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Eminentoes
Tina Fey Isn’t Funny
Going after Sarah Palin has its reward.
Are they kidding?
That was my first thought when I heard The Kennedy Center had named Tina Fey the 2010 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor last week. Fey will receive the honor in Washington D.C. on November 9. The ceremony will subsequently be broadcast on CBS as it has been since 2000.
The Mark Twain Prize was established in 1998 “to recognize those who create humor from their uniquely American experiences.” Past recipients include Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner, Bob Newhart, Lily Tomlin and Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels.
In 2009, the award was bestowed upon Bill Cosby. The idea of honoring Tina Fey the year after Bill Cosby is kind of like the Baseball Hall of Fame enshrining “Marvelous” Marv Throneberry the year after inducting Mickey Mantle. The Mick and Marvelous Marv were both baseball players but the similarities end there. Cosby and Fey are both comedians but there too the similarities end.
If Fey is being honored for creating humor from her uniquely American experience, then the best that I can tell it is because of her imitation of Sarah Palin. Not that I object to her impersonation because Palin certainly doesn’t. Of course, Palin was such a good sport about it that she went on SNL to meet her mimic. (4) In Going Rogue, Palin recounts dressing up as Fey during one Halloween. Palin writes, “I was Tina Fey before she was me.”
But let’s not kid ourselves. When Fey receives the prize in November, a week removed from the midterm elections, the ceremony will turn into little more than yet another opportunity for the so-called sophisticates from D.C., New York and Hollywood to pillory Palin. If not for the former Alaska Governor, would Fey have been honored this year? In which case, it would merely confirm that Fey is being honored for all the wrong reasons.
Now some might argue that I am merely objecting to Fey’s liberal politics. That is hardly the case. Robin Williams is as liberal as they come. Over the years, he has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Democratic Party. But whatever his politics it would be foolhardy to deny his comedic genius. If Williams’s contributions to American humor aren’t unique, it would be impossible to imagine someone fitting of the word. The Kennedy Center, however, has yet to honor Williams. Can anyone honestly tell me that Tina Fey is more deserving of the Mark Twain Prize than Robin Williams?
Others still might argue that there’s more to Fey than Sarah Palin. They might point to her being the first female head writer at Saturday Night Live. They might also point to her success as the star and executive producer of the NBC show 30 Rock, which is loosely based on her experiences at SNL.
Well, being the first female head writer at SNL is all well and good but it doesn’t amount to a pinch of salt if the show isn’t funny. Admittedly, I haven’t watched the show nearly as much as I did in the 1980s and the early 1990s (not to mention the reruns from the 1970s). But there’s the Catch-22. Why would I watch a comedy show week after week if it doesn’t make me laugh? Why would I watch a comedy show if I cannot find amusement in it? Why would I watch a comedy show if it can scarcely make me crack a smile? Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein said of Fey, “Like Mark Twain, Tina Fey offers her brilliance unconditionally.” Yet when I watch Fey I have to ask myself, what is the brilliance of which Rubenstein speaks?
I did watch part of Fey’s recent turn as SNL host back in April. Oy Fey!!! Sorry, her skit with Justin Bieber gave me the creeps. Perhaps some people find the sight of a middle-aged woman fantasizing about a barely adolescent boy funny, but I sat on the couch stone-faced. I had to flip the channel by the end of the first half hour.
As for 30 Rock, outside of Alec Baldwin, isn’t it little more than a pale version of The Larry Sanders Show? Yet I haven’t seen The Kennedy Center place a call to Garry Shandling.
By this point, some of you might accuse me of not finding women funny. While I generally find women less funny than men the argument doesn’t apply here. Because if anyone should be honored with the Mark Twain Prize it ought to be Carol Burnett, a woman who with the tug of her ear could tug at your heart. How can she not be recognized for her contributions to American humor? She was the first amongst equals on one of the greatest shows in the history of television. How can she not be recognized for her contributions to American humor? Granted, Burnett was presented with the Kennedy Center Honors in 2003. However, this hasn’t prevented Bill Cosby, Steve Martin and Neil Simon from receiving both the Kennedy Center Honors and the Mark Twain Prize.
Humor, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I am well aware there are many people who consider Tina Fey to be funny. But the idea of honoring Tina Fey for her humor seems like a bad running joke in a comedy sketch that just won’t end. As Mark Twain wrote in one of his many letters, “Humor unsupported rather hurts its author in the estimation of the reader.” It might only be one man’s opinion, but Tina Fey just isn’t funny.
About the Author
Aaron Goldstein writes from Boston, Massachusetts.
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drudge ette obama| 6.2.10 @ 6:38AM
I absolutely love comics who imitates others. I don't care if the targets are friend or foe.
Tina Fey is o.k., but once is enough with her. She is not diverse enough to hold interest. She's too bony looking to watch, anyway.
Ted| 6.2.10 @ 11:21AM
Bony? Ouch... I actually think she's rather cute.... But I do agree with you. Her comedy is rather one-dimensional.
drudge ette obama| 6.2.10 @ 8:07PM
Bony too harsh for you? Would angular be better. She has a beak for a nose and small beady eyes. But if you think she is cute, you probably like eels, too. Someone once told me, well what you just did was good, but what will you do tomorrow? What will Tina do tomorrow? Pretend to be Michelle Obama playing pitty-pat with HArry Reid in some national park? Now that's funny.
Ashley| 6.3.10 @ 11:33AM
Don't quit your day job and go into comedy. If your main concern with comedians is if they are hot or not, you really, really don't get it at all.
wayne| 6.3.10 @ 6:30PM
The only creation that they could get to look like Michelle Obama would be Yoda on stilts in brown makeup.
shaha| 11.14.10 @ 12:16AM
You need to suck your own dick
randall gerber| 6.2.10 @ 6:53AM
there are at least five or more people qualified to receive the mark twain prize than tina fey. people like:woody allen,mel brooks,jerry lewis,carol burnett,don rickles,even the smothers brothers.miss fey needs to refuse this award on the season like the one i just mention,she's talented as a writer and comedian.it's like giving tom hanks a kennedy center honor over al pacino and dustin hoffman,it's nice but their are more qualified people in get this award. thank you
Charlieecho| 6.2.10 @ 6:55AM
I really don't know anyone with a life that watches 30 Rock. Do people still get together and watch SNL? How many times can you watch Rich Little do the "I'm not a Crook" routine? It's the same with Tina and Sarah. Palin is real and in 3D. That's hard to over shadow, like her or not.
It's my belief the people handling these awards are unimaginative.
Stephanie| 6.2.10 @ 7:08AM
It's all politics and political correctness. Gagggg
Brian Mc| 6.2.10 @ 7:13AM
I guess it just goes to show that, once again, we are not intelligent enought to get it...whatever 'it' is.
Jake| 3.17.11 @ 9:50AM
That's correct...and by the way, you spelled "enough" wrong.
Don L| 6.2.10 @ 7:35AM
I wonder if all those leftists awards will count for points on Judgment day?
I give them but a year or two more before they come out with the Korvorkian Award for the doctor who most uses the Obamcrypt Healthcare Creamatorium for older folks (the ones with the taxable wealth and usually vote conservative)
Crusader| 6.2.10 @ 10:15PM
Howsabout the Tiller Choice Award for most unborn fetuses (or is it fetii???) aborted?
brewpop| 6.2.10 @ 7:56AM
Gee, this seems a little like Mr. Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
1FreeMan| 6.2.10 @ 9:06AM
There are some really cleaver people on this site (Not you, Purple...)
brewpop, you made me laugh. WAY too funny... in a tragic way.
Its like that dim-wit Michael Moore getting an Oscar? Like THAT?
Al| 6.2.10 @ 8:05AM
It's all calculated "hollywood" propaganda. Like pulling out all the Kennedy "Camelot" documetaries around election time. Politically motivated how anti-war movies, directors, etc. will receive all kinds of awards and publicity, but not anything that shows the military, religion, conservatives in a positive light. So no surprise that a comedic hack like Tina Fey will be awarded a prize and get all kinds of publicity close to the mid-term elections.
Alan Brooks| 6.2.10 @ 3:31PM
The military is to KILL, to reduce the enemy by as much force as can be brought to bear.
