Tina Fey and SNL do it again with VP debate spoof
By Jimmy Orr | 10.05.08
As is becoming the custom every weekend, Tina Fey turns into Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and the ratings take off.
It happened again last night. But could they top last week’s “I’d like to use a lifeline” gag?
Well, the writers proved that another sequel could produce hilarious results anyway. The late night comedy show poked fun at Palin’s performance during Thursday night’s debate and took aim at Joe Biden as well. They even parodied the moderator of the debate, Gwen Ifill.
“Mavericky”
Eight years ago, SNL coined the term “strategery” when spoofing then-candidate George W. Bush.
Last night, in lampooning the nauseatingly overused term “maverick,” they turned it into a verb when Palin (Fey) was asked about climate change.
“Gwen, we don’t know if this climate change hoozie-what’s-it is man made or if it’s just a natural part of the ‘End of Days,’” she said. “But I’m not gonna talk about that. I would like to talk about taxes, because with Barack Obama, you’re gonna be paying higher taxes. But not with me and my fellow maverick. We are not afraid to get maverick-y in there and ruffle feathers and not got to allow that. And also, too, the great Ronald Reagan.”
Fact-check
How close to that was her actual statement on Thursday night? Well, they packed a lot into that paragraph. Palin’s announcement that she would answer only the questions she wanted to, her lapses into pre-set talking points jargon, and of course the frequent use of the world ‘maverick.’
Hardscrabble
Joe Biden frequently uses the word “Scranton” - as in his birthplace in Pennsylvania. He drops the Scranton name often. Three times, in fact, during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
He does it to remind voters that he’s not a Washington insider (despite his 35 years of continuous service as a U.S. Senator). He also does it to make sure everyone knows that he’s an “average Joe.”
In poking fun at the constant reminder, SNL produced a clip unlikely to be featured on Scranton’s Chamber of Commerce website.
“I come from Scranton, Pennsylvania and that’s as hardscrabble a place as you’re gonna find,” he said. “I’ll show you around some time and you’ll see. It’s a hellhole. An absolute jerkwater of a town. You couldn’t stand to spend a weekend there. It is just an awful, awful sad place filled with sad desperate people with no ambition. Nobody, and I mean nobody, but me has ever come out of that place. It’s a genetic cesspool. So don’t be telling me that I’m part of the Washington elite because I come from the absolute worst place on Earth: Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Ifill
Queen Latifah played the part of Gwen Ifill - the moderator who took flak from some conservative groups for not recusing herself from the debate because she is writing a book on black politicians including Barack Obama.
“As moderator, I will not ask any follow-up questions beyond ‘do you agree?’ or ‘your response?’ so as not to appear biased for Barack Obama in light of my new book ‘The Breakthrough: Politics of Race in the Age of Obama,’ coming out on inauguration day and available for pre-order on Amazon.com,” she said.
Best moment?
The best comedic moments are always up for debate. Although Fey’s drop-dead impersonation of Palin is hysterical, you have to hand it to Jason Sudeikis’ impersonation of Biden for an exaggerated but right-on parody of Biden’s schizophrenic feelings toward McCain.
In the actual debate, and at many campaign stops, right before Biden insults McCain he drops in a “I love John McCain, but…” line. Sudeikis poured it on.
“Look, I love John McCain,” he began. “He is one of my dearest friends. But at the same time, he’s also dangerously unbalanced. I mean, let’s be frank, John McCain - and again, this is a man I would take a bullet for - is bad at his job and mentally unstable. As my mother would say, ‘God love him, but he’s a raging maniac. And a dear, dear friend.”
No mas
Sadly, Tina Fey will not be playing the part of Sarah Palin next week as the show is taking a week off. But three prime-time “Weekend Update” specials have been scheduled during the month of October beginning this Thursday at 9:30pm (ET).
Here’s the link to last night’s show.
<< Palin: Obama “palling around with terrorists” | MainComments
2. newton11 | 10.05.08
I think the fabulous Tina Fey is in danger of becoming hostage to the NBC ratings war.
Back light years ago during the primaries “B—- is the new black” and “Senator Obama, would you like another cushion” were groundbreaking SNL parodies because at that point no one had questioned the obvious bias in news coverage between Hillary and Barack. The first Palin/Hillary parody was also very cool.
But the debate parody said nothing we hadn’t already heard umpteen times on the national news.
And to tell the truth the real Sarah Palin is a much better act!
3. Donna Hughes | 10.05.08
That’s the trouble - Palin would be OK if she were a comedy act, instead of a terrible reality. I watch with morbid fascination to think that she is a serious VP candidate. Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the american people.
