierce. If you agree, there's great news on the horizon: Alec Baldwin is returning to TV on HBO, playing a NYC mayor. It's not a typical political drama, though — Baldwin's character, Joe Byrne, is a "billionaire real estate developer philanthropist and celebrated socialite/tabloid fixture" who unexpectedly becomes mayor after the current one passes away tragically. Baldwin compared the new drama — which he is also executive-producing — to House of Cards in that it shows a "Shakespearean arc" in how politics work in New York.

When Baldwin explains his character, he calls Byrne, "Trump without the baggage, Bloomberg but a Democrat, George Soros if he was in real estate, a left-leaning Democrat who is also a businessman who understands the reality of how the city has to be run to create the right climate for the business community." Donaghy was a Republican who definitely couldn't be described as a philanthropist, but I still think there are some similarities we could see with both of Baldwin's characters. In particular, there are some Donaghy traits that he could bring along to the new show when it comes to politics, love, and setting people straight. Also, with Tina Fey's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix, there's no better time than now to get nostalgic about 30 Rock.