New York Governor not laughing at Saturday Night Live skit
By Jimmy Orr | 12.15.08
The late night comedy show that did those dead on impersonations of Sarah Palin? Funny during the campaign, but at least one high-profile politician isn’t laughing now.
Seems that New York Governor David Paterson doesn’t appreciate Saturday Night Live’s treatment of him. Before you label him a spoilsport, this isn’t like Mark Wahlberg’s complaint. He didn’t like it when the writers had a doofus-like Wahlberg impersonator talking to goats.
The Governor could have a legitimate concern. His backers say the show lampooned his disability.
Too far?
Paterson is legally blind. And Fred Armisen (who also impersonates Barack Obama) portrayed him to be confused, bumbling, and not knowing which camera to look at.
Further, when Armisen held a chart — more stereotypical humor: He held it upside down.
In the skit Armisen discussed his plans to replace Senator Hillary Clinton. The qualifications?
“Whoever is appointed senator must — like me — be caught totally off guard and be comically unprepared to take office,” he said. “Come on, I’m a blind man who loves cocaine who was suddenly appointed governor of New York. My life is an actual plot from a Richard Pryor movie.”
Not funny
The Governor’s office put a statement out condemning the portrayal.
“The governor engages in humor all the time, and he can certainly take a joke,” said a spokeswoman. “However, this particular ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit unfortunately chose to ridicule people with physical disabilities and imply that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with serious responsibilities.
“The governor is sure that Saturday Night Live with all of its talent can find a way to be funny without being offensive,” she said.
Stereotypes
The National Federation of the Blind wasn’t appreciative of the skit either.
“The biggest problem faced by blind people is not blindness itself, but the stereotypes held by the general public,” a spokesman said in a statement. “The idea that blind people are incapable of the simplest tasks and are perpetually disoriented and befuddled is absolutely wrong.”
The Gov
How about Governor Paterson himself?
“I can take a joke,” he told the New York Daily News. “But only 37% of disabled people are working and I’m afraid that that kind of third-grade humor certainly adds to this atmosphere.
“Let’s just say I don’t think it helped,” he said.
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2. Karen J | 12.15.08
This is unfortunate. There is nothing funny about being legally blind. And, less funny making a legally blind or blind person appear stupid. Governor Paterson had to overcome a lot of obstacles to reach his level of achievement. What’s next, skits about people who suffer from AIDS?
3. joe average | 12.15.08
there’s really no reason to leave a comment here, since the gov. won’t be able to read it.
hah! that’s a joke! lighten up, gov. if you can’t laugh at yourself who can you laugh at.
4. border | 12.15.08
yeah, better that SNL stay away from things such as religion, disabilities, race, bias, etc… go up in humor, not down.
5. luke bohannon | 12.15.08
yeah, probably crosses the line between funny and just plain insensitive. certainly, we all have to be able to laugh at our foibles, but if you’re going to make fun of a person’s disability, you’d better be much more clever and creative (holding the sign upside down, for pete’s sake!) or you just sound like third graders picking on the disabled kid.
7. Vatar | 12.15.08
“Come on, I’m a blind man who loves cocaine who was suddenly appointed governor of New York. My life is an actual plot from a Richard Pryor movie.”
Yes, the blind part is clearly the shocking part of that statement…
8. gene | 12.15.08
that is really funny, to all you who are offended;how do I say this nicely………….shut up, and get a life
10. Winston Wolf | 12.15.08
SNL made fun of Palin’s intellectual disabilities… And she didn’t complain about that. How is this any different? Grow up Dave.
Nothing they say about you will ever top the Palin Rap skit. Get over it.
11. skip | 12.15.08
There’s a difference betweeen not being able to take a joke and calling people out on bad behavior - SNL was just wrong in this case, which doesn’t mean that satire isn’t allowed, just that you have to know where the line is. You know all those little kids falling off bikes and so forth on those home video shows - all really funny when you see them walk away. What if you’d heard the kid fell down and was permanently disabled? Not so funny. Context matters.
12. dtschuck | 12.15.08
They complained about the disability insult, but I’m guessin’ it was the reference to cocaine that probably stung. If there is some factual background for the reference to the candy, that would explain the noses being out of joint (oops…different type of joint).
