Tina Fey

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TINA FEY PUTS KID BEFORE PET

 

Tina Fey must’ve missed 2-year-old daughter Alice when she hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend. While mommy hung out with Carrie Underwood, perhaps daddy Jeff Richmond let their sweet girl stay up past bedtime to catch a glimpse of her hilarious performance.

 

“Alice is singing a lot and dancing,” the 30 Rock star, 37, tells me. “She just discovered raisins. She’s eating a lot of raisins.”

 

She adds, “I was never a pet owner — I’m allergic to all kinds of animals — so I didn’t even have that middle step of ‘you love your dog and your dog brings you joy.’ I went right from nothing to this amazing joy of having a child. I didn’t take the ramp up by way of yellow lab.”

 

According to her 30 Rock co-star Scott Adsit, Tina treats Alice like an adult.

 

“She’s very doting and I think she expects a lot from Alice,” Scott tells me. “Not in a bad way. I think Alice is up to the task. I think Alice likes her — in a way every kid does their mother — being goofy and silly. It’s funny to hear her talk to her. I never hear her doing baby talk to Alice. I always hear her talking to her like she’s a peer. That’s kind of cool.”

[BobbyD 2]

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,...17925-2,00.html

 

Bill Clinton: The Bitter Half

Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008

By KAREN TUMULTY

 

With just over a week to go before the Ohio primary, Bill Clinton's arrival in Chillicothe was greeted as a homecoming of sorts. More than a few in the audience at the college gym could remember the first time he came to the city. It was 15 years before, almost to the day, and the new President was in town to sell his economic plan. The 46-year-old baby boomer had seemed the very embodiment of the freshness and change that the people of this downtrodden burg on the edge of Appalachia had been praying for. They were giddy when he jogged through Yoctangee Park with the mayor in 3?F (-16?C) weather and dropped by their new McDonald's for a decaf. But it was the hope in his words that thrilled them most of all. "None of us have all the answers," Clinton declared back then. "This is a new and uncharted time. And I want to encourage you to continue to believe in your country."

 

But today's Bill Clinton after a quadruple bypass has given up jogging in favor of long walks, and his hair is a halo of white. And he had come to deliver a very different message. Don't fall in love, he cautioned, simply because someone tells you that "we need to turn the page in America, and we need to adopt something fresh and new — whatever that is."

 

It is hard to miss the irony: the man from Hope is now trying to figure out how to tamp it down. But that tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the spot in which Bill Clinton finds himself today, as his wife's presidential campaign fights for its life in Ohio and Texas. What is harder to figure out is how much of the blame for her predicament belongs to him. "I think he just did her such damage," says a friend and supporter, expressing a sentiment that many feel privately. "They'll never see it that way, because they can't. And he has no self-knowledge. This has magnified all his worst traits."

 

Everyone around Hillary Clinton always recognized that Bill would be a mixed blessing for her campaign. Back in the pre-Obamamania days, her supporters assumed that no one could draw crowds, bring in money or ignite the base like the only Democratic President since F.D.R. to win re-election. Bill was considered the sharpest political strategist of his generation. And as public approval for President George W. Bush sank lower and lower, the Clinton years, for all their drama, were looking better and better. Yet there was always the worry about whether Bill would be able to stay within the constrained, derivative role of the candidate's spouse. The biggest fear was that he would shine too bright, burn too hot, consign the candidate to his shadow.

 

In a campaign that has turned out to be all about change, however, Bill's presence has become a reminder of the past and of the style of politics that Barack Obama has promised to bring to an end. Even worse, say many Democrats, Bill has put his wife's political career in jeopardy by displaying the same character traits that almost ran his own presidency off the rails — a lack of self-control and an excess of self-absorption. It hasn't always been clear whether Bill Clinton sees Obama as a threat to his wife's prospects, or to his own legacy.

 

On the campaign trail, Bill's way of grabbing the spotlight has reminded voters of what they didn't like about the last Clinton presidency and what might be wrong with the next one. Lobbyist and former Texas Lieut. Governor Ben Barnes, long a prolific donor to the Clintons and other Democrats, says the former President is — as everyone knew he would be — his wife's most powerful weapon. The problem is, says Barnes, who now supports Obama, "that gun kicks as bad as it shoots."

 

In Iowa, Bill Clinton shaded his own nuanced record on the war, saying he "opposed Iraq from the beginning"; in New Hampshire, the criticism he got for that didn't stop him from blasting Obama's claim of steadfast opposition to the war as a "fairy tale." He twisted Obama's observation that Ronald Reagan had changed the country to make it appear that the Illinois Senator had praised Reagan's ideas. And Bill churlishly diminished Obama's sweeping and historic primary victory in heavily African-American South Carolina by pointing out that Jesse Jackson had also won the state. Liberal columnist Jonathan Chait wondered, "Were the conservatives right about Bill Clinton all along?"

 

Nowhere did it get worse than in South Carolina. A Clinton campaign official says Bill "hijacked the candidacy in South Carolina. It was appalling to watch it." In the week before the primary, his attacks on Obama put the former President in the news more times than any of the Republican candidates, according to a study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism; during a debate in Myrtle Beach, Obama complained, "I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes."

 

And yet the person who seemed least aware of the havoc he was causing was Bill Clinton. "He was firmly convinced in his mind that every last thing he did was right," says former Democratic National Committee chairman Don Fowler, a South Carolinian who spent much of that week at Bill Clinton's side. "He wouldn't admit any misjudgments or miscalculations."