5. J Conner | 10.05.08
Gov Palin is cute and perky. I find that I’m sick and tired of cute and perky.
6. 2erudite4u | 10.05.08
Is it true that Tina Fey has done more public interviews about playing the VP candidate, than the actual VP candidate Sarah Palin has done during this campaign?
7. tod | 10.05.08
Palin = troopergate
McCain = he cheated on his ex-wife (6 years)
Palin, McCain they are ready to cheat on American people four more years..
8. Audrey Butcher | 10.05.08
I hate to think of President Palin and her refusal to answer Gwen Ifflin’s questions running our country. Surely there is at least one Republican woman, me, for instance, who could answer those questions. Alas.
9. Tom | 10.05.08
There is nothing left that is not either liberal or conservative. No one will tell you the facts any more. I found it interesting that SNL continued to make Palin to sound completely off the wall and the Bidden’s character was only made to say Scanton numerous times. When the Bidden character did make a semi crack toward Obama, no one laughed. What does that tell you about the focus of the show? I just want the facts from the media not what the reporter thinks is the reason. Let me decide for a change. I switched over to Mad TV and they had plenty to laugh at without having to focus on either side of the aisle.
Tom
10. Martuni | 10.05.08
Yes, many more. And she answered questions, actually answered the questions that were asked her.
11. Kama Sutra | 10.05.08
A nation who votes for a shallow politician such as Sarah Palin will deserve the government that they will get. The last 8 years of George W. will be pale in contrast to an administration with a VP such as Sarah Palin.
13. BoRevNet | 10.05.08
“Last night, in lampooning the nauseatingly overused term “maverick,” they turned it into a verb when Palin (Fey) was asked about climate change.”
Um, “maverick-y” is not a verb in this context.
Tina Fey’s portrayal is spot-on, BTW.
14. Andrew O. | 10.05.08
I have to say that I enjoyed the SNL Palin/Biden debate — it was a balanced spoof on all three participants. And Tina Fey has found the role of her life.
However, the other SNL political skit (on the bailout, featuring Bush, Pelosi, Frank and Soros) is the one worth mentioning. And this for the following reasons:
1. It ACTUALLY places the mortgage bubble and current financial mess squarely at the feet of the Democrats in Congress and ridicules their attempts to blame the Bush administration for what clearly has their fingerprints and DNA all over it.
2. It unintentionally succeeds in demonstrating the liberal bias of the mainstream media. While this evening the Palin/Biden debate spoof has over 600 hits on GoogleNews, the SNL bailout skit has one (on NewsBusters).
That’s proof for me that there is a massive and deliberate coverup of the Freddie/Freddie/ACORN/Democrats/Obama connection. Let’s ignore the truth and hope no one notices!
The system and ideology behind the mortgage crisis is still in place, and those who created the mess are in total and complete denial, as their leader is poised to take the White House. Electing Obama will be like making the fox with feathers in his mouth king of the coop.
Blame BUSH for anything you want… but thank the Dems for the latest financial crisis. It’s their very own social engineering pet project gone horribly wrong!
15. jerry | 10.05.08
Palin has a track record of fighting the big boys (including oil) as Governor. Why would she not continue?
Obama has a track record of Acorn, Rev Wright (racist and rabble rouser), Bill Ayers (bomber/terrorist)and so many others. Why would he not continue?
16. Mike | 10.05.08
Since when is a comedy show “the media”? Someone’s been listening to the rants of Limbaugh and Hannity and is starting to believe the rhetoric. The Daily Show, the Colbert Report, MadTV, SNL, none of these are presenting “news” - sometimes they make jokes about headline news, that does not make them “news” shows. Oh, and the actors on these shows.. not “reporters”.
Its also very sad that the real news programs are behaving like the comedic parodies that these shows present rather than presenting real news. Over-the-top reporters, all glitz and graphics, catchy headlines with no substance, and celeb gossip dominate what’s supposed to be real “news”.
17. dom | 10.05.08
As someone voting McCain/Palin in November, I still found Tina Fey’s parody of Sarah Palin comedic brilliance.
I also found the Biden/Ifill parodies on the same level.
What also cracked me up was the segment later in the show that spoofed Pelosi and Frank, and the Wall Street Bailout.
Obama supporters, being self- and other-censoring liberals, unable or more so, unwilling to critically assess faults of their OWN guy, probably only took note of Fey and Palin. The rest of the world may have watched the whole show and noted the ample parody material provided by Obamapelosifrank.
