John McCain on 'Saturday Night Live'
Nov 2, 2008, 07:00 AM | by Wook Kim
Categories: Politics as Entertainment, Saturday Night Live, Television, Viral Video!!!, Web/Tech
Who else thought the opening sketch was weak? It probably didn't help that the senator â busy trying to get, you know, elected â wasn't given much time to prepare. We got lame gags based on talking points from his recent speeches. We got a lame McCain-Feingold joke. Even Tina Fey/Sarah Palin was uninspiring. Let's just place the blame for this mess on the writer's room. (His 'Weekend Update' bit was marginally more amusing â and in both bits, McCain showed a genuine, if wooden, capacity for self-deprecation.) What were your thoughts on his appearance? And what do we take away from the fact that a late-night comedy show became a strangely significant campaign-trail stop in the most important presidential election of our time?
UPDATE 1: Two quick things. First: Let's please keep the comments free from personal attacks on either candidate. Second: Of course I don't mean to suggest that John McCain lacks a sense of humor: I thought Barack Obama's SNL performance was similarly stiff and clumsy. And that's totally fine with me. What I really want from the next person who sits in the Oval Office is an ability to govern and lead and, hopefully, inspire. I'd rank "brilliant sense of comic timing" somewhere around No. 473 in a list of qualities I'd most want in a president. Okay, I'm stepping off my soapbox. Back to your thoughts on the show. And I agree with some of you: the View bit was unfunny and way too long.
UPDATE 2: It seems that politics and comedy make for comfy bedfellows: Lynette Rice reports on the show's string of landslide ratings wins. We're betting that Lorne Michaels isn't the only one who wishes the campaign were extended for a few more weeks.
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