 

But the damage had been done, particularly among African-American voters. Ten days before the crucial Ohio and Texas primaries, Hillary was still on the defensive, saying at a conference on African-American issues in New Orleans, "If anyone was offended by anything that was said — whether it was meant or not, misinterpreted or not — obviously I regret that."

 

It rankles Bill Clinton to see his strong support among African Americans slipping away, but "there's a part of him that understands it, because he understands black people as well as anybody I know," says an old friend who is African American and continues to support him. "He understands it — doesn't like it — but he has to understand."

 

Those close to the former President say that much of what is driving him is frustration and dismay. "In the past, when he was on the ropes, he could get himself off the ropes," says an adviser. But Clinton has begun to accept the fact that there are limits to what he can do when he is not the candidate. He correctly blames the media for uneven treatment — saying reporters have taken a tougher stance with him and his wife than with Obama. (After Saturday Night Live lampooned the media for their love affair with Obama, Bill telephoned guest host Tina Fey to thank her.)

 

But he is appalled, friends and aides say, by what he has privately described as "political malpractice" by Hillary's campaign. It spent money with abandon in the earliest primaries and assumed that the race would not last past Super Tuesday, on Feb. 5 — and failed to prepare for any of the states that followed. Two weeks before the Texas primary, Bill Clinton telephoned Waco insurance mogul and philanthropist Bernard Rapoport, a friend and backer since the 1970s. Rapoport told Clinton that this was the first contact he had had from anyone on the campaign. "He was madder than mad," Rapoport says. "He was right. There was so much we could have done, but we never heard from anyone at headquarters."

 

That Bill Clinton would be surprised at any of this is surprising in itself, given the wide perception that he is the unseen hand guiding his wife's campaign. But friends and advisers say that was never the case — in part because he understood Hillary's need to establish her independence, and in part because of long-standing mistrust between his political operation and hers. He deferred to her team and its pseudo-incumbency strategy throughout the fall, friends say, even though his instincts told him that Obama was gaining steam and should be dealt with as a threat. When Bill visited Hillary's Des Moines campaign headquarters a few days before the Iowa caucuses to give a pep talk to her young volunteers, her then campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle didn't come out of her office. Those who were there saw it as an unmistakable snub and an assertion of who was in charge.

 

While his public profile has been lower lately, Bill Clinton has been getting far more involved in the campaign's inner workings. It was partly at his instigation that Maggie Williams — who had been chief of staff in his post-presidency office in Harlem, in addition to serving as his wife's chief of staff in the White House — has replaced Doyle. Some of his former White House aides, including senior adviser Doug Sosnik and deputy chief of staff Steve Richetti, have been brought closer into the campaign fold. And Bill has been more assertive in giving tactical advice — coaching Hillary's strategists on how to talk about trade in Ohio, for example, and scrutinizing the map for targets of opportunity that the campaign may have missed. It was Bill Clinton, aides say, who suggested deploying himself to campaign in Alabama, even though Hillary was certain to lose the popular vote. Sure enough, Obama won by a comfortable 14 points — but Hillary came out of the contest with 25 delegates to Obama's 27.

 

But maybe what's really wrong with Hillary's campaign is something that is simply beyond even Bill Clinton's ability to fix. "It may be," says a friend, "their day has passed." As Bill told the folks in Chillicothe back in 1993, it is simply "a new and uncharted time."

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The queens of comedy have been crowned

 

Funny ladies rule and Vanity Fair magazine has just named Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman and Amy Poehler as the top of the crop. In a shoot for the magazine, the comedy queens, along with other crackups Jenna Fischer, Wanda Sykes, Chelsea Handler and Sandra Bernhard channel pop music's biggest troublemakers, including Sarah as Amy Winehouse, Jenna as Lindsay Lohan and Wanda as Lil' Kim. "There is no question that there are a million more funny women than there used to be," writes Nora Ephron. And who knew they were this sexy, too?

In Touch

[Lea 0]

Funny Ladies Being Sexy For Vanity Fair

 

 

Oh yes, that's Amy Poehler totally copping a feel off Tina Fey's boob, while Sarah Silverman gazes wistfully off into the distance. These funny ladies of television are gracing the cover of Vanity Fair's latest issue, hoping to debunk the myth that women can't possibly be as funny as their male counterparts.

 

Accompanying the photos shoot is an piece by Alessandra Stanley, and chatted with each of the ladies for the piece. When talking with Tina Fey, the former head writer of Saturday Night Live said that the idea that women are genetically incapable of being amusing still persists, "You still hear it," she says. "It's just a lot easier to ignore."

 

But what can't be ignored is how great these pictures are. Down below is a group shot featuring (from left to right) Sandra Bernhard, Chelsea Handler, Jenna Fischer, Sarah Silverman and Wanda Sykes looking like the kind of ladies I'm used to writing about on a regular basis and who consistently make me laugh...but not on purpose necessarily.

 

 

http://socialitelife.buzznet.com/

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Tina Fey is a Bicycle Babe

Thu, 06 March 2008

 

 

Tina Fey is the latest cover model for Parade. The SNL-alum and 30 Rock star dishes on motherhood, the hard work that goes into a hit show and how her generation was ‘tricked’ into trying to have it all.

 

On not being able to have it all: “I think my generation has been slightly tricked in that you’re really encouraged to try to have it all. And sometimes your body will not let you wait as long as you want.”

