The Remote Island

Video Fun: "SNL" Spoofs Another Debate, and It's Friggin' Hilarious

Posted by Ben Kallen

 

Say what you will about the rest of Saturday Night Live, the show's political sketches have become just about the funniest things on TV. And last night's introduction of their new half-hour format, Weekend Update Thursday, showed what a boon the new election season has been for comedy writers everywhere.

The opening spoof, of the most recent presidential debate, skewered everything from the tightly scheduled format to Tom Brokaw's odd hosting style to the candidates themselves. (Fred Armisen's Barack Obama impersonation keeps getting better -- though if his ears stuck out any farther, he could probably fly -- while "John McCain," shuffling around the stage, showed how valuable Darrell Hammond still is to the show after all these years.) And even a minor Bill Murray cameo just plain makes us happy.

There may never again be such a perfect confluence between national events and SNL's staff, so enjoy it while you can. Click on the video below, and laugh all over again.

(Note: If the video isn't working for technical reasons, you can find it here.)

 



Previously:
Wake Up and Smile: SNL Still Making News
Don't Worry, Fred Armisen -- Barack Obama Likes Your Impression Just Fine
Saturday Night Live: Tina Fey Rocks as Sarah Palin


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About Ben Kallen

Ben Kallen is an entertainment, health and humor writer who's been lectured to by Sidney Poitier, argued with by Lea Thompson and smiled at by Jennifer Connelly. He's the coauthor of The No S Diet and author of The Year in Weird, along with hundreds of magazine articles. He lives near the beach in Los Angeles, just like the gang from Three's Company.

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    Lindy Parker has worked as a ghostwriter, editor, dance instructor and a purveyor of dreams, one beer at a time. She loves Charles Dickens and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and also, straight-to-video releases with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. It's possible she reads more teen fiction than she should. She hails from Los Angeles, her hometown and soul mate, but she lives in Brooklyn, the fling she'll never forget.

    Olivia Purnell left Ohio for sunny Los Angeles; then found that she couldn’t ignore New York City’s call, and brought herself to Brooklyn where she has worked with GenArt, BlackBook, the School of American Ballet, and finished an M.A. in Creative Writing from N.Y.U. She loves one-liners with sting and hates the stench of the subway in the summer. That said, she can’t get enough of either.

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    Ben Kallen is an entertainment, health and humor writer who's been lectured to by Sidney Poitier, argued with by Lea Thompson and smiled at by Jennifer Connelly. He's the coauthor of The No S Diet and author of The Year in Weird, along with hundreds of magazine articles. He lives near the beach in Los Angeles, just like the gang from Three's Company.

    Nicole Ankowski has lived in Ohio, Oakland, and on the high plains of South Dakota, but is now proud to call Brooklyn home. She wrote for alternative weekly papers in the first two states, and tried to learn Lakota in the last. (The vowels can be tricky.) She just earned her MFA in Creative Writing and has been published in Beeswax literary journal. She is unable to resist good writing or bad TV.

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