For their September issue (the one with J.Lo on the cover), the magazine polled their readers about everything from beauty products to fictional characters. A couple of their questions touched on workplace stuff. A majority of readers chose Liz Lemon as the boss they’d like to work for over Grey’s Anatomy’s Dr. Miranda “The Nazi” Bailey. Wow – you mean people might want to have a boss who is usually too busy dealing with her own weird personal dramas to care what you do over one who who regularly yells at and berates you in front of colleagues? Color me shocked.
As for “Who Would You Most Like to Share a Cubicle Wall With?,” the results were:
Pam from The Office: 45 percent
Betty from Ugly Betty: 42 percent
Mary from The Mary Tyler Moore Show: 13 percent
I like all three of these ladies, but two of them are on shows that have been cancelled. (To be fair, Ugly Betty was only cancelled last year, so Betty is still pretty zeitgeisty.) Does this mean we need some more examples of strong women in the workplace on TV? The answer to that is pretty much always “yes.”
Have you ever seen that 30 Rock episode about The Bubble? Tina Fey’s character Liz is dating a guy played by ultra-dreamy Jon “Don Draper” Hamm of Mad Men fame, and she realizes that his life is charmed because he’s good-looking. He can order stuff that isn’t on the menu at restaurants, people give him free stuff all the time, and Calvin Klein stops him on the street to ask if he can model in his new campaign. Liz tries to explain to her boyfriend that he lives in a bubble, but he’d rather just keep living a charmed life than have to deal with the fact that he gets preferential treatment for being hot.
According to a recent study, “the bubble” does kind of exist. ScienceDaily reports that “attractiveness, along with confidence, may help job-seekers stand out to employers.” While intelligence also plays a big role in determining confidence and self-worth, it’s far from being the only factor.
The researchers found that physical attractiveness had a significant impact on how much people got paid, how educated they were, and how they evaluated themselves. Basically, people who were rated good-looking made more money, were better educated and were more confident.
For more info on the study, “facial symmetry” theory, and more, check out the full report. Or hit Sephora during your lunch break and spend the rest of the day hating yourself for not being a supermodel. Whatever’s easier.
I have been way behind on 30 Rock this season, but got caught up over the weekend. And it turns out I missed a major assistant-y episode: because of cutbacks at the company, Jack (Alec Baldwin) had to fire his lovestruck assistant Jonathan. But since a top executive like Jack can’t go without an assistant, he did a pretty realistic thing. He forced Kenneth (Jack McBrayer), the dutiful NBC page, to take on a combo job, becoming his assistant – for no additional pay, of course. The whole episode is here (it’s about 22 minutes, so wait til your lunch break or after you get home).
Alec Baldwin, whom I’m probably required to love forever for his portrayal of head honcho Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock, has not had a serious longterm relationship since the end of his infamous marriage to Kim Basinger. That said, he’s rarely without a beautiful woman on his arm, and this time the woman is a pretty darn surprising one. Last week, Baldwin arrived at the premiere of his new movie Lymelife with Johanna Cox. If that name rings a bell, Joanna’s claim to fame is winning the Elle magazine reality show Stylista. She apparently works as a junior editor at the magazine, which was her prize from the show. She’s 29, and he’s 51. I don’t know if it was just a date or if it’s the beginning of something major, but my brain might have just exploded from the amount of assistant/boss stuff going on in this post.
Tina Fey is an incredibly hot property right now. The 30 Rock scribe/star not only wrote the upcoming movie Baby Mama, which she stars in with fellow comedienne Amy Poehler, she has even taken time out of her busy “making women with glasses appreciate how totally sexy they are” schedule to portray…an assistant. Fey plays the assistant to British comic Ricky Gervais (best known for The Office) in the film This Side of Truth. The movie is about a world where no one has ever lied and is full of kick-ass peformers like Christopher Guest and Jason Bateman. Sign us up.
We have been pretty unabashed about our love for Kenneth, the NBC page played by Jack McBrayer on NBC’s “30 Rock.” Guess we’re not the only ones. The one and only Mariah Carey hired Jack to appear–in character–in her new music video for “Touch My Body.”
If you’ve never watched NBC’s 30 Rock, the Emmy-winning sitcom about the behind-the-scenes goings-on at an SNL-type show (God, that was a lot of hyphens), you should be. The hilarious show, written by the girlcrush worthy Tina Fey, has so many smart, quotable lines per show that we have to watch each episode a couple of times to catch them all. And many of the best lines come out of the mouth of assistant Kenneth, an NBC page who is the calm, naive counterpoint to all the eccentric personalities on the show.
Whether he’s being drafted into high-strung star Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan)’s entourage, being dared to try to kiss hottie receptionist Cerie (Katrina Bowden), getting sent on ridiculous errands by network exec Jack (Alec Baldwin) or being charged with the task of making leading actress Jenna (Jane Krakowski) eat, Kenneth’s good manners and wide-eyed innocence always crack us up. For going above and beyond the duties of even the most overworked celebrity assistant, Kenneth, we salute you.
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For their September issue (the one with J.Lo on the cover), the magazine polled their readers about everything from beauty products to fictional characters. A couple of their questions touched on workplace stuff. A majority of readers chose Liz Lemon as the boss they’d like to work for over Grey’s Anatomy’s Dr. Miranda “The Nazi” Bailey. Wow – you mean people might want to have a boss who is usually too busy dealing with her own weird personal dramas to care what you do over one who who regularly yells at and berates you in front of colleagues? Color me shocked.
Have you ever seen that 
Alec Baldwin, whom I’m probably required to love forever for his portrayal of head honcho Jack Donaghy on 
