First Tina Fey, now Amy Poehler. Is this a pattern, where “Saturday Night Live’s” valuable female writers, comediennes take maternity leave to have their babies and then leave the show for good?
Tina Fey, the critically acclaimed former head writer of “Saturday Night Live,” took her maternity leave in 2005, gave birth to daughter Alice and returned to complete the season, after which she left for good and focused on her “30 Rock” show.
Fey reunited with the cast of “SNL” in February of this year, as host, and once more last weekend, for the 34th season premiere of the show, which she again hosted. She and longtime collaborator Amy Poehler – co-anchors of “Weekend Update” between 2004 and 2006 – portrayed Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, respectively.
The episode garnered “SNL” its highest ratings since 2002, for an episode hosted by Al Gore.
Sarah Palin herself expressed her amusement with the skit
(which included such pearls from Fey’s Palin as “I can see
Her spokesperson Tracey Schmitt told CBS News that Palin found
the show “quite funny, particularly because she once dressed up as Tina Fey for
Halloween.” The governor watched the episode from the campaign plane, together
with the press corps, as it flew from
The happy reunion of Poehler and Fey is followed by news of the former’s departure though, as the actress tells the new edition of Men’s Vogue that the number of seasons on “SNL” will stop at seven.
“It’s gonna be really hard - Boyz II Men hard - to say goodbye to yesterday,” Poehler says with warm sarcasm. “‘SNL’ was dangerous, late-night, last-minute, and star-studded, but like any good drug, you need to know when to put it down.”
While she may put “SNL” down after the November election, Poehler is ready to pick up another habit: a new show on NBC from the Emmy-nominated producers of “The Office.” The upcoming series has so far been a closely kept secret, with NBC co-chair Ben Silverman revealing only that it will not be a spinoff of “The Office.”
Greg Daniels and Mike Schur, writers/producers of “The Office,” are preparing for a winter debut of the show. Aziz Ansari (MTV’s “Human Giant”) has already been cast, per Variety.
Poehler in the meantime is also busy with her Nickelodeon animated series “The Mighty B.” which she co-created with Erik Wiese (writer on “SpongeBob SquarePants”) and Cynthia True (writer on “The Fairly OddParents”). The 37-year-old lends her voice to the lead character, Bessie Higgenbottom, the overzealous Honeybee scout.
And we are sure to see more of the actress on the silver screen, considering the success she has had with “Mean Girls,” “Blades of Glory” and, more recently, “Baby Mama.” It’s goodbye Amy Poehler on “SNL,” not goodbye Amy Poehler altogether.