Can a Post-Fey/Palin 'SNL' Still Thrive?

By Mike Hess Posted Sep 26th 2009 10:29AM

Last season, a golden egg filled with laughs and publicity was laid in the lap of 'Saturday Night Live' during the 2008 TV season and election year. By mere chance, republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin happened to look exactly like 'SNL' alumnus Tina Fey. Even better for the show, Fey's ability to pull off an uncanny impression of the Russia-seeing former governor of Alaska propelled the show into nearly every weekend headline in the lead-up to the presidential election. But now that Sarah Palin is not a major news topic and the political cycle has died down, can 'SNL' keep up their momentum in a post-Palin world?

"The thing about 'Saturday Night Live' is they always survive. They do well and then sometimes they hit really big and you never know," Roger Friedman, an entertainment journalist who writes The Hollywood Reporter's 'Showbiz 411' column, tells PopEater. He goes on to cite that Andy Samberg's digital shorts paired with the popularity of the 'Weekend Update' news skit should be enough to keep 'SNL' going strong. "It's based on the news, so you have to wait for things to happen to respond to them," Friedman said.

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Tina Fey Snapshots

Tina Fey proudly holds up her Emmy that she snagged for her dead-on Sarah Palin impression on 'Saturday Night Live.' Click for More Pics of Fey >>>

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Tina Fey Snapshots

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THE INVENTION OF LYING Rob Lowe as Brad Kessler and Tina Fey as Shelley

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Actress/writer Tina Fey attends the Governors Ball for the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on September 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. 61st Primetime Emmy Awards - Governor's Ball Los Angeles Convention Center Los Angeles, CA United States September 20, 2009 Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com To license this image (58435832), contact FilmMagic.com

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LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 20: Actress Mariska Hargitay (L) and Tina Fey arrive at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Nokia Theatre on September 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Tina Fey;Mariska Hargitay

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LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 20: Actress Tina Fey arrives at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Nokia Theatre on September 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Tina Fey

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Actors Tina Fey and Jack McBrayer attend the Governors Ball for the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on September 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards - Governors Ball Los Angeles Convention Center Los Angeles, CA United States September 20, 2009 Photo by Mathew Imaging/WireImage.com To license this image (58433411), contact WireImage.com

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Actresses Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tina Fey attend the Governors Ball for the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on September 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards - Governors Ball Los Angeles Convention Center Los Angeles, CA United States September 20, 2009 Photo by Mathew Imaging/WireImage.com To license this image (58433720), contact WireImage.com

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LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 20: Actresses Mariska Hargitay and Tina Fey arrive at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Nokia Theatre on September 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Mariska Hargitay;Tina Fey

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LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 20: Actress Tina Fey backstage at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Nokia Theatre on September 20, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Tina Fey;Alec Bladwin

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Sandy Deane, the managing editor of AOL Television, seems to think otherwise, wondering whether 'SNL' can rebound this season. "The show will probably peak with the season opener due to the Megan Fox effect, then it'll be all downhill from there," Deane tells PopEater.

"Without Tina Fey's Palin and Amy Pohler's appearances to boost interest, it's going to be a huge challenge for the show to maintain buzz beyond Samberg's digital hits," Deane continued.

Fey even won an Emmy this past week for her portrayal of Palin.

Highlights of the Fey-Palin Era

Couric Interview

VP Debate

Friedman says that if there's one thing he's learned over time, it's that Lorne Michaels generally comes out on top.

"You never bet against Lorne Michaels. He's outlived everybody, he's always right, he has incredible instincts," Friedman says.

Tags: andy samberg, AndySamberg, sarah palin, SarahPalin, saturday night live, SaturdayNightLive, snl, tina fey, TinaFey

Comments

(42)

Saturday 26 September

By rob

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Palin never said i can see russia from my porch, that was all made up by sat night live, i never thought it funny, i thought it mean to target one person so negetively as they did, the more they made fun of palin the more i liked palin. come on nbc quit rerunning the old palin scits, its really old, is that all you got?

