Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Carrie on 30

I watched the pilot episode of 30 ROCK last year and it didn't click with me at all. So, I skipped over the entire first season. Tina Fey as Liz Lemon never darkened my TiVo's "To Do List."

That is, until my Season Pass for all things "Carrie Fisher" - - which is set at a RIDICULOUSLY high priority level - - added last week's episode of 30 ROCK to my always-in-need-of-more-memory 40 hour dvr.

And after watching Carrie Fisher play Rosemary Howard - - the fictional first female writer for LAUGH IN and therefore Liz Lemon's personal idol - - I'm officially hooked.

All it took was this small piece of dialogue between Liz (Tina) and Rosemary (Carrie)...
Liz:
"I grew up wanting to be you."

Rosemary:
"I grew up wanting to be Samantha Stevens on BEWITCHED.
The closest I got was being married to a gay man for two years."


A brilliant line and the perfect "callback" not only to Ms. Fisher's real-life marriage to a man who left her when he announced that he was gay, but also to the first chapter of Ms. Fisher's novel, THE BEST AWFUL (a sequel to POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE) entitled...

"The Man That Got The Man That Got Away."

That is the kind of comedy to which I aspire.

I also loved Carrie's final line in last week's episode. Rosemary calls out to Liz, who has just raced out of Rosemary's apartment...

"Help me Liz Lemon! You're my only hope!"

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you've found your way to the impeccable comic genius of 30 Rock. (I, too, was slightly underwhelmed by the pilot last year, but this show is the Real Deal when it comes to fresh, genuine, irreverent comedy.)

Stephen R. said...

Andy J - I guess I was so in love with the first 10 minutes of STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP that when 30 ROCK wasn't quite what I hoped it would be, I never gave it another chance. Thankfully TiVo and Ms. Fisher set me straight... so to speak... :)

dirk.mancuso said...

This is truly a show that takes time to grow on you, but it's well worth the time spent getting hooked. (LOVE the Paul Reubens episode from Season 1!!)

My appreciation for you seems to grow exponentially as the days go by...

Stephen R. said...

Dirk - Well, the feeling and the appreciation is mutual, sexy man!