AMENBRO| 6.2.10 @ 4:26PM
GD al emphasis LOWERCASE
They gave AL GORE a Nobel Prize
Lay a lip lock on purple boys patootutski and see if you can vacumn out the answer to this irony, Damn you are smart AL.
The Narrator| 6.2.10 @ 6:10PM
And yet, that is not how they've been used since the Korean War...no, wait, since WWII... and you were given a chance to not be a douche.
Ken (Old Texican)| 6.2.10 @ 8:11AM
The funniest commediane I have ever enjoyed is Goldie Hawn.
Margie| 6.2.10 @ 11:38AM
I used to love her on Laugh-In. This this one's for you, Ken!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b7BGBa6MTI
Nick| 6.2.10 @ 1:51PM
Ken,
You would put Goldie Hawn above Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett?
Goldie is funny, but Lucy is the queen and Carol is the princess.
evilned| 6.2.10 @ 8:20AM
I haven't watched SNL since the first cast OD'd and died off.
Now as to Robin Williams, he is a comic maniac and I can't stand his politics. But I will say this. He does know when to shut up.
He was doing a USO show in Iraq for the troops when all of a sudden every single soldier stood up, turned their backs on him and stood at attention, including the ones on stage with him.
What had happened was the sounding of Retreat at the end of the duty day.
I will give Williams credit. He had no idea what was going on, but it was obviously important. He stopped talking and stood at attention and waited until whatever was going on was finished.
Once the ceremony was done and everyone relaxed, the soldiers on stage told him what happened. Of course he made a joke about it, but he directed it at himself.
How many other "Entertainers" would have had the sense to stop what they were doing and politely wait? I can think of a few who would start acting like the morons they have shown themselves to be over the years.
NavyBrat | 6.2.10 @ 11:20AM
evilned. I was thinking the same thing about Williams. Despite his politics, he IS funny & he IS patriotic. I didn't see any other comedians of his caliber doing USO shows. Kudos to him. Fey just plain stinks!
Ted| 6.2.10 @ 11:29AM
I never really knew anything about Williams's politics. I suppose that means he did a good job of generally keeping it to himself. I agree with NavyBrat. Williams has a great reputation for doing USO shows and keeping his comedy there generally apolitical. I am told that when he does the shows, he spends a lot of time before hand interacting and talking with the audience, then weaves those conversations into the act.
Gr0w1er| 6.2.10 @ 12:51PM
I'll say this about Robin Williams: he DOES love our soldiers. All politics aside, that's all anyone could ask of him.
Jim Wilson | 6.2.10 @ 2:24PM
I can't stand Williams--his schtick that is, it just set my teeth on edge. But I had no idea he was involved in the USO etc. I will regard him with a good deal more respect than I have before. Thanks for the enlightenment.
rich b | 6.3.10 @ 4:50AM
Williams is just a little too over the top for me. He always seems to be "on" and trying too hard for a laugh. And the funny thing is my comedic hero is and always will be Jonathan Winters who Robin Williams is very much like. I guess I'm saying Robin if forced where Jonathon Winters just flows.
Cara| 6.3.10 @ 12:31PM
One early evning I was in the car with my daughter, who was in the Air Force at the time.
Her base was just a block or two away. Suddenly she stopped the car, got out and stood at attention. She, too, had heard the sounding of Retreat at the end of that day.
I was so moved and proud of her.
Louis Jenkins| 6.2.10 @ 8:22AM
Tina Fey? Forget her. I haven't made it my purpose to tune into to SL for a long time. Now I might tune in to watch South Park, but that story has already been covered.
Anthony| 6.2.10 @ 9:56AM
The Left has systematically taken over and corrupted many institutions, foundations and other prominent platforms, that once had proud pedigrees, like a cancer invading a healthy body.
As evidenced by the complete political corruption of the Nobel Peace Prize to leftist/Marxist demagogues, (Obama, Gore, Arafat) to the awarding of dubious journalistic awards, such as the Peabody, to hacks like Dan Rather, they all has a propaganda purpose to keep the Leftist hegemony front and center.
Same now with this loser comic of minimal talent, Tina Fey, it's all for the purpose of either promoting members of the Left or destroying members of the Right.
The Board of the Kennedy Center, like other leftist boards, is using its power for its political effect. The Leftists taint everything they come in contact with.
postpolio| 6.2.10 @ 9:59AM
Robin Williams may be an Democrat who donates to his party of choice, but he also go on makeshift stages lighted only by Humvee headlights at the very front of combat zones, where the audience remains armed and on duty. I don't share his politics, but I honor his commitment to the troops. Don't think Fey has ever played FOB Striker outside Kandahar....
maverick muse| 6.2.10 @ 2:35PM
Excellent point.
loulou| 6.2.10 @ 10:06AM
Tina Fey is a homely looking Sarah Palin. She is not funny. SNL is not funny.
Cosby is not funny.
French and Saunders ARE funny.
Tammy Pescatelli is funny.
Always Question| 6.2.10 @ 4:17PM
I have a much different opinion of Bill Cosby - one of the most incredibly funny people I've ever seen, and without a dirty word in his entire, 90 minute routine (live comedy concert years ago).
Appleby| 6.4.10 @ 7:37AM
Good point about humour without scatology. These days we are subject to *comedy* that used to be confined to daycare sandboxes, and only then until Mommy could get there to give Junior or Susie a smack on the backside and deny that s/he learned that kind of talk at home. Just like the Two Words Without Which Under-35s Could Not Speak get wearisome after 10,000 repetitions, so does *Comedy* that is essentially America-bashing with dirty language thrown in.
By the way, when I was in Catholic school, Sister Mary Bernadette had a cure for Potty Mouth that never failed. She made the girl stand in front of her classmates and repat the dirty word in question 100 times in a row. By the end of the recitation the culprit was usually in tears and Sister would say, *Now that you all know what that word sounds like, perhaps you will not need to say it again.*
PolishKnight| 6.2.10 @ 10:10AM
SNL has had a few funny skits since Obama entered office with one of the funniest being a parody of his visit to China where the Chinese PM dresses him down for not paying back China and that "clunkers" would not be accepted as payment.
But those are rare moments and the rest of the time SNL makes me wince at best or just bored.
Adding to the nominees of great comedians BESIDES Fey, Will Ferrell. He puts himself out on a limb to get a laugh. And how about Mike Myers? Not only were his SNL skits hilarious, but he created dozens of unique characters that went into films that had worldwide appeal. Perhaps his Canadian background disqualifies him. His partner in Wayne's World, Dana Carvey, is certainly very American and a very accomplished comedian.
Perhaps Tina Fey's ability to be nominated has a lot to do with good old fashioned Political Correctness and Hollywood insider politics: She's a woman, a leftist, and has gotten serious gigs as Aaron points out. Doesn't make her funny though.
Ned| 6.2.10 @ 10:49AM
Why do I need to know about another idiot-box moron receiving yet another "aren't-we-all-swell" self-justification award? Contrary to what the folks on their little island think, nothing that goes on east of the Hudson interests most of America at all. I think they realize that, but can't admit it, hence the never-ending string of dislocated shoulders from patting themselves on the back, and the incessant whining about how sophisticated they all are. Whenever I travel there, the very first thing I want to know is "when can we leave?" Same is true with TV - "Is it over yet?" The two most worn-down buttons on my remote are "mute" and "off".
Dave| 6.3.10 @ 1:42AM
Then why do you even own a TV in the first place?
Doctor Right| 6.2.10 @ 11:08AM
I once read with amusement how this mediocre comedienne (Fey) said, in the run-up to the '08 election that she hoped Obama would win if only so she could stop doing the impersonation of Palin.
I found this to be utterly stupid. Fey's "Palin" vaulted her to a level of notoriety she had not previously enjoyed. I, for one, had never heard of her. Since then, I've been distinctly unimpressed with her "body of work", such as it is..."Baby Mama"? "Date Night"? And she was the head writer at the decidedly unfunny SNL between 1999-2006, so that's not really a distinction to be proud of.
Yes, giving her this award is a joke...But then again, much of the entertainment industry is a complete joke, so frankly, who cares?
Nobama2012| 6.2.10 @ 11:16AM
Tina Fey aka "Scarface is finishing up her 15 minutes. As for SNL, it hasnt been relevant since I was in highschool and Belushi and Akroyd were running the show.
