165 replies to this topic

[American Snob]

Discuss Liz Lemon, played by Tina Fey who is supposed to be the basis for the character.

Liz's shoes may be bi-curious but she's so adorable in that Mary Tyler Moore kind of way. I love her trademark glasses and am curious why she doesn't wear them in the later episodes. But either way I love Tina Fey and she's cute with or without them.

Edited by American Snob, Sep 16, 2007 @ 10:59 AM.

[mtlchickie]

As you were posting that, I posted in the Forum Questions about said issue, so hopefully we hear something soon.

Things are looking up for Liz Lemon, indeed. I loved Tina on SNL, but here? She's my girl crush.

[Oudeis]

If I recall correctly, Tina Fey doesn't regularly wear glasses in real life, but only wore them as part of her Weekend Update persona. Maybe that has something to do with her jettisoning of the glasses in recent 30 Rock episodes.

[Shelwood]

Jenna did call Liz out as only wearing the glasses to look smarter (though we do see Liz appear to use them as reading glasses in a few scenes). There was a serious change in the way Liz was styled, not just the glasses but the clothes and hair, starting around the time she decides to have a "personal life", and getting much more pronounced when she started dating Floyd. She went from wearing pants, layered shirts and sneakers to flouncy low-cut dresses with foufy hair (and no glasses). However, if you look at what she has on in Hiatus, after she has broken up with Floyd, she's back to an outfit she wore in one of the early season eps -- the navy sweater over a purple shirt, jeans, sneakers. So I wouldn't be surprised if the glasses come back; they're like her Clark Kent disguise to cover up Pretty Liz.

[Odyssea]

The glasses discussion reminds me of the exact moment when I became a Tina Fey fan - she was on Weekend Update talking about that reporter who dyed her hair brown and started wearing glasses to fly under the radar when she was reporting from the Middle East (yeah, I don't know either). Tina Fey says "If [reporter] thinks that having brown hair and glasses will make men not notice her, she is... right." The delivery just killed me.

[samsnee]

I think this needs to be moved to the character thread.

[Gracelessly]

The glasses discussion reminds me of the exact moment when I became a Tina Fey fan - she was on Weekend Update talking about that reporter who dyed her hair brown and started wearing glasses to fly under the radar when she was reporting from the Middle East (yeah, I don't know either). Tina Fey says "If [reporter] thinks that having brown hair and glasses will make men not notice her, she is... right." The delivery just killed me.

Odyssea I think that's when I became a fan of Fey. The reporter was Ashley Banfield of MSNBC.

I also wanted to start a character thread for her over in Rocketeers but couldn't, I like the title. I would have probably thought of something lame like Liz Lemon: Talk about her weird secret stuff or something.

[catnamedzane]

Liz Lemon: If She Were Any Other Woman On Earth, We Would Be Turned On Right Now.

[shemustbefunny]

Odyssea and Gracelessly, I'm with you on the "you are...right" moment. I've been repeating that to people for years and getting blank stares. It is all in the delivery, and I ain't got it.

As for the glasses issue, I always assumed that she quit wearing glasses when she was with Floyd because she was wearing contacts to look cuter. She always had them, but when she didn't have a boyfriend, she was too lazy to put them in in the morning.

[Detsl]

I have to say that my "win over" moment of the show was a Liz one. Her wearing a vest over top of her gown at Gerhardt's party. I literally laughed for ages and it was at that moment that the show became "must watch."

And as a fellow brunette with glasses, I can attest to the "She is...right" fact.

Edited by Detsl, Sep 19, 2007 @ 7:03 PM.

[arc]

And as a fellow brunette with glasses, I can attest to the "She is...right" fact.

Hey, I love brunettes with glasses.

[captain sam]

I finally got watch Tina Fey in the Just for Laughs comedy festival from 2003. Oh, the Weekend Update days. The singing! The dancing! The bootyliciousness! It also helped explain a picture of her I found online a few years ago, but never quite got. You'll understand when you watch.

Edited by captain sam, Sep 20, 2007 @ 4:39 PM.

[American Snob]

Tina Fey rocks, I mean she is so multi-faceted. With the talents to act, write and be funny all at the same time, she is probably one of my favorite people on TV right now. I love how she's not full of herself and is not all fluffy and a superfan of her show (a la Shonda Rhimes, even though I have a lot of respect for the Shonda but that's a different story).

Edited by American Snob, Sep 20, 2007 @ 9:23 PM.

