Tina Fey says Colin Quinn inspired her 30 Rock episode about the c-word
It's no secret that 30 Rock was always meant to present the goofy, slightly fictionalized version of Tina Fey's experiences as head writer of Saturday Night Live. The season two episode in which Liz Lemon overhears Lutz, a writer for The Girlie Show — 30 Rock's SNL equivalent — calling her the c-word is no exception.
Howard Stern, being Howard Stern, successfully elicited the name of the colleague Fey based the plotline on: Colin Quinn. Her fellow Weekend Update alumnus dropped the slur in a voicemail message, she said, seemingly for no discernible reason besides his own stress.
"Usually if someone calls you that, you're like, 'I know what I did,'" she said.
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Quinn turned down multiple offers to go on 30 Rock, Fey said, but they reconnected at SNL's 40th anniversary celebration in February.
Quick, grab some night cheese and listen to the full story below. Julie Kliegman
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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