By whamhammer

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Im curious on how many peoples opinions on Palin were directly affected by Feys portrayal (in either direction) of her on S.N.L.

Thursday 01 October

By Karls

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oh shut up, its satire, Sarah Palin said and did plenty to give SNL to spoof on, and thats what it is, just a spoof...

By Bret

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

SNL made fun of Palin because she oozes stupidity. The show will continue to do well as it always has; usually the highest share for its time slot. Sure, SNL has its share of ups and downs. What other show has produced more mega stars than SNL? Why is MADTV not on anymore? BECAUSE IT SUCKED!

By mike lyons

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

You must be as nutty as Palin herself!!

By Cappy

No big surprise there, Rob. Most of those who supported Palin are ignorant, and you are no exception. The next time you post, you might want to consider running your text through spell check so it won't be so obvious.

By corlepj

This show is so overdue for cancellation. It has not been funny since the Adam Sandler days. I gave up on it years ago when it seemed all they could do is preach politics.

By shirleyA

I thought Mad TV was funnier. They never got the recognition that they deserved.

By mintrubble71

With the exception of the Mad TV's last two seasons (which were pretty abysmal) I would agree with you for the large part. Bobby Lee, Nicole Parker and Keegan Michael Key were the the type of young stand out performers that SNL hasn't seen in many years.

By greenlandmj

The show will be fine...with Obama, Biden, and Pelosi in charge, there's plenty of opportunities to make fun of political figures. Oh wait, they're Democrats...so even though they deserve the easy mocking that could be delivered, it'll never happen on SNL. Besides, if they make fun of Obama, it automatically means they're racist.

Ummm... If you've been watching the Weekend Update Thursday specials, they've been doing a pretty good job of making fun of Obama. Granted, Palin was a much easier target because she provided so much to work with. Last Thursday's encounter between Obama and a "teen vampire from the CW" (portrayed by Andy Samberg) was especially funny.

By Tsee Lee

Get over it already, rob. Palin didn't say certain things, but she said many other stupid things. It's called comedy, not news reporting. Btw, Fox isn't news, either.

By PalinisStupid

The ONLY reason to watch SNL is to watch Tina Fey repeat Sarah Stupid's actual words and mannerisms. Sarah Stupid will keep talking, so SNL should keep repeating what she says. They need to have someone mimick that crazy moron, Glenn Beck. Last Thursday, the had an actor try to mimick him, but it wasn't crazy enough. Keep up the Palin and Beck imitations - if not, SNL will go back to being a too long show with BAD writers and lots of not good enough comedians (the big fat black guy is awful, etc.)

"The big, fat black guy" is named Keenan Thompson and when SNL's writers give him something to do other than dress in drag & do Bill Cosby imitations he's actually very funny. Black performers have always suffered on SNL with the notable exception of Eddie Murphy (who at the time was the greatest comedian around and a singular talent). I think your attitude towards black comedians pretty much matches that of the writers on SNL- put them on the pay no mind list.

By kska

Sarah STupid, in fact, said "I can see Russia from my hoce (house.)" Most of the words Tina Fey spoke were Sarah Stupid's ACTUAL words.

By YLG

If the best host SNL could come up with for their premier is Megan Fox, than they are DOOMED, DOOMED!

By Jane

SNL has never been as good as the original cast. Since SNL is very liberal and Democratic, that is why they say that the writers have a hard time finding things to write about since Obama is now president. It just tells me that they must be too stupid to find things to write about Obama and the Democrats. The show is so one sided that I have not watched it on a regular basis for years.

Sunday 27 September

Boy, if they're so kind to Democrats I must have hallucinated all those extremely unflattering Bill Clinton imitations that Darryl Hammond did. In fact he was just on the Thursday special doing Clinton. In the skit Clinton only stopped by to hit on Megan Fox. But they NEVER make fun of Democrats...

By Dave

SNL survived the loss of Belushi, Radner,Chase and Curtain . Many other greats have come and gone. Everyone is replacable although I think the show has run it's coarse.

By Greg

SNL doesn't have the stones to make fun of Obama & Biden...to bad, there is a lot of material there

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