Live From Studio 1A: Tina Fey Q & A
Posted: Thursday, April 05, 2007 8:50 AM by Dan Fleschner
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Live from Studio 1A
After Matt's interview with Tina Fey at 8:19 this morning (WATCH VIDEO), I sat down with her for a Q&A session in her dressing room.
Fey (pictured left at the 59th Annual Writers Guild Awards) discussed a variety of topics, from her show, "30 Rock," to the balance between work and motherhood to former "SNL" co-star Will Ferrell's violent route to the top of the show business world.
Here's our conversation:
Q: You've had a lot of celebrity guests on "30 Rock," including our own Al Roker (WATCH VIDEO) in an upcoming episode. If you could get anyone to appear on the show, who would it be?
Tina Fey: I'd love to get Oprah on the show. We contacted her about doing the show, and we were told that she was in South Africa for three weeks. So I was like, "Well you can tell Oprah to call me when she gets back." We ended up getting Lester Holt to do it -- that's still flattering for Lester, right? Being second in line behind Oprah?
I'd like to get Ben Affleck. He's a pretty funny guy. Maybe when we hit it big, he'll do it.
Q: When you walk by the NBC Experience Store here in New York or visit www.nbcuniversalstore.com, you find that there is no "30 Rock" merchandise out there. What's the deal?
Tina Fey: They keep telling us that it's in the works. We keep saying, "Can't we just have a shirt with the logo on it?" I mean, high school choirs get this done. We have shirts, jackets and bags for our crew -- you can have these things made in a second. Who are the t-shirt people around here?
Q: We had the author of a new book called "The Feminine Mistake" on the show earlier this week. She writes about how young mothers are deciding to stay at home to raise their kids more and more -- and that by depending on their husbands financially, those women are opening themselves to potential problems down the road. You're a working mother of a 19-month-old -- what do you think about this issue?
Tina Fey: The ideal situation for a parent is one that no one has -- having a fulfilling job that requires you to work three days a week. It's better for the parents, because they get to spend time with the children and also have a source of pride and achievement -- and income -- outside the home.
I worked as a registrar for a day care center in Illinois, and I would see a lot of two-parent families in which both parents worked. For them to both have jobs and put their kids in full-time day care, they were almost losing money out of the situation. So working full-time isn't necessarily the best financial option.
I guess what I would tell women is to get their education first, before having kids. That way they can keep their options open down the road. I also think that it shouldn't necessarily be an issue just for women, that men should be part of the stay-home discussion too.
Q: Let's take you back to your "Weekend Update" days from "SNL"... The big political story today was about fundraising for the 2008 presidential race. Where's the comedy in that?
Tina Fey: The comedy for the Democrats is that they're blowing it again. They're showing off too much. They need to be putting a boring white guy out there to kind of get a hold of things. Once the boring white guy is out there, then you bust out the junior senator from Illinois who smokes and does cocaine.
For the Republicans... I thought the story about Rudy Giuliani's son was interesting. [That Giuliani's son, Andrew, would not be campaigning for his father this summer.] Since he's been a little kid, he's been trying to mess things up for his dad.
I really like John McCain. He's an awesome dude and was a lot of fun when he hosted "SNL." I'd love to see a McCain-Giuliani "rage" ticket.
Q: Have you seen Will Ferrell's movie "Blades of Glory" yet, and was Meredith a fool for getting on the ice with him?
Tina Fey: I unfortunately haven't had a chance to see it yet...Will Ferrell is a dangerous man. If he thinks you're in his way in show business, he will crack your head open. He's the Jeff Gillooly of comedy.
