Watching 30 Rock

Within the past few weeks, two couples who are my oldest, closest friends have had babies, so I totally have babies on the mind. Something about holding infants just a few days old and sniffing the top of their heads just has made me all smiley and stuff. Naturally, then, I got excited by when I heard that the new Tina Fey movie Baby Mama is being released in the next couple of months.

Successful and single businesswoman Kate Holbrook has long put her career ahead of a personal life. Now 37, she’s finally determined to have a kid on her own. But her plan is thrown a curve ball after she discovers she has only a million-to-one chance of getting pregnant. Undaunted, the driven Kate allows South Philly working girl Angie Ostrowiski to become her unlikely surrogate. Simple enough … After learning from the steely head of their surrogacy center that Angie is pregnant, Kate goes into precision nesting mode: reading childcare books, baby-proofing the apartment and researching top pre-schools. But the executive’s well-organized strategy is turned upside down when her Baby Mama shows up at her doorstep with no place to live. An unstoppable force meets an immovable object as structured Kate tries to turn vibrant Angie into the perfect expectant mom. In a battle of wills, they will struggle their way through preparation for the baby’s arrival. And in the middle of this tug-of-war, they’ll discover two kinds of family: the one you’re born to and the one you make.

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I have to say though, as much as I do look forward to this movie, I look forward to it with some trepidation. Why, because Tina Fey didn’t write this damn movie. She stars in it, which, awesome. And her former “Weekend Update” co-anchor Amy Poehler is also in the movie, along with Sigourney Weaver, Greg Kinnear, Maura Tierney, and Dax Shepard. But the movie was written by the same dude who wrote Undercover Brother which I don’t remember winning any Golden Globes. And he also wrote Thunderbirds which I don’t think I have even heard of. The movie is also directed by the same guy who directed a couple of the Austin Powers movies, a funny series, but not exactly the intelligent, sharp wit we’ve come to expect from our girl Tina. And maybe this is unfair of me to say, but I have to say I feel a bit uneasy about a movie (even a comedy, which I think often can be more poignant with some subjects) about a woman deciding to become a mother that was both written and directed by men. I just hope it’s not the same old bullshit jokes about hysterical pregnant women and hormones making them crazy. (I’m looking at you, Judd Apatow, because even though I loved the film, you walked a fine line with Knocked Up.)

But I have faith in Tina Fey, and I don’t think she’s just doing this for the cash and hey, if it gives more exposure to 30 Rock, then that’s a good thing. But if we get that tired old “water breaking in a ridiculous place” joke then I might be demanding my money back.

Tina Fey, 30 Rock, Baby Mama, Amy Poehler, Sigourney Weaver, Greg Kinnear, Maura Tierney, Dax Shepard, Judd Apatow, Knocked Up