LibertyFirst| 6.2.10 @ 4:39PM
Agreed. Belushi and Akroyd were very funny. Likely because their humor wasn't leftist schtick nor directed at anyone in particular. SNL has become plain old pathetic.
Philster| 6.2.10 @ 5:20PM
I remember a skit from the early years; I think it was after Chevy Chase left, but the rest of the original cast was there. They were making fun of the people who voted for Reagan, in a sort of parody of "invasion of the Body Snatchers." It was a funny skit, but don't kid yourself- the show has always had a leftist schtick to it.
Roughcoat| 6.2.10 @ 11:38AM
I'm a conservative, a tea-partier, Catholic pro-life, and I vote Republican.
I think 30 Rock is hilarious and I watch it religiously. Great writing, great characters, funny funny funny and not a pale imitation of Larry Sanders--it's better.
There. Someone had to say it.
OldNewB| 6.2.10 @ 6:03PM
Totally in agreement with you.
I think Fey is funnier than the author does; I like her Palin imitation, and if Palin does too, who am I to argue? But I agree that there are more deserving Twain recipients. Compared to past winners, she just doesn't have a substantial enough body of work behind her yet. Maybe someday Fey will be more deserving, but not now.
GhaleonQ| 6.2.10 @ 10:38PM
Also, 1 of the few shows to make GOOD conservative-friendly jokes about liberals, for those who care about that sort of thing.
Dave| 6.3.10 @ 1:44AM
No way "30 Rock" is even remotely as funny and insightful as "The Larry Sanders Show". No way.
Nick in Virginia| 6.2.10 @ 11:49AM
Actually, it was Marv Throneberry, not Thornberry.
He was a spokesman for Miller Lite, who said "I'm afraid if I do for Miller what I did for baseball, their sales might go down."
Forever Marine| 6.2.10 @ 11:51AM
Lucy! Lucy! You got some "splainin" to do.
JP| 6.2.10 @ 11:55AM
The last time SNL had any real talent was the period when the cast included Dana Carvey, Michale Myers, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, David Spade, and Adam Sandler. I've rarely watched SNL since those days.
Tina Fey is an example of what's gone wrong with the show. It's all politics and very little humor.
A.Men| 6.2.10 @ 11:58AM
I agree with you (in your article).
LiveFreeOrDie| 6.2.10 @ 12:09PM
Fey would be lucky to make the top twenty SNL comedian list. Obviously a politically motivated award from an organization whose credibility is forever tainted. What did you expect from the Kennedy Center?
Rowan 91016| 6.2.10 @ 1:21PM
Tina Fey is too mean spirited to be funny. I simply don't enjoy humor that pokes fun at other people. The best humor, to me, is self-deprecating.
As far as giving her an award is concerned, the average American wouldn't even know her name were it not for her Sarah Palin impersonation. Yuck!
scythe| 6.2.10 @ 1:29PM
Thank you for the courage to state the obvious. If the object of Fey's impersonation was NOT a beloved icon of the right she would be forgettable. Her "success" is tied to the part she played in marginalizing Palin in the last election. She is NOT funny. And I do agree with you. Most women are not funny. They lack the requisite wit, which require THOUGHT not FEELING. In fact, most of the female comediennes today have NOTHING on their counterparts of decades ago. Feminism has reduced much of them to raging, fulminating, geyser of male hatred and left wing rants which require no thinking but a cross pollination of plagiarism from the left wing influence in our culture. Carol Burnett was funny but never as funny as her male counterparts. But she certainly deserves an award far more than the "Whey Fey".
WorkingMom| 6.3.10 @ 12:17PM
Hello? Madeline Kahn? Her classic Sesame Street counting to 10 is sheer genius, never mind her more ambitious roles. http://bit.ly/cchq7t
Drew| 6.2.10 @ 1:53PM
Quick: Name a succesful "Conservative" comedian?
Oops. You can't. Aside from maybe Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, but they are funny in way that is, perhaps, unintentional. Dennis Miller once was funny, but his particular brand of schtick couldn't be sold to a weekly NFL audience, so he rebranded himself and ended up the New Coke of late-night comedy.
Conservatives don't get funny. Why? They are too stupid for one thing (see S. Palin) - plus they have in them an unpleasant streak of spite. (See 99.9% of the articles and comments on this blog.)
Being actually funny requires an ability to poke fun oneself first - before you go out and slime other people. And that is an intellectual challenge beyond the capability of the Conservative brain. Example: Name a Mormom comedian who'd dare to make a joke about (often absurd) tenets of LDS. You can't. These cretins take themselves waaayy too seriously.
Get this through your heads: Sarah Palin is an international joke. She'd be laughed off the stage in any country in the world, except for this one. And if Tina Fey gets recognized for parodying such a well-deserved buffoon - thats your problem, not Tina's.
JP| 6.2.10 @ 2:25PM
"Being actually funny requires an ability to poke fun oneself first - before you go out and slime other people."
MMMmm... Tell me of one famous liberal comedian who built his reputation ridiculing or lampooning liberals, progressives, etc... I cannot think of one. As it turns out, lampooning conservatives, christians, Republicans, rural people is about the only thing liberals can do. Lampoon a liberal icon, and it is a kiss of death for one's career (as witnessed by the writers of both Beavis and Butthead and South Park. The progressives never forgave them. And to this day,many liberals refer to them as right wing writers, despite thier penchent for picking on both sides). As it turns out, liberals have a very, very thin skin - and because of that, thier source material is very limited. Most of them today depend upon vulgarity and profanity to deliver thier punchlines.
Mel| 6.2.10 @ 3:34PM
Clearly you've never watched 30 Rock - they poke fun at liberals ALL the time.
JP| 6.2.10 @ 4:33PM
The fact that the show is still on primetime indicates how light weight it is. Again, name me one liberal comedian who has made his bones by going after progressives.....
DENNIS| 6.2.10 @ 4:39PM
Conservatives are stupid? If you dropped the brain of the average liberal into a coffee can it would roll around like a bowling ball in a boxcar. The sad state of affairs in America is due almost exclusively to liberal social and economic policies. Liberals are the definition of buffoon.
Paul| 6.2.10 @ 10:32PM
The fact that you think all of the problems in our country are due to a single political party is evidence that you may not be as smart as you think. The world is a lot more complicated than you make it out to be.
Plus, how do you explain the Bush years?
DENNIS| 6.3.10 @ 1:24PM
I did not say ALL the problems in America are the result of DEMOCRAT PARTY policies, but that the vast majority are the result of liberal policies. George W. Bush was no conservative. The more he acted like a liberal, the worse he governed. The principles of the Founders are what we need to guide our country, not the socialist policies of the American Left. That way is the way of destruction.
Philster| 6.2.10 @ 5:23PM
Drew,
Good luck on your thesis! Maybe you'll make it out of grad school some day!
Stan Allen | 6.2.10 @ 8:34PM
Adam Sandler.
Kelsey Grammar.
There, that covers both highbrow and lowbrow - these are examples of successful humorists who don't, in fact, make their politics the subject of their humor - if you *actually* believe that only liberals can be funny, you're just a liberal who thinks that comedy means making fun of conservatives.
Doctor Right| 6.2.10 @ 9:27PM
Get this through your head: "President Palin".
It might happen, dumbass.
And who cares what a bunch of effete a-holes in Europe think?
Maybe effete a-holes in this country...Like you, dipstick.
Paul| 6.2.10 @ 10:34PM
Lord knows she has done enough to deserve it. If a person with her resume can't be president of this country, then somethin' is wrong!
Dave| 6.3.10 @ 2:06AM
"Name a successful "Conservative" comedian?"
Drew Carey (yes, successful)
Larry the Cable Guy
Jeff Foxworthy
Ron White
Adam Sandler (believe it or not)
Norm Macdonald
Sam Kinison (RIP)
Brad Stine
(If you don't know who some of these are, you don't hang out much in comedy clubs)
Occam's Tool| 6.3.10 @ 10:59PM
South Park tends to run Conservative, in an incredibly vulgar way. All of the "Fags" in Team America were Liberals. Kelsey Grammer was not mocked.
