The

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

television show ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' aired several critically acclaimed sketches parodying then Alaskan Governor and vice-presidential nominee

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

in the lead-up to the

2008 United States presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

. The sketches featured former cast member Tina Fey, who returned as a guest star to portray Palin. Fey won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

for her impersonation of Palin.

Background

Soon after the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign's August 29, 2008 announcement that Alaska governor

would be McCain's vice presidential nominee, people noted a physical resemblance between comedian Tina Fey and Palin. Viewers began to speculate who would play Palin on ''SNL'' during the run up to the November 4 presidential election. Days before the broadcast of the sketch, ''SNL'' executive producer Lorne Michaels said "there are ngoingdiscussions" about Fey playing Palin. On September 13, 2008, NBC announced that Fey would appear in the thirty-fourth-season premiere.

"A Nonpartisan Message from Governor Sarah Palin & Senator Hillary Clinton"

The first sketch, "A Nonpartisan Message from Governor Sarah Palin & Senator Hillary Clinton," aired during the thirty-fourth season premiere of ''SNL'' on September 13, 2008. The sketch starred Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as Palin and Clinton, respectively. Fey, the series' former

head writer A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits. In fictional comedy o ...

and repertory player, made her third appearance on the series since officially leaving ''SNL'' in 2006 to work on ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', takes ...

'', a series which she created. The sketch was written by head writer and '' Weekend Update'' anchor

Seth Meyers Seth Adam Meyers (born December 28, 1973) is an American comedian, writer, producer, actor, and television host. He hosts ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'', a late-night talk show on NBC. Prior to that, he was a cast member and head writer for NBC ...

with added jokes by Poehler and Fey. A famous line from the sketch, "I can see Russia from my house." was written by SNL producer Mike Shoemaker. Poehler and Fey are featured in a fictional speech playing New York

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, respectively. The pair discuss the presence of sexism in the

, and the differences between Palin and Clinton. Governor Palin was the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

vice-presidential nominee and Senator Clinton was a contender for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

presidential nomination. Through the course of the message, Palin tries to present herself as the candidate for the job, and Clinton gets progressively more and more disgusted at Palin's sudden rise to fame as

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

's running mate, despite her background. It also features references to Clinton's campaign.

Reaction

Critical reception

The sketch was well received by critics. Erin Fox of '' TV Guide'' wrote that Tina Fey "nails arahPalin's mannerisms and accent. myPoehler is amazing as Hillary

linton Linton may refer to: Places Australia * Linton, Victoria Canada * Linton, Ontario * Linton, Quebec United Kingdom England * Linton, Cambridgeshire * Linton, Derbyshire * Linton (near Bromyard), Herefordshire * Linton (near Ross-on-Wye), Her ...

her timing is better than ever. My favorite line was Tina saying 'I can see Russia from my house!'" Fox added that "this was a much anticipated and hoped-for pairing and we got it!" Annie Wu of TV Squad thought that Fey's "impression wasn't perfect but it was more accurate than Amy Poehler's Hillary Clinton, which hestill find incredibly off." Wu added that "the mugging for the camera was absolutely hilarious." James Poniewozik of '' Time Magazine'' wrote that "Fey's Palin was perfectly good enough" and that "the skit itself did a good job of what ''SNL''—which has lately cultivated a strong set of female comics—tried hard to do through Hillary's campaign, which is try to address sexism without either simply going for the easy stereotypes or letting female candidates off the hook." '' The Huffington Post''s reviewer wrote that "Fey bears a striking resemblance to Palin and nailed the candidate's distinctive accent."

Palin's response

When asked how she felt about Fey's portrayal, Palin herself replied, "I watched with the volume all the way down and I thought it was hilarious... I didn't hear a word she said, but the visual was spot on." Palin "and the press corps watched the sketch in the back of her plane, laughing at Tina and Amy's satirical take on the two politicians," and Palin later claimed that she had once dressed up as Fey for

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

. However, Carly Fiorina, a spokeswoman for the John McCain campaign argued that the sketch portrayed Hillary Clinton as "very substantive," but Fiorina thought, in the case of Sarah Palin, that she was portrayed as "totally superficial." Fiorina thought the sketch was "disrespectful in the extreme" and "sexist." In a series of interviews, Palin made some "flubs" leading her to joke that " hewas just trying to give Tina Fey more material." She also joked that it was to provide "job security for ''SNL'' characters." Palin later remarked that she should appear on ''SNL'' to spoof a series of

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

commercials which featured Tina Fey.

