Tina Fey

Written by Eric Olsen
Published April 23, 2004

Besides being the co-anchor of "Weekend Update" on Saturday Night Live and the show's head writer, she is also the screenwriter for the new film Mean Girls. USA Today has a nice feature on her:

    Sure, the Saturday Night Live head writer and "Weekend Update" co-host is known for her scathing wit, deadpan social commentary and diatribes about terrorist alerts, society's pressures to have a baby and Playboy honcho Hugh Hefner's identical girlfriends. True, in her spare time, the recreational artist rips photos out of celebrity tabloid the National Enquirer and re-draws the stars, inserting dialogue bubbles with jokes too dirty to print in this newspaper. And yes, she skewers backstabbing, conniving high schoolers in her first screenplay, Mean Girls, which opens April 30.

    But beneath that sardonic little grin and behind those signature black-rimmed glasses, Fey, 33, is a soft-spoken, introverted pussycat who bakes cakes and sews pillows. Seriously.

    Just ask her husband of nearly three years, SNL musical director Jeff Richmond.

    "Her persona is so caustic, but she's very shy, and she doesn't like confrontation," he says.

    But she sure unleashes her anger in Mean Girls, a comedy that seems determined to prove that teens are heavyweight champions in girl-on-girl cruelty. The movie's catty Cruella De Vil is Regina George (Rachel McAdams), a girl who rules her school and her chic clique, the Plastics, and corrupts sweetly clueless new student Cady (Lindsay Lohan).

    Regina is an "amalgam of girls I was intimidated by in high school," says Fey, who has a key role in the film as a misunderstood math teacher. She inserted unsavory aspects of herself into Regina as well: "If I don't like someone, I don't want my friends to like them either. It's a dark part of me that Regina has."

    Though her movie paints a stark portrait of school as a bloody battlefield, Fey fondly looks back on her years at Pennsylvania's Upper Darby High School.

    "My high school experience was a lot like my life right now, in that I was constantly overextended; I always had a paper due," she says. "I was very studious and obedient and in a lot of activities. I did the choir, the drama club, I was on the school paper, I played tennis. I definitely don't look back on it as a horrible time. I've always thought that if I hadn't ended up doing this, I would have been a teacher."

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Tina Fey
Published: April 23, 2004
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Filed Under: Video: Comedy, Video: News, Video: Television
Writer: Eric Olsen
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Comments

#1 — April 23, 2004 @ 14:05PM — Tom Johnson [URL]

"She's grade-A hot meat."

Man, I'll second that.

#2 — April 23, 2004 @ 14:19PM — Natalie Davis [URL]

I third that emotion.

#3 — April 23, 2004 @ 14:21PM — Mark Saleski [URL]

alright, we're actually agreeing about something!

#4 — April 23, 2004 @ 14:39PM — CW Fisher [URL]

She has a scar on her mouth. Ugly glasses. She needs a makeover. She needs to lose her unfunny sidekick and take all her clothes off. She needs hours of therapy, massage therapy. I would very much like to probe her psyche. I sense a breakthrough.

#5 — April 23, 2004 @ 15:56PM — Steve Rhodes [URL]


There was a good New Yorker profile of her last year.

#6 — April 23, 2004 @ 15:59PM — Eric Olsen

I like the glases, Jimmy and the scar.

#7 — April 23, 2004 @ 16:02PM — Mark Saleski [URL]

the online new yorker profile left out the yummy photos that were in the print version.

#8 — April 23, 2004 @ 18:11PM — CW Fisher [URL]

I like a good scar once in a while, Eric. And glasses are removeable. So's Jimmy. He's worthless, but only because he's not funny. Merely cute. Besides, most men these days are just there to make the women look smarter. Actually, now that I think about it, she's not so funny either, and neither am I. Back to bed.

#9 — April 23, 2004 @ 18:43PM — Jim Carruthers [URL]

I want to say, "I saw her first", but I didn't, and don't live in NYC, and she's way out of my league. But damn, I so want to get all Sophie B. Hawkins with her.

I know, if I kill Jimmy Fallon, while having a copy of Eggars' "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" in my pocket, that'll do it.

Oh, wait, my copy isn't a first edition, guess I'll have to Neal Pollack's "Anthology of American Literature", at least it's autographed, and I can always use the excuse he put me up to it.

#10 — April 23, 2004 @ 18:54PM — CW Fisher [URL]

Jim... you're Canadian. The polite thing to do would be to leave our chicks alone. OK? Hands off our chicks, man.

Ah, you can have her. Do you need help with Fallon? I've got duct tape. We could make him watch himself.

She's married and she makes pillows. This tells me she's just another chick with a job and a life.

Yeah, take her. I'm done.

#11 — April 23, 2004 @ 19:26PM — Jim Carruthers [URL]

So what you're saying is that in my ideal fantasy world, I can have either Tina Fey or dead Jimmy Fallon.

Hmmm, let me think.

