Tina Fey Retires Palin Character

Creator, Producer & Star Of "30 Rock" To Pass The Palin Torch Onto Another Comedian

(CBS)  The "Queen of Comedy" Tina Fey may be working overtime, but it won't be on the set of "Saturday Night Live" anymore. It will just be for her character Liz Lemon on "30 Rock."

The creator, producer and star of "30 Rock" is throwing in her wig and will retire her SNL impersonation of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Fey, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Palin made the announcement on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" today.

When Sen. John McCain introduced his Republican running mate, Winfrey, like millions of others, said "Oh my God, she's Tina Fey!"

And as soon as the former SNL cast member did her Palin impression, it was a hit, thus making the election very fun and entertaining.

Fey, who was working on the set of "30 Rock" on Election Day and took a long dinner break to vote, admitted that she first tried to shrug off the buzz surrounding her about her resemblance to Palin.

"I tried to argue my way out of it for a long time and my husband said 'No you have to admit it, you guys really look alike.' You put pictures side by side like that, it’s pretty crazy," Fey told Winfrey.

Fey taped her first Palin impression on SNL the same day she had Winfrey guest star on "30 Rock."

Extremely driven to do her Palin character justice, Fey took 10-minute breaks during the taping of "30 Rock" to nail the role. Fey was worried that she was going to talk like Palin during her skit with Winfrey, but luckliy she pulled it all off.

"I was really trying to do a good job ... That was the craziest day of my life, "Fey said. "I think the only thing that I didn't do was give birth."

Fey had the chance to chat with Palin when she made her SNL appearance.

"I did meet her a little bit and we chatted a little bit. She was a very good sport about it. Usually once people have agreed to show up at SNL. You know that they kind of know -- they are already agreeing to be a good sport just by showing up," Fey said.

"I told her (Palin) that she should come back and host the show sometime in the future, because she's got a real future in TV - that one," she laughed and said she didn't mean to say "that one!"

Fey fans aren't the only ones who mistake Fey for Palin and vice versa. Fey's daughter is still confused.

"You can show her the New York Post and she says 'That's mommy.' And she'll see Palin and say 'That's Mommy,' " Fey said.

"I was never an impressionist. I think a lot of people who saw her and said 'Oh that looks like Tina Fey' maybe didn't' t realize that I didn't work for SNL anymore," Fey said. "I didn't know if I could do a good job. I also felt like, it's such a tricky thing, because you want the skits to be funny, but you don't want to feel like you are being mean to anybody. It's tough, it's a hard thing too because you don't want to make it like a woman going against another woman."

Fey commended SNL's Seth Meyers for doign a really good job with writing the skits.

"I think they were funny without crossing the line," Fey said. "There was enough good stuff to make jokes about without being mean spirited."

SNL didn't always have to come up with their own material however.

"Sometimes we would just transcribe stuff, but she (Palin) has such a colorful way of speaking - 'Oh you know so...Joe six pack' and just the way that she talks is so entertaining that we didn't need to do that much," she said.

Overall, Fey is grateful for the opportunity to play such a big part of the election - on the entertainment front.

"I am really happy I did it, for me it was this wonderful chance to go kind of home again and be with all of my friends on SNL. It's just the strangest thing that ever happened to have been a part of the excitement of the election. SNL was a really big part of that excitement."

"I am going to retire, but I think if need be I think Kristen Wiig from "Saturday Night Live" would do a great job... I think I am going to pack up my wig," Fey laughed.

[willcaine]

Tina Fey is a lot cuter than Sarah Palin, more delicate and feminine.

[likeitis5050]

Too bad....she''s goes back to being just another prop. It''s going to be interesting to watch all the comedians who have made a livelyhood out of bashing Presidential Administrations, and nothing else, go after Obama....oh...wait...that could get sticky...how do you make fun of Obama and not come off looking racist..or at the very least not one of the ''under his spell'' admirers? This could signal the end of careers for several comedians who simply can''t open their mouth without something ugly to say about who ever is in office. Oooooo...better get it all in while they can...come January...political satire goes on a long vacation if you expect any invitations to the White House (Obama takes names and carries grudges...didn''t know that did you? Ask anyone who ticked him off during his campaign). I guess Bill Clinton will always be an easy target...but Obama? Michelle? Not so much. Bill Mahr may have to simply shrivel up and die...unless he wants to switch to simply gushing like the idiots on The View do daily...I don''t see that happening with sour face Mahr though...miserable to the bone. Oh well...Change IS Coming....as promised.

[shanev137]

I agree Will.

She''s way hotter than Palin, and smarter too.

[marcosis78]

Ooooooh yeah!

[tx4obama]

I too agreed with Will and Shane. Tina Fey is much prettier and much smarter than Palin. I loved all the skits that she did as Palin. But I would not be sad if I would not ever heard Palin name ever again.

Good riddance!!!!!!!!!

[katia327]

Good. RETIRE, Tina. Now go do something USEFUL with your life.

And congratulations for doing so much harm, to such a good woman. Perhaps one day, people will be laughing at you, too. And NOT while you''re ''pretending'' to be a comedian/impressionist.

You can blame the media KristianInAL and call it bias but the conservatives sank their own boat.

[zzmonkeyzz]

Isn''t it time we turned liberal into a good word, and instead spit venom when you use the term conservative, maybe emphasize it in certain ways, like "conSSer-vuh-TIV"? Go wallow in your selfmade filth, conservaTIVS.