ElGordo| 6.2.10 @ 1:55PM
Jean Shepard the greatest story teller of all time on radio, the writer, producer of the movie "Christmas Story", author, chronicler of mid America in the 20th century not only should've won the Mark Twain Award, he was the Mark Twain of the 20th Century
ALEJANDRO| 6.2.10 @ 4:03PM
Thank you El Gordo!! I loved Jean Shepard's work and agree with you completely. I was fortunate enough to have lived in New York and saw him perform many nights in a bar/restaurant on lower 6th ave. Truly he is Twain's successor
Innocent Bystander| 6.2.10 @ 2:14PM
We are overlooking perhaps the most inadvertently gifted comedic talents of our time.
Why not honor Joe Biden?
Neo| 6.2.10 @ 2:19PM
Awards, like every other social icon, are there to be defiled.
maverick muse| 6.2.10 @ 2:21PM
Next, Fey is due the Nobel piece-o-shtick Prize for delivering too much of what should have been valued as a little going a long ways. Overkill is boring, not funny.
Obama could be awarded a humor prize by Marxist Alinsky disciples for his destruction of America that they think is funny, and even by complacent observers noting that Obama qualifies as the biggest flopping fraud and the joke's on us all, whether Louisiana Democrats or all of those conservatives who've adamantly campaigned against socialism.
Humor is in the mind of the beholder. For instance, Drew is as funny as the next idiot. Hang onto that shtick of "stupid, unpleasant streak of spite" as your own badge of shame.
Dry wit becomes Fred Thompson without his stooping to the level of being either a leftist or a sock puppet comedian. Teaching the Pig to Dance.
Christopher Scott| 6.2.10 @ 2:24PM
Tina Fey is just not funny. I turn off my television at 9:30 every Thursday night immediately after the Office concludes. I stopped watching Saturday Night Live a long time ago because it too is just not funny. Even teaming up with Steve Carell in a movie cannot enable her to be funny. She had a mildly amusing moment caricaturing Sarah Palin that she has milked far beyond her fifteen minutes of fame.
The fact of the matter is that Tina Fey's award is for her caricature of Sarah Palin because the people who run the Kennedy Center hate Sarah Palin and the ordinary Americans who support her. Tina Fey is another example of a liberal (like every liberal establishment newspaper in America) who gets rich and is awarded prizes while her shows go un-watched.
maverick muse| 6.2.10 @ 2:32PM
scythe
Performers cater to the audience. The bar comedy club scene is not where you'll find conservative women or likely even conservative men filling the room.
If looking back, Lucille Ball was a hilarious female clown, much better in her heyday than Carole Burnett. And Burnett's cast of men whom you praised were weak counterfeit to their predecessor Jack Benny, et al.
Really, saying that women are incapable of being humorous is as dumb as stupid goes.
Martine 22| 6.2.10 @ 2:43PM
Sarah Palin is wittier and better looking than Fey.
SNL hasn't been funny for years. Probaby coincides with her becoming head writer.
matthew R.| 6.2.10 @ 2:45PM
This is just another example of liberals who control so many of culture's institutions passing out an award to one of their own. Nobels, Oscars (remember Al got an Oscar for his stupid slideshow), etc.
Gretchen| 6.2.10 @ 2:49PM
Tina Fay -- or Tina Feh!
dw| 6.2.10 @ 3:12PM
The only thing funny is the joke these awards are.
Tina who? s&l has not been funny in decades and she's never been funny. pathetic
Jay| 6.2.10 @ 3:21PM
I find it hilarious that someone who is Canadian born and raised is commenting on how Tina Fey doesn't represent American humor. You know, it used to be that when people won awards, we congratulated them -- you know, the whole good sports concept. Now, we place people on one side or the other - if they are on our side, we cheer them on ... if they aren't, we attack them.
That's just sad.
Regardless of my feeling regarding her comedic stylings, I congratulate her on her accomplishments.
Big Jim| 6.2.10 @ 3:25PM
Mark Twain was a giant. His name should not be used in the same sentence as tina fey. The Kennedy Center and its awards are both unfunny jokes!
MZH| 6.2.10 @ 3:49PM
This article is so off the mark that I hope it's satire.
I think it's high time that the writer who penned "Never go with a hippie to a second location" be awarded for her genius.
Sabba Hillel| 6.2.10 @ 3:54PM
You turned off SNL after a half hour? I have yet to get beyond the opening skit. Everything after "Live from New York" tends to be too painful.
Albert| 6.2.10 @ 4:22PM
Tina is getting the reward for the same reason BHO got the Nobel Peace Prize, no one really knows!
LibertyFirst| 6.2.10 @ 4:31PM
Mark Twain frequently made generalizations about politicians being corrupt, ot that Congress was corrupt. I have read much of Twain's works and I find that invective addressed to or about any particular politician was rare, if not absent altogether. As such, there is no way you could convince me this imposter, Tina Fey, is deserving of an award named in honor of this country's greatest humorist and writer.
Jim| 6.2.10 @ 4:54PM
Funny, I have often commented that I don't get Stephen Colbert, given that he is just impersonating Bill O'Reilly every day for 30 minutes. Granted, it is a brilliant impersonation, and I am no O'Reilly fan, but watching glorified overly long SNL skit just grows tiresome.
And yet, here we are, piling accolades on an actual overly-long SNL skit that has grown tiresome.
Michael| 6.2.10 @ 5:05PM
I've watched SNL since the second program hosted by Rob Reiner in 1975. The show has been up (75-80, 82-85, 87-93) and down (the rest of the time) with a few exceptions like Jilly and guest hosts like Steve Martin. Some sketches are bad, with MacGruber and the latest News Update becoming the signal to raid the fridge. The other problem is political. The more liberal Tina Fey is, the worse she is. She bashes you over the head several times during a sketch just to make sure you get the joke and get the idea it's liberal. "30 Rock" is a funny show when they stick to "show within a show" ala Jack Benny and Dick Van Dyke (another non Twain award winner) show business format. When they get into political territory the jokes immediately become stale and unfunny. Ed McManhan once said one show business secret is, "Don't go too far from the well". Tina leaves the well when she forgets the main purpose of humor is to be funny, not to be political. P.S. When Sarah Palin first became known to us in Kentucky in August, 2008, I thought she looked more like the woman from "Law & Order--SVU" instead of Tina Fey!
W.L. Barton| 6.2.10 @ 5:30PM
Sarah Pale-in comparison is nothing but a blow up doll fantasy for all you court ordered, child supporting, divorced, angry white males.
Tim*| 6.2.10 @ 6:22PM
Just because Aunt Zeituni wouldn't have sex with you , it's ridiculous for you to take out your pent up frustrations on white males.
Now, go to your Psycho-Drama Class & punch pillows.
W. Barton| 6.3.10 @ 3:22PM
Did your penis envy make you a right wing looney?
You need to seek therapy, and stay out of the park restrooms.
Neal Getz| 6.2.10 @ 5:35PM
Her Sarah Palin imitation may have gotten her national attention, but for 30 Rock alone Tina Fey deserves all the awards she gets. It is by far the funniest show on TV right now. Whatever their politics, Tina Fey -- and Alec Baldwin -- have earned their moments in the sun. BTW, the politically-tinged dialogue in 30 Rock is no less madly inspired than the rest of it.
Mark MacInnis| 6.2.10 @ 5:39PM
Fey is a featherweight as far as thoughtful comedy goes. As far as SNL-types go, give me Dennis Miller anytime. His comedy is unique and his Thesaurus-on-steroids approach and timing are flawless. Funniest. Damned. Comedian. Ever.
But Bill Maher is the worst. If he is ever given such a prestigious award, I will be moved to protest. His lying, leftist and just plain MEAN rants border on the psychopathically anti-American. I would like to personally invite him to leave the planet.
LB| 6.20.11 @ 7:40PM
Actually, I think Tina's response to the criticism she's received about her Palin impression was very accurate. She said, " I am not mean and Mrs. Palin is not fragile."
Reaganite| 6.2.10 @ 6:08PM
Palin is way hotter than Tina Fey. WAY hotter...
Polly| 6.2.10 @ 10:34PM
Man, easy to tell how old you are ...
Nick| 6.2.10 @ 11:32PM
Easy to tell that you need new glasses.
Janet| 6.3.10 @ 8:28AM
Easy to tell that Polly and Nick have never really compared the physical attritbutes of Palin and Fey without politics-colored glasses.
Nick| 6.3.10 @ 5:39PM
Is this supposed to be the well thought out, objective comment of a mushy moderate, Janet?
