Blam-o!

Lifetime has recently been airing re-runs of The New Adventures of Old Christine, the now-canceled sitcom starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, so I've been watching all of these wonderful episodes over again and realizing just how much I love this show. The cast is uniformly great, but the real star is Julia as the frazzled mom Christine Campbell. When Old Christine started, she was the typical overworked mom, juggling work, motherhood, an ex-husband and a romantic life. It was all well and good, but it was nothing we hadn't seen before. As the show wore on, however, Christine became, how should I put this, more pathetic by the episode. She became a "part-time alcoholic," she couldn't commit to do anything, she depended on those around her for everything, her love life became increasingly awkward. But just when you would think she was too crazy to believable, you realized that she was utterly relatable. I would watch every week, failing at life, and realize, "Oh my God, I am SO going to be her when I grow up." And Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a godsend in the role because she was never afraid to amplify the crazy. Just like Christine, she has no shame and it worked so well in bringing the character to life.

I didn't hear until about an hour before airtime that Louis-Dreyfus was guest starring on this past week's live episode of 30 Rock. Needless to say, I was very excited by this news. I had no idea what role she would play, but just the thought of Christine Campbell and Liz Lemon, the two biggest losers on television, together on the same show made my head spin. Could I possibly handle all the middle-aged desperation about to be thrown my way? There was only one way to find out.

So, when the episode started and it was revealed that Julia was playing Liz Lemon during a couple random flashbacks (when it would have been impossible for Tina Fey to do so in the live show format), my heart skipped a beat. And her performance was every bit as amazing as you would think it would be. I laughed my ass off on Thursday and then spent the next morning watching Julia over and over again. After her years on The New Adventures of Old Christine, Julia Louis-Dreyfus completely understands how to play Liz Lemon's coarseness for laughs. Check it out for yourself:

Liz Lemon's first flashback:


Liz Lemon's second flashback:


Liz Lemon's second flashback (West Coast):

Brilliant. Not only do I want Julia Louis-Dreyfus to play Liz Lemon in all of her flashbacks, but I also want her to play me in my flashbacks. That would be epic.