Tina Fey doesn't miss the news humor business, saw the strike like a second maternity leave, and wants Oprah to play her best friend. She talked to Fancast about this and more, a few days before the season premiere of 30 Rock.
Any truth to the rumor that Tracy, the show's host, will be endorsing one of the Presidential candidates?
No, because we don’t have anything - actually, we do have a storyline now that you mention that. We do have a storyline coming up where Jack tries to enlist Tracy to be the new black face of the Republican party. So actually, we do have a story about that kind of.
Do you bring your daughter onto the set?
I do try to bring her sometimes and she likes to come. She likes to hang out in the makeup room. But at the same time, it is a busy workplace and I always feel mindful that not everyone gets to bring their kids. We - actually at 30 Rock, we also try to do special days where we have parties where everyone can bring their kids. We had a really fun Halloween party for the kids and then we’re trying to have sort of a spring/Easter party this week.
Do you pine about getting critically acclaimed show or getting the ratings?
No. I mean, I think for us it’s - we sort of have a feeling of like we’re going to keep making these until they don’t let us make them anymore. But I think TV is changing and people are aware of that. And I think the way ratings are measured is going to continue to change over the next couple years in terms of measuring DVR sampling and Internet sampling. I think the traditional Nielsen thing might not quite reflect everyone that’s watching our show.
Do you miss the opportunity to do overtly political humor?
Yeah, I actually don’t miss the news humor business. I think it’s a lot of responsibility and pressure. And I prefer being just with these characters and telling stories every week. I’m enjoying that right now.
What did you do during the strike?
Well I mostly - I stayed home with my daughter which was sort of the only blessing of the strike. It was - for me, it was a little bit like a maternity leave that I did not previously have. And then - well as you know, occasionally doing my union duty on the picket line.
How do you feel about coming back to work after all that time?
Well we’re back to work and it’s tough now because my daughter is old enough to say no, you not go to work. You not go outside. So it’s hard for any working parent.
How do you pick your guest stars and can we expect any interesting guests this season?
We are kind of doing it in reverse of that now and I think that’s worked well for us. I’m trying to think if we have anyone else. We have a lot of our favorite guest actors coming back in these five episodes. Will Arnett is back as Jack Donaghy’s nemesis, Devon Banks. Dean Winters will be back as Dennis Duffy, the Beeper King.
Any truth to the rumor that Brian Williams scrawls ugly messages about Tina Fey on his restroom walls now - or anybody that you’ve made fun of on the show?
Oh no, Brian is a good friend of the show and we got - absolutely got his permission……before we made him - portrayed him as a slovenly alcoholic on our show. And ironically, Brian is a complete teetotaler in real life. But yeah, he’s family. Conan’s family. We’ve never really goofed on anybody that wasn’t…
Does audience feedback affect the show?
Well, what we put - I don’t know that it - it doesn't affect that much what we put in the show - I have said before that I’ve been known to check Television Without Pity sometimes after an episode airs because I feel like those people who post on there are generally very thoughtful and really are - it’s not like a site where people are just saying that sucked or don’t watch them. Like they really kind of review the episodes from an intelligent place. And so sometimes it'll just affirm or if I wasn’t sure about an episode - how it went over. But it doesn’t really dictate what we do in the episodes, I wouldn’t say.
Any plot spoilers?
Both of Liz’s former boyfriends, Dennis the Beeper King, will be back and Floyd will be back briefly. And I think Liz is - Liz does have a little bit of a pregnancy scare. Liz, who probably hooks up once every seven years, seems surprisingly to - when it rains, it pours there for a week or two for her.
What's the premise of 'MILF Island' on the upcoming episode?
It is a Survivor-like show where, oh gosh - I think it’s 20 MILF’s and 50 eighth grade boys are put on an island. And we actually sat down and tried to figure out the rules of MILF Island and were not entirely successful. It involves something where the boys vote the moms off if they don’t like them anymore. And then it involves physical challenges and that’s about all that we now. But when I sell it to Ben Silverman, we’ll know more.
Who would you like to work with on 30 Rock?
Oh, in (screening) - we have - we’ve been so lucky. I still want Oprah to play my best friend. I feel like I haven’t - I want to spend time with Oprah and I don’t know what I need to do to make that happen
Would you ever get rid of your signature glasses, or do you see them as your trademark?
I don’t mind wearing them. The only time I don’t like to wear them is if I’m in like a party dress. If I have a beautiful Easter bonnet and a party dress, I don’t want to wear them. But I do - I don’t wear them all the time on the show, but I wear them most of the time. Yeah, I think people maybe are used to seeing me wear them.
Talk a little bit about the John Stewart controversy with Reader's Digest.
Well, you know, that thing was edited kind of weird because I was really talking about audiences and how, you know, audiences respond weirdly to things. And when I was talking, I said, like you know, on Weekend Update or anything. And then that kind of went away, so it seemed like I was saying something bad about those guys. And I think they know that I think their show is great and would absolutely never be disparaging of their show.
What’s the edgiest, most shocking thing you have imagined for 30 Rock, but have not yet dared to write?
We have - well I think comedy writers in general - the stuff that they talk about in the room is often too rude or shocking for general consumption. So there are a few stories, but I wouldn’t even dare say them on this call. People would -it would be like when the Exorcist came out and people fainted.
How would you feel about a celeb like Britney guest starring on the show?
If there were a part that was appropriate, I don’t think we’d hesitate to go to somebody like that because I’ve actually worked with Britney twice at Saturday Night Live and she was very professional and nice.
How do you feel about playing the geek?
I definitely am a nerd in life. I think Liz Lemon might be a bigger nerd than me. One of the writers put - in an upcoming episode, he had her - a flashback of her playing Dungeons and Dragons in college. And I said I never played Dungeons and Dragons in college. Liz Lemon is much more of geek than I ever was. But thank god there is a Geek magazine, or what would I be on the cover of? I think some people will always like nerds. I think that goes back to Buddy Holly.
You just did the Vanity Fair story which was kind of a response to Christopher Hitchens’ now infamous piece about how women aren’t funny. If you ran into him in a bar tomorrow, what would you say to him or what would your character on 30 Rock say to him?
I’d probably say you need to get out of this bar. You’ve been here for two days. No, I feel like stuff like that - it’s - I didn’t even read that article because it’s not really - it’s - the discussion is just so old and unnecessary anymore to be talking about whether women are funny. It just seems silly and outdated to me.
