Palin, SNL, and comedy

The problem with Sarah Palin's SNL cameo last weekend (I call it a cameo because she did so little, unlike, say, Hillary Clinton or John McCain or Rudy Giuliani have done in their appearances on the show) isn't just that she was a prop, it's that she didn't commit to being a prop. Take, for instance, the Palin rap song Amy Poehler did during Weekend Update. A VP candidate singing a rap? Funny. A VP candidate announcing she's not singing a rap because it's inappropriate for someone in her position? Also funny. A VP candidate announcing she's not singing a rap because it's inappropriate for someone in her position, but then (and I shudder to type these words) raising the roof and doing the white man's overbite while someone else sings the rap? Not very funny.

You've got to commit. As Doctor Cox explains around 1:42 of this clip:

There was something familiar last night

In last night's debate, John McCain's hectoring, condescending tone kept reminding me of something. It wasn't until later that I remembered what it was:


At 0:52, Eddie Murphy makes the face that I imagine Senator Obama wanted to.

For the literal-minded

That one?

I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who heard John McCain call Barack Obama "that one" and thought, what the hell?

For the record, I would not object to Scarlett Johannson calling me "that one." Or simply calling me.

SNL on Scranton

SNL's take on Joe Biden's take on Scranton:

Scranton's take on SNL's take on Joe Biden's take on Scranton:

SNL parody jokingly calls Scranton 'the absolute worst place on earth'

Some of the comments on the article are entertaining, for reasons both intentional and otherwise.

Overcoached

Everyone probably has their own Sarah Palin debate WTF moment. Mine was her list of people supporting McCain -- Lieberman, Giuliani, Romney, Lingle. That's exactly what she said, those last names, without first names or any sort of context or story behind them. People probably know who Lieberman is, and most folks know Giuliani. Nobody knows Romney unless they were really paying attention to the primary campaign that he left in, what, February? And Lingle? Who the hell is Lingle? I am as hardcore a campaign junkie as you will find and it took me a minute to realize she meant Linda Lingle, the Governor of Hawaii, and not my undergrad political parties professor (who I can't imagine would be supporting McCain).

I almost wonder if she knew who she was talking about.