In case you missed it last night, PBS has thankfully put the entire telecast online from The Kennedy Center's honoring of Tina Fey with the Mark Twain Prize.
Among the highlights: Alec Baldwin pretending to be a resurrected Mark Twain; Lorne Michaels' heartfelt speech about Fey; and Fey's acceptance speech, in which she hoped that "women are achieving at a rate these days to a point where we can stop counting what number they are things." Watch the whole thing here:
Others who appeared onstage to testify to Fey's work as a humorist included Fred Armisen, Steve Carell, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Hudson, Jane Krakowski, Steve Martin, Seth Meyers, Tracy Morgan, Amy Poehler and Betty White.
At 40, Fey is by far the youngest to win the Mark Twain Prize. Which means it's certainly not the lifetime achievement award that it has been since the Kennedy Center began bestowing annually in 1998. No, Fey is at the peak of her comedic powers. Which is also a nice thing to honor. A humorist at his or her peak.
Of course, it's also a bit awkward to have a 90-minute telecast that has much in the way of clips to show from the previous century, which was all of 10 years ago. Don't worry, Betty White. As you joked onstage, perhaps they'll get around to you just yet.
Recipients of the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize have been Richard Pryor (1998), Jonathan Winters (1999), Carl Reiner (2000), Whoopi Goldberg (2001), Bob Newhart (2002), Lily Tomlin (2003), Lorne Michaels (2004), Steve Martin (2005), Neil Simon (2006), Billy Crystal (2007), George Carlin (2008), Bill Cosby (2009), and Tina Fey (2010).