Saturday Night Live parodies of Sarah Palin

The sketch comedy television show Saturday Night Live aired several critically acclaimed sketches parodying then Alaskan Governor and vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin in the lead-up to the 2008 United States presidential election. The sketches featured former cast member Tina Fey, who returned as a guest star to portray Palin. Fey won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her impersonation of Palin.[1]

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (left) and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton (right) in their first sketch, "A Nonpartisan Message from Governor Sarah Palin & Senator Hillary Clinton"

Background

Soon after the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign's August 29, 2008 announcement that Alaska governor Sarah Palin would be McCain's vice presidential nominee,[2] people noted a physical resemblance between comedian Tina Fey and Palin.[3][4] Fey had decided she would play Palin after her daughter saw a picture of the Alaskan governor and mistook Palin for her mother.[5]

Viewers began to speculate who would play Palin on SNL during the run up to the November 4 presidential election. Days before the broadcast of the sketch, SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels said "there are [ongoing] discussions" about Fey playing Palin.[6] On September 13, 2008, NBC announced that Fey would appear in the thirty-fourth-season premiere.[7]

"A Nonpartisan Message from Governor Sarah Palin & Senator Hillary Clinton"

The first sketch, "A Nonpartisan Message from Governor Sarah Palin & Senator Hillary Clinton," aired during the thirty-fourth season premiere of SNL on September 13, 2008. The sketch starred Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as Palin and Clinton, respectively.[8] Fey, the series' former head writer and repertory player, made her third appearance on the series since officially leaving SNL in 2006 to work on 30 Rock, a series which she created.[9] The sketch was written by Poehler, Fey, and head writer and Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers.[10]

Poehler and Fey are featured in a fictional speech playing New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, respectively. The pair discuss the presence of sexism in the 2008 United States presidential election, and the differences between Palin and Clinton. Governor Palin was the Republican Party vice-presidential nominee and Senator Clinton was a contender for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. Through the course of the message, Palin tries to present herself as the candidate for the job, and Clinton gets progressively more and more disgusted at Palin's sudden rise to fame as John McCain's running mate, despite her background. It also features references to Clinton's campaign.

Critical reception

The sketch was well received by critics. Erin Fox of TV Guide wrote that Tina Fey "nails [Sarah] Palin's mannerisms and accent. [Amy] Poehler is amazing as Hillary [Clinton]; her timing is better than ever. My favorite line was Tina saying 'I can see Russia from my house!'" Fox added that "this was a much anticipated and hoped-for pairing and we got it!"[11] Annie Wu of TV Squad thought that Fey's "impression wasn't perfect but it was more accurate than Amy Poehler's Hillary Clinton, which [she] still find[s] incredibly off." Wu added that "the mugging for the camera was absolutely hilarious."[12] James Poniewozik of Time Magazine wrote that "Fey's Palin was perfectly good enough" and that "the skit itself did a good job of what SNL—which has lately cultivated a strong set of female comics—tried hard to do through Hillary's campaign, which is try to address sexism without either simply going for the easy stereotypes or letting female candidates off the hook."[13] The Huffington Post's reviewer wrote that "Fey bears a striking resemblance to Palin and nailed the candidate's distinctive accent."[14]

Palin's response

When asked how she felt about Fey's portrayal, Sarah Palin replied, "I watched with the volume all the way down and I thought it was hilarious... I didn't hear a word she said, but the visual was spot on."[15] Palin "and the press corps watched the sketch in the back of her plane, laughing at Tina and Amy's satirical take on the two politicians,"[16] and Palin later claimed that she had once dressed up as Fey for Halloween.[17] However, Carly Fiorina, a spokeswoman for the John McCain campaign argued that the sketch portrayed Hillary Clinton as "very substantive," but Fiorina thought, in the case of Sarah Palin, that she was portrayed as "totally superficial." Fiorina thought the sketch was "disrespectful in the extreme" and "sexist."[18]

In a series of interviews, Palin made some "flubs" leading her to joke that "[she] was just trying to give Tina Fey more material." She also joked that it was to provide "job security for SNL characters."[19] Palin later remarked that she should appear on SNL to spoof a series of American Express commercials which featured Tina Fey.[20]