That was also the case in a previous Fey-headlining SNL episode, where a segment of the show spoofed the small-world clueless elitism of Manhattan reporters about to be sent to Alaska to cover Palin. One reporter confidently insists a shotgun is a 357 magnum and another reporter is unable to get past the possibility of polar bear attack.
The writers on SNL know what’s up overall.
Dems still got the blinders on when it comes to Palin and what she represents. And they are whistling through the graveyard with the Palin bashing and trash-talking. They won’t even know what hit them in November when Obama comes up short. Hillary was thrown under a bus for Obama, then Obama ends up falling short — complete implosion of the democratic party, a la Kerry, a la Gore.
19. Johnny McSame | 10.05.08
Can I vote for Tina Fey? She’ll make a better veep than Pathetic Palin.
21. Bonnie Jernagan | 10.06.08
Sarah Palin needs to dye her hair blonde. She definately fits the discription “Dumb Blonde” and to think she could be a heart beat away from running our country. Tina Fey you are awesome. Tina could probably do a better job as VP
22. Alwin | 10.06.08
Remember, Palin is not running for vice-president but for president - That is the primary function of the vice-president, to take the president’s place if he is unable to.
My impression of the “debate” - i.e. scripted performance - (1) We already know Palin can follow a script: she read sports news on the air, (2) she acted like a girl running for president of her high school’s student council.
And today she’s saying, Obama isn’t “a white person like us”.
23. dirty setup | 10.06.08
Tina Fey or SNL does that to every politician and Palin is no exception. The media is leaning toward Obama-Biden ticket and they forget that Obama is not even qualified to be vice president. Biden may be qualified to be president but not Obama. How could that happen?
24. John McCain | 10.06.08
Is there something wrong with me? But I don’t think Sarah Palin is even remotely attractive, pretty, cute or any other aesthetically pleasing epithet that you’d wish to apply. Not that it is relevant for the VP job but it would help mitigate her unfathomable stupidity. God if her ticket wins the election I may have to move to Greenland, not too close to Alaska. New Zealand instead.
25. Dr Spike | 10.06.08
Obama is known as a black muslim. Nothing is wrong with being a muslim but when you are a president, people may think that you don’t appreciate american values. They may also think that your vision is different and extreme. I don’t blame voters for that concern!
26. Steve Smith | 10.06.08
The SNL skits are just a reflection of reality and what everyone thinks or knows. I have always had a great deal of respect for Senator McCain. But it’s pretty clear that he has sold his soul to win this race. Selecting Palin as VP, given his age and health, was NOT putting America first. And the more I research the Keating Five issue, the more it seem that McCain was just another Duke Cunningham, except McCain was not prosecuted.
27. mynameis | 10.06.08
I must say, Queen Latifah is quite a woman. I have my hands full (14 years) with a red-headed fireball of a woman whom I would never and have never cheated on, but I must give credit where credit is due. Ms. Latifah, you’re quite a woman.
28. amy | 10.06.08
Steve Smith, that’s it in a nut shell. Mccain choice of palin was an utterly cynical choice at best and definitely a bad choice. He gambled. But I don’t want to see my president gamble with the nation’s stakes especially with the economy being so fragile. Nor do I want to see him gamble with our military or our men and women in the army
I was undecided before Mccain’s palin choice. I remained undecided after the Republican convention, but the last few weeks has decided it for me. It’s OBAMA/BIDEN. Mccain, by choosing Palin tells me he is as unfit for office as Palin.
29. stuart | 10.06.08
“Obama is known as a black muslim.”
Obama is known by WHOM as a black muslim? Dumb Fox News viewers such as yourself don’t count.
“Nothing is wrong with being a muslim but when you are a president, people may think that you don’t appreciate american values.”
Do you not see the contradiction in that statement? You should put more effort into covering up your bigoted view of muslims. Imagine someone saying the same thing you did, publicly, about Jews (”Nothing wrong with being a Jew but when you are a president, people may think you don’t appreciate american values.”). Would that be a nice thing to say? Cover your mouth chump.
30. Keith | 10.06.08
Dr Spike said: “Obama is known as a black muslim.”
Only by people who are scurrilously trying to discredit him. Half of that statement is true, Dr Spike. The trouble is, anyone who thinks Sarah Palin has the necessary qualities to be president may struggle to figure out which half.
31. maggie | 10.06.08
16. Mike THANK YOU for pointing out what I thought was obvious until I read this forum; SNL is a *comedy* program, not a news show. Daily Show even says out loud that it’s a *fake news* show. As is the Colbert Report.
