PBS documentaries about topsoil probably got more viewers than 30 Rock did at its peak, yet if you listened to the media it was the biggest thing since sliced bread and was the most influential show in American history.
A modified analogy for 30 Rock and its influence is a notorious show by the punk rock pioneers The Sex Pistols at a university in Manchester. Legend states that only a hundred people attended that show, but every member of the audience went on to form a band that was more successful than the Sex Pistols. 30 Rock was like a concert where only a hundred people attended, but every one of those hundred people were already in successful bands.
Do you understand that?