Janet| 6.4.10 @ 8:03AM
Not at all, Nick. I quit voting liberal/democrat in 1996 when I realized that the radical left had taken over the Democratic party. My views have only gotten more conservative over the years, which I am told, happens to quite a few folks. I also happen to be an artist and I do critique images quite a bit. And yes, when comparing the physical attributes of Sarah and Tina, there really isn't a comparison in terms of what would be considered physical beauty in our culture. Tina is a very attractive woman, but not as 'beautiful', in the western civilization sense, as Sarah. That's all the comment was meant to be.
Marc Jeric| 6.2.10 @ 6:36PM
I have never watched this Tina - and after reading this article I am 100% sure I will never watch her.
Paul| 6.2.10 @ 10:40PM
That's the spirit!
David| 6.2.10 @ 8:11PM
I thought some of Tina Fey's Sara Palin skits were pretty funny, but usually when they were on SNL they were the only funny skit that night. SNL problem is there is usually only one or two funny skits and the rest is just painful to watch. Who wants to sit through an hour show for 5 minutes of entertainment?
Jff| 6.2.10 @ 9:05PM
Well...
Fyi, it's funny because it's true. 30 Rock spends it's time ridiculing the rich and famous as out of touch elitists.
The Office is TERRIBLE.
Mackdaddy| 6.2.10 @ 9:33PM
Stop...ask yourself this...did I see this show last year, or the year before? Like me?...probably not. It will be entertaining (maybe) for those in attendance. Other than them, who will see this?
JeffB.| 6.2.10 @ 9:35PM
This award to Fey represents affirmative action for comedians. She's not that funny. Certainly not in the leagues of the truly great American or Canadian comedians.
Katie| 6.2.10 @ 9:40PM
I like Tina Fey. I think she's funny and her movies are hilarious! I don't care who she makes fun of, I'm still a conservative, but I put aside my political leanings for a little clean laughter when needed.
jj | 6.2.10 @ 9:51PM
Tina Fey is not pretty either. I'm tired of people saying she's a dead ringer for Palin. She's not. In fact she's borderline ugly.
Sue| 6.2.10 @ 10:28PM
Please...no more comments about Tina being bony, scarred, angular, whatever. It seems that whenever we're talking about a woman it's all about how she looks. Let's look at talent. I watch SNL altho I am offended sometimes by the one-sidedness of the politics. Still, I think she did a great job of imitating Sarah. Take it tongue in cheek. Other talents? She's a great comedy writer I believe. So, bite your lip and realize that anyone who's to the right is going to get it by the MSM, SNL, the Joyce Foundation, Bill Ayers, Gibbs, ACORN, any Democrat, most actors and actresses, and union leaders.
pk| 6.2.10 @ 10:32PM
As you point out, Tina Fey is not deserving - at least not at this stage in her career - of the Mark Twain award.
This is a political correctness award given by the "cool kids" on the left to show their "sophisticated humor" while continuing to make fun of "the uncool kids".
Polly| 6.2.10 @ 10:33PM
Why don't republicans have a sense of humor?
Paul| 6.2.10 @ 10:44PM
Conservatism is inherently unfunny because, at its core, is a respect for established traditions. Not a lot of laughs in that.
Subversiveness is a lot more funny
trigon| 6.3.10 @ 3:14AM
Republicans seem to have so little humor because we have to put up with idiot leftists. It's enough to make any truly sane person grumpy.
OxyCon| 6.2.10 @ 11:01PM
We live in the era of faux awards. Fey gets awarded because she mocks Palin. Obama gets a Nobel because he isn't Bush. These awards have nothing to do with achievement, but everything to do with political agenda.
Tuna Fake| 6.2.10 @ 11:30PM
Oh, wow. A KENNEDY award for humor. It's better than swimming medals. But what's next? A HEINZ ketchup award for best horse impression?
Mike009| 6.3.10 @ 12:03AM
Liberals often piggyback on successful conservatives. Who would have ever noticed Al Franken's book if he hadn't used Rush Limbaugh's name in the title? Another lib, Bill Maher (I think it was him) used Fox News' slogan in the title of his book. MSNBC hosts obsess endlessly over what Beck, Limbaugh, Coulter, Malkin and Hannity are saying. And millions of people never heard of Tina Fey until she started doing her Palin impression, which has been a huge boost for her career.
Haynes| 6.3.10 @ 12:06AM
If the good people at the Kennedy Center are going to go around handing out awards to childish half-wits I think they should name their award after someone other than Mark Twain. He does not deserve the slander.
How about the Jerry Lewis award.
dman| 6.3.10 @ 12:09AM
Have you seen 30 Rock? It is hilarious and full of both witty and brilliant writing.
jeff| 6.3.10 @ 12:35AM
The article is spot on. Tina Fey is powerfully unfunny. SNL during her tenure? Horrible. 30 Rock? Crap.
Sue| 6.3.10 @ 1:04AM
I think Tina Fey is funny, but there are many comedians who are as funny or funnier. As you pointed out, she certainly doesn't hold a candle to Robin Williams, yet he's never been honored, and not only has he been around longer, he's still going strong. And Carol Burnett?
There is absolutely no doubt she got it b/c of her Palin mockery. I'd bet my life on it. It's just too obvious.
I don't say that as a die-hard Palin fan. I laughed along w/ all the liberals at Fey's impressions. I was livid when McCain picked Palin.
Bill| 6.3.10 @ 1:10AM
Tina Fey is a one trick pony. And not even a very funny one at that.
W. Barton| 6.3.10 @ 3:24PM
Sarah Pale-in comparison tricks wth ponies?
Make yourself clear boy, i say make yourself clear.
Dave| 6.3.10 @ 1:26AM
FINALLY! Someone says what we are all thinking. Thank you! And here I thought I was the only one that thought that.
Anonymous| 6.3.10 @ 1:52AM
Tina Fey... the woman who inspired Larry Flynt to extend the celebrity look-alike concept to porn ("Who's Nailin' Palin," anyone?).
Cloudy| 6.3.10 @ 1:54AM
Giving the currently undeserving Tina Fey this award is basically the same circle jerk as giving Obama the Nobel Prize: it's "peer-reviewing." Give the prestigious prizes to the pets in the "inner circle" (just like only allowing the publication of "global warming theories that agree with our views" in scientific journals, thus making a certain viewpoint inviolate and being able to call such studies "peer reviewed" while unfavorable opinions are mocked as not having that distinction), and suddenly she's not just Tina-Fey-Who? she's *Tina Fey, Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Recipient*, or *Tina Fey, recently awarded the highest honor for her contributions to American humor, * etc, etc...
I don't personally think she's all that funny, but who knows? She might be worthy of this honor in twenty years. But right now, the only reason most people have ever heard of her is because of her "burn book" mocking of Sarah Palin and her adoption as the Left's darling because of it. A sad day for the memory of Mark Twain...a prize in his name serving as a honorarium for Fey's propaganda.
whatever| 6.3.10 @ 1:57AM
Robin Williams hasn't been funny in years. You lost all credibility when you mentioned him. Unless the award is for coasting. He seems desperate to get people to laugh, and they don't. See: any of his recent Letterman appearances. By the way - did Williams actually create Mork and Mindy? Write for it? No, I didn't think so. And look up an article about him stealing material.
Oregon Examiner| 6.3.10 @ 6:15PM
Oh and you can also point to his over-the-top annoying appearances on "Real Time with Bill Maher". Robin Williams hasn't been funny since around 1994 and Bill Cosby hasn't been funny since 1981. Pointing out that other people in the past were funny at different points as a reason to criticize someone who is curently funny as evidenced by her successful and lauded tv show which she created and writes demeans yourself.
Tina Fey is being partly recognized for 30 Rock and for her movies (teenage girls loved "Mean Girls", my neice watched it countless times) and also for her work on SNL as a writer and full-bore Palin satirist. That she's under attack in this article and comments specifically for her Palin satire either shows your audience is old and out-of-touch or devoid of humor when it comes to SP.
Phil Hartman wasn't exactly kind to Bill Clinton but liberals loved him and laughed anyway. It's not that what she does isn't funny it's that conservatives have almost no sense of humor when it comes to their own.