 

On her 43-day maternity leave and return to Saturday Night Live: “I had to get back to work. NBC has me under contract; the baby and I only have a verbal agreement.”

 

On how she intends on capitalizing on her fame: “I often feel like a complete fool. I’m here laboring over this tiny show so much, and around me people are making money by the fistful. It’s like, ‘Oh, man, how can I turn my personality into a line of crappy products?’ Rachael Ray sells, like, spoons. I could sell pencils.”

 

Check out the slideshow of Tina Fey pictures at Parade.com. Also check out the recent article on Tina at VanityFair.com.

 

And thanks to Fey and musical guest Carrie Underwood, Saturday Night Live had its highest rating in two years when it premiered this season on Feb. 23. That’s up 36% from the show’s pre-strike average!

[ElleDriver 0]

Tina Fey's 'Baby Mama' To Open Tribeca Film Festival

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) - The Tribeca Film Festival is turning to the local talent of ''Saturday Night Live'' to open this year's event. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's ''Baby Mama'' will open Tribeca with its world premiere on April 23, the festival announced Wednesday. The seventh annual festival will run through May 4.

 

''Baby Mama'' stars Fey, a former ''SNL'' head writer and performer, and Poehler, a current cast member. It's produced by ''SNL'' creator Lorne Michaels and was written and directed by Michael McCullers, a former writer for the sketch comedy show. ''As a film festival with a true commitment to New York City and its film community, what better way to open this year's festival than with a New York production that brings together some of the city's most beloved and creative talent,'' said festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal.

 

Rosenthal founded the film fest with Robert De Niro and entrepreneur Craig Hatkoff after the Sept. 11 attacks to help rejuvenate lower Manhattan. The festival last year opened with a series of global warming-themed short films in an evening hosted by Al Gore. This year, the opener will set a less serious tone.

 

Said Michaels: ''We all live and work in New York City, so there is no way we will not get to the premiere on time.''

 

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press

[BobbyD 2]

(Pagesix.com)

 

Tina Rips Jon

 

COMEDY queen Tina Fey says that while she makes people laugh, political pundit Jon Stewart only makes them uncomfortable. Fey tells Reader's Digest she prefers it when audience members laugh rather than applaud because, "You can prompt applause with a sign." She added, "My friend Seth Meyers coined the term 'clapter,' which is when you do a political joke and people go, 'Woo-hoo.' It means they sort of approve but didn't really like it that much. You hear a lot of that on [whispers] 'The Daily Show.' "

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Tina Fey talks about Laverne and Shirley, her favorite Stooge, and the fine line between mean and mellow.

By Jancee Dunn

From Reader's Digest

April 2008

 

Getting a Good Laugh

As a shy, nerdy student in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, Tina Fey wrote a satirical column for The Acorn, her school newspaper, taking aim at the usual subjects -- rigid teachers and even more rigid school policies. Her writing didn't propel her to cool-kid status, but it did make people laugh. Fey was hooked.

 

Now 37, she's still getting laughs as the creator, executive producer and Emmy-winning star of 30 Rock. The show is not so loosely based on Fey's experiences as the first female head writer on Saturday Night Live and acerbic host of its "Weekend Update" segment. She made the jump to a bigger screen when, in 2004, she wrote, produced and appeared in Mean Girls, a pitch-perfect high school comedy.

 

While Fey can be pointed, she's also thoughtful, self-effacing and almost absurdly well-adjusted. She's close to her parents, likes to sew and bake cookies rather than hit the town, and lives quietly in New York City with her husband, composer and producer Jeff Richmond, and their two-year-old daughter, Alice.

 

This month, Fey returns to theaters in Baby Mama, a comedy about a single executive who hires a surrogate to have her baby. After a day of filming in Manhattan, she sat down with RD to talk about funniness, family and Febreze.

 

RD: Do you see your humor as a gift?

Fey: I always think of everything from a mother's point of view now. Every kid has something they're good at, that you hope they find and gravitate toward. This is my thing. I don't think I was supposed to be a gymnast and accidentally landed on this.

 

RD: Do you still get that hit when you get a good laugh?

Fey: Absolutely. My favorite day at 30 Rock is Thursday, when the show airs. At lunch we screen the episodes. For everyone to watch together, to see the stuff we all worked on, to hear the crew laugh -- it's great fun.

 

RD: What pleases you more, applause or laughter?

Fey: Laughter. You can prompt applause with a sign. My friend, SNL writer Seth Meyers, coined the term clapter, which is when you do a political joke and people go, "Woo-hoo." It means they sort of approve but didn't really like it that much. You hear a lot of that on [whispers] The Daily Show.

 

RD: Your humor has been described as biting. Are you a mean girl?

Fey: I'm not a mean person, but I have a capacity for it. I have the biting comment formed somewhere in the back of my head -- like it's in captivity. Sometimes people expect that I'm going to be tough. It's not a bad situation. People treat you better. People are on time.

 

RD: What's the difference between male and female comics?

Fey: Every comic way of writing is unique, but I think male comedy is more boisterous. Usually it involves robots and sharks and bears. Female comedy is more likely to be about the minutiae of human behavior and relationships.

 

RD: Your mom was one of your comedy inspirations. Did you play to her at the dinner table?

Fey: My whole family played to each other. My mom's a dry wit. Philadelphians have a smart-alecky humor. A college roommate from the South said, "How come when I ask someone in your family a question, they give a smart-aleck answer before the real one?" I think it's the difference between the North and the South.

 

RD: What did your dad bring to the proverbial table?

