Today in TV History: Alison Brie, Destined to Star in Everything Good, Was Born

Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone. 

IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: December 29, 1982

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: One of the underrated ways in which the modern era of deregulated television has been an improvement is that good actors don’t have to necessarily be tied to simply one TV show. Laurence Fishburne can do Blackish and Hannibal in the same year, for example, because production schedules and air dates and episode counts aren’t all the same.

A major beneficiary of this trend has been Alison Brie, who was able to star on Community and be a major guest star on Mad Men throughout the run of both shows. It was a double-platform that served her career very well. She’s now started to be cast in feature films, and in my own opinion there are few romantic-comedy actresses who are more promising for the genre’s future. Look at her in a movie like The Five-Year Engagement, where she is not the main star, and Sleeping with Other People, where she is. She’s a star.

Still and all, it’s kind of funny that Brie ended up so good at the rom-com stuff, since her Trudy Campbell was always so decidedly un-romantic. That’s why that scene where Pete and Trudy do the Charleston at Roger’s Kentucky Derby party — it was such an unexpected burst of rom-com goofiness.

Brie continues to remain at the forefront of TV culture. Community and Mad Men may have both ended, but Brie’s unmistakable voice can be heard in Bojack Horseman, where her romantic comedy chops are once again being put to great use. The best thing about Bojack Horseman is that it can be such an absurd creation on the surface and have such real emotional anchors to it, and Brie’s voice work is a huge part of that. It’s a big reason she’s one of our faves.

[You can stream Bojack Horseman on Netflix.]