Tina Fey Returns to TV. Will Emmys Follow? |
Tina Fey knows her way to the Emmy stage. She has won nine awards already and been nominated 45 times. Her wins have mostly been for the beloved comedy series 30 Rock, which she created, cowrote, and starred in. But she’s also won for Saturday Night Live—once in 2002 for writing, and again in 2009 and 2016 for guest appearances. She’s also earned many nominations for another series, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which she cocreated.
I’m Rebecca Ford, and this week I’m watching closely as Fey’s latest creation, The Four Seasons, hits Netflix. Based on a 1981 movie written and directed by Alan Alda, the series, which Fey cocreated with Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield, follows three couples over the course of four vacations. (Sidenote: We’ve just published a great interview with Alda, who actually appears in the new series.) The show explores the ups and downs of both marriage and adult friendship, with a strong cast that includes Fey, Steve Carell, Colman Domingo, and Will Forte.
The series marks a bit of a new direction for Fey, skewing more dramatic than her other projects. So far, critics seem to mostly like it; it holds a solid 74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The performances have particularly been singled out—and speaking of which, David Canfield recently talked to breakout performer Marco Calvani about his role on the show.
Now the question is whether The Four Seasons will add to Fey’s Emmy tally. To me, it remains a shame that Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt never actually won any of those awards, despite its many nominations (18 total!). Fey was also an executive producer on Girls5eva, a very funny series that was, disappointingly, mostly ignored by the TV Academy for three seasons. Her post-Unbreakable show Mr. Mayor, which starred Ted Danson, didn’t quite work, only lasting for two seasons. So it’s definitely feeling like it’s time for a comeback.
It would be nice to see Fey return to the Emmy conversation. She remains one of the smartest and funniest voices in comedy—and even if The Four Seasons is a few steps in the dramatic direction, it’s always nice to be on a trip with Fey. |