Fey: My dad has a good sense of silliness. He was the one to let me and my brother stay up to watch Monty Python's Flying Circus. He introduced us to the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy and even the Three Stooges.

 

RD: What TV shows influenced you?

Fey: There was a great night of TV that was Mary Tyler Moore into Bob Newhart into Carol Burnett. There was SNL. I know I saw those early shows somehow, but they must have been repeats because I was only five in '75. Second City Television, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and The Love Boat. Laverne & Shirley might be the direct influence for Baby Mama.

 

RD: In Baby Mama, your character goes into heavy nesting mode. Before Alice was born, were you nesting a lot?

Fey: Yes. It kicks in. I started spraying everything with Febreze because things started to smell weird to me. You get everything ready. I'm pretty organized -- or I used to be. I feel like that part of my brain has atrophied.

 

RD: You costar with former SNL castmate and good friend Amy Poehler. Did you make each other laugh on set?

Fey: Oh yeah. We improvised a fair amount, which was really fun. She plays my surrogate, and in one scene I try to get her to take a prenatal vitamin the size of a doorknob.

 

 

 

A Working Marriage

RD: Your husband works with you. Does that present any challenges?

Fey: For 30 Rock, he does all the music and he's also a producer. I think that we complement each other nicely because we're not in the same room all day. There'll be whole days we'll be at work and not see each other until the ride home. And we've been working at the same place for a long time -- Second City, then SNL. We have a nice shorthand.

 

RD: Do you have any rules, like no work talk at home?

Fey: Oh, that's out the window.

 

RD: He described you as shy. Can it be?

Fey: I think I finally, in my late 30s, am getting over this teenage shyness.

 

RD: Do you crave being that nutty older woman who just yells out whatever she wants?

Fey: I dread it, but I see it coming. It's inevitable. You get to a certain age and no matter what you're saying, people younger than you are going to look at you like you're crazy.

 

RD: What's the best advice you ever got?

Fey: The rules of improvisation are about taking risks, saying yes and jumping in. One of my teachers at Second City was a lovely man named Martin de Maat. He said that learning to be an improviser is like doing the Hokey Pokey: "You put your whole self in and you shake it all about." You just jump in.

 

RD: When you got the SNL job, how did you react?

Fey: I called Amy [Poehler] and started crying. She was like, "What will you get paid, again?" I told her. At the time it was certainly the most we'd ever made. She just started laughing. "You've got to take the job," she said. Then the ladies from Second City took me out to dinner at this awesome restaurant in Chicago called Wishbone. I got up from the table because I had to vomit from pure nerves. I've never had that before in my life.

 

RD: Where did you get your drive?

Fey: My parents were extremely supportive and always made it seem like we could achieve anything we wanted. They were generous with their praise and their time but also good, strict parents. The first time one of my friends met them, my mom came in and gave me a million kisses. My friend was like, "I don't even know what that is. I don't understand parents like that." It always just felt like there was a real safety net there. It made it okay to try.

 

RD: How do you deal with it if you must write some comedy material and you're just not feeling funny?

Fey: I put on an I Love Lucy costume [laughs].

 

RD: Have you inspired any younger women to become writers?

Fey: At SNL, when you come downstairs to leave after the show, there are people waiting for autographs. A lot of the young women I talked to there told me they wanted to be writers. I always tried to encourage them. I think the world has too many actresses.

 

RD: Today's comics seem a little more type A, a little less self-destructive, than the previous generation. Why do you think that is?

Fey: There have always been different types of people if you look at great comedians. You have John Belushi and Richard Pryor, who lived dangerously. Then you have Jerry Seinfeld and Bob Newhart, who are happily married, mild-mannered guys. And their humor doesn't come from a place where they need to almost die to make comedy.

 

RD: It seems like you fit in the latter category, that you're well-adjusted.

Fey: Yeah, I think so. Jerry Seinfeld once said you don't have to be crazy to make comedy. To make comedy, maybe you just have to work hard and be funny.

 

Time-Out with Tina

 

Which of the Three Stooges do you like best?

Larry. I like the middleman. You can't really like Moe because he's always poking people in the eyes.

 

What's the most embarrassing song on your iPod?

"Outrageous" by Britney Spears. And Annie. I have the sound track. And it's in high rotation, yeah.

 

An item you refuse to spend money on?

T-shirts that cost $120. I hear my mother's voice: "Are you crazy?" But you can give me one if you're a costume designer, and I'll wear it.

 

Any tricks you use to help you sleep?

I try to do work, knowing that it will immediately make me sleepy. I think I'm descended from opossums. If I really stress out, I start yawning.

[alpierce 9]

(Pagesix.com)

 

Tina Rips Jon

 

COMEDY queen Tina Fey says that while she makes people laugh, political pundit Jon Stewart only makes them uncomfortable. Fey tells Reader's Digest she prefers it when audience members laugh rather than applaud because, "You can prompt applause with a sign." She added, "My friend Seth Meyers coined the term 'clapter,' which is when you do a political joke and people go, 'Woo-hoo.' It means they sort of approve but didn't really like it that much. You hear a lot of that on [whispers] 'The Daily Show.' "

Jon Stewart is one of the few comedians that can actually make me laugh.