13. Bill Lathan | 12.15.08
SNL should be removed from the NBC program line up and NBC should be heavily fined by the FCC for their offensive depiction of handicapped person. I was totally out of line. If ANY other broadcast company and ANY other broadcast personality were to do a similar skit, they would already have been removed from the on air lineup. In fact, similar actions by others have resulted in heavy fines and the removal of the culprit from the air. If NBC isn’t sensitive enough to do this themselves then the FCC should take care of the matter from them.
14. Susie Knowitall | 12.15.08
This is the same governor who says he wants to levy an obesity tax and also threatening to require Indian retailers to collect taxes on sales to non-Indians by signing into law a bill passed earlier this year by the Legislature?
Yeahhhhh … he’s Mister Sensitivity.
15. Dan | 12.15.08
The democrats just can’t take it! When Palin was getting blasted by Tina Fey (giving SNL a 17 year ratings boost) everything was fine and dandy. Now when it’s a spoiled brat’s turn, I mean a democrat’s turn, then it isn’t so funny all of a sudden right?
Using his handicap card as a way to make him untouchable in the media is a joke. Kinda like the way Obama used his black card to avoid media scrutiny and mockery. Look, the Democrats created media mockery of politicians, now they have to live with the consequences.
Oh, the next 4 years is gonna be great! Good luck dumbocrats!
16. Robert Milne | 12.15.08
I don’t think that SNL should be allowed to influence elections by lampooning our leaders. Cheap shots are the hallmark of someone who has nothing to say. No wonder America loses pride and respect while SNL rakes in profits and keeps its ratings. The joke is on America thanks to them. Yuk it up, guys.
17. ritagee | 12.15.08
Never seen SNL and never will having read this! From what I read here it sounds as if SNL is supposed to be a comedy program? Is there a writer’s strike that would cause a program to sink to gutterscripts?
19. Winston Wolf | 12.15.08
Ok Skip,
“Feelings matter”.
Vator had it right… Dave isn’t mad about the blind part, he’s angry about all the other **** they called him out on. lolz.
20. David | 12.15.08
Sara Palin was able to handle a lot more crap from SNL than this one time skit about this governor!!! Surprised he didn’t pull the race card….
21. rocky | 12.15.08
the governor is a blind man who loves concaine so what’s the big deal. sarah palin was a governor who has right wing thinking and got stage fright with in a couple of interviews. both are funny and sarah has the chutpah to go on set and laugh it off. pretty soon the n.y. governor will say it is racist.
22. Jimbo | 12.15.08
SNL hasn’t been terribly funny in a long time, but it’s certainly not because they’re taking TOO MANY risks with their comedy. It’s because they are just repeating the same uninspired drivel over and over. Nothing is funny if you’ve seen it 200 times (other than unsuspecting people being struck violently in the nuts). That said, the line about the Governor being a living Richard Pryor movie was pretty hilarious. Plus, if we have to stop mocking the blind (no more Helen Keller jokes?!) then what’s next? Will we also have to start respecting the obese, or even worse… women!?!
23. festinog | 12.15.08
I don’t see what the problem is. The bloke’s blind, right? So he probably didn’t even see the sketch… 
24. backbeat | 12.15.08
If you cannot lampoon a person AS THEY ARE, versus ignoring the realities of physical limitations [see Bob Dole or John McCain’s impersonations on SNL], you leave them outside what belongs in comedy. Lighten up and smile, for god’s sake.
25. jack | 12.15.08
I just want to point out one thing:
When SNL made fun of Sarah Palin and John Mccain for various things
(Where Palin lived, her accent, Mccains age, etc.) no one complained…I understand that Gov. Patterson is legally blind…but as far as I am concerned all public figures are open to ridicule on SNL…and if anything they should be doing more skits concerning politicians that are more over the top (Obama and his smoking lol) I dont care who you are or what disability you have, SNL is not a serious forum like the WSJ NYT BBC etc etc…people need to take it with a grain of salt.
26. reddog | 12.15.08
Must be east coast elitist humor. I’m sure the rest of the country sides the governor.
27. Tim B | 12.15.08
“SNL made fun of Palin’s intellectual disabilities… And she didn’t complain about that. How is this any different?”
Calling Palin intellectually disabled is an insult to all those with true intellectual disabilities. Blindness isn’t a choice; ignorance is.
As for the skit, I laughed when I saw it but still thought it was uninspired and juvenile. Does anyone actually hold SNL up to any standards? Maybe that’s the real problem here.
28. Mike | 12.15.08
This is just bad comedy and uncreative. Its good to have a sense of humor, but don’t make fun of the fact that the guy is blind. That’s pretty low. Bad writing and not well thought out.
