Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper, Liz Lemon?
Okay, so it’s not Princess Leia. But this is even better! Carrie Fisher is guest starring on tomorrow’s episode of 30 Rock as Liz Lemon’s idol.
When Liz meets her idol, Rosemary Howard, she invites her to be a guest writer on the show. However, Rosemary’s radical ideas that Liz grew up admiring are now too controversial for Liz’s NBC show. When Liz refuses to fire Rosemary, Jack pressures Liz, who promptly quits. Jack brings Tracy to a therapist to figure out why he must do the opposite that he is told. Meanwhile, after Jenna ruins Kenneth’s page jacket, Kenneth must compete in a page-off in order to keep his job.
Fisher, of course, is best known for her role as Princess Leia in the original Stars Wars trilogy, often for the gold-metal bikini she wore in her scenes as a slave to Jabba the Hut. (Probably my least favorite scenes in the movie. Jabba the Hut gave me the serious heebie-jeebies.) She has had roles in other famous movies such as When Harry Met Sally, Hannah and her Sisters and The Blues Brothers as well as guest spots on numerous other TV shows such as Weeds, Family Guy, and Fraiser. She is also a screenwriter and novelist; her first book, Postcards from the Edge is a favorite of mine and was made into a very funny and very underrated movie staring Meryl Streep.
It seems to me that Fisher has never been given the opportunity as an actress to grow beyond “Princess Leia” (a lot of the roles I’ve seen her in since then seem very … well, similar, and, I suspect, very much a watered down version of Fisher herself. I could be wrong, of course, I have never met her. But this is my perception.) I admire also for her novels which are funny and bittersweet and have just enough of an auto-biographical element to make you sit and try and figure out who these characters “really” are.
Personally, I am really excited to see Fisher on 30 Rock even if it is just for one episode. I think the show’s quirky humor will be just right for Fisher and I love that her character’s ideas are “too controversial” for the show. I also love that the show doesn’t just go for “hot and popular” young guest stars but is actually bringing in someone talented and funny. Wow, I am getting so excited about this episode that I may have to ask Amy to trade weeks with me so that I can do the show recap! I also wonder if they will throw in some Star Wards references, as that will totally make Amy geek out.
Interesting bit of trivia: I’ve heard and read rumors that Paul Simon’s song “Graceland” from the album of the same name is about his relationship and marriage to Fisher. Don’t know if that is true or not, but it’s certainly a great song! And I am glad it is a great song, because it is now totally stuck in my head!
30 Rock, Carrie Fisher, Paul Simon, Star Wars, Princess Leia, Postcards from the Edge, Meryl Streep
October 25th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Yeah I’m going to geek out on this one! I heard tina fey got her to do a version of the R2D2 help message that says something like “Help me Liz Lemon, you’re our only hope.” And no you can’t have it, it’s my turn to recap!
October 26th, 2007 at 6:31 am
[...] and Liz are in line to meet Liz’s idol Rosemary Howard (Carrie Fisher). According to Liz she was the first female writer for Laugh-In, she wrote all the political stuff. [...]