[Baby Doll 77]

 

(Pagesix.com)

 

Tina Rips Jon

 

COMEDY queen Tina Fey says that while she makes people laugh, political pundit Jon Stewart only makes them uncomfortable. Fey tells Reader's Digest she prefers it when audience members laugh rather than applaud because, "You can prompt applause with a sign." She added, "My friend Seth Meyers coined the term 'clapter,' which is when you do a political joke and people go, 'Woo-hoo.' It means they sort of approve but didn't really like it that much. You hear a lot of that on [whispers] 'The Daily Show.' "

Jon Stewart is one of the few comedians that can actually make me laugh.

 

Between Jon and Tina, Jon is definitely the funnier. Don't know why she chose to target him.

[alpierce 9]

(Pagesix.com)

 

Tina Rips Jon

 

COMEDY queen Tina Fey says that while she makes people laugh, political pundit Jon Stewart only makes them uncomfortable. Fey tells Reader's Digest she prefers it when audience members laugh rather than applaud because, "You can prompt applause with a sign." She added, "My friend Seth Meyers coined the term 'clapter,' which is when you do a political joke and people go, 'Woo-hoo.' It means they sort of approve but didn't really like it that much. You hear a lot of that on [whispers] 'The Daily Show.' "

 

Is she dropping a name here? It sounds a little weird she would go out of her way to say 'My friend Seth Meyers coined this term' instead of just saying my friend.

[ElleDriver 0]

TINA CALLING KRISTEN

Page Six

 

March 27, 2008 -- OF all the offers she's gotten, Eliot Spitzer's call girl, Ashley Dupre, might actually want to consider this one. Producer/writer/actress Tina Fey is offering Dupre, a k a "Kristen," a role on her NBC hit "30 Rock." Fey told The Post's Melissa Jane Kronfeld, "I would love Spitzer's girl." The only problem? Fey has "no idea how to get in touch with her." We really hope Fey tracks her down, because Dupre's scenes with Alec Baldwin would be priceless.

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Fey: No 'dangerous genius' wanted

Associated Press

 

- NEW YORK (AP) — Tina Fey, the star and creator of NBC's "30 Rock," prefers cooperative, caring collaborators. "I think there's a certain way of making comedy where you're a dangerous genius and you throw things across the room," Fey says, "and that's not how we do things over here.

 

"This is a very respectful work place. Everyone has a tremendous amount of discipline, from the actors to our writing staff."

 

A darling of critics from the start, the show has gotten so-so ratings, raising concerns it would be canceled. But then it picked up a best-comedy Emmy last year. Last week, it picked up a Peabody.

 

And NBC has picked up the show for a third season.

 

Fey talked to The Associated Press on the set of "30 Rock" recently as it was wrapping up the five new episodes that have been shot since the end of the Hollywood writers strike. The first one airs Thursday

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Tina Fey takes on film world

 

She is known as the political and media-savvy comic from "Saturday Night Live," the sketch comedy show that helped her launch her own award-winning "30 Rock."

 

Now Tina Fey hopes to parlay that television success to the international big screen in her first major film role in "Baby Mama," a humorous look at a single woman who pays a surrogate mother to give birth to her baby. It opens Manhattan's Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday in its world premiere.

 

Fey, 37, has become a female comic sensation after winning Emmy and Golden Globe awards. She became the first female head writer on "Saturday Night Live," wrote the screenplay and co-starred in the 2004 hit movie "Mean Girls," and is credited as creator, star and executive producer of "30 Rock."

 

But she said she is not banking on the same buzz for her film, nor does she know whether her current success will last.

 

"Things are going well right now, but I am pragmatic and I am always like, 'Now I need to be ready for a long silence,"' she told Reuters in a recent interview. "The hard work part will hopefully continue. You can't be the new kid on the block forever."

 

The former self-confessed high school "nerd" who grew up watching entertainers like Mary Tyler Moore and Benny Hill said she was careful to not let popularity affect her ego.

 

"You would be foolish to think, 'Oh everyone has really discovered that I am truly, truly wonderful,"' said Fey, who honed her comic skills in the early 1990s at Chicago's famed improvisational comedy troupe The Second City. "You can enjoy it without getting too high on your own supply, as they say."

 

FEMALE FINESSE

 

"Baby Mama" also stars Fey's former "Saturday Night Live" castmate Amy Poehler. It was directed and written by another of the show's writers, Michael McCullers.

 

Fey, who is married with a 2-year-old daughter, said it was natural to work with her "old friends" and wasn't worried about being criticized for making a commercial, mainstream film.

 

"It's OK to make something people like. It is not entirely selling out," she said.

 

Her sitcom "30 Rock," which co-stars Alec Baldwin, is loosely based on her experiences at "Saturday Night Live" and her role as a conscientious television show producer is close to her real self.

 

"I am a lot like my character; I love rules. I guess I am the opposite to other comedians in that way," she said.

 

With her trademark black-rimmed glasses, she wins praise for her ability to create complex and farcical female characters without degrading them. She said she considers herself a feminist.

 

"I feel like a lot of women my age and younger are afraid of the word," she said. "I'm like, 'Say yes, who cares?' Like, 'Do you want to be paid the same as the guy doing the same job?' Yes!"

 

But she also cited the "mixed messages" given to women in society.

 

"There is the kind of, 'You can have it all and be serious,' but also, 'It's great to get Botox' and, 'You should be really skinny but don't be, but don't not be!,"' she said. "I do like to call out those double standards as much as I can."

 

She is filming a small part -- what she called "a sausage of a role" -- in a film by British comic and "The Office" creator Ricky Gervais and will continue with "30 Rock."

 

After that, she said, if her film career fails, there is always stand-up comedy, which she has only ever performed at an "amateurish" level.

