Second week in a row that news about Amy Poehler, pretty much the love of our comedy life for the time being, is overshadowed by something else on Saturday Night Live. She may be leaving the show for good -- but it's Fred Armisen's take-no-prisoners impression of legally blind, somewhat overshare-y New York Governor David Paterson. Seems that the real-life guv was not amused...
Gov. David Paterson's
office lashed out at an impersonation of him on the final 2008 episode
of "Saturday Night Live" that made him into a blind, bumbling, whack
job with a drug problem that may (or may not) be classified as "a
former one."
Paterson's spokesman, Errol Cockfield, released this statement late
Sunday: "The governor engages in humor all the time, and he can
certainly take a joke. However, this particular Saturday' Night Live'
skit unfortunately chose to ridicule people with physical disabilities
and imply that disabled people are incapable of having jobs with
serious responsibilities. The governor is sure that Saturday' Night
Live,' with all of its talent, can find a way to be funny without being
offensive. Knowing the governor, he might even have some suggestions
himself."
OK, we admit it -- we're torn on this one. On the one hand, that shit was funny. Probably the highlight of an otherwise ho-hum episode, with only Poehler and Maya Rudolph's "Bronx Beat" sketch and, well, Kanye West's weird, explosive musical performances giving it any competition.
On the other hand, we have to ask -- where did that shit come from exactly? If the case was trying to be made that Paterson is some sort of bad guy, like Gov. Blagojevich in Illinois, that's not a deal that SNL closed. They didn't even get their pens out to sign the papers on that one. Sure, Paterson came into office telling us way too much about his private life, but that's bad? Up for ridicule? The President-Elect's admitted to cocaine use, hasn't he? Don't guess they'd go after him like that. Is it just that there were too many potential punchlines with Paterson? Then why hit the blindness so freaking hard?
We don't know, as much as we laughed -- and believe you us, we did -- we definitely got the sense that they had half a sketch, knew it, and rather than wrangle it in and tighten it up, they doubled down on what they had and came up ... well, last show of the year, so guess we'll have to wait till next year to find out whether it's a gamble that paid off or not.
Oh, who are we kidding; unless the New York Governor's office has the power to cancel shows, it'll pay off somehow.
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We "Jizz In Our Pants" As "Saturday Night Live" Lets All The Lonely Island Guys On Screen
Wake Up And Smile: Is Amy Poehler Coming Back To "SNL"?
