Tina Fey was back this morning to talk about tonight's season premiere of the Emmy Award-winning NBC comedy "30 Rock," which features a special guest appearance by Jerry Seinfeld. WATCH VIDEO
As fans of allDAY know, Tina was our first celebrity Q&A back in April, and I got to catch up with her on what's been going on with her over the past few months.
Q: So since we did our first Q&A, "30 Rock" has gone on to win the Emmy for best comedy. I don't think it's a stretch to say that I launched you to your recent success. You may take this opportunity to thank me.
Tina Fey: Thank you for rocketing -- ROCKETING -- "30 Rock" to its massive success.
Q: What's the most surprising or interesting thing that you've gotten to do since the show has become such a critical success?
TF: We've gotten to work with some really cool guest stars. We have Jerry Seinfeld on the show, which is a dream come true. We have Carrie Fisher this year, David Schwimmer and Steve Buscemi. So that has been the coolest thing, to get to write stuff for those people.
Q: On that subject, when you were last here, we talked about the top guest stars you'd like to have for the show, and you mentioned Ben Affleck. Any progress there? I would think for a show like this, having Jerry Seinfeld on is even better than Ben Affleck.
TF: We'll find out tomorrow...I hope so! Often, we're in the writers room and we say, "We should try to get Affleck to do this!" kind of forgetting that Affleck is a movie star and is busy making movies. But then we heard from somebody that Matt Damon might agree to be on the show. So we might have to ditch Affleck for Damon if Affleck doesn't start answering the phone.
Q: One other thing we talked about before was merchandise. There was no "30 Rock" merchandise in the NBC Experience store. Has that been taken care of?
TF: Yes, it's a wonderful new day down there. Our picture is in the store, and we have got t-shirts and coffee mugs. And our picture is actually in the window with the correct time slot. Last year when it was in the window, it was in the wrong time slot.
Q: The show has obviously gotten great critical acclaim, but the ratings haven't necessarily been where the network would like them to be. What are the greatest lengths you would go to in order to get people to watch the show?
TF: Well, I spent the summer just going door to door, just knocking on doors and saying, "Hey, I work for a show called '30 Rock'...Oh, okay...sorry, I won't bother you anymore." I went to nine states...
Q: You and the Jehovah's Witnesses...
TF: Yeah, I hooked a skateboard to the back of a Jehovah's Witness van, and I just went wherever they went. We're just doing everything we can. All you can really do is tell people what the show is and when it's on and try to show them clips if they haven't seen it.
Q: On a slightly different note...did you watch the U.S. Open tennis tournament this year?
TF: You know, I didn't get to watch it very much. I meant to but I was pretty busy...
Q: I ask because...
TF: The American Express commercial...
Q: Yes, your commercial was on all the time.
TF: Was it annoying?
Q: I'm not going to lie, it got a little annoying. But for you...you know you're on TV and you're used to seeing your show on at a particular time. But is it strange to put on the TV at any random time on any network, and there you are, doing the octopus thing with your daughter?
TF: I've only seen it once or twice, because I've been working all the time, and I haven't watched much TV. But I was watching I think a repeat of "The Office" on TBS. And the commercial came on, and I was like, "Wh-, wh-, what? What am I? What? Oh, it's the commercial." But yeah, I heard it was on a lot during the Open.
Q: It seemed like a new direction for American Express ads. I think two years ago, they put Andy Roddick in all of their ads, and he lost in the first round. At least with you, they know you're not getting eliminated on the first day of the U.S. Open.
TF: Not from the Open, no. Maybe from TV, but not from the Open.
Q: Last thing...did you hear about Meredith's Page Mix-Up?
TF: Yeah, I was there. They don't look very much alike. She's prejudiced. She must think all white people look alike.
Q: White people in blazers.
TF:
Q: So do you have any thoughts on this?
TF: Oh, I'm so grateful that it didn't happen to me. It's the kind of thing that usually happens to me. I'm the person making that mistake.
Q: How would you have reacted if you had been the person who made that mistake?
TF: Probably pretend that it didn't happen. No, I would probably do the same as Meredith, who apologized as soon as she realized it.