They are one of the most famous comedy duos. They also deny the fact that they are a comedy duo. To their point, it would be far more accurate to say that Tina Fey & Amy Poehler are two independently funny women who have been friends for 25 years and who sometimes work together to make us laugh. Rolls right off the tongue!
Non-duo status aside, Poehler and Fey are working together again, with the release of Wine Country on Netflix. Their independence is pretty obvious in this project, which is Poehler's directorial debut. Poehler stars with other former SNL castmates Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, and Ana Gasteyer, plus Paula Pell and Emily Spivey, as six friends celebrating their friend's 50th birthday. Fey is there in just a small part, playing the owner of the villa they're renting. But even if it's just for a moment, we needed that reunion. If Tina and Amy can play and work together for all these years, that means there's hope that our own friendships will last a lifetime, right?
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Here's a look back at their many collaborations:
Tina Fey & Amy Poehler First Meet, 1993-1996:
Fey and Poehler meet taking classes at ImprovOlympics in Chicago and eventually tour together with Second City. We sadly don't have access to videos of the two together in this era, but if someone does, we can't be the only ones who would pay good money to see them. Eventually, Poehler moves to New York to found Upright Citizens Brigade East.
Tina Fey Starts At SNL, 1997:
Tina Fey becomes a writer for SNL. She occasionally visits UCB. We imagine their work together looked something like what they did on the UCB Asssscat: Improv special that appeared on Bravo in 2005. Here's their sexy tennis match. And a sketch about monkey boners.
Tina Fey Supports Amy Poehler At UCB, 1999:
Fey appears briefly on an episode in the second season of Comedy Central's Upright Citizens Brigade show.
Tina Fey & Amy Poehler Appear Together On An MTV Reality Show, 2001:
You read that right. When UCB hosts an improv contest on Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Poehler introduces the contestants to the challenge, and Fey is there as a judge.
Amy Poehler Joins SNL, September 2001:
Poehler joins SNL as a featured performer. Fey's feelings about this, which she wrote about in Bossypants, reminds us of every time we have a friend at work: "I was so happy. Weirdly, I remember thinking, ‘My friend is here! My friend is here!’ Even though things had been going great for me at the show, with Amy there, I felt less alone.”
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Tina Fey & Amy Poehler Act In Their First Movie Together (Sort Of), 2002:
Fey and Poehler both have small parts in the movie Martin & Orloff, though they're not exactly acting together.
Amy Poehler Joins Tina Fey On Weekend Update, 2004-2006:
Poehler joins Fey on recurring SNL sketch, Weekend Update, marking the first time two women have anchored the segment.
Tina Fey Writes Her First Movie & Puts Amy Poehler In It, April 2004:
Fey writes Mean Girls, and both appear in the movie, but again, they're not together onscreen.
Tina Fey & Amy Poehler Co-star In Baby Mama, April 2008:
Baby Mama premieres, starring Fey as a career-focused woman who hires Poehler to be a surrogate mother for her. At this point, this is the most Fey and Poehler we've ever seen in one project.
Tina Fey & Amy Poehler Start Playing Sarah Palin & Hillary Clinton, 2008:
Fey returns to play Sarah Palin to Poehler's Hillary Clinton. Here's Poehler writing about it in her book, Yes, Please: "The anticipation for Tina playing Palin was so fun to witness, and she explains it well in her book Fifty Shades of Grey. She totally took on what was expected of her and it was awesome to stand next to her as she killed."
Tina Fey & Amy Poehler Become Queens Of Awards Season, 2011:
Poehler orchestrates a perfect moment at the Emmy Awards, when she, Fey, Melissa McCarthy, Martha Plimpton, Edie Falco, and Laura Linney come up onto the stage as they're announced as Best Actress in Comedy nominees. They hold hands like pageant contestants and hug in tears when McCarthy wins. This marks the beginning of Poehler and Fey being the best thing about awards shows.
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Amy Poehler Plays Tina Fey's Liz Lemon On 30 Rock (For A Minute), 2012:
Poehler steps in as Liz Lemon in a scene for the live episode of 30 Rock.
Amy Poehler & Tina Fey Host The Golden Globes, January 2013:
We can't not call them a duo when they co-host the Golden Globe Awards.
Amy Poehler & Tina Fey Cameo In Anchorman 2, December 2013:
They outshine all the other celebrity cameos of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, as entertainment news hosts Jill Jansen and Wendy Van Peel.
Amy Poehler & Tina Fey Host The Globes Again, January 2014:
Round 2 of their Golden Globe Awards domination, and why does anyone else host these things?
And They Do It Again In January 2015:
The third in the Golden Globes trilogy.
Tina Fey & Amy Poehler Return To Weekend Update, February 2015:
Fey and Poehler reunite at the Weekend Update desk, joined by Jane Curtin, for the SNL 40th Anniversary show.
Tina Fey & Amy Poehler Star In Another Movie Together, December 2015:
Their second movie together, Sisters, isn't a resounding success. But we'll always have the fruits of their publicity tour, including, their "True Confessions" on the Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon:
And the Broad City-Sister Act-Sisters crossover we never knew we wanted:
Tina & Amy Do The Awards Show Thing Again, 2016:
They team up at the SAG Awards to present Carol Burnett with a Life Achievement Award.
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Tina & Amy (& Maya Rudolph) Open The Oscars, 2019:
Fey, Poehler, and Maya Rudolph open the Oscars, making us wish they were hosting the whole damn thing and everything after that.
You may have noticed that Fey and Poehler's collaborations have slowed of late, and maybe even wondered why they've never created a series together. Fey recently told the Advocate why she thinks that is.
"She and I haven’t really talked about this, but I don’t know if we could ever do a series together," Fey said. "We’re both alphas who like to do our own thing and then meet up occasionally."
If that's the way it has to be, we'll take it.
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