Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are Hollywood powerhouses

TINA Fey and Amy Poehler are the hottest duo in Hollywood. So why does everyone want to work with them?

LAST year, nearly 20 million people watched Tina Fey and Amy Poehler host the Golden Globes - up 17 per cent from the year before.

Critics and fans raved about their performance.

The audience at the Beverly Hilton Hotel lavished them with cheers and applause.

But when the pair stepped offstage, they didn't breathe a sigh of relief or even allow themselves a quick pat on the back.

"I remember standing backstage and they come off, and they're talking to each other and it looks like two friends gossiping," recalls Paul Telegdy, NBC's president of alternative and late night programming. "And then I heard this conversation and it was like, 'Well, if we do this again, we'll do it this way.'

"It was about how it could have been better," he says. "I just thought that could encapsulate the understanding of what makes them special. They haven't drifted off into la-la land as people. They're hardworking, down-to-earth."

Tina Fey, left, and Amy Poehler on stage during the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 13, 2013.

Since Fey and Poehler burst on the scene in 1997 and 2001, respectively, on Saturday Night Live, they've become Hollywood powerhouses. The duo signed a reportedly six-figure deal to return as hosts of the Globes for another two years - and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Both Fey and Poehler have four-year deals with NBC, and NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke confirms the network has already picked up 13 episodes of a series Fey is writing with Robert Carlock (30 Rock showrunner) starring Ellie Kemper (The Office). Fey is also supervising on a pilot by Matt Hubbard (30 Rock) that has been picked up by Fox.

On the Poehler side, NBC has picked up Welcome to Sweden, a half-hour comedy series the comedian and Parks and Recreation star created with her brother, Greg Poehler, that's scheduled to air this summer. And Poehler is executive-producing the Comedy Central series Broad City, premiering Jan. 22.

"The way they both manage writers and the teams around them is a reflection of a really inclusive process," Salke says. "So, they've built a lot of other careers that have come up underneath them, and I think they'll continue to do that."

Broad City stars Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer met in New York's Upright Citizen's Brigade comedy troupe, where Poehler got her feet wet in the late 1990s. They invited Poehler to appear in a guest spot on their Web series, and, after that went well, they went out on a limb and asked her to executive produce their TV show.

"The fact that Amy is a part of this show and believes in this show gives us a sense of, 'Oh, this show is good,' " says Jacobson. "I think we both feel really great and confident about the show and did about the Web series, but when Amy was like, 'I do, too.' It was like, 'Whoa, maybe it's not just us.'"

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in scene from film ''Baby Mama''.

And it's not just TV what bears the creative marks of Fey and Poehler.

Fey's memoir, Bossypants, has sold more than 2 million copies. Poehler will follow in her footsteps with her own book - she signed with Harper Collins imprint It Books for an "an illustrated, nonlinear diary full of humour and honesty and brimming with true stories, fictional anecdotes and life lessons" that's due out this year.

While neither 30 Rock nor Parks and Recreation were ratings powerhouses for NBC, Salke points to the pair's other projects and insists everything must be taken into account when considering their appeal.

In its opening weekend, Baby Mama, the duo's only co-headlined movie, grossed more than $17 million.

So, since people can't get enough of Poehler and Fey partnered, will we ever see a prime-time show featuring the comic pair?

"I've got a number of e-mails that I describe as the world's most obvious e-mail," Telegdy laughs. "It was amazing how many people felt they needed to point out that a show with Amy and Tina would be a good idea. I'm like, thank you, Captain Obvious docking his ship.

"I'm sure they know that the offer is there," he says. "They are masters of their own destiny where that's concerned.

"And we're just really happy to be a part of the process."

This article originally appeared in the New York Post.