There seems to be a growing number of people who actually believe these programs are some kind of evidence of the uberleft-leaning tendencies of American media. I think it’s funny they get this idea from talk radio.
33. dave | 10.06.08
Amy - It’s hard for me to believe anyone voting for Obama/Biden EVER seriously thought about voting for McCain…nice try, though.
Obama’s choice of Biden was more cynical than McCain’s choice of Palin…Obama clearly chose Biden because Obama has no foreign policy experience to speak of, and Biden was supposed to shore up that weakness. I don’t think Obama figured that Biden would be a walking gaffe machine, though, to include openly disagreeing with some of Obama’s stated policy positions….like on clean coal technology, bailing out AIG, etc.
McCain, on the other hand, is known and respected in Congress as having a solid reputation both on foreign policy and domestic issues…he didn’t need to choose a VP candidate to shore up any weaknesses, so he chose the one he thought best fit his own personal world view…someone who shared his passion for government and ethics reform, smaller government, low taxes, a strong national defense, etc. Palin was a perfect fit.
If there was a cynical VP choice, it was Obama’s choice - not McCain’s.
34. Tazz | 10.06.08
DEMS ARE THE CAUSE OF THE FINACIAL CRISIS! WAKE UP YOU MORONS AND SMELL THE COFFEE. LAMBS LED TO THE SLAUGHTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
35. Ang | 10.06.08
Tina Fey makes a better Sarah Palin than Sarah Palin does. She’s spot-on!
The FIRST definition of maverick is: “An unbranded range animal, especially a calf that has become separated from its mother, traditionally considered the property of the first person who brands it.”
Really.
36. Tom | 10.06.08
So the Dems are the cause of the financial crisis? Well, let me put it this way - ever since the Great Liar (Reagan) began to bust unions, spend mindlessly and borrow continuously and pump his foolish notions of biz-can-do-no-wrong into our bloodstream, our entire country has been a collision course with reality.
I doubt if there was much the Dems could do, and as long as Bush held the 9/11 card, no one was able to stem the “patriotic” tide sweeping intelligence out of the door. We’re all complicit - we’ve all closed our eyes to the growing scarcity of oil, we’ve closed our eyes as long as we could put gas in our SUVs and drive, and we closed our eyes to the credit craziness because we all enjoyed buying more and bigger.
Who’s the cause?
We all have to raise our hands, but if there are real villains here, it’s the neo-cons like Wolfowitz and Cheney, Reagan and Bush - fascists really, who, in conjunction with the religious right, would quickly and skillfully dismantle the Constitution to protect their wealth and expand the American Empire. They are enemies of the State.
It happened in Germany and Italy, and it’s potential here is significant. The McPalin ticket is incredibly dangerous, and the Neo-Cons are counting on McCain’s illness or death so that Sorry Palin could ascend; she’d be putty in their hands, if not the chief architect of a new society looking strangely like Berlin 1936.
37. Kev | 10.06.08
“Obama is known as a black muslim.”
Do you guys see the hilarious irony of your comments? You can’t make up your minds between calling him a radical Muslim, or a devoted Christian who has been preached to by the Reverend Wright for ~20 years! The absurd level of stupidity it takes to assume both of these things are true is off the charts. The long and short of it is, it’s all BS and you’ll say whatever you can to cover up your blind conservative obedience. Wake up and think about the issues at stake here, beyond YOU not wanting a black man in the WHITE House.
38. Robert | 10.06.08
Dr Spike:
Sarah Palin is known as a vindictive, cliche-spouting, moonbat and that may affect her election chances. At least that comment is more closely tied to reality than your statement that Obama is a muslim.
39. Robert | 10.06.08
Dave:
McCain is also a compulsive gambler - as his campaign has shown. I do not want him gambling with my country.
40. Anne | 10.06.08
SNL and Tina Fey should be praying for a McCain/Palin victory!! They have done such a great job with their dead-on impersonation of Palin. They could have 4 more years of great ratings! If Obama wins, how boring the show will be again!!
41. Reed Ehr | 10.06.08
The McCain camp is getting desperate. Don’t they know Hillary played the Wright and Ayers card already—and lost. Obama, folks, is a Christian (…doggone it)! And the antics of his pastor cant compare to the speaking in tongues, fundamentalist evangelism of Palin’s church (…gosh darnit)!
