Tina Fey

Never mind all those questions about who will win the election: The more pressing concern for many viewers is whether Tina Fey will return to play Gov. Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live." The guest appearance by the show's former cast member and head writer was by all accounts a virtuoso impersonation and a viral hit. But Fey stars in NBC's weekly prime-time comedy "30 Rock," and it's unclear if she'll be moonlighting on "SNL" to skewer the Republican vice presidential candidate, to whom she bears a much-remarked-upon resemblance.

Washington is full of nerds. I know. I speak nerd, not fluently mind you, at least not anymore. But I certainly know more than a few phrases memorized from a Berlitz nerd-to-English phrase book. I can talk Dungeons & Dragons (both D&D and AD&D). I know about the Golden Age of Comics (as in comic books -- if you thought that was a reference to Bob Newhart's heyday, subtract 20 nerd points right there). Anyway, if you spend any time in Washington you'll find nerds. What happens is most of them sublimate their fixations with comics, or baseball cards, or 1960s British comedies to policy minutiae and political arcana.

Bossypants Tina Fey Reagan Arthur/Little, Brown: 277 pp., $26.99

Joining what she has dubbed the “lame-stream media,” if only for a brief time, Sarah Palin ended up throwing as many jabs at herself as at President Obama during an appearance on the “Today” show Tuesday morning. Introduced amid a pile of newspapers, acting flustered, Palin immediately harkened back to her infamous interview with former “Today” host Katie Couric. “Oh man, she's doing her homework!” current host Matt Lauer joked as the former Alaskan governor then dove into an anecdote about being mistaken for Tina Fey, known for her pitch-perfect impersonations of Palin on “Saturday Night Live” during the 2008 election cycle.

Ever since Vanity Fair put her on its January 2010 cover in what looked like a Wonder Woman costume, Tina Fey has seemed in danger of falling for the very canard she has spent a career satirizing: that a woman can "have it all" if she's willing to lose 20 pounds, show her breasts and regularly remind everyone that, although she writes and stars in an Emmy-winning TV show, she is still essentially a loser who eats a lot of cupcakes. (Just like, you know, Larry David does.) An excerpt from her new book in a recent New Yorker didn't help, with Fey assuming the position of agonized career mommy — why do so many people keep asking her if she is going to have another baby when having one is so hard?

Nearly 6,000 people gathered Tuesday night at L.A. Live's Nokia Theatre for what can only be described as a "comedy happening. " The event — Tina Fey in conversation with Steve Martin about her new book, "Bossypants" — promised to showcase two great comedic wits sparring with each other on topics ranging from sexism in comedy and Fey's rise through the ranks of Second City, "Saturday Night Live" and her hit NBC show, "30 Rock," to cruise ship...

POP MUSIC Paul Simon The iconic folk singer-songwriter celebrates the release of his 12th solo album — and his first recording in five years — with a rare Southland appearance. Expect to hear material from the new album, "So Beautiful or So What," plus many hits from his five-decade career that haven't been performed live in years. The Music Box, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. $55. Sold out. (323) 464-0808. http://www.themusicbox.la ART Downtown 81 In conjunction with MOCA's exhibition "Art in the Streets" (on view through Aug. 8 at the Geffen Contemporary)

After winning the trifecta of best comedy series, actress and writing at the 2008 Primetime Emmys, gracing the cover of Rolling Stone's fall comedy issue and delivering a spot-on impression of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live" in November, Tina Fey certainly ended 2008 with a flourish.

The new comedy "Date Night" stars Tina Fey and Steve Carell as Claire and Phil Foster, a tired, overworked, married couple with kids. In one of the film's many painfully funny-because-it's-true scenes, they go on a routine date at a no-frills family restaurant -- the kind that serves potato skins -- and afterward Phil suggests that maybe the evening could end with some intimacy. Getting ready for bed, Claire removes her mouth guard as she considers the proposition. "The discussion about having sex on a weeknight?

I'm not sure exactly when Tina Fey became a certifiable star, but I do know why. It all begins with the face. Not the one that is glammed up, airbrushed and lighted to within an inch of its life that graces magazine covers these days. It's the other one that carries exhaustion around like a cranky toddler in the current box-office hit "Date Night"; the one that wakes up in Liz Lemon's apartment with drool on one cheek in NBC's " 30 Rock." It's a face that goes slack and open-mouthed in surprise at so much of life, more comfortable with no makeup, stacking up laugh lines like folding chairs after a Little League banquet.