[Inquisitionist]

Thank you, captain sam! That was hilarious. Tina really puts herself out there for her comedy. ;-)

Couldn't agree more, American Snob. If Tina's talk show persona is a put-on, then she's a much better actress than people give her credit for, and if it's real, she's just sublime.

Edited by Inquisitionist, Sep 21, 2007 @ 6:03 AM.

[Rinaldo]

Of course Mary Richards never said "Poop! Monkeybutt!" to Rhoda. (I so want to use those words with people who aren't really listening to me; it comes up surprisingly often. But I don't do it, of course.)

[ImNotLeesa]

Well, she might have, but since it was the 70's, we didn't get to see it on tv.

With Liz Lemon, we get to hear a lot of the good stuff. Plus crack up laughing when we see her "come hither" dance in her pajamas.

Oh, and I just realized the character/actor threads are combined, so I wanted to another other comment:

I'm a relatively new Tina Fey fan, and I've only recently seen Tina appear out of character, on talk shows, etc. I was surprised by her accent. It was very cute, mind you, but I never heard it come through at all when she's acting as Liz Lemon. Is the talk show accent (NY/NJ-ish) a put on? Or is she just very good at keeping it in check while she's in character ? (in which case my already high admiration for her acting has gone up a notch or two).

Edited by ImNotLeesa, Sep 21, 2007 @ 7:37 PM.

[Rinaldo]

Well, she might have, but since it was the 70's, we didn't get to see it on tv.

I seriously doubt it. Mary Richards had to work herself up to get the word "damn" out of her mouth. She just wasn't a foulmouthed sort of gal.

[Shelwood]

I believe Tina is from suburban Philadelphia (so more NJ than NY in the accent). In an amazing coincidence, it appears that Liz Lemon is also from suburban Philadelphia, so any accent slippage won't be harmful -- since Liz has a theater background, we can assume she deliberately worked to get rid of her accent, or it could be she's lived in other places so long the accent has softened. Tina herself may fall more in the category of deliberately trying to be more accent-free when performing, but finding that too much of an effort when she's simply being herself on a talk show.

That was totally clear, right?

[mtlchickie]

I finally got watch Tina Fey in the Just for Laughs comedy festival from 2003. Oh, the Weekend Update days

Blurgh! Don't remind me as to why I couldn't go see that show!

[American Snob]

Found this funny compilation of Weekend Update clips featuring Tina's Highlights.

The Brokeback Mountain, Abstinence Pledges and Spongebob headlines were among the best, IMO.

[MissCricket]

From Hardball:

"Why do you sound so suprised? I love America. Just because I think gay dudes should be allowed to adopt kids and we should all have hybrid cars doesn't mean I don't love America."

Followed by a saucy wink at the camera. She is so rad.

[Rinaldo]

Go Liz! She actually wore flip-flops in public once last summer. For her, that's like going naked. Dare to try new things, Liz.

And yes, you do look pretty in that dress. Try not to eat a ham while wearing it.

[captain sam]

How much do I love that it took one week around TGS for Liz Lemon to unspool?

I love it so much that...well, you know.

[lauralius]

And yes, you do look pretty in that dress.

Most of her clothes are fairly 'wearable'. If I was a little bit richer, I would buy most/all the clothes she wears on the show. It's seems a little incongruent that Liz dresses more classically and simply pretty, even though she's supposed to be a total dork. I think my favorite has been the navy empire waist t-shirt dress with the knee-high boots. I'm sure I've worn that before.

[wrshamilton]

I think "One Very Special White Lady" would be a good thread title.

[amber34]

maudlin, I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that I've done the same thing. She really should have an endorsement contract of some kind, complete with commercials, like shoe companies do for athletes. Anyway, these were the closest match I could find at my eye doctor.

[chewingkebabs]

I don't understand the thread subtitle. Is Mary Richards someone who lived?

[maraleia]

chewingkebabs- Mary Richards was the title character on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and Liz is compared to her since they both work on tv shows and have male bosses. Mary had Mr. Grant and Liz has Jack D.

[Navin]

I keep wondering if she's related to Kate Lemon, from the movie The Tall Guy.

[divinemadness]

I see a little bit more "Lemon" in myself every day.

I got Liz Lemon-ish glasses recently but didn't realize it until a week after I had been wearing them.

I've been trying to come up with my own "weird stuff" list, because I know I've got some quirks that may be considered to be dealbreakers. I just can't seem to top the Gopher-fantasy-story.

Also, I've been obsessively erasing my google search history lately, because I'm worried someone will find a weird list of searches similar to "singles yoga" and "scalp pain" when they use my computer.

Edited by divinemadness, Dec 2, 2007 @ 9:35 PM.