Ashleigh Smith
Layout Chief
“Live from New York . . .” it’s the 2008 Presidential Elections.
It seems as though much of the presidential election coverage this year comes in the form of parody, with NBC’s Saturday Night Live stepped-up presence in the election, including the new Weekend Update Special Edition, airing on Thursday evenings at 9:30 p.m. and running all the way up to the
election.
“It’s good to see somebody calling out the system for the absurd thing it is,” says Sophomore Pat Johnson, President of the McDaniel College Democrats.
While the SNL team has tackled each of the debates, the financial crisis, and various blunders of politicians and candidates, which recently culminated in an October 18th appearance by Sarah Palin, their focus has often been on the governor.
Perhaps the scariest aspect of these skits is the frequent use of Palin’s quotes verbatim, which while it results in a laugh or two, speaks worryingly of the consequences of the upcoming election. Johnson notes that Palin has been the wealthiest source of comedic material throughout the campaigns this election season, but also adds that their parodies of the debates were
“even-handed.”
The New York Times website, www.nytimes.com , reports that the Palin appearance earned the show its highest viewer ratings in almost 15 years, and over the entire election season has at times pushed viewership towards the 10 million viewer mark. The Saturday Night Live Website has also benefited from increased hits on their website, according to CNN.com.
SNL brought back former cast member Tina Fey to play Palin. The resemblance between Fey’s impersonation and Palin is notably uncanny, with Fey portraying Palin’s tone of voice, accent, and poise to a tee. Fey has pulled off the impersonation so well that it is anything but easy to tell them apart.
“I think it will have little effect on the election,” says Junior Lars Ravnholt Hankin. “At this point people will have already made their decision.”
Sophomore Annie O’Grady says, “I get a big kick out of the SNL skits, however I realize its just entertainment and I take it as that. It hasn’t persuaded my vote or affected me in any way, it just makes me laugh a lot because I know it’s an exaggerated truth in some ways.”
Fey has made four appearances as Palin. The first political skit of the season involved a press conference by both Sen. Hillary Clinton, played by Amy Poehler, and Gov. Sarah Palin, in which the women addressed the role of sexism in the election.
The second was a parody of her interview with Katie Couric, nearly word for word, and the third was in the skit of the Vice Presidential debate, where she attempted to perform in the “talent portion.” Lastly, she showed up briefly for the appearance of Palin herself.
The Couric interview is Johnson’s favorite skit. He says the skits make Palin “look nearly as silly as she does in real life.”
“Tina Fey does a great job of bringing out Palin’s laughable qualities,” says Junior Fernando Gomes, adding, “I do not think the intent ever was to turn votes away from her.”
After weeks of Fey’s spot-on impersonations, the McCain-Palin camp announced that the VP nominee herself would be joining the cast for the October 18th show. Palin’s appearance was anti-climatic, to say the least. The governor kept her guard and her cool, undoubtedly much to the relief of the campaign.
The episode began with a press conference featuring the former cast member Fey in a press conference as Palin while the real Palin watched from backstage with the executive producer, Lorne Michaels.
After a comedic “mix-up” of Palin and Fey by co-star Alec Baldwin, Palin declared the classic SNL line.
“It certainly was amusing,” says Junior Stephen Hardy, “and giving that it wasn’t exactly flattering, Palin took it well.”
Palin’s only other appearance on the show was at the Weekend Update desk, watching Poehler perform a rap parodying Palin as the governor raised the roof.
All of the parodies are available for viewing on the SNL website, at http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live .