Tina Fey

Has ’30 Rock’s’ Stock Plummeted During Its Hiatus?

An eight-month hiatus can be difficult for any primetime, network TV show to overcome. Fans may have changed their viewing habits or lost their place in the story line or simply forgotten that the series was coming back. It’s hard to know how the break will affect 30 Rock, which has a couple million deeply loyal viewers yet is always struggling to maintain its humble ratings. But one thing is sure: Despite some promising preview clips, Tina Fey’s wonderful sitcom will be faced with a few unusual obstacles when it returns January 12th. … Read More

Our Pop-Culture Picks for a Special Series of What-If? Scenarios

This holiday season, Patrón Tequila came up with a great way to give something to your friends without emptying your wallet. With the “If” Tag app, you can select from a variety of hypothetical scenarios (such as, “If aliens invade, zombies attack, or the robots rise up, you’d be the John Connor to my Kyle Reese), and then select a friend who gets the honor of being your first choice for the gig. You can add a personal message, and then post the whole award right to your friend’s Facebook wall. We were having so much fun with it, in fact, that we decided to take it one step further and pick our top celebrity choices for a number of the “If” scenarios. Click through to see who came out on top for our editors, and why each pop-culture pick made the grade. And if you want to play too, just choose a scenario yourself and tell us who you want in on it in the comments. … Read More

The 10 Best Memoirs of 2011

More and more memoirs seem to come out every year — a product, perhaps, in our unslakable interest in the human condition — but as far as we’re concerned, 2011 was a particularly great one. We had actually wonderful celebrity memoirs, unusual and experimental prose, and particular standouts in the traditional memoir fields of family history and tragedy. Click through to read about our favorite memoirs of the year, and since we can’t possibly have read all the great ones out there, be sure to chime in with your own picks in the comments. One note: the last entry on the list — a really fantastic book — may be slightly NSFW. Proceed with caution. … Read More

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

1. José Angel Santana, a 58-year-old former professor at NYU, says that he lost his job after giving James Franco a D in “Directing the Actor II,” and is now suing the university. Apparently the bad grade was attendance related; Franco only showed up for two of the fourteen classes. [via Vulture] … Read More

The Best and Worst of Last Night’s ‘SNL’ with Jimmy Fallon

The ’90s were back for a whole hour last night on Saturday Night Live — in a good way. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon for the first time since he was a cast member, the holiday-themed episode featured cameos from such legendary favorites as Rachel Dratch, Amy Poehler, Horatio Sanz, Chris Kattan, Tracy Morgan, and Tina Fey — not to mention an appearance by Jude Law just to keep things somewhat grounded in the present day. All in all, Fallon’s ease with the sketches and obvious, overwhelming glee to be back on the show made the evening a warm, fuzzy, holiday delight. Click through to watch our favorite (and least favorite) skits of the night, and let us know whether you were taken in by the magic of the moment or thought the whole thing was rather ho-ho-hum in the comments. … Read More

Liz Lemon Is Kristen Schaal’s Role Model in 5-Minute ’30 Rock’ Trailer

We’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is that our “Liz Lemon is pregnant” prediction seems somewhat less likely after seeing NBC’s new five-minute 30 Rock promo. But the good news is that NBC released a five-minute 30 Rock promo, packed with wonderful moments. It looks like Kelsey Grammer, Denise Richards, and Will Arnett will all pop up in Season 6. Then there’s James Marsden, who’s on board as Liz Lemon’s new slacker boyfriend. Meanwhile, it seems we’ll be getting plenty of updates on Avery, who’s still being held captive in North Korea (hopefully this means more Margaret Cho as Kim Jong-il). Most exciting to us, though, is the introduction of new cast member (!) Kristen Schaal’s character, “Hazel Whatshername,” a TGS page who idolizes Liz Lemon. Treat yourself to five minutes of preview hilarity below. … Read More

Stereotyping You by Your Favorite Book of 2011

It’s the end of the year, which means every media outlet and talkative friend has been regaling you with a fascinating list of their own personal favorite books of 2011. Now, we love lists as much as the next guy, but we also like to think a little bit about what these highly subjective choices might say about the listmaker. After all, you wouldn’t take reading advice from just anybody, now would you? Or even if you would, you should at least know what essential qualities their picks point to. Click through to read our (decidedly tongue-in-cheek) breakdown of what your favorite book of the year says about you, and in case you were wondering, our pick is on here too, and hey, we can cop to it. … Read More

40 Inspiring Quotes About Reading from Writers

NaNoWriMo may be over and our schedules may be filling up with holiday parties and family visits, but despite all that, December is one of our favorite months to curl up and read. If you need a little extra inspiration in this most hectic of months, however, never fear. To spur you on, we’ve collected a few inspiring quotes about reading by some people who read quite a lot — the authors themselves. Click through to read forty of our favorite quotes from writers about books and reading, and let us know if we’ve missed any of your own favorite inspirational declarations in the comments! … Read More

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

1. Harvey Weinstein thinks that Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels should replace Brett Ratner as the producer of this year’s Oscars, and that Tina Fey should be involved with writing material for host Eddie Murphy. No objections here. [via Deadline]

2. Exciting news for fans of Alison Bechdel’s excellent work: Her graphic… Read More

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

Today at Flavorpill, we thought that this little kid dressed up like Carl Fredricksen from Up was quite possibly the cutest thing that we will ever see. We looked at the jaw-dropping views from the world’s tallest observation deck at the Shanghai World Financial Center. We watched an amazing time-lapse… Read More