Tina Fey’s name is on the NBC workplace comedy “Great News,” and the workplace in question is a television studio, but adjust your expectations downward if you want to enjoy this silly series. It’s not “30 Rock II.” But it is a terrific showcase for Andrea Martin, still funny after all these years.

Ms. Fey is an executive producer of the series, which begins on Tuesday and was created by Tracey Wigfield, who had a variety of behind-the-scenes credits on “30 Rock.” It’s about the misfits who put out a cable news program called “The Breakdown,” with the focus on Katie (Briga Heelan), a producer who aspires to tackle serious stories but isn’t taken seriously by her bosses.

Katie ends up with a lot more to think about when, in the premiere, her mother, Carol (Ms. Martin), is hired as an intern. This may call to mind the Robert De Niro movie “The Intern,” and, yes, Carol brings a certain motherly wisdom to the operation. But she also adds a whole new layer of dysfunction. At the same time, she becomes indispensable because only she can tame the moody, persnickety Chuck (John Michael Higgins), who anchors the newscast along with the airheaded Portia (Nicole Richie).

Adam Campbell is Greg, the harried executive producer, and Horatio Sanz plays Justin, the video editor and Katie’s best office buddy. The relationships that matter, though, are the ones between Katie and Carol and between Carol and Chuck.