Maybe at this point the "Sarah Palin is an idiot" joke has been so overdone that even though it doesn't lack for daily material of its relevance it's not so funny anymore. Be that as it may...she did her satire before anyone else and did it better than anyone else and therefore you the author and your bitter commentariat cannot say her satire was overdone when it was at the time cutting edge.
MrReasonable| 6.3.10 @ 3:22AM
I have to both agree and disagree with this article. I agree in the sense that there are many legends who are more deserving than Tina Fey, Carol Burnett being a great example. The reasons for giving it to Tina Fey could be a way to seem hip politically, since she imitates Sarah Palin, but it could also be that they wanted someone current, so that younger people would be interested. While those may not be the greatest reasons, they are legitimate reasons in this day and age.
But when you say she isn't funny, that is just not true. Forget about SNL, 30 Rock is a very funny show. You may give Alec Baldwin credit for many of the laughs, but he is just an actor. Tina Fey created the show, Tina Fey writes the show. It is HER show completely. To be able to create a show like that, practically by herself, is amazing work. So the next time you laugh at something Alec Baldwin or anyone else says in that show, just remember that it was Tina Fey who wrote it. You will gain a new appreciation for her. I did.
AlaskanInfidel| 6.3.10 @ 3:33AM
30 Rock? Funny? All in the eyes of the beholder I guess...
Tina is no Carol Burnett. Not by a very long shot.
She just doesn't have the chops.
Awarding her this honor belittles and politicizes it. so what's new?
JR| 6.3.10 @ 5:09AM
This is indeed just about slamming Palin, one more time. The joke was cute at first, but now it's old. Like Palin or not, but I'm not interested in it because it's really not funny. It's not horrible, I'm just not laughing. Its' the guy in the bar that keeps telling the same joke over and over with and you stopped smiling after the third go round.
Part of what did that, beyond lame material, is that the best comedians can say things that aren't meant to hurt. Fey from the start, really showed that she wanted to skewer Palin like a bug on a pin, but not interested in laughing WITH her subject, nor the public. She's mocking, not teasing.
Btw, SNL stopped being funny at some point in the 80s. It was an icon of my teen years, my interest drifted and just never came back. Fey was still in grammer school when I left the program. By that time, it's cache was long gone. I guess someone was watching it, but I don't know any of those people. LOL
Btw, the award is for being a comedian, not for being a writer. But does that matter? Writing is not the same thing as being able to deliver material yourself. Give it to Alec.
Rev Dr E Buzz| 6.3.10 @ 5:16AM
She is absolutely horribly, tremendously unfunny...and really is completely untalented. It's a symptom of lower standards for women that she was awarded that position.
I have tried watching SNL, but I just don't see what the point is, and she's too dense to see that she's on a sinking ship listing along being propped up by PC goodness and patronage.
A horrible actress, writer and it appears an even more devoid and barren person inside.
Ryan Phelps | 6.3.10 @ 7:21AM
"As for 30 Rock, outside of Alec Baldwin, isn't it little more than a pale version of The Larry Sanders Show? Yet I haven't seen The Kennedy Center place a call to Garry Shandling."
That's our analysis? Have you actually watched the show? 30 Rock, even if it's not your thang, is brilliant, endlessly creative writing. I actually think all her other stuff is crap. But 30 Rock is so good that I'd give her the award just for this.
Dix Handily| 6.3.10 @ 7:23AM
Compare the Tina Fey of the early 2000's to today and tell me she didn't have multiple plastic surgeries done on herself. I dare you! BTW I love 30 rock immensely and I'm as far to the right as they come. Sadly, this is a political selection. Love the Cosby reference because the poster is correct. Bill Cosby is a comedy genius and Fey not quite yet.
cj| 6.3.10 @ 7:36AM
* Made up awards are dumb. Who cares?
* Tina Fey IS funny.
* 30 Rock and her movies are hilarious.
* Fred Armisen does a HORRIBLE Barack Obama!
Janet| 6.3.10 @ 8:07AM
My standard for a comedian who is truly, truly funny is someone whose material is known by the entire family, Grandma and grandkids alike. (Mind you, I do not necessarily equate being funny with being edgy, ironic and offensive, I mean FUNNY.) Thanks to Nickelodeon and YouTube, there are plenty of comics who aren't even living whose material can still fit into my standard.
Besides her Palin-bashing image, what could a multi-generation group of Americans recognize about Tina Fey? And it's an image only - the Palin jokes fall flat and will be unrecognizable in less years than we care to admit.
JDubya| 6.3.10 @ 8:26AM
I stopped watching SNL regularly when Akroyd, Murray, and Chase left to pursue other careers. The people who replaced them were not originalists and the scripts became "forced". On and off, during times of boredom or being a captive audience (most reading this would realize that most homes had 1-2 TVs that received signals from antennae and there was no cable, internet etc.)
In college, in the mid-80's I caught a couple and noticed that it seemed they were on continuous dress rehersal, reading from cue-cards, but with the actual outfits and in front of a live audience. How brilliant.
When MAD TV came out, I actually thought this was a better venue. I also noticed that there was a certain rejection by those who felt that anyone delving in on the sacred SNL turf was a heretic and no real Hollywood stoic would appear. Funny. Remember "Fridays"? That was funny too.
Tina Fey is not funny to me. Perhaps to others, who prefere unoriginal script reading during a live performance. These are the same people who find campy rhetoric, cliches, and brilliance in their own children's performances during a school play. Yawn. They speak in their glossolalia about how brilliant Fey is in the same way they applaud their children. These two points are one in the same.
Don't get me wrong, I watch my kids in their venues and am proud of it. With these Fey supporters, there is no distinguishing the differences. They like their comedy simple, predictable, easily distinguished from other, drier venues. They are the ones who quote Monty-Python in their inner circles, but have no understanding the meaning of the topics.
Congrats to Fey for representing another venue that has been destroyed by the morally bankrupt inner circle of elitists, spoiling the culture with worthless tripe, and pushing the country further towards stupidity.
Fallon| 6.3.10 @ 8:31AM
I loved when Smokey took down Tina Fey on Lost. She was such an annoying character.
Tina is only being rewarded for her attacks on Palin, much like Katie Couric winning the Walter Cronkite award for her interviews. The left needs to prop up the mean petty women who will do their dirty work.
Wallabee| 6.3.10 @ 8:32AM
I went in to buy one of the original cast SNL DVDs once, and the cashier went on about how funny she found Tina Fey. I told her I simply did not find Tina funny at all, nor any of the cast in the last few decades of SNL.
As she was younger, I tried to be diplomatic by saying "I guess I am just getting too old to appreciate their humor." Her manager jumped in and said "no, SNL is JUST NOT FUNNY any more!"
I didn't say any more, but he was just right. Somehow, SNL thinks that dressing someone up to look somewhat recognizable is the same as doing a real impersonation. And shooting off snarky leftist remarks is humor.
The original SNL (Belushi, Chase, Akroyd, Curtain, Radner, et al) skewered both liberal and conservative politicians, as well as society in general. But they were FUNNY!
Wallabee| 6.3.10 @ 8:43AM
> Forget about SNL, 30 Rock is a very funny show.
NO. ITS. NOT!
I have tried to watch "30 Rock" many times since it was introduced. I have NEVER been able to sit through an entire show. It is just too obnoxious and lame. There are no likeable characters. There are no funny jokes. There is NOTHING.
lasertex| 6.3.10 @ 8:49AM
My dogs can act better than TFey. But they don't give favors or spread their legs for just anybody like Tina does.
Heather Robinson | 6.3.10 @ 11:30AM
Thank goodness someone FINALLY wrote this--Tina Fey is not funny. She is smug. That is the secret of her appeal to some. She appeals to their sense of liberal superiority, to their vanity, which is actually the opposite of humor. Also, some men find her cute, all right. But have you ever heard someone really belly-laugh while watching or listening to Tina Fey? At most, they smirk or chuckle. Because she ain't funny. She should get a "make people of slightly above average intelligence feel they are more intelligent than they are" award, not a comedy award. I'd laugh if it weren't so nauseating.
