Tina Fey's Chicago love affair

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:26:00 -0600

Tina Fey's love affair with Chicago is well documented. And on the Afternoon Shift Thursday, Rick Kogan talked with Second City's Andrew Alexander about what the show did for local comedians and writers. And Charna Halpern, director and co-founder of iO (formerly Improv Olympic) says about "30 Rock" impact on Chicago is significant.

As "30 Rock" wraps up tonight, here's a look back at some of the love she and the show have bestowed on the city.

Tina's two great loves

On meeting her husband Jeff Richmond while they were working together at Second City in Vanity Fair:

"(Tina and Jeff) fell in love quickly, soon after a Sunday afternoon spent together at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. (“We walked into a model of the human heart,” Fey deadpans.) The writer-comedian and the musician-director dated for seven years, have been married for another seven, and have worked together in improv theater in Chicago, on Saturday Night Live, and on 30 Rock.”

On food in Chicago, during an Ask Tina segment where she said the "internet could run out of space" if she kept talking about her favorite Chicago restaurants:

"I lived on the North Side. You need to go to a place called the Athenian Room on Webster. You need to order the roasted chicken. It's cooked on a spit, it comes on a bed of steak fries and the chicken juice gets into the fries. Unbelievable."

Chicago casting

As Chris Jones pointed out as the show began, the cast is a televised reunion of the Second City cast of "Paradigm Lost":

"I can't believe I got away with it. I somehow got all those people past all those random hurdles you have to get people past when you are doing television. And if Jim Zulevic had not passed away, he'd have been in there too."

Tina talked more about why she loves Second City actors in the same article:

"Second City actors know their purpose within a larger story and ensemble. I know people like Scott and Rachel so well. We did eight shows a week together in Chicago. So for example, I know that if you want a subtle physical bit that suddenly turns into a fall, Adsit is your man."

WBEZ | 30 rock

Tina Fey's Chicago love affair

Tina's two great loves

Chicago casting