Today's Entertainment

2 • April 23 - 29, 2017 • Brainerd Dispatch By Mary Fournier TV Media I t's been four years since the final episode of "30 Rock" aired, but Tina Fey, the iconic show's creator and star, has been keeping busy. On top of some impressive on- screen performances — see "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" (2016) if you haven't already — Fey has been busy behind the scenes of some major projects. She's the co-creator and pro- ducer of Netflix's hilarious hit se- ries "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," and her newest project, for which she earns an executive producing credit, rolls out this week: "Great News" premieres Tuesday, April 25, on NBC. Created by Fey's longtime col- laborator Tracey Wigfield ("The Mindy Project"), the comedy se- ries is loosely based on Wigfield's relationship with her mother, and tells the story of Katie Wendelson (Briga Heelan, "Ground Floor"), a smart and ambitious woman working as a producer on the ca- ble news show "The Breakdown." Katie feels stuck in her career and is unsure of her capabilities; it doesn't help that her kind-but- overbearing mother, Carol (Andrea Martin, "My Big Fat Greek Wed- ding," 2002) — having just earned a college degree thanks to the inspiration of a friend's eulogy — announces that she's been hired as an intern at "The Break- down." Promising to provide viewers with some good laughs, the show also stars Adam Campbell ("The Five-Year Engagement," 2012) as Greg, the executive producer of "The Breakdown" and Katie's boss; John Michael Higgins ("Yes Man," 2008) as Chuck Pierce, a difficult veteran co-anchor of the show; Nicole Richie ("The Simple Life") as Portia, the young and stylish co-anchor; and Horatio Sanz ("Saturday Night Live") as Justin, Katie's candid best friend and the show's editor. There has been lots of buzz about "Great News," and many are touting its similarities to Fey's "30 Rock." While "Great News" is loosely based on Wigfield's rela- tionship with her mother, "30 Rock" was loosely based on Fey's time working on "Saturday Night Live." Furthermore, "30 Rock" took a behind-the-scenes look at the goings-on of a sketch comedy show, where "Great News" fol- lows the same template, except at a news station. "Where this show and '30 Rock' share some DNA is it's a funny show with a lot of fast-paced jokes," said Wigfield at the Televi- sion Critics Association press tour in January. However, both Wigfield and Fey reassure viewers that "Great News" isn't a simple replacement for "30 Rock." Wigfield said that the show is "observational come- dy about news and events," while Fey states that "the show isn't ripped from the headlines à la 'SNL,' but more about relation- ships." Relationships and news seem to go hand in hand in the new series. During the same TCA press tour, Higgins mentioned that the show deals with "generational motors" pertaining to the generational gaps and challenges on the show, particularly between Chuck and Portia. Chuck was once a well-re- spected news anchor but now feels as if he's been discredited, relegated to local cable due to ageism in the industry. Further- more, he and Portia clash because she has little interest in Chuck's traditional ways of broadcasting, while Chuck views Portia and the future of broadcasting with dis- dain. "It touches on the generational gaps between how news is tradi- tionally given out to the world ver- sus how it is now," says Richie — which is something apparent even in the trailer for the show. In one scene, Carol and Chuck discuss the gulf between them and their much younger co-workers. Chuck asks, "Who is Snapchat? Is he one of the minions? And are they all Pokémon?" The show premieres at an inter- esting time for cable news. With accusations of "fake news" and "alternative facts" swirling in the media these days, "Great News" could have a lot of material to in- corporate into its storyline for years to come. "I'd love for the show to be able to do more comedy on ... the state of news and where news is go- ing," Wigfield said. That being said, at least 10 epi- sodes of "Great News" had been filmed before the current "fake news" commotion began: "We shot these knowing that we'd be on in mid-season, so with the de- lay on broadcast, you can sort of take ideas from the headlines, but you can't do a joke that will feel really old by the time the show airs," Fey said. So it's topical, but not quite as topical as, say, "Saturday Night Live" or other late-night series. And, while currency and relevance are important, above all, the creators of the show want to focus on the relation- ship between a mother and daughter. "A lot of the show is the annoyance of 'oh my God, my mom is in my workplace,'" Wig- field said in an in- terview for Peo- ple. "But all of that annoyance needs to be offset by love." Don't miss this new comedy when it premieres Tuesday, April 25, on NBC. Andrea Martin as seen in "Great News" New comedy from '30 Rock' alum premieres Cover Story this week 501 W Washington St., Brainerd, MN | 218-828-1823 | www.heartlandtireservice.com COMPLETE AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR ALL MAKES, ALL MODELS SAVE $10 OFF REG. PRICE ALL FULL SERVICE VALVOLINE OIL CHANGES CHOOSE FROM CONVENTIONAL. SEMI SYNTHETIC OR FULL SYNTHETIC. . INCLUDES UP TO 5 QTS OF OIL & FILTER . WRITTEN 44 POINT MAJOR COMPONENT INSPECTION. . TOP OFF OF VITAL FLUIDS . ADJUST TIRES AIR PRESSURES AS NEEDED BRAKE SERVICE CHOOSE YOUR SAVINGS! SPEND THIS & SAVE THIS $ 50.00 $100 - $199 ........ SAVE $15 $200 - $399 ....... SAVE $30 $400 - $799 ....... SAVE $45 $800 - $999 ....... SAVE $45 $1,000 - UP ....... 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