Tina Fey
She was the first female head writer for Saturday Night Live. She stars in, writes, and kicks ass on 30 Rock. And she does a dynamite Sarah Palin. Tina Fey is to female comedy nerds what A-Rod is to baseball fans: A huge disappointment when she finally admits to using steroids.
But even as Fey’s star continues to rise, the reason for our adulation seems to be waning: 30 Rock, once the funniest show on TV, is increasingly uneven, and with Alec Baldwin increasingly eager to leave, it probably won’t last more than a year or two. So who will take up Tina’s mantle as the thinking woman’s dick-joke-maker? Amy Poehler might seem like an obvious candidate since her show Parks and Recreation is a. awesome and b. still fairly new, but she’s more of a contemporary of Tina’s than a successor. What I’m curious about is whether anyone in the next generation will be able to match their awesomeness. Here’s a few candidates.
Lena Dunham: The star and writer of last year’s buzzy movie “Tiny Furniture” is about to hit TV with a show on HBO. (Currently) titled Girls, it will follow several underemployed strivers in NYC. Dunham will write and star. Dunham’s mentor is Judd Apatow, making her the only woman to make it into Hollywood’s hottest comedy posse who isn’t married to Judd Apatow.
Anna Faris: Faris bears the weirdest mantle ever in the comedy world: she’s The Girl Everyone Wants To Like. Critics have been singing the praises of her comic chops for years, but she’s essentially never made a good movie. A recent New Yorker profile made it depressingly clear just what an uphill battle it is for her to get decent, female-driven comedy movies made. I wish her all the best – seriously, if I see one more movie with exactly one female character, steam is going to come out of my ears – but if, as I suspect, she doesn’t find the success she deserves in film, I think she might have better luck in the TV world. I, for one, would watch The House Bunny: The Series.
Aubrey Plaza: Aubrey’s not a lead yet like these other ladies – she currently plays a wickedly funny supporting role on the aforementioned Parks and Rec, and in films like Scott Pilgrim Vs The World – but she’s hilarious, and she’s got something most actresses in comedies don’t: an actual comedy background. Plaza trained and performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade. Hopefully she’ll get to keep using it, and not get relegated to girlfriend roles.
Me! I would be awesome, I think. TV executives, call me.
