Saturday Night Live has always been a hot-bed for politics. In the last year, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee have all appeared on the show, and last night, all eyes turned to SNL when vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin made not one, but two cameo appearances. Viewers have fallen in love with Tina Fey’s impression of Palin, and the governor had one of two choices: ignore it, or get in on the joke.
Without a doubt, Palin was in on the joke. In her first appearance on the show, she was hilarious mistaken for Fey by 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin, who proceeded to read off a list of reasons he was offended that the real Palin was allowed to be on the show. Upon learning he was actually talking to the real Palin, he said she’s a lot hotter in person. To her credit, Palin got in a good jab, naming born again minister Stephen as her favorite Baldwin.
Watch:
Sarah Palin and Alec Baldwin
Amy Poehler’s Sarah Palin Rap
Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin Sketches
Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals
Mark Wahlberg Confronts Andy Samberg
The tone was just right for Saturday Night Live, playing up the uncomfortable nature of having Sarah Palin on the notoriously liberal show. Though Fey and Palin only had a quick scene together as they walked by one another, Fey was brilliant as ever, acting like a kid with her hand caught in the cookie jar.
The real zinger may have been during Weekend Update, when Sarah Palin came out again, but tihs time she refused to do the sketch that was written for her. This gave Amy Poehler the chance to do it, a gangsta rap song with Eskimo back-up singers and a moose assassination. Palin was a great sport, raising the roof and getting ninto the song.
For actual fans of Saturday Night Live, the Sara Palin cameo came in a distant second to the funniest cameo, that of Mark Wahlberg. Two weeks ago Andy Samberg did quite possibly the best Wahlberg impression of all time in a completely random sketch where he talked to farm animals. Wahlberg showed up next to Sarah Palin asking about Samberg’s whereabouts, and later confronted him.Wahlberg then did a wonderful impression of Samberg’s impression of himself, telling people to say hi to their mothers, talking to a donkey and mentioning that he produces Entourage. If the Sarah Palin cameo on Saturday Night Live was just a cheap ploy to get high ratings, the Wahlberg appearance was the extra nugget of comedy that kept the show fresh.
Saturday Night Live always gets picked on for not being funny as it once was. While not all of the sketches are winners, the presidential election combined with random celebrity impressions has helped ot make this season relevant again.
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
