Bringing down The (White) House
It’s almost here.
After almost two years worth of campaigning, dirty laundry and new buzz words, the 2008 presidential election is only hours away.
But before the ballots are cast, ‘Saturday Night Live’ wants to send viewers laughing to the polls with their 2008 Presidential Bash, which will air on NBC at 9 p.m. tonight.
In the past, ‘SNL’ packed on the laughs through its highly accurate impersonations of both the candidates and the television talking heads who dissect them daily. Who can forget Darrell Hammond’s priceless lock box bit as Al Gore, or Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush?
But it seems this year ‘SNL’ is relying solely on its veteran Tina Fey to play the role of America’s favorite hockey mom turned vice presidential nominee, Alaska’s Gov. Sarah Palin.
‘SNL’ took a dip in 2004, when Will Forte did a lackluster George W. Bush impression while also playing the role of John Edwards. Seth Meyers attempted a Shakespeare-esque performance of John Kerry, which for the most part fell flat. Viewers thought the show was headed into the dark ages of its political comedy.
‘SNL’ is attempting to recover this season by utilizing ample cameos, but it seems a lot of the comedy is coming from the crazy campaign, like the bit about the mad woman from the McCain rally. The writers know exactly what angles of the campaign to poke fun at.
The good writing gives the actors a lot of leeway to not live up to their predecessors – and a lot of the time, they aren’t.Fey as Palin is an obvious standout.
For starters, their shocking resemblance sets the stage for comedy. But Fey’s perfect execution of Palin’s Alaskan accent, which Fey calls ‘Fargo meets her friend’s grandmother,’ is the cherry on top.
In addition, Darrell Hammond, the show’s resident jack-of-all-trades, does a good John McCain. But Fred Armisen and Jason Sudekis as Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden, respectively, don’t measure up to their political counterparts.
It may be because the actual candidates don’t offer much in the way of comedy, or maybe because Armisen and Sudekis don’t have as much experience impersonating people. Basically, their only true saving graces are hilarious current events and make-up.
Luckily for them, other actors – like Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton, Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton and hopefully more walk-ons by the actual celebrities – will boost the comedy and make up for the gaps in performances.
For now, ‘SNL’ is riding a wave of political popularity the GOP can’t seem to get enough of (McCain has been on this show how many times?), so the Presidential Bash should be amazing.However, if the Democrats win the White House, chances are the shores of comedy will dry up. For the sake of comedy, let’s hope Sen. Obama’s prospective cabinet is filled with easy targets.
Published on November 2, 2008 at 12:00 pm