Further Palin sketches

Due to the popularity of the sketch and Fey's impression of Palin, Fey reprised her role during the September 27, 2008 episode. That sketch featured Palin being interviewed by Katie Couric (Amy Poehler), and parodied an interview which took place between Palin and Couric which aired days before the sketch's broadcast. In the sketch, Fey quoted near verbatim one of Palin's answers from the actual interview and mimed Palin's gestures. The following episode featured a skit parodying the debate between Palin and Joe Biden (played by Jason Sudeikis). Queen Latifah also appeared in the skit as moderator Gwen Ifill. Palin herself appeared on the October 18, 2008 episode, along with Fey in the cold opening, and in the '' Weekend Update'' segment.

Alec Baldwin Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nichol ...

and Mark Wahlberg also appeared in that sketch as themselves. On the October 23 episode of '' Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday'', Fey as Palin appeared alongside Darrell Hammond as John McCain and Will Ferrell as President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. On November 1, 2008, Fey once again portrayed Palin, this time in a sketch featuring the real John McCain, the last of numerous sketches featuring the Arizona Senator. In the sketch, McCain poked fun at himself and his campaign, as well as Barack Obama's purchase of airtime on several major networks earlier in the week. In the sketch, McCain and Palin can only afford to buy airtime on

QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network, and flagship shopping channel specializing in televised home shopping, owned by Qurate Retail Group. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Chester, Penn ...

, a home-shopping channel. McCain's wife,

Cindy Cindy may refer to: People *Cindy (given name), a list of people named Cindy, Cindi, Cyndi or Cyndy *Tugiyati Cindy (born 1985), Indonesian footballer Music * ''Cindy'' (musical), an off-Broadway production in 1964 and 1965 * "Cindy" (folk song ...

, also made an appearance in the sketch as herself. After Palin's memoir, '' Going Rogue: An American Life'', achieved best-seller status through pre-orders, Fey announced she would resume impersonating the former Governor despite having "retired" the act months previously. On April 10, 2010, Fey hosted ''SNL'', and once again played Palin, who unveiled her own television network featuring shows such as ''Hey Journalist, I Gotcha'', ''Todd!'' starring her husband

Todd Palin Todd Mitchell Palin (born September 6, 1964) is an American oil field production operator and commercial fisherman who was the first gentleman of Alaska from 2006 to 2009. He is the former husband of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin Sa ...

(Jason Sudeikis) and ''Are You Smarter than a Half-Term Governor?'' Fey hosted ''SNL'' in May 2011 while pregnant. A new sketch was made in which parodies of

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

( Jason Sudeikis),

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

(

Bobby Moynihan Bobby Moynihan (born January 31, 1977) is an American actor, comedian and writer who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 until 2017. He also voiced Louie Duck on Disney's ''DuckTales'' from 2017 to 2021, Panda in ''We Bare Be ...

), Michele Bachmann ( Kristen Wiig), Palin (Fey), Donald Trump ( Darrell Hammond), and Jimmy McMillan ( Kenan Thompson) fought in a

debate between undeclared candidates, with

Shepard Smith David Shepard Smith Jr. (born January 14, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist. He served as chief general news anchor and host of ''The News with Shepard Smith'' on CNBC, a daily evening newscast launched in late September 2020; but his p ...

( Bill Hader) coordinating. On March 11, 2012, on the episode hosted by Jonah Hill, Palin was impersonated by Andy Samberg in the ''Weekend Update'' segment. The dialogue leads the audience to think that it was supposed to be another appearance by Fey and that

wasn't aware of the change, but Samberg convinces Meyers to finish his part. Palin appeared on the '' Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special'', where

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...

jokingly mistook her for Tina Fey. Fey and Poehler co-hosted ''SNL'' in December 2015, and performed as Palin and Clinton in yet another sketch. For their performance, the duo won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. This is the first time an acting category has been won by more than one person. Additionally, this is the second win for Fey in the category for her performance as Palin and Poehler's first Emmy win after 18 nominations. In January 2016, following Palin's real-life endorsement of Donald Trump, Fey returned to the role to parody the speech given by Palin in Iowa that endorsed Trump. This skit served as the show's cold open.

References

External links

Tina Fey Guest Stars On ''Saturday Night Live'' Season Premiere As Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Gov. Sarah Palin
(September 13, 2008 sketch transcript)

(September 27, 2008 sketch transcript) *
Politicians Who've Appeared on ''SNL'' - AP
{{good article 2008 in American television Cultural depictions of Sarah Palin Saturday Night Live in the 2000s 2008 United States presidential election in popular culture