TINA FEY TRIAL
TINA FEY PLUS
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And nobody would have thought they were boxing them out, but the monolithic heteronormative room - to use some terms - wouldnвЂ™t have gotten it, wouldnвЂ™t have liked it, and I feel really confident that it wouldnвЂ™t have gotten on. Bowen Yang playing the iceberg from вЂњTitanicвЂќ on вЂњWeekend Update.вЂќ If they tried to get that piece on in 1997, it wouldnвЂ™t have. HereвЂ™s an example of a piece I thought was hilarious, and I cannot imagine it having survived at вЂњSNLвЂќ when I first worked there. Trope and joke structures that were based around othering people or minimizing people, good comedy writers are challenging themselves to walk away from that. They definitely have changed for the better. WeвЂ™ll ask them every question about what a gay character might do.вЂќ How does your approach to comedy change with the times?Д®veryoneвЂ™s figuring out what the new rules of comedy are. Whether itвЂ™s having a Native American writer, a nonbinary writer, you just canвЂ™t be, like, вЂњOh, thereвЂ™s one.вЂќ Or вЂњWe have one gay person on our staff. That cappuccino machine thinking - now, people have to thinking that way about other marginalized groups. Any project IвЂ™m a part of, IвЂ™m trying to very proactively shape these rooms to be as diverse as possible. YouвЂ™ve said women in writersвЂ™ rooms were once regarded like cappuccino machines: We have one, so why do we need another? Has that changed? With someone like Robert Carlock, we can trust each other to finish it. With someone like Amy Poehler, we have a shorthand with each other. For a start, no one should be throwing a baked potato at anyone. WhatвЂ™s the secret to long-term working relationships?

Amy Poehler and Robert Carlock are among your frequent collaborators.

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You try to sit there with them to figure out, вЂњHow can we help you make the best version of what you were hoping to do?вЂќ Then the trial by fire of вЂњ30 Rock.вЂќ I learned so much in those seven years about production, handling people, respecting your crewвЂ™s time, collaborating with designers and even when to bother a guest star to come in. YouвЂ™re taking other peopleвЂ™s sketches, and you donвЂ™t take them away and manhandle them. Once I became a head writer at вЂњSNL,вЂќ that was the beginning. The first time we had new actors play these roles, it was like breaking the seal, like, вЂњNow these roles belong to more than one set of actors.вЂќ IвЂ™m excited to see who ends up being in the movie.

WhatвЂ™s the latest on turning the вЂњMean GirlsвЂќ musical into a movie?

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It used to be that we asked people to pick up and move to write for a TV show, which now seems insane. One thing thatвЂ™s nice is I can work with people on the west coast more easily.

This is the first time, for me, weвЂ™re starting a season virtually. Mayor.вЂќ Have you adapted to working during the pandemic? YouвЂ™re calling from the writerвЂ™s room for вЂњMr. I have a problem when awards shows actually start, if youвЂ™re home, you just clean your kitchen. It was nice to see people out and see a red carpet. What do you think of the part of the ceremony that you did watch? Congrats on the Oscar win for best animated feature for вЂњSoul.вЂќ Did you watch the ceremony?

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In between, she co-hosted the Golden Globes with Amy Poehler from opposite coasts, emceed a tribute to Broadway and saw the Disney Plus release of PixarвЂ™s вЂњSoul,вЂќ in which she voices the sassy cynic called 22. As the pandemic wore on and the entertainment industry got more innovative, Fey oversaw the creation of an entire season of television for the upcoming Peacock comedy вЂњ Girls5evaвЂќ by convening a virtual writersвЂ™ room.

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