29. matt | 12.15.08
These are all very good comments BUT as always comedy is in the EYE(s) of the beholder.
30. Joe the American | 12.15.08
90% of this skit was about lampooning Paterson for his ineptness and bumbling as a politician. The NY crowd understood the dead-on impersonation and how Paterson, though blind, is still clueless as to what he is doing…whether he can see or not. He was lost literally on stage as he is in real life.
31. Urjo | 12.15.08
I agree with (Karen J)it is unfortunate that people’s standards including SNL have gone down so low that they think such is funny. We live in the world that we live in; do we have options???
32. Nic | 12.15.08
If you don’t like the jokes on SNL, then don’t watch it! The biggest problem with America is the pathetic losers that will complain and make law suits from just about anything. Deal with it.
33. roddy | 12.15.08
All public officials are fodder for ridicule. If you can’t take it, find a new job.
35. Kevin | 12.15.08
If hes legally blind how can he, personally, be offended if he is not able to take the entire skit in by himself. someone else would have to explain the visuals to him. someone that is obviously not blind, but somehow still offended by a blind joke. so you have one insecure person fueling the insecurities of another. its like a bad game of telephone. “and he can certainly take a joke”……umm he obviously, and certainly cannot. if you are so worried about portraying that working 37% of disabled people in a positive way, stop being such an insecure cry baby.
36. Jack Badlander | 12.15.08
Have we really become this thin-skinned. Is there nothing more important to worry about in the world?
Give me a break.
37. Tom | 12.15.08
The humor about his blindness is unfortunate. I guess the gov accepts the references to his bumbling and cocaine use………..
38. Maggie B. | 12.15.08
I saw the skit. It was tasteless and stupid and not funny. Most of the time SNL is extremely lame.
39. Jim | 12.15.08
SNL - Crossing the line since 1975. Love it! My guess is that most of the haters never actually watched the show (no pun intended).
40. tedster007 | 12.15.08
Typical Democratic, liberal ****. Everything is funny until the joke is on them. How about some good old Teddy Kennedy Chapaquidic skits… or is being a drunk, cheating philanderer who gave new dimension to the technique of water-boarding a disability.
41. Will | 12.15.08
I think its funny. Clearly SNL did as well…..thats why they aired it. The ability to say what you want is a big part of what makes this country great. I am sorry to read comments declaring that the show should be banned and the network fined as a result of making fun a politician’s disabilities.
43. Eric | 12.15.08
SNL made fun of another blind man to great effect; remember when Stevie Wonder was trying to hit those tennis balls, while I think it was Piscopo was photographing him? Then it was Stevie’s turn to use the camera! *click* (sky), *click* (empty area of tennis court), *click* (thumb on lens): Too funny.
44. FastMikie McCafferty | 12.15.08
I don’t get it. How’d the governor know it wasn’t funny if he didn’t (can’t) see the skit? Did somebody read it to him? (If so, maybe THEY can’t tell a joke!) Was it broadcast in braille?
45. Joe | 12.15.08
It’s a fact he was caught off-guard because of the previous governor’s sex scandal. The first thing he did after stepping up to replace the position as governor is to announce he cheated on his wife. I guess the other confession he made is that he likes coccaine. It’s a coincidence that he’s blind. You can’t make this stuff up. Real life is as comedic and ironic as the skit.
47. Jerry | 12.15.08
Let’s see. It’s ok to make a sighted person appear to be a bumbling idiot, such as Sarah Palin, but you can’t treat with humor some one who is sightless. Lighten up with the PC ****. A joke is a joke. Even if done in poor taste we need not take offense. The truly offensive things are when someone tells others the truth about you. We all have baggage we would like to stay hidden. But comedy and parody are things that can bring a smile to otherwise harmful comments. Comedians have been bashing every known politician for ages. Just because the govenor has a handicap, doesn’t make him exempt. We can’t talk about Brack because he’s black. Pretty soon we had just as well all throw comedy out the door and become rigid and stiff. Lets all laugh at ourselves. After all we are good fodder for comics if they only knew us. Better to laugh than mope around all of our lives because we think life is just too cruel to live. Get over it America, let’s learn to laugh again.
48. majorpain | 12.15.08
Tim B, You watch SNL, probably one of the least intellectual shows on TV, but somehow you are qualified to evaluate Governor Palin’s intellectualism? Thats funny!
