Fairness in Politics and Humor | 09/28/2008 6:22 am

Tina Fey Nails Palin. Again. Saturday Night Live Interview Skit with Amy Poehler as Katie Couric (VIDEOS)

Katie Couric’s interviews with the Vice Presidential candidate last week … and Sarah Palin’s performances in them … were highly controversial. Yet in the midst of the drama of the financial crisis, they played somewhat under the general news cycle radar. However, last night’s Saturday Night Live brought the Couric-Palin interviews front and center through a skit starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler that was devastating in its breathtaking evisceration of the Vice Presidential candidate’s answers to Couric’s questions.

Below you’ll find videos of both the real Katic Couric - Sarah Palin interviews in which the correspondant asks Palin to explain why Alaska’s proximity to Russia gave her foriegn policy credibility and the Saturday Night Live skit (complete with an embedded ad thanks to NBC Universal’s use of revenue-generating HULU versus You Tube…sorry).

Here are our questions: Was Palin’s performance with Couric Vice Presidential? Was Couric fair in her questioning? Was SNL’s portrayal fair? And as a comedy show, does SNL have a mandate to be "fair" anyway? And, no matter what side you come down on l’affair Palin, how talented is Tina Fey?

Original Couric-Palin Interviews (click on-screen text prompt at end of first interview to go to second interview, which includes at the end a Kissinger video on direct negotiation with Iran):

191 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Correction: by “funnier” I mean funny in the sense of an SNL skit… there was NOTHING funny about the Palin interview, THAT was scary.

By DeBúrca obj on 09/28/2008 8:57 am

e-mail alert

SNL does not have a mandate to be “fair”! They have a mandate to be funny and if it’s handed to them on a silver platter like it is with Palin it’s their job to go for it. The idea that they would have to follow up then with some piece ripping Biden just for “equal time” is absolutely wrong.

By DeBúrca obj on 09/28/2008 9:00 am

e-mail alert

DeB, If Biden’s debate is anything like Gore’s “lockbox”, you bet SNL will rip right into it as they did with Gore. Ya know, he is one of the many kings of gaffes in politics. I am trying to remember who said they remembered watching the McCarthy hearings on TV when in reality he was still in diapers.

By Brooklyn Gal on 09/28/2008 10:18 am

e-mail alert

Did you mean that one of the candidates said that? I remember the hearings and I wasn’t in diapers….That witch hunt ravaged a lot of families in our bailiwick…another long story…. Anyway, this morning on Chris Matthews, David Brooks said..paraphrase…that they thought it was the Aurora Borealis over Alaska but it was just Putin flying over…or something like that….Somebody here who is fond of multiple personalities/pseudonyms is missing a really good bet if she doesn’t assume “Aurora Borealis” as her nom de plume……

By georgia fatwood on 09/28/2008 10:45 am

e-mail alert

No, not one of these candidates, but it was said by someone who said they watched the hearings (as it was happening) regardless of what Fluffy or whoever she is this week (or this minute) has to say.

By Brooklyn Gal on 09/28/2008 2:41 pm

e-mail alert

I wasn’t born during the MCarthy hearings but have watched them on TV….there is a lot of things that are replayed on TV that were pre-TV but not pre-film, ie the attack on Pearl Harbour, etc.

By Step away from the BLOG! on 09/28/2008 2:00 pm

e-mail alert

That’s ok… they can make fun of his gaffes, but I’ll betcha they don’t make him look stupid and unprepared.

By DeBúrca obj on 09/28/2008 5:29 pm

e-mail alert

Nay, Palin wins that one hands down.

By Brooklyn Gal on 09/28/2008 5:54 pm

e-mail alert

Wins what? Person least prepared? She can’t even answer a question.

By DeBúrca obj on 09/28/2008 6:08 pm

e-mail alert

Didn’t get your post at first… yes you’re right, she wins that one hands down! lol

By DeBúrca obj on 09/28/2008 6:09 pm

e-mail alert

Yes, the “real thing” was indisputably funny (in a scary way) on it’s own. It was an interview that really left no room for another take-away, and SNL really didn’t have to do much additional writing to put that skit together.

By Susan B on 09/28/2008 2:07 pm

And here´s a link for all of us outside the U.S. who can´t see the hulu-clip: http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=t-5uJSCBZlQ Tina rocks!

By Jane Cougar Melonhat on 09/28/2008 9:20 am

Hi GRP aka JCM….Beautiful morning here at the global coffee klatch….The SNL ladies are a hoot…I know there are many here who won’t laugh, won’t giggle, won’t smile, won’t do it, won’t do it, just wouldn’t be prudent….Tina Fey’s mastery of the accent alone is cause for great rejoicing….If you weren’t born into that speech pattern, just try doing it to see how hard it is….. I saw it last night and will be happy to see it over and over….Especially on another Sunday morning without Tim Russert…. Wonder if Bill Maher is posted on YouTube from Friday night….We need all the grins we can get these days…politically correct or not…. I keep thinking about the “studies” that claim liberal/conservative brains are wired differently….if we can quote scripture to our own purpose, I’m going to make a weird leap and quote “science” to my purpose….So when one of our good buddies on this site sings McCain’s praises, I can just shake my head and say, “Oh, poor thing, she can’t help it, bless her little heart”…..

By georgia fatwood on 09/28/2008 9:41 am

e-mail alert

Hey Georgia. Always enjoy your posts!

By rocky rocky on 09/28/2008 9:56 am

e-mail alert

“If you weren´t born into that speech pattern…” - Georgia, you crack me up. Tell me about it! I watched the original interview in comparison and I didn´t make it past minute three. It made me cringe - so embarrasing. Tina OTOH I could watch for hours. Have a great sunday!

By Jane Cougar Melonhat on 09/28/2008 10:19 am