Comedy has long been accepted as a medium in which performers can push the boundaries of taste. The same way visual artists can show us something that both shocks and expands our sensibilities, comic artists, at their best, can tell us things that jar, surprise and even offend us — and make us reconsider thorny issues. But that's not what Tracy Morgan, the comedian and star of the popular NBC TV comedy "30 Rock," did during a recent stand-up gig in Nashville, when he unleashed a rant against gays and said that if a son of his ever came home sounding effeminate, he would pull out a knife and stab him. That wasn't pushing any new boundaries; if anything, it was a reversion to old ones.

With guest host Tina Fey back playing her famous doppelganger, this weekend’s "Saturday Night Live" portrayed the debate that wasn’t this week – featuring not just Sarah Palin but also would-be White House hopeful Donald Trump.  FOR THE RECORD An earlier version of this story misspelled Shepard Smith's name as Sheppard. The faux Fox News debate also pitted Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann in the “GOP 2012 Undeclared Candidates Debate,” adding 2010 New York governor candidate Jimmy McMillan of the Rent is Too Damn High party for good measure.

After Birth Certificate Day, we could all use a little palate cleanser. So, take a look at this recently released photo of actor Julianne Moore in full Sarah Palin regalia. Moore as Palin is part of the cast of HBO's "Game Change," an upcoming film based on the book by political reporters John Heilemann and Mark Halperin about the 2008 presidential race. Veteran actor Ed Harris has been cast as John McCain. Woody Harrelson, Ron Livingston (from "Office Space"), and Sarah Paulson have also been cast in the film, with the role of Bristol Palin going to Melissa Farman.

Justin Timberlake will be back hosting "Saturday Night Live" in all his "... In a Box," "Give It on Up" and "Mother Lover" glory, an NBC Twitter slip-up has revealed. The singer-turned-actor, who earned two Emmys thanks to his previous stints on the sketch comedy, will be hosting for the fourth time on the May 21 season finale. He'll be live from New York a few weeks after Tina Fey is slated to host on May 7 (more Sarah Palin, please!). The news came via a wayward response on NBC's official Twitter feed.

Nearly 6,000 people gathered Tuesday night at L.A. Live's Nokia Theatre for what can only be described as a "comedy happening. " The event — Tina Fey in conversation with Steve Martin about her new book, "Bossypants" — promised to showcase two great comedic wits sparring with each other on topics ranging from sexism in comedy and Fey's rise through the ranks of Second City, "Saturday Night Live" and her hit NBC show, "30 Rock," to cruise ship...

POP MUSIC Paul Simon The iconic folk singer-songwriter celebrates the release of his 12th solo album — and his first recording in five years — with a rare Southland appearance. Expect to hear material from the new album, "So Beautiful or So What," plus many hits from his five-decade career that haven't been performed live in years. The Music Box, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. $55. Sold out. (323) 464-0808. http://www.themusicbox.la ART Downtown 81 In conjunction with MOCA's exhibition "Art in the Streets" (on view through Aug. 8 at the Geffen Contemporary)

With guest host Tina Fey back playing her famous doppelganger, this weekend’s "Saturday Night Live" portrayed the debate that wasn’t this week – featuring not just Sarah Palin but also would-be White House hopeful Donald Trump.  FOR THE RECORD An earlier version of this story misspelled Shepard Smith's name as Sheppard. The faux Fox News debate also pitted Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann in the “GOP 2012 Undeclared Candidates Debate,” adding 2010 New York governor candidate Jimmy McMillan of the Rent is Too Damn High party for good measure.

Need even more Steve Carell in your life? Talk about "Date Night." The world's best boss, Michael Scott, may be leaving the offices of Dunder Mifflin, but don't get your panties in jello just yet. He's got one season left! You might even do his career a favor by checking out "Dinner for Schmucks." Not into taxidermy? Check out Carell alongside fellow NBC star Tina Fey when the DVD of "Date Night," a screwball comedy about a husband and wife caught in a web of mistaken identity is released.

Bossypants Tina Fey Reagan Arthur/Little, Brown: 277 pp., $26.99

Ever since Vanity Fair put her on its January 2010 cover in what looked like a Wonder Woman costume, Tina Fey has seemed in danger of falling for the very canard she has spent a career satirizing: that a woman can "have it all" if she's willing to lose 20 pounds, show her breasts and regularly remind everyone that, although she writes and stars in an Emmy-winning TV show, she is still essentially a loser who eats a lot of cupcakes. (Just like, you know, Larry David does.) An excerpt from her new book in a recent New Yorker didn't help, with Fey assuming the position of agonized career mommy — why do so many people keep asking her if she is going to have another baby when having one is so hard?