 

"When it is all over, that will be my sanity in my forties and fifties," she said. "I will just go around to little coffee houses and do my stand-up. My filthy, filthy stand-up."

 

(Editing by Daniel Trotta and Eric Walsh)

 

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited

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Pregnancy, stoner comedies a hit at box office

 

 

A pair of new comedies aimed at distinctly different audiences took the top two spots at the weekend box office in North America, with Tina Fey's "Baby Mama" leading the charge.

 

According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, "Baby Mama" earned a better-than-expected $18.3 million, as young women flocked to the "Odd Couple"-style pregnancy hijinks.

 

The stoner sequel "Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" opened at No. 2 with $14.6 million, generating buzz among male youngsters.

 

Last weekend's champion, the Jackie Chan-Jet Li martial-arts vehicle "The Forbidden Kingdom," fell to No. 3 with $11.2 million. Its 10-day haul stands at $38.3 million. The film was released by Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.

 

Fey, the star and creator of the cult TV hit "30 Rock," stars in "Baby Mama" as a busy executive who hires a gum-chewing, cocktail-swigging woman (Amy Poehler) to carry her baby. Women accounted for about 68 percent of the audience, said Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric Co's NBC Universal.

 

On the other hand, 65 percent of the audience for "Harold and Kumar" was male, said Warner Bros. Pictures. The film's predecessor, 2004's "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," made just $18.25 million during its run in theaters. But its success on DVD meant that a sequel was a no-brainer. Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc.

 

(Reporting by Dean Goodman)

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited

[BobbyD 2]

Tina Fey dodges acclaim, loses purse

 

Sep 22, 1:13 AM (ET)

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Isn't it just like Tina Fey to have something go haywire on the night she's recognized for her many talents?

 

"If anyone's seen my purse," Fey announced to reporters backstage after winning three Emmys, "I left it under my seat."

 

It might have been the first thing the "30 Rock" mastermind did wrong all night after picking up trophies for outstanding comedy writing, comedy series and lead actress in a comedy.

 

When prodded by reporters, she humbly dodged praise and questions about her contributions.

 

"I think our cast is diverse and talented," she said in one breath.

 

"We've had the greatest guest stars," she said in another.

 

"Alec elevates the show to another level with his abilities," she said.

 

She even shrugged off her resemblance to Gov. Sarah Palin, whom she won raves for portraying on the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live."

 

"But then my kids saw her on TV and started saying, 'Mommy?'" she said.

 

She was more open about her thoughts on reprising the "SNL" role. As in, she'd prefer not to.

 

"I want to be done playing this lady Nov. 5," she said. "So if anybody can help me be done playing this lady Nov. 5, that would be good for me."

 

Television comedy's Jill-of-all-trades has always been self-deprecating, mining her apparent struggle with life's chaos for her character on "30 Rock," her self-portrayal in a new series of American Express commercials and the persona she presents to the public.

 

But to win TV's top honors for creating, writing and starring in her own television show might've been more than even Fey can deflect. When cornered to say how she felt about the different Emmys, she finally turned off the modesty. Kinda.

 

"They look identical," Fey quipped. "Alec was just saying to me backstage that maybe this means I can now stop apologizing for being an actor and writing on the show. The one for the show, that really belongs to everybody, so I don't like it as much."

 

During his acceptance speech for lead comedy actor for "30 Rock," Baldwin noted that Fey was this generation's Elaine May, the director, screenwriter and actress who famously partnered with Mike Nichols onstage.

 

"We have the greatest writers, but the show was created by one woman," Baldwin said backstage. "This was Tina's idea. This was Tina's thing. She is the head writer. She is there every day, even when she's not shooting as an actress. She goes back and forth between acting and writing. We're very, very lucky."

[BobbyD 2]

Move over, Tina! Palin may appear on ‘SNL’

By Courtney Hazlett

The Scoop

MSNBC

 

If you’re among those who speculate that the only thing better than Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live” would be Sarah Palin making a cameo on the show, there might be hope yet.

 

If the buzz is to be believed, the NBC show is working to get the vice-presidential candidate and Alaska governor on air before the election.

 

Although “Saturday Night Live,” like many other shows, doesn’t comment specifically on bookings, a rep said, “There are always talks with the candidates' camps.”

 

There’s also some buzz about Palin making an appearance on “The View.”

 

Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain have both made appearances, and “View” executive producer Bill Geddie says, “‘The View’ has established itself as a place to be seen for both the presidential and VP candidates, their wives and/or husbands and they all have an open invitation to appear on the show.’”

[BobbyD 2]

Fey: If Palin Wins, I'm Leaving Earth

October 13, 2008 1:10 PM

 

They say all good things must come to an end. Tina Fey's spot-on impression of Sarah Palin may be no exception.

 

The comedian/writer/producer/media mogul of the moment will not be playing Palin after Election Day if the Alaskan governor assumes the vice presidency.

 

"Election time is always good for ['SNL'] and this is a bonkers election," the "Saturday Night Live" alum told TV Guide. "And that lady is a media star. She is a fascinating person, she’s very likeable. She’s fun to play, and the two bits with Amy [Poehler], that was super fun."

 

But regarding her plans to continue her uncanny impersonation of Palin on "SNL," Fey said, "We’re gonna take it week by week. If she wins, I’m done. I can’t do that for four years. And by 'I'm done,' I mean I’m leaving Earth."