Further Palin sketches

Due to the popularity of the sketch and Fey's impression of Palin, Fey reprised her role during the September 27, 2008 episode. That sketch featured Palin being interviewed by Katie Couric (Amy Poehler), and parodied an interview which took place between Palin and Couric which aired days before the sketch's broadcast.[21] In the sketch, Fey quoted near verbatim one of Palin's answers from the actual interview and mimed Palin's gestures. The following episode featured a skit parodying the debate between Palin and Joe Biden (played by Jason Sudeikis). Queen Latifah also appeared in the skit as moderator Gwen Ifill.[22]

Palin herself appeared on the October 18, 2008 episode, along with Fey in the cold opening, and in the Weekend Update segment.[23] Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg also appeared in that sketch as themselves.[24] On the October 23 episode of Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday, Fey as Palin appeared alongside Darrell Hammond as John McCain and Will Ferrell as President George W. Bush.[25]

On November 1, 2008, Fey once again portrayed Palin, this time in a sketch featuring the real John McCain, the last of numerous sketches featuring the Arizona Senator. In the sketch, McCain poked fun at himself and his campaign, as well as Barack Obama's purchase of airtime on several major networks earlier in the week.[26] In the sketch, McCain and Palin can only afford to buy airtime on QVC, a home-shopping channel. McCain's wife, Cindy, also made an appearance in the sketch as herself.

After Palin's memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life, achieved best-seller status through pre-orders,[27] Fey announced she would resume impersonating the former Governor despite having "retired" the act months previously.[28] On April 10, 2010, Fey hosted SNL, and once again played Palin, who unveiled her own television network featuring shows such as Hey Journalist, I Gotcha, Todd! starring her husband Todd Palin (Jason Sudeikis) and Are You Smarter than a Half-Term Governor?[29] Fey hosted SNL in May 2011 while pregnant. A new sketch was made in which parodies of Mitt Romney (Jason Sudeikis), Newt Gingrich (Bobby Moynihan), Michele Bachmann (Kristen Wiig), Palin (Fey), Donald Trump (Darrell Hammond), and Jimmy McMillan (Kenan Thompson) fought in a Republican Party debate between undeclared candidates, with Shepard Smith (Bill Hader) coordinating.

On March 11, 2012, on the episode hosted by Jonah Hill, Palin was impersonated by Andy Samberg in the Weekend Update segment. The dialogue leads the audience to think that it was supposed to be another appearance by Fey and that Seth Meyers wasn't aware of the change, but Samberg convinces Meyers to finish his part.

Palin appeared on the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special, where Jerry Seinfeld jokingly mistook her for Tina Fey.[30]

Fey and Poehler co-hosted SNL in December 2015, and performed as Palin and Clinton in yet another sketch. For their performance, the duo won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. This is the first time an acting category has been won by more than one person. Additionally, this is the second win for Fey in the category for her performance as Palin and Poehler's first Emmy win after 18 nominations.[31]

In January 2016, following Palin's real-life endorsement of Donald Trump, Fey returned to the role to parody the speech given by Palin in Iowa that endorsed Trump. This skit served as the show's cold open.[32]

