I heart Tina Fey...

So it's no secret, my favorite actresses and superheros have always been the brunettes. I loved Wonder Women and recreated her invisible plane in our backyard jungle gym, but made my blond friend from down the street be Cat Girl because of our respective hair colors. (She was a blond. So it meant she couldn't have an invisible plane. Sorry, that's just the way it goes.) Sydney Bristow was rocking awesome not just because she could run to the edge of a building, leap off the side, landing on the top of the helicopter waiting below in three inch heels, but also because under all those colored wigs she was a brunette.

So now I'd like to submit to you my new favorite brunette, Tina Fey. What Tina Fey might lack in ability to leap of buildings and fly around in invisible planes she makes up for in her awesome ability to make me laugh really hard. Seriously, she is so funny. And not just when she impersonates Sarah Palin, her TV show is also hilarious.

I've only seen a handful of episodes of Thirty Rock but every time I watch I laugh super hard and then as soon as absolutely possible recount the whole episode for my husband. This usually takes away his desire to watch with me since I've already seen it and told him the ending, but that's OK. I think he thinks it's funny that I think it's so funny.

It's so funny to me in fact that sometimes I find myself chuckling later about what happened that week on Thirty Rock. In fact the other day while I was chuckling about the crazy antics of those employed in 30 Rockefeller Center that it suddenly hit me. Thirty Rock is almost the exact same show as The Mary Tyler Moore show.

Now for those of you who don't find yourself with an affection for brunettes or with access to TV Land on Nick at Night during middle school, you might not know about the genius that was The Mary Tyler Moore Show. So here's the background: Mary Tyler Moore is Dick Van Dyke's wife on the Dick Van Dyke Show. Which is a pretty funny show in it's own right. Probably because a brunette is the female lead. (Sidenote: I'm not sure why they named shows after people in the 60's and 70's, but for some reason this was very popular.) After the Dick Van Dyke Show ends they decide to give Mary her own show. The premise, Mary a attractive brunette, who could have married a doctor, become a stay at home Mom and lived the American dream (hey, it was the 70's) decides to end her engagement and move to the big city to pursue her love for journalism by becoming a TV producer on a local newscast.

And if you are me, you spend each night between 9 and 10 pm central during 8th grade watching reruns of the hilarity that ensues as Mary lives out the new American dream of women's lib where a single women can live a happy, successful life fulfilling her career ambitions. You also are slightly depressed when the show moves to the 11 pm slot which was after the time of night your Mom let you watch TV.

Flash forward to now and you have Liz Lemon, another attractive brunette living in the big city, producing a television show and living out the American dream, in a millennium kind of way. Which means no live studio audiences, no laugh tracks, and a lot more dead pan humor. But here's the crazy part...the characters are the same. Let me illustrate:

Cast of Mary Tyler Moore Show:

Mary Richards: smart, funny, brunette TV producer
Lou Grant: quirky, grumpy boss who is also a pal
Ted Baxter: head news anchor, not the sharpest crayon in the box, gives Mary a headache by saying stupid and offensive things on air
Sue Ann Nivens: blond who chases men and also is on TV
Murray: mouthy writer
Georgette: dopey blond who pledges her undying affection to Ted Baxter as his wife



Cast of Thirty Rock:

Liz Lemon: smart, funny, brunette TV producer
Jack Donaghy: quirky, grumpy boss who is also a pal
Tracy Jordon: variety show lead, not the sharpest crayon in the box, gives Liz a headache by saying stupid and offensive things on air
Jenna: blond who chases men and is also on TV
Frank, Tofer, Pete and blond girl: mouthy writers and producers
Kenneth: dopey blond who pledges his undying affection to Tracy Jordan as his page



I'm telling you folks, this can be no case of circumstance. It all goes back to the fact that little girls with brown hair like our heroes to also be brunettes. So Tina Fey, I'm on to you...not only do you make me laugh, I'm pretty sure you also think Mary Tyler Moore is rocking awesome. And I wouldn't be surprised if you too choose the invisible plane over the cat suit.