In 2005, Tina announced that she was creating a sitcom for NBC that would take place behind-the-scenes at a sketch comedy show similar to SNL. The only problem—Aaron Sorkin, the television god behind the West Wing, was creating a drama with the exact same premise called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Everyone predicted that Studio 60 would trounce 30 Rock. After all, 60 is the bigger number. And there seemed to be dischord at 30 Rock when Rachel Dratch, set to star in the show, was replaced by Jane Krakowski.
NBC premiered the two shows a month apart. As predicted, Studio 60 won—pulling in 13 million viewers to 30 Rock’s 8 million. But then a funny thing happened. Studio 60 turned out to be boring as all get out. Meanwhile, the absurd situations and perfect deadpan humor on 30 Rock generated killer word of mouth. Soon, TV Guide called 30 Rock the, “best new comedy of the year.” 30 Rock picked up the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series while Studio 60 was canned.
Tina Fey has been on the radar for years, yet she remains immune to the tabloids. That’s probably because, off-screen, her life is run-of-the-mill. She met her husband, Jeff Richmond, at Second City and he also moved to New York when he was hired as a composer on Saturday Night Live. In 2005, they had a daughter. Tina took less than two months off for maternity leave. “NBC has me under contract; the baby and I only have a verbal agreement,” she joked.
Since 30 Rock draws heavily on Tina’s life, it wouldn’t be surprising if Liz Lemon had a baby sometime in the near future. “She could do an international adoption and get the paperwork wrong and somehow end up with a huge, muscular thirteen-year-old,” Tina hinted in the latest Entertainment Weekly.
In the meantime, Tina has two movies in the pipeline. Baby Mama is coming out in 2008—it’s the first movie Tina has starred in and not written. She plays an infertile businesswoman who hires Amy Poehler to be her surrogate. Only Amy turns out to be the kind of pregnant woman who guzzles beer on a regular basis.
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