McPalin is a gimmick and here’s why:
1.McCain the maverick just voted for a bill full of porkbarrel spending provisions and no one is talking about it. 2. Palin’s hubby the fisherking has been subpeonaned in troopergate and several Alaska elected are testifying against her. 3. Tina Fey is better than Palin at being Palin.
So which campaign is having image problems here?
Obama/Biden ‘08…Real Change (…you betcha, and their mavericky too…doggone it!)
42. Jessie Jackson | 10.06.08
It seems a little biased to me. I guess Obama spoofs are out of the question. He’s just too serious a character to make fun of.
43. Jeanne | 10.06.08
No. 25 response
Please, did I just read that Obama is a Muslim? There really should be a test administered prior to voter registration.
45. Tony C | 10.06.08
A) Obama is not muslim
B) Even if he were a Muslim, that should not have any bearing on his competency of being President
C) The assumption that “he would be extreme” is indicative of a close minded person who thinks that they have “the right/one true religion” and does not realize that Christians are, by no means, the majority of the population.
If anything, even if Obama were Muslim (which he is not) and since he would have to appease all of you people who insist on a Christian president in what is allegedly a government where church and state are separate, he would probably over compensate and be truer to the ideals of the Founding Fathers.
It would be pretty ironic for those people who insisted on a stronger Christian presence in our Government, to turn around and plead the First Amend./Establishment Clause/Separation of Church and State if a Muslim president were elected.
Those sort of people are the sort that give Christians a bad reputation and are responsible for the “Hypocritical Christian” persona.
46. Dave King | 10.06.08
Hey there! Let’s get folksy…
Believe it or not, I have no TV! Could, but don’t. I had to go to the internet to see SNL , or was it the real thing, to get a fix on all the fuss. Ya know, I had been having sum trouble, not knowing if somebody were impersonating her, or was I gettin the real deal. Ah, I was, but ya coulda fooled me. You take care now, and be sure to vote. Can’t let that draft dodgin’ terrorist sympathizin’ commie in a suit sour on four more years!
Thank you, and I will now take questions from Ted Stevens.
DTK
47. Rodney | 10.06.08
The SNL parody works best when it raises the issues that the journalists are afraid to comment on. Simply having Tina Fey repeat the words of Palin is not funny unless it exposes a contradiction or truth. The latest Palin parodies aren’t doing it. SNL should make fun of the voters that believe any slime that the McCain team now produces and Palin repeats with a smile.
48. gary wilson | 10.06.08
Well, gosh darn it, I think sarah there is just as cute as a bug’s ear, don’t - cha know! I betcha she’s about as dumb as a big bag of Alaskan rocks, but yesseree, she sure as the devil is just a cutie! And deserves to be in the White House.. as maybe head of house keeping services!
49. Sue | 10.06.08
I finally enjoyed watching SNL. They did a “fare & balanced” skit w/the C-Span bailout (which is true). However they have now gone back down in my book since you can’t find that video anyplace. Even on their own website when you click it you get “video not found”. Huh - why, because the truth hurts if your a Democrat? Bunch of media hypocrites.
50. Juliette | 10.07.08
This post does not mention the much better sketch aired on Oct. 4th SNL. “CSPAN the bail out.” I went to SNL’s web-site archives for Oct. 4th but the sketch had been removed. Blog after blog on the site demonstrated the angry voices of SNL fans decrying censorship on behalf of SNL. Questioning the democrat’s role in the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac disaster and even taking on George Soros was sure gutsy of SNL. But unfortunatly for free speech SNL’s courage was surpassed by their fear of challenging The One!.
Obama is already CHEnging America. This kind of cencorship is right out of comminist N. Korea.
51. laura | 10.07.08
it is entertaining to see how threatened the feminazi crowd is by Sarah Palin.
She would undoubtedly be more popular if she were a tree hugging lesbian who aborted her children and smuggled her son across the Canadian border to avoid going to Iraq, and forcing her teenage daughter to have a ’safe & legal’ abortion.
52. jenny | 10.07.08
to tode who talked about mccain cheating on his wife, what about clinton and his affair while IN the white house!
53. Kev | 10.07.08
To Jenny, who responded to Tod:
What about it? Does Clinton cheating on his wife somehow make McCain doing the same thing more acceptable? Clinton was nearly removed from office for this, so I suppose it makes sense that John McCain should not be elected in the first place.
And, in case you’ve forgotten: John McCain is running against Barack Obama - who, to our knowledge, has NEVER cheated on his wife. But hey, those are just VALUES, right?
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. Sylvia A | 10.05.08
Tina Fey deserves a place of honor at Barack Obama’s inaugural ceremonies.