In Hollywood it is not unheard of for two movies with similar premises to be released within a short space of time. There was Armageddon and Deep Impact, Volcano and Dante’s Peak and A Bug’s Life and Antz. And now bizarrely, we have two programmes competing for our television affection that revolve around the backstage shenanigans at a live, comedy sketch show: More 4’s Studio 60 on the Sunset strip and Five’s 30 Rock.

One is an hour-long, verbally dense effort with a hard shell of meaty issues such as the integrity of news coverage hiding a soft under belly of romance and whimsy. The other is a succinct 30 minute sitcom that throws out killer lines amid the outlandish characters and outrageous set-ups. But though these differences are substantial and worth noting, so are the many similarities that the two American imports share. TV Scoop breaks down how the two are, in fact, TV twins…

The boss…
Both shows include a studio boss who pays careful attention to the day-to-day machinations of their comedy sketch show.

…is called Jack
Please may I introduce you to Studio 60’s boss Jack Rudolph and 30 Rock’s Jack Donaghy.

A black stand-up as one of their star performers
Established stand-up comedian D.L. Hughley plays Simon Stiles, one of the ‘big three’ stars for Studio 60, while SNL star and comic Tracy Morgan plays loony hotshot Tracy Jordan.

Written by star writers
Not many writers can claim to be names in Hollywood, but Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, A Few Good Men, The American President) and SNL’s former chief writer Tina Fey buck the trend.

Stars the writer’s former favourites
Bradley Whitford, Timothy Busfield and Matthew Perry all starred in Sorkin’s The West Wing, while Fey worked with Tracy Morgan and Rachel Dratch.

Black guy on the writer’s team has to write for the black star
This plot has sparked a lot of drama on Studio 60 between streetwise Simon Stiles and nerdy writer Darius Hawthorne, while it soon will on 30 Rock between Tracy Jordan and James ‘Toofer’ Spurlock.

Hollywood film actors on TV
Not known for popping up on TV? A big hello to Amanda Peet (Something’s Gotta Give, Syriana, A Lot Like Love) as Studio 60’s Jordan McDeere and Alec Baldwin (Beetlejuice, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Departed) as 30 Rock’s Jack Donaghy.

Celebrity guests
As a celebrity sketch show, celebrity guests playing themselves come with the territory. Studio 60 has featured stars such as Sting, Felicity Huffman and Heroes’ Masi Oka, while 30 Rock includes Whoopi Goldberg, John McEnroe and (in season two) Jerry Seinfeld.

TV faces: Don’t I know you as someone else?
Typecasting is a real danger to many television actors and some faces in the two shows are more familiar under other guises. In Studio 60 the line-up includes the former Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry played him for ten years and seasons in Friends), Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford played him for seven years and seasons in The West Wing) and Brian Hackett (Stephen Weber for seven years and eight season in Wings), while in 30 Rock there is Elaine Vassal (Jane Krakowski starred in Ally McBeal for five seasons and seven years.)

Sadly there is one big difference - while 30 Rock has a second season, Studio 60 was cancelled after just 22 episodes. A real shame.