Chris | 6.3.10 @ 5:56PM
Wow you complain about smug superiority while demonstrating your own. If you think Tina Fey as Sarah Palin didn't make people belly-laugh it's because you live in a bubble of humorless Republicans. That she's a liberal social commentator is the main reason you dislike the woman, so just admit it because your venom says more than your words ever will. If she's not funny to you, fine but when you snipe at her and people who do find her funny it just proves you own the problem, not them. I don't find Jeff Foxworthy's "you might be a redneck routine" funny or endearing but I'm not going to snipe at the guy or people who do enjoy his comedy.
That's supposed to be the concept of choice, if you don't like then don't watch it. You and other's like you who project so much venom at the woman show it's not that she isn't funny it's that she is funny from the side you oppose and also WHO she makes fun of that matters to you. If Tina Fey had instead satired Hillary Clinton as skillfully as she did Sarah Palin you probably would be complaining if she didn't get an award for it.
Oh and also, you don't prove other people have smug superiority by ridiculing their intellect, you only prove that you are guilty of the charge and project it onto people you disagree with.
Nate| 6.3.10 @ 11:31AM
The only point you makes that I will concede is that if this award is meant to be given as an award to honor a comic's body of work, as opposed to who is hot at the moment, then there are a lot of folks that I personally find more worthy than Tina Fey. That being said, Tina definitely deserves the award, and an argument can certainly be made that she deserves it equally to any of the would-be candidates who have not yet received the award.
Reading the article made me uncomfortable. You may be self aware enough to at least address the obvious accusations that you come across as a person who clearly dislikes Tina for her politics and clearly is a chauvinist, but your arguments against these accusations do little to persuade me.
For starters, the notion that you should discredit Fey for being head writer of SNL because the show (which you admit you did not watch) was not funny to you during her tenure as opposed to your appreciation for the show during the '70's, '80's and early '90's fails to take in to account the demographics of the show.
The show is no longer that funny to me either. The show was funniest to me when I was in junior high. Most folks peak with the show in their early 20's, which for you Mr. Goldstein would have been in the early to mid '90's. Go figure. As head writer, Tina can only do so much and then Lorne picks the sketches that will appeal the most to his demographic.
Let's look at what the award is intended to represent...
"As a social commentator, satirist and creator of characters, Samuel Clemens was a fearless observer of society, who startled many while delighting and informing many more with his uncompromising perspective of social injustice and personal folly. He revealed the great truth of humor when he said "against the assault of laughter nothing can stand."
You chose, for reasons made unclear in his article, to discount the Palin impression as a legitimate factor in Fey receiving the award, when in fact the Palin impression manages to achieve social commentary, satire and it is certainly a character.
When you take into account her work on SNL, her work in movies, her (in 2009 alone), 5 Emmy Awards for 30 Rock, not to mention the shows multiple awards in previous years...what did Twain say...oh yeah, "against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.", not even the protests of the politically and sexually biased.
One last note...perhaps your uniquely Canadian experience, growing up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, is not the best to qualify you to judge who is the best candidate for an award meant "to recognize those who create humor from their uniquely American experiences".
Just saying.
Heather | 6.3.10 @ 11:33AM
Also she gets a hypocrisy award for capitalizing on Sarah Palin's career and achievements while promoting distortion and misinformation about Palin. All in the name of "smart" comedy.
Chris | 6.3.10 @ 5:40PM
Wow...who says wingnuts aren't petty and vindictive in the extreme? Tina Fey's satire of Sarah Palin is just a small portion of her long career. Not only did she handle and keep relevent the SNL Weekend Update desk for years, which in an era the includes the brilliant work of John Stewart and Steven Colbert was an accomplishment in and of itself, but she has also written and starred in films most people and critics find humorous.
As I read your personally revealing article I found a recurrent theme: Tina Fey isn't funny because you don't like her. Demographically, you shouldn't find most of her SNL work funny because you left the show's target demographic many years ago. SNL is and always has been a show for youthful fans. I remember my parent's telling me steadfastly that no one, not a person from the legendary early 90's cast was funny while I found Sandler, Farley, occassionally Spade and sometimes Meadows hilarious. What you're establishing with this article is that eventually, even if we REALLY don't want to do we become our parents.
Sprinkling in some venom against Tina Fey for being female and for breaking wingnut law #1: thou shalt not ridicule or satire thine Palin and you've essentially come full circle with how out-of-touch you are in regards to her work.
I will admit it is meritorious to complain about other comics with equal and longer bodies of work not being presented with such an award and I'll warrant the claim that Robin Williams also deserves one but not for the reasons you name. It is incredibly subjective to claim Robin Williams is funnier than Tina Fey just like it is subjective to claim one successful comic is funnier than another. What you do throughout the article by continuously making the argument "it's not because she's liberal" as your main reason to dislike Tina Fey is you manage to prove it's because she's liberal that you don't find her funny. There is the old phrase "Ye doth protest too much, sir" and that applies beautifully here.
You expend a lot of energywhen you're not demeaning her as unworthy of this award, attacking her for her brilliant satire of Sarah Palin. This is essentially the centerpiece of the argument and while I can easily declare I haven't watched SNL since 1995 I did tune in for SNL because of said performance. I can say with 100% accuracy that SNL as usual made fun of both presidential tickets but Tina Fey's performance stood easily head and shoulders above the others.
I can appreciate political satire ridiculing any politician so long as it's effective and not just bitter a projection of crass hatred (Rush Limbaugh's disgusting attempts to satire President Obama and many of Will Ferrel's Dubya perfomances also apply) over a thin veneer of satire. Tina Fey in all obviousness didn't project hatred toward Sarah Palin, she didn't have to. Instead what made her performance singularly brilliant was how little she needed to add to Sarah Palin satirically to be so effective. This reason alone is why her place as a social commentator and satirist during this election cycle merits an award: she didn't have to be catty or struggle to pull out the laughs.
From her much-watched and written about performance of Palin's horrible Katie Couric interview to her ridiculous press conferences she kept anyone with even a mild sense of humor laughing. Your biased inability to be objective about her performance as a Palin satirist and the bitterness you and most of your commenters project toward Fey demonstrates how much she managed to strike home. She portrayed Sarah Palin so well by cutting through the desperate attempts of her handlers to mold her and tapped into the actual political personality Palin really is.
Tina Fey lampooned nearly all of Palin's deficinies with sublime precision: her amazing levels of ignorance, arrogance, substance-free issue stances and most of all, her sense of entitlement as a vacuous ex-beauty queen cum politician. This probably wasn't as easy to accomplish as she made it look; the evidence is the pale immitators who've attempted a similar satire since.
Tina Fey vetted Sarah Palin in the 2008 election more substantially than the McCain camp of the media did, period. In fact her performance as Sarah Palin was so effective it remains an enduring perception by most of the public about Sarah Palin; she has become her own satire.
Also, her portrayal of Sarah Palin was so top-notch some commentators wondered aloud if Tina Fey wasn't specifically born to be Palin's id. SNL has had some very funny political moments over the course of the shows long and durable existence and it will undoubtably have many others in the coming years but none will top what Tina Fey accomplished. Even now some of her satirical statements have themselves morphed into Palinisms in the cultural vernacular; does anyone remember "I can see Russia from my house!", yeah that was Tina Fey and not Sarah Palin, that's how much she blurred the lines. You may detest Tina Fey for the fact that she defined Sarah Palin like no other could and if you're a Palin fan that's pretty much expected, but saying she's not funny for it is biased and unfair.
If your reason for writing this column was to once again ridiculously excoriate an award because it chose Tina Fey's social commentary as Sarah Palin then you misfire and instead make it easy to criticize yourself. Your criticism are biased, littered with cognitive dissonance and mistruth and drip with misogyny. The Mark Twain award is awarded for comedic social commentary and at this moment I can't think of another person who deserves it more.
Oh and Sarah Palin didn't take Tina Fey in good humor as the conflicting account of her (not) self biography conflict with what staff like Nicole Wallace remembered. One more point that's relevant. Tina Fey didn't capitalize on Sarah Palin, she exposed her to the country; there's a huge difference between the two. The McCain camp. was desperately trying to mold and shape media perceptions of Sarah Palin until Tina Fey donned her glasses and accent; after that it was all over. Give the woman her due and let go of the hate.
Nick| 6.3.10 @ 7:55PM
You sure like to praddle on, don't you?
You must really enjoy reading your own inanities, huh?
