Fans of “The Daily Show,” “Bob’s Burgers” and “30 Rock” will soon have one totally awesome thing in common: actress and comedienne Kristen Schaal. The inimitable and tiny powerhouse of funny is slated to take a guest starring role on “30 Rock,” which stars and was created by another funny lady, Tina Fey. This caps off quite an exciting year for Schaal in which she’s starred in “The Muppets” movie, has worked consistently on “The Daily Show,” and starred in the Fox Animated series “Bob’s Burgers.”
She’s even gotten an apology from Bart Simpson himself during the signature “chalkboard” bit during the intro to “The Simpsons.” Apparently having your name misspelled in the show’s credits is a quick way to get an animated mea culpa, as that is precisely the reason Bart apologized to Kristen. Not very many people have received not only the opportunity to guest star on the venerable animated show, but also a personal shout out from Bart himself.
A couple of weeks ago it was announced that Schaal will do a multi-episode story arc on NBC’s “30 Rock.” The details of the role she’ll play are being kept very close to the vest, but we know that James Marsden will also appear on the show sometime in the upcoming season. The show will be entering its sixth season in January, having been on a bit of production delay so that Tina Fey could give birth to her second daughter earlier this fall.
Schaal’s voice is distinctive, as are all of her performances. She manages to play perfectly on the sweetness that her voice implies, a sort of lighthearted and youthful intonation that often hides a much more unbalanced, if not sinister side of whomever she’s playing. On “Bob’s Burgers” she plays Bob’s youngest daughter, Louise, who also happens to be a bit of a sociopath. Well, maybe more than a bit. After all, she did dabble in voodoo and she became a ruthless art dealer this past season.
Kristen has also appeared on HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords,” and even had a small recurring role on AMC’s “Mad Men.” More recently she took a turn as the cute and quirky triceratops Trixie in Pixar’s “Toy Story 3.” Last year she added “published author” to her resume with a humor book about sex, “Sexy Book of Sexy Sex.”