Tina Fey Has Realized She “Was On The Wrong Side” With Certain ‘SNL’ Jokes: “I Was Pretty Dumb”

She has seen enormous success. Which is why I think it's safe to assume that if she takes the job, it's because she really actually wants to do the job.

Tina Fey is very talented and prolific in her own right, yes, but Lorne Michaels is responsible for the trajectory of scripted comedy as we know it. Lorne is a kingmaker. Tina taking over would give her the ability to steer the ship for the next generation of comedic actors and writers. Here’s hoping she understands what is needed for the future of the art form.

Cause it’s an incredible opportunity to run one of the greatest American comedian incubators in history. She can try to re-establish opportunities she had and help ensure young comedy writers and actors can still get paid for their talent. She needs to compete with a modern market and money matters for that, but I suspect for her, personally, it’s matriarchal.

Lorne never wanted to be the star. He wanted to be the king.

So we cant be happy she gets a dream gig? In some ways being a star isn't the same as having the best behind the scenes job ever.

Lorne a star? Star maker I suggest. Gatekeeper.

Because it's not about celebrity but real power and influence

You’re comparing apples to oranges

Being a star and being a generational legend are very different things

This. Being Lorne’s successor is a HUGE honor and booking SNL makes you an absolute force in pop culture.

I've always loved her style I think it would be a great thing.

In the words of Mike Tyson “Legacy doesn’t mean anything. We’re all dust.” I totally agree with this being a huge step down for her career wise. Can we all agree that SNL f****** sucks, and has sucked for a while? Phenomenal improv talents shouldn’t have to resort to lazy writing/performing to “try to make it big”

I’m not sure she’ll make anything more iconic than Mean Girls. Not because she won’t make anything iconic, but Mean Girls is just that iconic.

American television, we never really got it down under and I still don’t find it that funny

The Four Seasons series on Netflix she starred in last year was pretty great tho

Kimmy Schmidt premiered in 2015, and she was always great on Only Murders.

I mean she's a producer on the fall and rise of Reggie dinkins which came out this year and I think is great

She's produced a couple of things after 30 Rock that have been successful. That said, I think her "first love" is improv / sketch comedy. I can see her going back. Either her or Seth Meyers.

She just EP'ed Reggie Dinkins to get it off the ground with her co-creator of Kimmy Schmidt...

“Me baby me no go night night” begs to differ.

That bullshit is frowned upon now to be fair

That’s some good points 

Gay jokes aren’t seen as off limits. Go watch any gay comedian. Gay jokes where the punchline is “being gay is gross and bad” are seen as off limits. Those jokes wouldn’t fly today.

Strong agree. I’m a lesbian and I think queer jokes are hilarious. There’s absolutely a difference between a joke and thinly-veiled hate speech, but it’s not something I’ve ever seen from Tina Fey/30 Rock

Thats just it, a good gay joke cant have the punch line be 'ew, they're gay'

Gay jokes aren’t a problem. It’s when “because he’s gay!” is the entire joke that it’s not funny or clever or interesting. It’s just making fun of a group of people as though their existence is itself funny.

there’s also a difference between creativity and punching up vs laziness and punching down. just cause someone’s intentions are good doesn’t mean it’s in good nature. a lot of people make pretty boring and dumb jokes and rely on shock value. they deserve to be criticized, especially if it’s their job

Gay jokes are not off limits buy bad gay jokes are. When I was younger a classic joke that I know I definitely used on occasion was: Guy friend #1 "I had a hot date last night Guy friend #2 " What was his name?" Funny for a time but the joke hinges on the idea that being gay is a negative. Those are the types of jokes she is talking about.

I don't think it's reasonable nor American for you to tell people what they should or shouldn't laugh at. This seems oddly controlling and we have the freedom of speech/expression to laugh or entertain or tell any/whatever joke while also having the same freedom to not laugh at those same jokes or critique them. I also think comedy should have a conscious point. Poking light harmless fun at certain ideas, societal constructs, cultures, or even certain types of people or groups can be OK imo, but ruthlessly attacking individuals isn't ok. There is an issue because punching down in a world full of serious issues can cause more wide spread issues, and really depending on the joke, there is no difference between that and hate filled rhetoric. Its ironic your usage of the word "sensitive" here, it seems you are sensitive and offended over others simply not wanting to be mean and laugh at everyone. That's also their right. Would you feel the same if you or your racial/gender/ideology etc. group was the target of the joke?

Race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation should never be off-limits as to jokes. Jokes promoting discrimination and hate have always been off-limits. It’s an odd moment when progressive comedians find themselves scared of their own sense of humor. Correctness as an unstated censor to humor is a cancer.

That’s not a joke making fun of r*** though. It’s making fun of Maxim readers and their misogyny.

This offended you as a Maxim subscriber?

That joke is about how f****** weird lists are. Not a r*** joke directly

The... joe pesci religion bit? Of all his jokes, why does that one stick out for you?

Yeah. He’s too preachy. I don’t find him funny at all

Comics say funny things. Comedians say things funny. Carlin definitely leaned towards the latter, tho tbh I found him only occasionally funny and often annoyingly self-righteous.

Seriously. I Love Lucy is coming up on 80 years old and has tons of stuff that aged so well it is still influencing TV being made today. There’s definitely some very aged stuff in it (Ricky spanking Lucy comes to mind), but to say no comedy ages well is wild

Monty Python had plenty of edgy, potentially offensive bits.

What jokes didn't age well in blazing saddles?

This is just wrong. There’s plenty of Monty Python that is sharp cutting. They use racial slurs in sketches, sharply critique class, and have gender stereotypes mixed in amid the absurdity. The Life of Brian was considered blasphemous when it came out because it was so line crossing. Also plenty of “light hearted” humor ages like shit. Look at Full House and Family Matters. Look at the 80s observational stand up comedy trend or the “random humor” of millennial comedy in the early aughts. The parts of Seinfeld that aged the best are the edgy harder elements. Shit, I’d argue Ted Lasso is just a few years old but has already aged badly.

Mony python was considered very envelope pushing at the time and was banned in several places including Ireland and Norway on release. It might age well relatively but it’s alot different than how people used to see it. It used to be considered an edgy movie.

I think that's a pretty normal phase to go through. Just part of testing boundaries and understanding the world more. The important thing is you did it as a teenager and grew beyond it. Unfortunately there's a lot of grown ass adults concern-trolling about why they can't say slurs designed specifically to upset people without people getting upset with them. I think what you and most people realized and what they do not is just how ultimately lame it is. It seems edgy when you're in the middle of it, but to anyone watching you just always come off dumber than everybody else and not like you're thinking outside the societal box.

I feel like some of the jokes in Amigos! didn’t age well.

The smash-cut to Tobias' business card declaring him as an "Analyst-Therapist," is the hardest I've ever laughed, at anything on tv EVER. Had chest pains and couldn't breathe properly for a good 10 minutes from the laughter and that's a darrrrrrrk joke. AD is just so well done tho!

Mr F. Is really the only one that comes my mind