I continued my re-visiting of celebrity memoirs in audio-book form by listening to Tina Fey’s Bossypants and it was a delight. Tina Fey is one of my favorite humans and 30 Rock is one of my favorite TV shows. As I write this my husband and I are watching the series finale following what was most likely our 15th or 16th re-watch.* We probably couldn’t go a whole day without dropping at least one 30 Rock line.** I seriously considered having this whole review just being 30 Rock gifs but I suppose I should write at least a few lines. 
Tina peppers her personal history with self help style advice, some more serious than others, and she does an excellent job of combining humor with heart. Her prose is incredibly down to Earth and feminist with a variety of self deprecating jokes. However it is her narration that really pushes this one to the next level. She has excellent delivery, which isn’t surprising, and uses the actual audio from the Saturday Night Live sketch that debuted Fey as Sarah Palin which adds an extra level of wonderfulness. Tina gets a little political during her discussion of Palin and SNL political sketches but otherwise this is a pretty light read.
“This is what I tell young women who ask me for career advice. People are going to try to trick you. To make you feel that you are in competition with one another. “You’re up for a promotion. If they go for a woman, it’ll be between you and Barbara.” Don’t be fooled. You’re not in competition with other women. You’re in competition with everyone.”
Tina had a happy childhood, a virginal college experience and cut her teeth doing improv at Second City. Despite an awkward interview with Lorne Michaels, Tina became a writer on SNL in 1997 where she learned the biggest difference between male and female comedy writers is that the men pee in jars in their offices. She eventually became Head Writer and co-anchor of “Weekend Update.”
We weren’t trying to make a low-rated critical darling that snarled in the face of conventionality. We were trying to make Home Improvement and we did it wrong. You know those scientists who were developing a blood-pressure medicine and they accidentally invented Viagra? We were trying to make Viagra and we ended up with blood-pressure medicine.
Tina concedes she only got on TV because Lorne thought she could keep Jimmy Fallon (the “star”) and “Weekend Update” on track. She equates her time on SNL with high school but no one tells you when to graduate. When it felt like the right time to leave the nest she got a development deal with NBC that eventually led to the development of 30 Rock. Even though she had a team of brilliant writers and recruited talented actors like Alec Baldwin 30 Rock was a critical darling that had trouble connecting with mainstream audiences. It was so underappreciated that people didn’t realize Tina had left SNL and been on her own sitcom for two years before she went back to SNL for her 6 week stint as Palin.
“By the way, when Oprah Winfrey is suggesting you may have overextended yourself, you need to examine your fucking life.”
I really love how unabashedly Tina loves her daughter. She is a working mom and has a lot of help (and a lot of guilt) but you can tell that her child is her number one priority. Alice’s Peter Pan themed birthday party held equal importance to Tina during a week that included filming a scene with Oprah for 30 Rock and watching YouTube clips of Sarah Palin to perfect her accent before debuting the much anticipated character on SNL.
“You all watched a sketch about feminism and you didn’t even know it because of all the jokes. It’s like when Jessica Seinfeld puts spinach in kids’ brownies. Suckers!”
Tina is a rock star and one of my favorite funny people. Everything she touches turns to gold and this memoir is no exception. She also taught Monica Lewinsky the best way to apply eye cream.
I mean this literally guys. My husband and I have re-watched the series from start to finish at least twice a year since 2011. If we’re getting technical that would only be ten complete viewings since the series didn’t end until 2013 but let’s not split hairs over our particular level of crazy.
** Some personal favorites: “I want to go to there” “I miscounted the men!” “Oh God, Youths!” “I’ve got a new life philosophy that I call Lizbianism.” “Don’t over think [baby] names. Stick to Kings and Queens of England. There will never be a president ‘Ashton’, or doctor ‘Katniss …'”