Saturday Night Live Political Satire 2008
SNL Studios in association with Broadway Video
The 2008 Presidential campaign was a tonic for the troupe at Saturday Night Live. Stealing satirical thunder back from its cable rivals, SNL’s writers and sketch-players made transparent the absurdities that accompany serious politics in the media age. Tina Fey became Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, in some voters’ minds. Yet her impersonation was only one of many spot-on goofs: Darrell Hammond contributed an edgy John McCain, Fred Armisen a windy, wonky Barack Obama. Amy Poehler did double duty as Hillary Clinton and CBS News anchor Katie Couric, while Chris Parnell had NBC anchorman emeritus Tom Brokaw down to a stentorian T. The sketch bits were matched by deft campaign-commercial parodies—among them Clinton’s “3 a.m. phone call” spot—and a “TV Funhouse” segment in which cartoon candidates preemptively confessed their secret sins to a cartoon Oprah Winfrey. If the major candidates were offended, they didn’t let it keep them from cameo appearances on a hot-ticket show. For providing much-need laughs during a tumultuous, interminably long campaign season, a Peabody Award goes to Saturday Night Live for its 2008 political satire.
PRIMARY PRODUCTION CREDITS
Executive producer: Lorne Michaels. Produced by: Steve Higgins. Director: Don Roy King. Supervising producer: Ken Aymong. Producer: Marci Klein. Head writers: Seth Meyers, Andrew Steele, Paula Pell. Writers: Doug Abeles, James Anderson, Alex Baze, Jessica Conrad, James Downey, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, John Lutz, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, Paula Pell, Simon Rich, Marika Sawyer, Akiva Schaffer John Solomon, Emily Spivey, Kent Sublette, Jorma Taccone, Bryan Tucker. Film producer: James Signorelli. Actors: Fred Armisen, Abby Elliott, Will Forte, Bill Hader, Darrell Hammond, Seth Meyers, Bobby Moynihan, Amy Poehler, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson, Kristen Wiig, Michaela Watkins, Casey Wilson, Tina Fey, Chris Parnell.