Okay, done, dead Jimmy Fallon, because that would increase world happiness, and me and Tina probably wouldn't work out.

#12 — April 23, 2004 @ 21:04PM — Jim Carruthers [URL]

I know I shouldn't joke about dead SNL people, but think how much better the world would be if the right SNL people had died.

And of course the Belushi clause, where in a just universe ghod would have gone through them in strict alphabetical order.

#13 — April 24, 2004 @ 01:27AM — RJ Elliott [URL]

She's not very funny. And she's not very hot.

She's just a chick who made it into the 'biz and is riding the wave of pseudo-celebrity into getting yet another trash-can movie made.

Mean Girls will be forgotten six months from now. And a couple years from now, so will Tina Fey.

#14 — April 24, 2004 @ 02:30AM — Nick Jones

You're just pissed because you thought "Mean Girls" was going to be about Ann Coulter, Laura ingraham, Mona Charen, and Matt Drudge.

#15 — April 24, 2004 @ 12:30PM — Eric Olsen

She is both the head writer of the show and hilarious as co-anchor of Weekend Update, which is usually the funniest part of the show. She is not hot in the obvious, traditional sense: she is hot for being smart and funny and cute and not trying to be hot.

#16 — May 2, 2004 @ 00:27AM — Tina Feyrinski

Tina Fey Sucks! The show has been horrible ever since she took over as head writer. The show is so not clever, that the media has to create the illusion that she is funny by writing articles about her to convince the audience that she is funny.

Sketches suck. No new, creative ideas on the show. Get rid of Tina and make the show better. Come on people...

#17 — May 2, 2004 @ 00:51AM — RJ Elliott [URL]

Thanks, TF... :-/

She's horrible, people. She is an unnattracitve, unfunny "comedian" who is almost single-handedly destroying SNL.

#18 — May 2, 2004 @ 00:53AM — RJ Elliott [URL]

Oy...

"She's horrible, people. She is an unattractive, unfunny "comedian" who is almost single-handedly destroying SNL."

Sorry for the typos...

#19 — May 2, 2004 @ 02:46AM — Al Barger [URL]

Tina Fey is obviously a dirty, dirty whore with a smart mouth whom Jesus despises passionately. She BADLY needs to be rebuked for her offenses against Geometry and Theology. The minx must be put to the lash!

#20 — May 2, 2004 @ 02:50AM — Nick Jones

"The show has been horrible ever since she took over as head writer."

Where have you been? The show hasn't been funny in DECADES.

#21 — May 2, 2004 @ 02:58AM — Nick Jones

"She is...unattractive..."

I'm going to have to disagree with you, RJ (there's a surprise, huh?). The picture on page 33 of the latest "Entertainment Weekly" (May 7, 2004 issue) tells me quite a different story.

#22 — May 17, 2004 @ 20:10PM — Ali Rose [URL]

I don't think that anyone could have said it better than well...maybe fey herself. Oh well

HAPPY 34 BIRTHDAY TINA!

#23 — July 11, 2004 @ 02:33AM — whatever

tina fey is a very successful comedian, and uh, she is really attractive. funny, successful, and a brunnette :) with the neatest emo glasses, she is really attractive. seriously, mean girls is a classic. ive seen it 2 times myself and it was funnier the second. tina fey is scucessful and people are only mad that someone UNCONVENTIONALLY attractive is taking up air space. those reality tv show bimbo girls must go!

#24 — July 11, 2004 @ 11:27AM — Eric Olsen

good points Whatever, I agree

#25 — July 11, 2004 @ 21:02PM — Al Barger [URL]

I don't see what is even particularly "unconventional" about her attractiveness. The girl's just plain cute. Her sharp wit simply amplifies her appeal. She goes from being real cute to just plain totally hot.

What's the problem? Is it just that she doesn't have huge plastic Pamela Anderson teats?

#26 — July 12, 2004 @ 00:16AM — whatever

Yes, for many shallow people, that is a problem.

#27 — July 12, 2004 @ 00:54AM — Semi-Anonymous Banned Fella [URL]

So, is "Mean Girls" up for any Oscars? Haven't SNL's ratings slumped simce Will Ferrell left the show? Where is the magazine with supposed-hotty Tina Fey on the cover?

Face it. She's an unappealing skank. She neither funny nor hot.

SNL will be better after she's fired in a few more seasons.

#28 — January 21, 2005 @ 12:33PM — ArgileB

You guys are so strange. No, wait, you're mostly nerds obsessing over people with lives unlike yourselves. Let me help.

1. Get a job.
2. Move out of your parents basement.
3. Get a haircut and take a shower. You're not rich enough to pull off your sloppy ass look which you like to pretend is stylish.
4. Hideout in the NYC public library reading for the next couple of years to try and resuscitate your brain and develop a real personality.
5. Get a girlfriend or a pet if you can't handle the commitment.
6. Stop baggin' on Tina Fey you looser.