50. lupe | 12.15.08
Humor is personal, but I agree with the Gov. SNL didn’t slam Palin for a woman. They didn’t slam Obama for being black. They shouldn’t slam someone for being blind.
And what’s worse, the skit used harmful stereotypes that aren’t even TRUE. I can think of some harmful and false stereotypes about Mexican-Americans, African-Americans, and women that our society has concocted. And only a ******* would try to “lampoon” people with them.
Would people think it was funny if SNL did a skit about Obama being a coke dealer or Richardson being a lazy field hand? No, because it’s stupid and it’s patently offensive. The saving grace is that fewer and fewer people believe stupid **** about African-Americans and Latinos these days.
But lots of people still believe really stupid and harmful things about people with disabilities. The Gov notes that blind people have a hard time getting jobs for that very reason. That’s why the skit crosses over into the “offensive” category.
A cheap laugh can be too cheap. Especially if it’s not even funny. We all recognize that with some jokes. To me, this one falls in the same category.
51. inawheelchairmyself | 12.15.08
I viewed the YouTube clip of SNL’s lampoon of New York Governor David Paterson. Yes, I laughed at first. I did this before remembering and important lesson growing up. It is only after reading comments from joe average, edward, Vatar, gene, big ball, Dan and Winston Wolf that I decided people like these need to be asked a few questions.
Do you have children or do you think you may ever have a family?
What if your baby girl or little boy was disabled?
Would you be saying the same thing?
100 years ago in this country, children with disabilities were put in attics because it was an embarrassment. Countries around the world still put these children in institutions and insane asylums to be euthanized or to die. Women can be divorced, because they are the cause of these disabilities. Remember to think about stroke victims, eye glasses and artificial limbs, hip replacements, insulin.
I hope that in a few years, these not so pretty mannerisms and devices of the disabled with slowly disappear thanks to medical advances. However, until then, let us hope your child is never disabled.
Then you won’t have to explain to them why they are being laughed at!
52. Carter | 12.15.08
“I don’t think that SNL should be allowed to influence elections by lampooning our leaders…”
That’s the way it’s always been I’m afraid. Now is actually a lot tamer than it used to be, because people can actually check the facts if they want to know. In early American History they weren’t just being ridiculed by the press and entertainers, they were being flat out lied about, and you just had to take people at their word. The fault doesn’t lie with SNL or the media or whoever else we want to blame. It lies with Americans too lazy or too busy to educate themselves, or not being wise enough to determine what traits do and don’t matter for leadership.
I don’t want people to send chain emails spreading lies about both candidates, but it happens anyway (the Obama ones this year were ridiculous.) We just have to do our best to fight ignorance with education.
53. Lee | 12.15.08
I think you ought to delete comment #15 and #20. They do not seem appropriate for the CS Monitor website.
54. Carter | 12.15.08
No one threw a fit when Eddie Murphy did Stevie Wonder on SNL. That’s a “classic.” I’m not saying either were tasteful, but SNL always walks a fine line and how edgy it is sometimes makes it more funny.
“SNL should be removed from the NBC program line up and NBC should be heavily fined by the FCC for their offensive depiction of handicapped person.”
Have you ever watched Family Guy? South Park? Just wondering… I’m pretty sure those shows have intentionally made fun of just about every disabillity, religion, social group… Usually not tastefully either.
56. cowboy ninja | 12.15.08
what a baby!
Is that the whambulance i hear ?
Dont like the spotlight - get out of public office!!!
and
dont use defending people w/ disabilities as means to shield your self
everybody just wants something to cry over.
((((oh did i just offend babies cause stereotypically they cry often???!!!))))
57. Johnanon | 12.15.08
Thank goodness for the First Amendment. “Commit to the joke, go thru the joke and never, ever apologize for the joke” - Bill Hicks. Further, if a person does not want to be subjected to lampooning, then said person should not seek a public life.
58. Tim B | 12.15.08
@majorpain: “You watch SNL, probably one of the least intellectual shows on TV, but somehow you are qualified to evaluate Governor Palin’s intellectualism? Thats funny!”
I recognize that SNL is not intellectual, and I recognize that Palin isn’t intellectual either. Someone notify the media! I realize guilt by association is all the rage these days in the GOP mud pit, but it doesn’t translate well outside of FOXLand.
59. Cal | 12.15.08
The Governor’s office put a statement out condemning the portrayal.
