We're still anxiously awaiting the premiere of Season 1 of The L Word on Logo, and it's left us no choice but to go see movies. This week, we were all to happy to fill the seats for our girls Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on the opening day of Baby Mama.

In case you haven't already heard, Baby Mama is about wealthy business woman Kate (Fey), who discovers that she's infertile and then hires zany working-class gal Angie (Poehler) to be her surrogate. Hijinks ensue when circumstances force junk food-eating, karaoke-singing Angie to move in with health food snob and control-freak Kate. It's like The Odd Couple, but with breast pumps.

So in our special Baby Mama edition of WGN, we review the film, talk about why we love Fey and Poehler, and display some frightening photos of the children we "made" with the "Baby Mama baby maker" program on the Baby Mama website. Watch and decide whose "baby" is the ugliest. Is it mine and Jill's? Dara's and Jill's? Mine and, gulp, Dara's?

Warning: Minor Spoilers

Your morning bowl of Froot Loops is about to taste even sweeter: Amy Poehler is coming to Nickelodeon's Saturday morning cartoon lineup. Now instead of waiting until 11:35 p.m. for your weekly dose of Poehler, you can have a colorful, animated version of Amy, bright and early, beginning this weekend.

Poehler’s new gig is the voice of Bessie Higgenbottom, a lovably annoying 9-and-¾-year-old with a substantial lisp and an overactive imagination, in The Mighty B!

Your basic run-of-the-mill hyperactive youngster, Bessie is a devout and loyal member of the Honey Bee Scouts (think Brownies or Girl Scouts) with an obsession for earning Bee badges. She has a can-do (albeit extreme) optimism that will hopefully rub off on the young girls who watch the show, teaching them that girls can do anything.

When I was a young tot, female cartoon leading ladies were few and far between. Sure, we had some 'toons to look up to: The ever cheerful Rainbow Brite immediately comes to mind, and I would be remiss if I did not mention the "truly outrageous" Jem, but they were such, well … do-gooders that it made them kind of stale. We never had a Dennis the Menace or a Bart Simpson; we had Wilma, Betty and Thelma, and let’s face it: They never got the roles or the dialogue they deserved, so I cannot in good consciousness credit them with knocking down any barriers for the women's cartoon movement. I think it’s long overdue that an animated character like this one has come around. Bessie is the feisty and funny cartoon we have been aching to see. … continue reading

If you happened to be one of the thousands grounded last week by American Airlines, at least you got a pleasant surprise once you got on the plane.

Is Amy Poehler adorable or what? She's been in the news quite a bit lately because of her new movie with Tina Fey, Baby Mama, and her dead-on spoof of Hillary Clinton.

Fortunately, we reap the benefits of all of this press and get to learn more about one of our favorite funny people. In the American Way interview, for example, Poehler tells us she's as much of a loudmouth in real life as she is on Saturday Night Live. … continue reading

For me, the only thing better than a funny woman is two funny women. So, you can imagine my excitement about the April 25 opening of the Tina Fey–Amy Poehler odd-couple comedy Baby Mama. To further whet our appetites, the film has launched the new Baby Mama Babymaker website where you can see the virtual fruits of your (or anyone's) loins. The best thing about the site? Same-sex couplings are not only encouraged, they're prominently displayed.

So, naturally, I had to make my own faux lesbian coupling offspring. The results, um, well. Straight up, I'm not going to lie. These are unquestionably the ugliest babies I have ever seen. In fact, some of them scare the bejesus out of me. I mean it. They're truly, truly terrifying. There, you've been warned.

First I thought I'd match two of the smartest women in entertainment together. Behold the love child of Tina Fey and Jodie Foster. Actually, wee JoTi is almost cute. Almost. … continue reading

My love for Amy Poehler goes almost as far as my infatuation with Tina Fey (though I don't think I have quite reached the level of Dorothy Snarker's adoration). Thankfully, there has been no lack of political material for Poehler and the cast of Saturday Night Live to parody lately, and it looks as though the NBC execs plan on taking full advantage of that fact.