 

For the sake of primetime comedy, let's hope the Emmy-winning "30 Rock" star stays firmly planted on the third rock from the sun, no matter the election's outcome.

 

Sheila Marikar

[BobbyD 2]

Tina Fey says she's retiring Sarah Palin impersonation

Nov 5, 2008, 10:58 AM | by Hollywood Insider

 

Categories: TV Biz

 

by Jennifer Armstrong

 

Tina Fey’s hilarious turn as Sarah Palin put Saturday Night Live on the electoral map like nothing else in recent memory — viewership is up nearly 70 percent this season. But will Fey continue to moonlight as the gorgeous governor, who could be a parody-worthy public figure for years to come? “I have to retire just because I have to do my day job,” reveals the creator and star of NBC’s 30 Rock (which experienced a 20 percent ratings uptick for its Oct. 30 season premiere). “I think [Kristen] Wiig would do a really good job.” As for whether there’ll be an official Palin torch passing, she says, “Maybe we could get a real torch. Or I could give Wiig the Palin wig.”

[ElleDriver 0]

Tina Fey's husband talks about her facial scar

 

 

 

(12-01) 07:10 PST New York (AP) --

 

Tina Fey's husband is talking about something the "30 Rock" actress would rather not discuss: the scar on her left cheek.

 

In an interview in Vanity Fair, Jeff Richmond says a stranger slashed Fey's face when she was 5 years old. He says the incident occurred in the front yard of her house.

 

Says Richmond: "That scar was fascinating to me. This is somebody who, no matter what it was, has gone through something. And I think it really informs the way she thinks about her life."

 

Fey says talking about the attack would seem like exploiting it.

 

Says Fey: "It's really almost like I'm able to forget about it, until I was on-camera, and it became a thing of `Oh, I guess we should use this side' or whatever. Everybody's got a better side."

[NYCat 1]

Tina Fey Reveals Trauma Behind Her Scar

 

 

Since shooting to fame and winning Emmys as the star and creator of 30 Rock, Tina Fey has remained quiet about the dramatic story behind the faint scar that lines that left side of her face.

 

"It's impossible to talk about it without somehow seemingly exploiting it and glorifying it," Fey, 38, tells Vanity Fair in its January issue.

 

But when she was 5, the future TV star was playing in the front yard of her Upper Darby, Penn., home when a stranger approached the young Fey and violently cut her cheek.

 

"She just thought somebody marked her with a pen," says her husband, Jeff Richmond.

 

The Aftereffects

And while the experience was traumatizing, Fey worked hard to keep it from affecting her childhood.

 

"I proceeded unaware of it. I was a very confident little kid. It's really almost like I'm kind of able to forget about it, until I was on-camera," says Fey, whose scenes are often shot from the right side.

 

Though she has overcome the obstacle, Fey says that she does worry about how it may one day affect her role as a mother to daughter Alice, 3.

 

"Supposedly, I will go crazy," says Fey. "My therapist says, 'When Alice is the age that you were, you may go crazy.' "

 

Went on Weight Watchers

Besides collecting her Emmy gold, Fey spent this fall mimicking GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin to great acclaim (even from the Palin camp) on Saturday Night Live and signing a $5-million book deal.

 

While Fey may be hotter than ever, it wasn't always the case for the 5'4" beauty.

 

"She was quite round," Richmond says of his wife's pre-fame days in Chicago, But "in a lovely, turn-of-the-century kind of round – that beautiful, Rubenesque kind of beauty."

 

But after a makeover and going on Weight Watchers during her SNL period, Fey, who is half-Russian and half-Greek, knows what her greatest assets are.

 

"Because of the Greek-girl thing, I have, like, boobs and butt," she says. As a result, she adds, "I only have two speeds – either matronly or a little too slutty. I have to be steered away from cheetah print."

[galaxygirl 0]

But when she was 5, the future TV star was playing in the front yard of her Upper Darby, Penn., home when a stranger approached the young Fey and violently cut her cheek.

Why? Why would anyone do that to a little girl

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

Tina Fey Reveals Trauma Behind Her Scar

 

"I only have two speeds – either matronly or a little too slutty. I have to be steered away from cheetah print."

Too funny--I thought I was the only one like that

[ElleDriver 0]

Tina Fey: I Lost 30 Pounds While Filming Saturday Night Live

Monday December 1, 2008

 

 

Tina Fey opens up about dropping 30 pounds for Saturday Night Live, her facial scar and remaining a virgin until her 20s in the January issue of Vanity Fair.

LOSING WEIGHT

 

Fey, 38, says her career took off after she dropped 30 pounds with Weight Watchers.

 

See out Us' weight winners.

 

"I'm five-foot-four-and-a-half, and I think I was maxing out at just short of 150 pounds, which isn't so big. But when you move to New York from Chicago, you feel really big," says the 30 Rock star - who started working in comedy in the Windy City.

 

Adds Fey's husband, Jeff Richmond (who composes the music for his wife's award-winning sitcom): "She was quite round in a lovely, turn-of-the-century kind of round - that beautiful, Rubenesque kind of beauty."

 

Fey says she knew she had to drop the weight after catching a glimpse of herself in an SNL monitor as an extra.

 

"I was like, 'Ooogh.' I was starting to look unhealthy," she says. "I looked like a behemoth, a little bit. It was probably a bad sweater or something. [Or] maybe cutting from Gwyneth Paltrow to me."

 

She called her husband that day and announced: "OK, I'm starting Weight Watchers."