Nick| 6.3.10 @ 7:57PM
Oops! That should be: "like to PRATTLE on,"
Haynes| 6.4.10 @ 1:25AM
I think these Fey sycophants are too young to be familiar anyone's "body of work". In a few years her talents will be as stale as Jimmy Stewart impersonations.
M D Anthony| 6.4.10 @ 1:47AM
Giving Tina Fey such an award is akin to creating the "Also Ran" award.
Yes she is out there but so are a lot of other performers who seem confused about talent - is it affirmative action, being the first woman in the job or is it being uniquly the best out there?
Obviously it is not about being the best - we leave that to the Twains, Cosby, WIlliams, Dillers and the Tyler Moores - anything less is (yawn) political correctness. Tina Fey is just another Yawn
Robert Paulson| 6.4.10 @ 3:28PM
That's where you're wrong, cunt, Tina Fey is funny.
joe| 6.4.10 @ 6:14PM
There were a couple of amusing moments in Mean Girls and I like the lead blonde chick but gee wiz what a lame ass flick. Tiny Fey is painfully unfunny. And while we are bashing female comediennes, who's worse- wanda sykes or margaret cho? Love Carol Burnett, Goldie Hawn (comedy actress anyway) Rita Rudner had some minimal standup moments. Everyone come batter me but there was a time I thought rosie o donnel was funny. Ellen- never. BTW SNL bites the big one.
Nate| 6.5.10 @ 10:20AM
Were you living in the time of Mark Twain, I suspect his political beliefs would dissuade you from finding him suitable for the award as well. He wasn't exactly the wrapping himself in the flag, jumping into bed with the Religious Right type that make you all so fond of Palin.
tristan| 6.14.10 @ 11:21AM
Tina Fey isnt funny on 30 Rock. Alec Baldwin makes that show funny. SNL sucks and no one watches it anymore. Its ratings are because people fall asleep in front of the TV on Sat night and leave it on SNL by accident. When Betty White comes on your show and nearly doubles the viewing audience, its time to cancel the show or start making fun of Lord Obama. If they just started making fun of how much more stoopid Obama is to Bush, they would get huge ratings. SNL sucks because of Tina Feys crappy writing. The only reason she is so overexposed is because the liberals need a woman to succeed in the comedy world so they picked her and are trying to force her down our throats. Nothing she has ever done was that great. No one watches anything she is in because of her, its always because of Alec Baldwin or Steve Carrell. She drags those kind of brilliant comedians down when she is considered to be equal to their genius.
Liz| 6.14.10 @ 4:28PM
If you think Tina Fey isn't funny, you need to be tested for homosapien-ness.
Margaret | 6.28.10 @ 3:21AM
I totally agree with you on Carol Burnett. She should be awarded this honor. I have been her fan for 33 years, and that is a long time to be someones fan! I am her fan because she is funny, and makes me bust a gut everytime. I love the statement "With a tug on her ear, she tugs at your heart.
I just love her!
Kevin | 6.28.10 @ 3:24AM
I love Carol Burnett!
Here is a wonderful website for her!
http://www.facebook.com/group......4885408047
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Matt| 8.23.10 @ 5:33AM
I couldn't agree more. Tina Fey is one of the least funny people I've ever tried to watch. As someone in the target demo for shows like SNL, I personally find it boring, humorless, and a compelte waste of time. The older episodes are amazingly funny. In fact most eras of the show I've seen at least pull out a lot of good bits, but as soon as Tina had anything to do with it (from the time she first got on the show) things seemed to slip even faster down hill.
How this woman made it as far as she has in show biz is beyond me (insert sexist and inapporpriate sexual implication here).
I can honestly say I've never laughed at anything Tina has done or said. I may have smirked when I saw her dressed as Palin, which is pathetic because that was the perfect set up for some comedy gold right there but she still managed to fail.
Should also mention I don't understand what all the gawking is about she's mildly attractive at best.
Pat| 8.23.10 @ 6:59PM
Mark Twain's humor and writings are still alive, a hundred years after he went out with Haley's Comet. Tina Fey will not be remembered. I have seen her on TV for years and have never cracked a smile or marveled at her wit?
dane friid| 8.29.10 @ 8:07PM
tina fey is insanely overrated and totally unfunny.
SNL is terribly boring and bland. tina's movies are hoorrriibbllle.
her comedy is mildly amusing at best.
Mish| 12.3.10 @ 10:13AM
"Now some might argue that I am merely objecting to Fey's liberal politics."
She's a registered Independent. She portrayed Palin as part of a sketch show.
And the SNL episode that you had to stop writing was not written by her, given that she doesn't work at the show anymore. And who are you to say that she isn't funny? Fair enough if you just want to share your opinion, but maybe get some solid facts straight before you write an article based on your negative feelings towards an extremely talented person.
Anyway, she won the award and she deserved it. Haters gonna hate.
Bill H| 12.6.10 @ 5:45PM
I don't think the problem people have with Fey is with her politics, the problem is that she truly is not funny.
Her Sarah Palin imitation actually WAS funny, probably the only funny thing she's ever done. However, anyone who looked as much like Palin as Fey naturally did would have been able to do just as effective of an impression.
A truly deserving recipient would be either Larry David or Christopher Guest. Both of them are undeniable comic legends, and people who are intelligent and understand comedy have great respect for them both. The same can not be said for Fey, whose fans generally have no taste or understanding of comedy.
The fact that Tina Fey is honored for her contributions is embarassing for America. Most people from other countries, particularly Britain, criticize America's lack of sense of humor. It's hard to argue with them if we are going to give someone like Fey our highest comedic honor!
Mike| 12.29.10 @ 1:18AM
Robin Williams is far less funny than Tina fey.
go fuck a bible rednecks| 1.1.11 @ 5:12PM
you people are just mad that not only has the black man stolen your women, but now we've stolen your politics. So what do you do? Make a complete mockery of your entire race. No, treating Musilums like the new Jews is NOT COOL. only ignorant rednecks like you think it is. Same things with gay people. I don't like them either, but I dont think making them second class citizens helps any. If somebody said I couldn't marry the person I loved, I'd do alot stronger than protest.
P.S. All you white rednecks are pussies when you are alone. You only get loud in groups, and hiding behind the internet.
Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
Genn| 5.10.11 @ 2:41PM
Well it's a proper shame that Fey's genre of comedy is lost on Aaron Goldstein-- with attempts for counterarguments straw-man-fallacious at best.
I'm not dignifying the sexist argument, because you all fail to remember that Fey's brainchild Jack Donaghy REQUIRES a back and forth, a dynamic between himself and Tracy and Liz. People who haven't actually paid attention to 30 rock should not be getting paid to write opinion on it.
Thing is, darlings, maybe you're all used to your mediocrity (Two and a Half Men is shite.), or maybe you only rely stand-ups to carry a story (Seinfeld and Louis are genius) so it's a damn shame your minds are purely linear.
This was such a waste of an article I want my fucking time back.
Rich| 7.10.11 @ 11:51PM
Tina Fey ISN'T funny. She's a one-trick pony and has zero talent.
Phil| 8.13.11 @ 8:20PM
She is also very thin-skinned. She can't stand bloggers who oppose her. She insults people and expects them not to react. How delusional. I for one, hope Sarah Palin is nominated for the Republican Presidential candidate and wins the presidency just for the sheer joy of seeing Fey being launched into space. She said in 2008, if Palin wins, she was leaving the planet. Now I want a front row seat to see the rocket that is launching her out of here. Blast off Stamatina!!!
Blahahahahah| 10.21.11 @ 3:50AM
People have lots of opinions.The fact that someone has the time to make a whole page devoted to hating Tina Fey alredy shows you have a sad life.Here is my opinion ..Tina Fey is pure Awesome and she already won the award so GO FUCK A DONKEY!!!
Jacob| 5.4.12 @ 5:51PM
Care to offer any proof of Tina Fey's alleged funniness?
cocorico| 4.1.12 @ 10:02PM
Am I the only one to think that her character is 'inspired' by Chantal Lauby of 'Les Nuls', a French comic group in the eighties (on youtube) . The similarities are striking. I immediately thought about this first time I saw her.
Jacob| 5.4.12 @ 5:49PM
Two years later it's still unbelievable that anyone would call Tina Fey the funniest anything ever!
I can just see that lame leftist smirk and her go "ehhh ugggghh" and think that's funny. THAT'S NOT FUNNY!