Taking a cue from the mass media coverage of their politically based skits in recent weeks, NBC has announced that it will add a 30-minute show, entitled SNL Thursday Night Live (creative, no?), to follow The Office during the three weeks leading up to the election. Here's what NBC had to say in its official statement:

Dubbed "TV's funniest and most influential political player" by Entertainment Weekly, SNL expands its "Weekend Update" coverage to Thursdays in primetime for three live half-hour shows beginning October 16. With all of the excitement and attention around Saturday Night Live during the presidential primaries, the anticipation for the show's take on this Fall's election will be at a fever pitch, SNL Thursday Night Live will keep the momentum — and the laughs — going. The program is a production of Broadway Video in association with SNL Studios. Lorne Michaels is the executive producer.

On the surface, this seems like a brilliant move. Saturday Night Live is cashing in on the ongoing Democratic primary in the best way — with humor. Whether you think their coverage is biased toward Hillary Clinton or that Fred Armisen was a poor choice to portray Barack Obama doesn't really matter to those at SNL. The bottom line is that the sketch show hasn't been talked about this much in a very long time. … continue reading

If it seems like Tina Fey is everywhere these days, well, it’s probably because she kind of is. Last week, she graced the cover of Vanity Fair to refute those ridiculous “Women Aren’t Funny” claims. This past Sunday, she was smiling up from your Parade magazine, cute as fresh-picked daisies. And, very soon, she’ll be delivering the funny in a theater near you with Baby Mama.

A new featurette for Tina and Amy Poehler’s odd-couple comedy hit the web recently, and the more I see, the more I can’t wait until April 25. The two-minute spot intersperses clips from the trailer with Tina and Amy talking about the film.

The two women play polar opposites who come together when white-collar Kate (Tina) hires working-class Angie (Amy) to be her surrogate. What ensures is what Tina calls “as close as you can get to seeing me and Amy in a movie version of Laverne & Shirley.” … continue reading

Who you calling unfunny? Vanity Fair took its sweet time, but after more than a year of letting the anvil of an essay “Why Women Aren’t Funny” weigh down the discourse, the magazine finally issued its own rebuttal with its April cover story, “Who Says Women Aren't Funny?” And to prove that point, it assembled some of the most sparkling female wits for a photoshoot with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Yes, Amy Poehler appears to be grabbing Tina Fey’s boob. You really can’t argue with comedy genius like that. Answering the call to funny alongside them were Sandra Bernhard, Susie Essman, Jenna Fischer, Chelsea Handler, Leslie Mann, Maya Rudolph, Amy Sedaris, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes and Kristen Wiig. I’m going to need a moment to soak in all this concentrated hilarious. Seriously, my sides are starting to hurt from phantom laughter just looking at them.

In response to (resisting the urge to use a profane adjective) columnist Christopher Hitchens’ decidedly unfunny article about why women are the unfunnier sex, New York Times TV critic Alessandra Stanley has penned a footnote-worthy essay that touches on everything from English novelist George Meredith to Virginia Woolf to tribes in Papua New Guinea. To which I say, sure, but where do the rubber chickens fit in? … continue reading

I want several things from our next president. A coherent foreign policy. An economic plan that helps the poor and middle class instead of corporations and the rich. An extension of full equal rights to all LGBT Americans. And last, but not least, an ability to laugh at her/himself. However you feel about Sen. Hillary Clinton, she proved she could deliver the latter this past weekend, with a surprise stop by Saturday Night Live.

Hillary appeared in an “Editorial Response” to the show's opening skit, which spoofed the most recent Democratic presidential debate. Her on-screen doppelganger Amy Poehler joined her, and the resemblance was pretty uncanny.

With the next, and possibly deciding, primaries just a day away, it remains to be seen whether Hillary's appearance swayed any votes. But it should go a long way to dispelling that old sexist chestnut about women and their senses of humor. I mean, how good of a sport do you have to be to go on right after it's implied that your plan to take down special interests is to be “so annoying, so pushy, so grating, so bossy and shrill, with a personality so unpleasant, that at the end of the day the special interests will have to go, 'Enough! We give up! Life is too short to deal with this awful woman!'”? According to TMZ, Hillary was given the skit in advance for approval and told them not to change a thing. … continue reading

My love for all things Tina Fey is well documented and borders on obsession. I swear, your honor, I’ve been sure to stay at least 500 feet away from her, as the court order requires. So I think I’m allowed this simple indulgence. Yesterday I watched the first trailer for her new comedy Baby Mama, and, save for the unfortunate fact that my badonkadonk is still very much in place, I pretty much laughed my ass off.

Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Sigourney Weaver and Maura Tierney together in one movie? Has someone been reading my dream journal again? The premise is this: A 30-something successful single gal (Fey) longs for a baby and hires a surrogate (Poehler) who lives with her during the nine months of the pregnancy, and hilarity ensues. In case you think I’m exaggerating, please take a look for yourself. (Watch it in glorious hi-def here.) But I warn you: Ye of tiny hiney should beware, because when you’re done you could have none left.

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FADE IN:

EXT. SIDEWALK - DAY

A scruffy bunch of sunlight-averse, caffeine-addicted, ironing-impaired television and film writers parade back and forth with purpose. They carry placards and chant slogans. Among them are a few famous faces.

GROUP

What do we want? Fair contract! When do we want it? Now!

CLOSE ON the dark, reflective sunglasses of a network executive as he pulls into the studio lot in a car that costs more than the average American family’s house, passing the rag-tag writers with nary a glance in their direction. The writers shout, snidely, in his direction and some make accompanying FCC fine–worthy gestures.

WRITER

Hey, buddy, download this! I’ve got your new media profits right here!

… continue reading

Last spring, Scribe Grrrl riffed about the dream casting (and character naming) in the upcoming Tina Fey movie Baby Mama. Well, the first test-screening has happened in New York and although I was not there, I did read the review that some random viewer posted online. So it was almost like being there.

Baby Mama, again, stars Tina Fey as a successful, single, baby-desiring woman who hires a surrogate (Amy Poehler) when she learns she's unable to conceive. Circumstances lead Poehler's character to move in with Fey's character and hilarity likely ensues. The bottom line, according to random reviewer, is that Baby Mama is quite good and funny, but not as good as Mean Girls.

Here's Tina Fey on the set of Baby Mama:

And in Mean Girls:

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Of course, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, because Tina Fey did not write Baby Mama and did not star in Mean Girls.

What's the first thing you think of when you hear the word Shrek? Mike Myers? The somewhat confusing anti-obesity campaign? Female empowerment?

Crazy as that may sound, its stars argue that Shrek the Third offers some very positive images of women. And the film certainly features more female cast members than any other movie this side of Evening: Along with Cameron Diaz (who reprises her role as Fiona the ogre), Amy Sedaris, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Cheri Oteri all voice characters. (Poehler plays Snow White, while Sedaris plays Cinderella — that's enough to get me laughing.)

… continue reading

Sigourney Weaver is in negotiations to join the cast of Baby Mama, which I've been looking forward to since Sarah mentioned it way back in September. It stars Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as a single career woman and surrogate mother, respectively. (And hilariously, I'm sure.)

Weaver will play the owner of the surrogate agency. If that doesn't exactly sound chortle-inducing, wait till you hear the character's name: Chaffee Bicknell. Sounds like Weaver might get to dust off that take-no-prisoners attitude she displayed to such fine effect in Working Girl. … continue reading

According to The New York Times, Amy Poehler doesn't like to be called a funny girl. Well, funny, yes; girl, not so much:

Ms. Poehler would prefer not to be celebrated for her achievements simply because she is a woman. Better yet, she would prefer not to be reminded so frequently that she happens to be a woman surrounded by men. "You have to be grateful for it, and you want it to go away at the same time. If you try to analyze comedy at all, it's deadly. If you try to bring your gender into it, it's unbearable."

More like unbearably funny, you mean. Or at least that's likely to be my reaction to the Nickelodeon series she's developing, The Mighty B. The main character sounds like an animated version of her spazzy preteen character named Kaitlin.

Rick, Rick! Can I have a ship of your shoda for shushtenance, Rick?