Politics | 10/06/2008 12:00 am

Tina Fey's Palin Boosts 'Saturday Night Live' Ratings (Video)

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

NBC

Sarah Palin is giving "Saturday Night Live" quite a boost in the ratings.

The fake Sarah Palin, that is.

Helped by the huge interest in last Thursday’s vice-presidential debate between the Alaska governor and Sen. Joe Biden, Barack Obama’s running mate, MSNBC.com reports that NBC’s "SNL" rating jumped 23 percent over the last week as former head writer and current "30 Rock" star Tina Fey again portrayed John McCain’s running mate to a T.

Saturday’s show was hosted by actress Anne Hathaway, but the main event was Fey once again, with guest star Queen Latifah playing debate moderator Gwen Ifill of PBS. The role of Biden was played by Jason Sudeikis of "SNL." The comedians also took aim at backhanded compliments of McCain, his frequent smiling and his hair.

In "SNL’s" debate spoof, both candidates, as well as Ifill, came in to take part in the parody. Queen Latifah’s Ifill repeatedly hawked her upcoming book on politics and race. The moderator came under heavy criticism going into the debate, with some concerned as to whether she would remain impartial, given that the subject of her book is Obama.

Biden, played by Jason Sudeikis, made repeated references to his hardscrabble Scranton, PA, roots, as well as his supposed fondness for McCain.

Fey’s skit satirized Palin’s accent (dropping of the letter "g" at the end of words), her repeated use of the word "maverick" to describe both herself and McCain (which is what she did, in reality, numerous times in her debate against Biden) and her beauty-pageant past.

Watch the video below.

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

‘Sarah Palin’ Takes to the Streets of New York

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

SNL has always been a hoot when it comes to political spoofs and with this Palin story line; they have a virtual endless pool of gaffs to draw material from. I think they are hilarious and Tina Fey is awesome as Palin. As someone that comes from the Midwest, I am surrounded by people who speak as she does in terms of “ya know…and dem de’re people eh’….gonna…and you betcha!” It drives me crazy! But it makes for excellent comedy for shows like SNL.

By Belinda Joy on 10/06/2008 9:29 am

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I love these sketches ––Tina Fey is a better Sarah Palin than Sarah Palin. It’s an amazing performance. The accent is one I heard living as I did in Wisconsin years ago. Belinda––you live in Milwaukee, don’t you? But it’s closer to a Minnesota accent (think Fargo) which makes sense since the Swedes settled in both Minnesota and Alaska.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 10/06/2008 10:42 am

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This is slightly off topic, but as a non-native speaker I was wondering about this. I noticed her dropping her g´s alright, but I also noticed her dropping her t´s in words like “impacts” or “facts” making them sound like “impacs” and “facs”. Is it just me? Do I need to get my ears checked?

By Jane Cougar Melonhat on 10/06/2008 12:38 pm

HI THERE…..YOU”RE RIGHT ABOUT THE ‘FACS’ ETC…Oh excuse me, I didn’t have to shout…No, you’re not hard of hearing….but if you’d just take that goofy melon off your head you might hear a little better! Love from your godmother….

By georgia fatwood on 10/06/2008 5:14 pm

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Take off my melonhat?! You betcha, I won´t! *wink*

By Jane Cougar Melonhat on 10/06/2008 11:43 pm

Tina Fey nailed it. What a great coincidence that she looks so much like Sarah Palin! Misty, Founder My Inspiration Lounge www.myinspirationlounge.com Connecting women to the best content on the web without all the searching!

By Misty Gibbs on 10/06/2008 11:09 am

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Oh, Misty, no, dear. Gov. Palin is a pale imitation of Tina Fey. That’s who she’s trying to look like.

By Mugsy Peabody on 10/06/2008 1:47 pm

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Cracks me up at the end when she pops open the beer can.

By Step away from the BLOG! on 10/06/2008 11:37 am

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I think SNL are looking at the ratings and Tina’s great performance and may want McCain to win!! Taking out the flute cracked me up since that’s what Palin did in the talent section of those beauty pageants. But the line from Tina was that” a marriage should be between 2 unwilling teenagers” was the best!!

By Brooklyn Gal on 10/06/2008 11:46 am

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Carol- You said it all! I missed this bit so I was thrilled to see it on wow. Tina Fey has the Palin character down…she’s perfect!

By Josie Sullivan on 10/06/2008 12:12 pm

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This election is a gift from heaven for SNL.

By Susan B on 10/06/2008 11:55 am

Tina Fey has to be one of the most talented women around. She’s not only writing and acting in her own comedy series, she has time to stop in and do the funniest bits on SNL this year. There were two or three times I just laughed out loud — the flute, popping open the beer can. Priceless.

By Barbara on 10/06/2008 12:02 pm

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If Tina Fey doesn’t get an Emmy for this I will be surprised. She just nailed the character to a T!! I laughed so hard, I scared the cat! And what is makes this so interesting is that the same people who thought SNL’s portrayal of Hillary Clinton was so funny now thinks it is wrong of SNL to make fun of their girl Sarah!

By Rita T on 10/06/2008 2:05 pm

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This is hilarious! I have to admit it feels good to laugh at such a scary and serious situation.

By Susan Gabriel on 10/06/2008 2:37 pm

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It is so funny to watch. Bless Sarah’s little six pack heart! (wink) SNL takes almost word for word at what is actually being said. We all laugh and laugh hard! I don’t know how anyone out there could still take Sarah seriously as a vice president

By Joan Brown on 10/06/2008 3:12 pm