The Volokh Conspiracy
[Jonathan Adler, October 10, 2008 at 4:35pm] Trackbacks
Palin on SNL?!?

The New York Post reports that Sarah Palin will appear on Saturday Night Live on October 25th. No word on whether Tina Fey plans to campaign with John McCain.

OrinKerr:
Hasn't she been on it already? I thought I saw her on it.
10.10.2008 5:42pm
Nunzio:
Is Matt Damon hosting?
10.10.2008 5:47pm
great unknown (mail):
The plot thickens. The Tampa Tribune, quoted on HotAir, says that an SNL spokesman denies that she will be appearing. Bring out the conspiracy theorists (not the Volokh type, of course).
10.10.2008 5:51pm
John from Dallas:
SNL should surprise her with reporters asking substantive questions during the opening monologue. It would probably be the funniest moment in SNL history.
10.10.2008 5:52pm
aces:
Wouldn't her appearance run afoul of equal-time rules?
10.10.2008 5:56pm
JB:
Aces,
Yes. The McCain Campaign would justifiably complain about its opponents getting 30 minutes of free advertising.
10.10.2008 6:00pm
EH (mail):
McCain-Palin would LOVE it if Palin were on SNL. They need all the legitimacy they can get and those FOX (and other softball) interviews strangely don't seem to be doing the job.
10.10.2008 6:21pm
Eli Rabett (www):
And here I thought Tina Fey was already campaigning with McCain?
10.10.2008 6:21pm
Some Guy (mail):
If this is true, I hope the McCain-Palin folks understand that they have no chance of coming out ahead. Gerald Ford appeared on SNL in 1976 and was made to look quite foolish. One of his advisers (Ron Nessen, I think) later wrote about how they'd been snookered into believing Ford would get a friendly reception. How history repeats itself.
10.10.2008 6:28pm
faceword:
Bill Simmons' (the "Sports Guy" on ESPN) most recent podcast includes an interview with Seth Meyers (SNL head writer). Meyers confirm that Palin-as-host is in the works, Palin's schedule permitting. There was a hint in the podcast that she could host the new (and temporary) Thursday Night Weekend update spin off rather than on the main show.
10.10.2008 6:35pm
Observer:
Some Guy: Palin is more charismatic than Ford. I think that this (combined with the recent Connecticut Supreme Court activist decision) could reinvigorate her campaign in the eyes of ordinary folks.
10.10.2008 6:38pm
Texas Lawyer:
I heard a rumor that Palin would appear &spoof Tina Fey's AmEx commercials.

I thought that was very clever.
10.10.2008 6:41pm
Sagar (mail):

if it pans out Palin can think of a second career; will be interesting to see if she spoofs Fey's news reading.
10.10.2008 7:05pm
New Pseudonym:

if it pans out Palin can think of a second career; will be interesting to see if she spoofs Fey's news reading.


Return to first career?
10.10.2008 7:18pm
Anderson (mail):
Hasn't she been on it already? I thought I saw her on it.

Dry, very dry.

And I'm inclined to agree with Some Guy. I don't think the SNL people respect Palin, and they could be brutal to her, as could the audience.

Of course the backlash to that might be the best thing for McCain b/t now and the election, unless bin Laden sends another spooooooky video or blows something up.
10.10.2008 7:25pm
MikeS:
Well, I for one hope they perform the Marx Bros' mirror routine (from Duck Soup).
10.10.2008 8:12pm
BobVDV2 (mail):
It has almost become obligatory to appear on SNL to show that the candidate has a sense of humor. Hillary's side-by-side with Amy Poehler was very funny; McCain was OK; but Mike Huckabee was excellent. After McCain nearly cliched the nomination Huckabee appeared on the news set and wouldn't leave. He was hilarious.

If Palin has the guts to do it, she should appear on SNL as Tina Fey's character on 30 Rock, rather than as herself. Some skits almost write themselves.
10.10.2008 8:18pm
VictoriaB (www):
I heard a rumor that Palin would appear &spoof Tina Fey's AmEx commercials.

I thought that was very clever.

Err, Texas, I invented that rumour on my blog (that is to say, I made a joke about it, and I guess people are running with it).

Just for the record, the skit wasn't revealed to anyone, since all of this situation is one huge rumour (pace Cindy Adams).
10.10.2008 8:26pm
VictoriaB (www):
Well, I for one hope they perform the Marx Bros' mirror routine (from Duck Soup).

That would be awesome. But Saturday Night Live has never been about the anarchic chaos that the Marx Bros. embodied.

No. They are structured, disciplined, and tend to go for linear, connect-the-dots-insider humour. Only the first season was revolutionary.
10.10.2008 8:29pm
TruthInAdvertising:
This shouldn't come as any surprise. While McCain has busted on Obama as the celebrity candidate, it's McCain who has a long history of running toward the nearest network studio set as often as possible. Palin's appearance on SNL would just be a continuation of that history.
10.10.2008 10:56pm
Al Maviva:
I think she should do a thing along the lines of what Sarah Silverman did to Jimmy Kimmel re: Matt Damon, except she can tell John McCain she's running as Obama's veep...

That would actually take a sense of humor and a real transgressive streak, and while Palin is transgressive, Lorne Michael's fired the show's sense of humor 15 or 20 years ago, after it quit coming to work for a decade.
10.10.2008 11:56pm
SATA_Interface:
That Silverman / Affleck / Kimmel / Damon exchange was excellent.
10.11.2008 1:31am
Jmaie (mail):
No. They are structured, disciplined, and tend to go for linear, connect-the-dots-insider humour. Only the first season was revolutionary.

Only the first season was funny. These days, Weekend Update is about the only thing worth watching.

"No joke, however poor, that can't be run into the ground"
10.11.2008 2:24am
Anony:

Jmaie:

Only the first season was funny. These days, Weekend Update is about the only thing worth watching.


The best description of Comedy Central's Daily Show to a novice viewer is, "Like Weekend Update, but funny."
10.11.2008 12:08pm

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