See also

References
  1. "You betcha — Tina Fey wins Emmy as Sarah Palin on 'SNL'". Los Angeles Times. 2009-09-13. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  2. Nasaw, Daniel (2008-08-29). "US election: John McCain chooses Alaska governor Sarah Palin as running mate". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  3. Waldman, Allison (2008-09-01). "Palin comparison ... GOP VP choice looks like a bunch of TV characters". TV Squad. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  4. "Tina Fey "likely" to play Sarah Palin on SNL". Yahoo!. 2008-09-13. Archived from the original on 2008-09-16. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  5. "Tina Fey". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  6. Cordova, Gonzalo (2008-09-12). "Tina Fey Might Play Sarah Palin". Comedy Central. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  7. Huff, Richard (2008-09-13). "Saturday Night Live recalls Tina Fey to play Sarah Palin". The New York Daily News. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  8. "Tina Fey Guest Stars On Saturday Night Live Season Premiere As Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Gov. Sarah Palin" (Press release). NBC Universal Media Village. 2008-09-14. Archived from the original on September 8, 2010. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  9. "Tina Fey: Biography". Yahoo!. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  10. "SNL Transcripts: Michael Phelps: 09/13/08: A Non-Partisan Message From Sarah Palin & Hillary Clinton". Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  11. Fox, Erin (2008-09-14). "Episode Recap: Michael Phelps Hosts, Lil Wayne Performs". TV Guide. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  12. Wu, Annie (2008-09-14). "Saturday Night Live: Michael Phelps/Lil Wayne (season premiere) - Videos". TV Squad. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  13. Poniewozik, James (2008-09-14). "Fey's Palin? Not Failin'". Time. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  14. "Tina Fey As Sarah Palin On SNL (Video)". The Huffington Post. 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  15. J. Gough, Paul (2008-09-18). "Palin: Tina Fey's impersonation was "spot on"". Yahoo!. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  16. "McCain camp calls Fey's Palin portrayal "sexist"". MSNBC. 2008-09-16. Archived from the original on 2010-10-31. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  17. "Sarah Palin reacts to Tina Fey Impersonation". Entertainment Tonight. 2008-09-15. Archived from the original on 2008-09-16. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  18. "Carly Fiorina Criticizes Tina Fey As "Disrespectful...Sexist"". The Huffington Post. 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
  19. Rhee, Foon (2008-10-06). "Palin jokes about Tina Fey". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  20. Rovzar, Chris (2008-10-06). "Sarah Palin Wants to Spoof Tina Fey on SNL". New York. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  21. "Tina Fey As Sarah Palin: Katie Couric SNL Skit (VIDEO)". The Huffington Post. 2008-09-27. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
  22. "Saturday Night Live Welcomes Back Tina Fey And Queen Latifah For Their Take On The Vice Presidential Debate" (Press release). NBC Universal Media Village. 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-10-07. SNL alum and 30 Rock star Tina Fey returned to SNL tonight to reprise her wildly popular rendition of Republican VP candidate, Gov. Sarah Palin. Fey was joined in the parody of the debate by special guest Queen Latifah as moderator Gwen Ifill and cast member Jason Sudeikis took on the role of Democratic VP candidate Sen. Joe Biden in the opening of tonight's show
  23. "Sarah Palin to appear on SNL". CNN. 2008-10-17. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  24. "Governor Sarah Palin Makes Long-awaited Saturday Night Live Appearance, Leading A Celebrity-packed Episode Featuring Host Josh Brolin, Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Oliver Stone and Mark Wahlberg" (Press release). NBC Universal Media Village. 2008-10-19. Retrieved 2008-10-26. After weeks of speculation, Vice Presidential candidate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin made her SNL debut tonight, shouting the program's signature opening line: "Live from New York, It's Saturday Night." Palin appeared as herself in the opening sketch of the show, alongside executive producer Lorne Michaels, surprise guests Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg as well as her SNL doppelganger, Tina Fey.
  25. "Will Ferrell returns to Saturday Night Live as President George W. Bush, Tina Fey reprises role as Governor Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday October 23" (Press release). NBC Universal Media Village. 2008-10-23. Retrieved 2008-10-26. Coming off the record breaking ratings of last Saturday's SNL—the highly-rated SNL live primetime Weekend Update Thursday finished its three-week run tonight with the return of SNL alum Will Ferrell as President George W. Bush, joined by the current talk of the political world—Tina Fey as Governor Sarah Palin. The show opened with President Bush giving a public endorsement of the McCain—Palin ticket.
  26. "McCain shows funny side on 'Saturday Night Live'". Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on September 8, 2010. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
  27. Archived October 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  28. Farber, Jim (2009-10-07). "Tina Fey ready to bring Sarah Palin impersonation out of retirement for Palin's book, 'Going Rogue'". Daily News. New York.
  29. Leo, Alex (2010-04-11). "Tina Fey Unveils Palin's Next Career Move In Return To SNL". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  30. Morabito, Andrea (2015-02-16). "The 8 best moments from the 'SNL 40' anniversary special | New York Post". Nypost.com. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
  31. Julia Brucculieri Entertainment Writer, The Huffington Post (2015-12-20). "Tina Fey And Amy Poehler Bring Sarah Palin And Hillary Clinton Back To 'SNL'". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
  32. "Tina Fey Nails Sarah Palin Impression During Saturday Night Live Donald Trump Endorsement Sketch (VIDEO)". Huffingtonpost.co.uk. 2016-01-24. Retrieved 2016-03-22.

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