“The governor engages in humor all the time” said a spokeswoman.
sorrry, that is ridiculously funny
60. bball | 12.15.08
Hi
Give me a break. This was funny. You think they did not make fun of Stevie Wonder? Of coarse they did. This must be one of those 0 tolerances. We have made fun of the Pope too. People need to get a grip. You got to admit it is a strange story. I live and work for NYS. Keep it up SNL. Don’t loose the humor. No apologies. Everyone will want one.
61. desmoinesman | 12.15.08
I saw the skit and i thought i was really funny. This is what SNL live is all about. If the Governor’s staff had told him about he skit, he would have never found out.
62. Fotoartiste | 12.15.08
There are a lot of mean spirited people out there and often half witted like cowboy ninja.Maybe SNL can do a skit about stupid people who have nothing better to do then spend all day on their computers being jerks, insensitive and writing their vile dribble comments.
Being physically handicapped should not be a reason for making fun of someone, if you do not understand that, I suggest you move to another planet were you will be better understood.By the way SNL has not been very funny for a long time, maybe some of you clever people can wright for them.
63. Ameno | 12.15.08
I really don’t think the Governor should comment on the SNL skit until he actually SEES it.
65. Al | 12.15.08
I don’t think everyone should be making fun of this governer because of his disibility. He probably has more guts than any one of you people. Just because he is blind doesn’t mean that he can’t have a job. He can do anything just as well as anyone else and who knows he might even do better than you would think so give the guy a break. And DO NOT MAKE FUN OF SOMEONE BECAUSE OF THEIR APPEARANCE.
67. dottydo | 12.15.08
Actually, People who take themselves too seriously in public office, actually turn out to be scary.
68. Donnie Jeffcoat | 12.16.08
I wonder if Fred Armisen realizes that he is among the few remaining blackface minstrel showmen in America. He should break the fourth wall and bring it up in self-aware fashion next time he plays Obama, because its pretty awkward if it remains unaddressed.
69. steve matney | 12.16.08
As soimeone who works with the disabled I find the skit of David Patterson very offensive. making fun of anyones disabilty is off limites . the writers of the show should think it could be me with the disabity and would i want to be made fun of. David Patterson has overcome so much to be where he is today because it is 100 times harder for a person with a disability to achieve the things we take for granted.
70. Don Ascoli | 12.16.08
This is the first time that I stopped viewing an SNL video after a few seconds. This is a disgrace. I myself felt insulted.
72. AnnaB. | 12.16.08
Just wanted to say to all the folks claiming typical liberal bs, ‘I’ am a liberal, voted for Obama, volunteer for the elderly, AND I’m pregnant. I thought the sketch was hilarious.
Incompetence is the same, across the board. SNL made plenty of fun about the Clinton’s, Bush’s, so on and so on. The only reason it seems to be aimed at Repubs is because THEY are the ones that are in power.
Get over it! It isn’t a left/right issue, or even a tact/crass issue. It wasn’t the funniest skit in the world, but really, it wasn’t offensive either.
Let’s choose to turn the channel if we don’t like something.
73. SiDeath | 12.17.08
I think it’s unbelievably laughable that this man has a leg to stand on in this debate. He’s best served by leaving it well-enough alone. Heaven forbid he encourages it to get free publicity whilst not refuting the true point of the skit. The impersonation lampoons him for being blind but tangentially as the whole point is that this man is a walking laughing stock. He’s publicly admitted to having extramarital affairs, has no problem with the allegations he’s a cokehead and actively seeking illegal drugs. Nor does he attempt to battle the points that he’s comically unprepared for his office or that he’s a figure worthy ridicule. Don’t like being laughed at? Don’t run for public office and then, if you do run, live your life at a standard where you’re above reproach. It’s hard but it’s not impossible and if you complain about getting called out, you’re a hypocrite of the highest order.
74. Scipio | 03.15.09
Correct me if I am wrong, but did not the Governor come completely clean with regard to his drug use history when he became governor? It followed Eliott Spitzer’s outing has a hypocryt. So, when SNL did a parody of his honesty, I really thought it was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. A politician being honest. It made for great commedy though I can’t put my finger on exactly why. I really had not laughed that much durring a SNL skit in a long, long, time. (Since the “Animal Human Olympics, but I know nobody in my family agrees with me on that one)
I do agree that it took away from Amy’s goodbye. Amy carried that show for a long time and she will be missed.
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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. edjube | 12.15.08
What New York Governor David Paterson ment was he don’t see the humor