Carrie Fisher has died and pop culture geeks everywhere, including myself, are reeling. She will always be remembered as Princess Leia, but because Carrie Fisher herself was such a powerful and brave person, she brought so much more to what could have been a one-dimensional role. Fisher’s own feistiness, her intelligence, her sass and confidence and humor, her wildness, it was all too much to be contained and it shone through her performance making Princess Leia a hero to young women and men alike.
Of course, she also was a wonderful writer, searingly honest about her struggles with mental health issues and addiction. She was also a renowned script doctor, having worked on Coyote Ugly, Sister Act, So I Married an Axe Murderer and The Wedding Singer.
But one of my favorite of her roles was in the second season episode of 30 Rock as Rosemary Howard, a legendary television writer whom Liz Lemon idolizes, but upon meeting her, Liz is forced to confront the fact that Howard is much more complicated than she realized.
New York Times critic A.O. Scott writes about it perfectly:
The character of Rosemary Howard certainly embodies the glories and contradictions of second-wave feminism, and Liz’s ambivalence about her is a barbed and brilliant illustration of the anxieties of female comic influence. But the casting of Ms. Fisher — whose performance on the show is somehow at once wildly winking and completely on-script — adds about 12 dimensions of meta.
Anyone watching that episode will already know that Liz Lemon is a rabid “Star Wars” fan. Her default Halloween costume is Princess Leia Organa. Later, when she wants to get out of jury duty, Liz will coil her hair over her ears and dress in a belted linen djellaba, confident that no judge would ever impanel such a cosplaying nerd. She’s wrong about that, and also wrong to sell out her Leia devotion, treating it as a source of embarrassment rather than power and pride. The princess allows Liz — and not only Liz — to be both geek and warrior, sex symbol and samurai, free spirit and prisoner of the corporate Death Star.
Liz Lemon has two mothers, both played by Carrie Fisher. That statement can stand as a fictional index of Ms. Fisher’s extensive real-world influence.
…
“You’re my kid!” Rosemary Howard cries out to Liz Lemon. An echo of the famous assertion of paternity in the “Star Wars” saga. And also an acknowledgment of Carrie Fisher’s own undeniable status as a matriarch.
You can watch the whole episode on YouTube.
Here’s Carrie Fisher being her hilarious, honest self on Good Morning America, one of the best interviews EVER. Particularly around the 3:15 mark.
Here are a collection of Carrie Fisher’s appearances on Craig Ferguson’s show, with whom she had a natural rapport.
Aside from appearing in the next Star Wars film — her scenes were completed before her death — Carrie Fisher will also be in two new episodes of Family Guy.
Here is her Saturday Night Live appearance where she delivered her monologue as Princess Leia.
And here is a list of places where you can stream Fisher’s best performances that aren’t Star Wars related.
George Lucas and Mark Hamill pay their tributes and break our hearts.
Even George R.R. Martin has had enough death for one year.
In your love is dead news: Tiny is divorcing T.I.; and Supergirl is divorcing that one guy who was on Glee after winning The Glee Project.
R.I.P. George S. Irving, Heat Miser
WATCH THIS
Homeland marathon: Watch it from the beginning. Begins 9 a.m., Showtime
Snowpiercer: The best dystopian thriller that takes place on a train ever made. 6 p.m., Syfy
Game of Thrones marathon: Season 3. RED WEDDING! Begins 11 a.m., HBO 2
| WEDS. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | The Goldbergs (repeat) |
Speechless (repeat) |
Modern Family (repeat) |
black-ish (repeat) |
Match Game (repeat) |
| CBS | Undercover Boss (new) |
MacGyver (repeat) |
Criminal Minds (repeat) |
| CW | Arrow (repeat) |
Supergirl (repeat) |
Local |
| FOX | Foster Farms Bowl: Indiana vs. Utah (live) |
News/Local |
| NBC | Law & Order: SVU (repeat) |
Law & Order: SVU (repeat) |
Chicago P.D. (repeat) |