[bobnjersey]

[Good. RETIRE, Tina. Now go do something USEFUL with your life. And congratulations for doing so much harm, to such a good woman. Perhaps one day, people will be laughing at you, too. And NOT while you''''re ''''pretending'''' to be a comedian/impressionist.]
[Posted by Katia327 at 11:12 AM : Nov 07, 2008]

get a life ... it was a joke!

if you can''t recognize that or don''t know what jokes are maybe you can look it up ... or ask someone who actually has a sense of humor to explain it to you.

it''s not like she ... or for that matter ... a whole group of talk radio hosts were incessently calling her a terrorist ... or a muslim ... or a communist.

[actornaught]

I''m suprised at the humorless neo-conned posters. I would think they''d realize that Tina is about 4 times smarter, and make a better President than Sarah... wait, that would automatically lose the Stupid Vote.

Nevermind....

[AlwaysSmiling]

Kristian and Katia, You obviously didn''t watch SNL a lot. They made fun of Hillary, Obama, and McCain also.

The only reason they did so much with Palin is that Tina Fey looked like her, and Palin gave them a LOT of material to work with. I watched about 1 hour of all of the SNL stuff in the past 3 years.

I voted against McCain because of 1) his seeming out of touch with not only the American People in general, but the lower and middle class; and 2) Palin passing off like an idiot off her leash.

Have a wonderful day:)
Patrick.

[ms38654ob]

I will never forget your "fancy pageant walking" - Thanks Tina.

and... goodbye Sarah. Glad you''re going back to being the "Wasilla Hillbilly."

[nubeginning]

I hope Tina never attempts to mock our new first lady...

[inketolstoy]

"it''''s not like she ... or for that matter ... a whole group of talk radio hosts were incessently calling her a terrorist ..."

Maybe Fey wasn''t, but there were plenty of left wing wackos (including some here) claiming that she was. I love how jack booted liberals like to march over people while calling others nazis. All you need to do is read a few comments at this site to see ignorance and hypocrisy do not belong to one group or party. Just to certain individuals.

[osiod9]

Now, if the real Palin would just retire...

I hope we never see that dolt again. There was so much talk about how smart she is, but as hard as I looked, I could never see it. I think Troopergate finished off any credibility she had, far more than anything Fey could have done. It''s not like the SNL writers had to make stuff up about her.

[cheddarboy82]

tina fhey is not even close to being funny, shes stupid. I hope she impersonates that dinosour looking lady, michelle obama osama bin laden hussein whatever her name is.

[slrobi]

Sarah Palin is a class act - intelligent and great at what she does - being a governor. She would have been a great VP. I''ve lost respect for Tina Fey because she was mean and tried to destroy a good person.

[slrobi]

Sarah Palin is a class act - intelligent and great at what she does - being a governor. She would have been a great VP. I''ve lost respect for Tina Fey because she was mean and tried to destroy a good person.

[slrobi]

Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air - intelligent and great at what she does - being a governor. She would have made a great VP. Tina Fey has lost my respect because she was mean and tried to destroy a good person.

[avigil2]

Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air - intelligent and great at what she does - being a governor. She would have made a great VP. Tina Fey has lost my respect because she was mean and tried to destroy a good person. - Posted by slrobi

Oh quit being such a sore loser. It was all in good fun and it was great entertainment. Someone running for the job of Vice President of the United States doesn''t know that Africa is a continent, there''s got to be lots of comedic material there. Tina Fey did a splendid job and I have a feeling she''ll be donning that wig again in 2012.

[freedomb]

Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air - intelligent and great at what she does - being a governor. She would have made a great VP. Tina Fey has lost my respect because she was mean and tried to destroy a good person. - Posted by slrobi

Have you gone to youtube and seen the split screen. Seth the writer for Saturday night did not have write much most of the funny stuff came out of Palin''s own interviews. Tina just repeated what Palin said. If she looked dumb it was her own doing.

[vmcneal2]

Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air - intelligent and great at what she does - being a governor. She would have made a great VP. Tina Fey has lost my respect because she was mean and tried to destroy a good person. - Posted by slrobi

What''s the difference between a Pit Bull and Sarah Palin?...A Pit Bull knows that Africa is not a country. Sarah Palin is just a good looking hick and had no business being on McCain''s ticket. McCain ran a terrible campaign and Sarah just made it worse. Maybe Sarah and Joe the Plumber can run together in 2012 on the "I don''t know jack" ticket.

[vmcneal2]

tina fhey is not even close to being funny, shes stupid. I hope she impersonates that dinosour looking lady, michelle obama osama bin laden hussein whatever her name is.


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Posted by cheddarboy82 at 03:46 PM : Nov 07, 2008

Maybe if the Republicans came out and voted like the Dems did Sarah Palin would be the new VP. Next time instead of trashing Michelle get off your lazy azz and vote.

[slrobi]

I''m not buying for one second that she didn''t know that Africa was a continent. On the shopping thing, I doubt if she had any time to go shopping - did you see her schedule? She is a rock star in my book - and good naturedly took alot of *** from the media - she had a lot more political courage than Obama ever had. I''m scared for our country - Obama didn''t even have the political courage to walk out of Rev. Wright''s church for 20 years!

[sverre5-2009]

tina fhey is not even close to being funny, shes stupid. I hope she impersonates that dinosour looking lady, michelle obama osama bin laden hussein whatever her name is.


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Posted by cheddarboy82 at 03:46 PM : Nov 07, 2008

Maybe if the Republicans came out and voted like the Dems did Sarah Palin would be the new VP. Next time instead of trashing Michelle get off your lazy azz and vote.

Posted by vmcneal2 at 07:36 PM : Nov 07, 20 I''m not sure he''s even old enough to vote. He can''t spell dinosaur, even with the spell check on here, and most other conservative adults on here at least type like they''re adults.