 

The diet worked - too well. As Fey's star was on the rise - she took over as "Weekend Update" anchor and became the show's head writer - the cast grew worried about her becoming too slim.

 

"I got to that thing that's so enjoyable where people tell you, 'Oh, you’re thin, you've gotten too thin,'" Fey says. "[sNL creator Lorne Michaels] was like, 'Please, please make sure you’re eating.'"

 

Now the actress has found a happy medium, but still watches her weight.

 

"The most I've changed pictures out of vanity was to edit around any shot where you can see my butt," she says. "I like to look goofy, but I also don’t want to get canceled because of my big old butt."

 

The star - who blames her curves on the "Greek-girl thing, I have, like, boobs and butt" draws the line at cosmetic surgery though.

 

"I don't have botox or anything," she says.

 

HER FACIAL SCAR

 

Fey opens up about the faint scar that runs along her left cheek, which was the result of a cutting attack by a stranger when she was five years old.

 

"It was in, like, the front yard of her house, and somebody who just came up, and she just thought somebody marked her with a pen," her husband says.

 

Adds Fey, who rarely speaks about the incident: "It's impossible to talk about it without somehow seemingly exploiting it and glorifying it."

 

Growing up, Fey didn't feel self-conscious, "because I proceeded unaware of it. I was a very confident little kid. It's really almost like I'm kind of able to forget about it, until I was on-camera, and it became a thing of 'Oh, I guess we should use this side' or whatever. Everybody’s got a better side," she says.

 

How has the attack affected her as a mother to three-year-old daughter Alice?

 

"Supposedly, I will go crazy," says. "My therapist says, 'When Alice is the age that you were, you may go crazy."'

 

REMAINING A VIRGIN

 

Fey also admits that she wasn't very popular growing up.

 

"I really didn't have very many dates at all. And that's not an exaggeration. But also, I don't think we should discount the fact that unplucked eyebrows and short hair with a perm may not have been the best

offering, either."

 

In fact, "I remember bringing people over in high school to play—that's how cool I am—that game Celebrity. That’s how I successfully remained a virgin well into my 20s, bringing gay boys over to play Celebrity."

 

 

SARAH PALIN IMPERSONATIONS

 

Fey also responds to the criticism that she was too hard on Sarah Palin with her impersonations.

 

"What made me super-mad about it, was that it seemed very sexist toward me and her," she says. "The implication was that she’s so fragile, which she is not. She's a strong woman.

 

"And then, also, it was sexist because, like, who would ever go [and say], 'Well, I thought it was sort of mean to Richard Nixon when Dan Aykroyd played him,' and 'That seemed awful mean to George Bush when Will Ferrell did it.'"

Edited December 1, 2008 by ElleDriver

[ElleDriver 0]

Tina Fey voted AP Entertainer of the Year

 

 

NEW YORK – Tina Fey is the entertainer of the year? You betcha. Fey was voted The Associated Press' Entertainer of the Year, an annual honor chosen by newspaper editors and broadcast producers across the country.

 

Fey was selected by AP members as the performer who had the greatest impact on culture and entertainment in 2008.

 

The 38-year-old comedian bested runner-up Robert Downey Jr., whose comeback was capped with the blockbuster smash "Iron Man," and the third-place vote-getter, Heath Ledger, who posthumously wowed audiences as the Joker in "The Dark Knight."

 

But it was Fey who most impressed voters largely with her indelible impression of Gov. Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live." Her cameos on her old show (where she had been a head writer until 2006) helped drive the show to record ratings and eventually drew an appearance from Palin herself.

 

"Tina Fey is such an obvious choice," said Sharon Eberson, entertainment editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "She gave us funny when we really needed it and, in a year when women in politics were making huge strides, Fey stood out in the world of entertainment."

 

Fey's 2008 was a full year, though.

 

She also starred for the first time on the big screen in "Baby Mama" (which grossed $60 million at the box office) and won three Emmys for her critically lauded NBC sitcom "30 Rock," which she created, stars in and writes. In the comedy series category, she won for best lead actress and best writing, and shared in the award for best comedy series.

 

"She simultaneously entertained us with her wit and put a mirror up to the nation during the election and made us think about what was going on," said Scott Shive, assistant features editor at the Lexington Herald-Leader. "She is the epitome of the smart kid coming out on top for once."

 

As soon as Palin was chosen as Sen. John McCain's running mate, conjecture mounted that the similar-looking Fey would have to return to "SNL" to play her.

 

In an interview earlier this fall, Fey recalled watching early TV coverage of Palin: "That was the first time I thought, `Well, I kinda do look like her. I'd better really listen to how this lady talks.'"

 

Fey debuted the impression on the "SNL" season premiere and a sensation quickly followed. She made four more pre-election appearances as Palin on the late-night satire.

 

"From the winks to the nods to the accent, she nailed it," said Marc Bona, assistant entertainment editor of the Plain Dealer in Cleveland. "And she did so at a time when it seemed the whole country was tuned in — both to the presidential race as well as 'Saturday Night Live.'"

 

Her Palin impression has benefited "30 Rock," too. The show premiered its fourth season to 8.5 million viewers, a million more than last year's opener.

 

Recently, she was also nominated for a Golden Globe (for best performance by an actress in a TV series, comedy or musical), as well as a Screen Actors Guild award.

 

"The `SNL' stuff has certainly changed things for me," Fey said in October. "A lot more people seem to know who I am."

 

Last year's AP Entertainer of the Year also went to a comedian whose satire blended in with politics: Stephen Colbert.