#29 — February 13, 2005 @ 00:54AM — danielle

I agree with Argile B. Also, I'd like to say that Tina Fey is pretty...naturally...which is the prettiest kind of beautiful. Maybe all of you are just not used to seeing a naturally pretty person because the media has created an un natural image of beauty. And not for anything...but i'd honestly like to see pictures of everyone who said she was ugly and compare.

have a great day!

#30 — March 17, 2005 @ 11:03AM — shhhh.

The internet has many pros. But along with it comes it's many cons. I'd say that Argile B is right. We all need to read more. The internet leads to such incoherent and meaningless trains of thought. Very soon even the most educated will talk like Lil' Jon, with a vocubulary mainly consisting of what, yeah and okay. Go read. Get a life. Go outside, and remember what it was like. However, I would also like to add that with the current state of affairs, it is possible to be rich, have a girlfriend, and spend too much time on the internet. Nerds are the majority now.

#31 — July 23, 2005 @ 18:11PM — Buster Nutts

I worked at SNL for over a year... what many people attribute to Tina Fey as being "funny" or "unfunny" is not accurate at all. Though she delivers the lines on Weekend update, she does not write them. The weekend update bits are written by separate writers headed by a man named Charlie Grandy... not Tina Fey. Tina Fey will occasionally submit sketches, most of which are pretty typical droning SNL sketches that aren't too clever. "Head writer," is like being the king of england,...you don't do anything special, you just get paid a little bit more. Lorne Michaels is the one who is the real problem. He picks sketches which aren't funny to go on air, and cuts out some of the really seriously hilarious things. Lame guest hosts who have no business on a sketch show, and Lorne Michaels are what need to go... Tina Fey is just one element that neither contributes much, nor detracts from SNL. Though I dislike much of the breaking of character she does during the Weekend Update bits...it's unprofessional, not cute at all, and just really stupid.

#32 — July 23, 2005 @ 18:18PM — Buster Nutts

Oh, and this may seem as mean-spirited, but those of you who seem to think Tina Fey is some kind of "natural beauty," obviously haven't seen her in person. On the show, she, like the other female cast members, is covered in layers upon layers of make up. It's almost difficult to recognize her in person because she has no skin complexion at all, doesn't wear her glasses, has matted hair, and a huuuuuge distracting fish-hook scar on her left cheek. Don't believe what you see on tv people.

#33 — July 26, 2005 @ 01:37AM — mrsfallon

omg, i know this is a bit of a delayed response, but how could you say that tina fey is unattractive not funny and that god passionatly hates her, thats sooo stupid. she's GORGEOUS! and she's HILARIOUS! so...so yeah.

#34 — October 9, 2005 @ 21:55PM — andrea

tina few rocks! she is the BEST thing ever on SNL. weekend update just isnt the same without her

#35 — November 21, 2006 @ 19:28PM — Mita T.

Tina Fey Sucks Dick

#36 — February 10, 2007 @ 22:37PM — Boon

I'm watching SNL reruns as I write this. Tina is actually not funny. Anyone actually ever notice this? Whoever hired or supported her should be fired simply for not having any understanding of humor at all.

#37 — February 11, 2007 @ 02:47AM — Boon

There is great ewil in this world... and it is Islum, a religion of satatn, which has created centuries of war and death.

#38 — February 24, 2008 @ 04:02AM — Tina Fey blows

I'm sorry Tina Fey Flat out blows. And for that matter, so does SNL at this point. I never thought I'd say this, but Mad Tv is almost funnier than SNL in its current shitty state and Mad TV is usually crap, too.

#39 — February 26, 2008 @ 19:01PM — Brian Real

She has detroyed SNL.

#40 — February 26, 2008 @ 19:41PM — zingzing



I AM THE GREAT EWIL! I AM SATATN, THE SAINT OF ISLUM!

#41 — March 13, 2008 @ 19:18PM — El Grande

Fey sufffers from "not funny" and has penis envy. Her uber-lesbian man-hating tendencies have killed SNL. She should just kill herself.

#42 — March 13, 2008 @ 21:28PM — Flabbio

Where's that vanity fair spread we heard about? Maybe TF chickened out.

#43 — March 23, 2008 @ 00:37AM — Twbarney

I find Tina Fey very unfunny. Her and her blonde sidekick always seem so proud of themselves for their boring skits.

#44 — April 2, 2008 @ 05:53AM — Abe

I think she is fantastic. I didn't think so at one time-but I was an idiot back then. Maybe I found Weekend Update problematic at times, but maybe it always has been. Watch 30 Rock. It rocks! It is the Rock of Gibraltar for NBC!

-Note to self (Not a note to Fey, heavens no-she wouldn't even be bothered to read most of the nonsense written on these pages. By self, I mean me. I should stop trying be clever. It makes me sound stupid. Rock of Gibraltar? What the *beep* is that?

#45 — April 23, 2008 @ 00:59AM — Tine Fey Hater

Tina Fey is NOT funny and she sucks ass.

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