On Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 5:25 PM, Kevin M. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm going to make a bold suggestion at this point, though certainly > not a new suggestion coming from me. Perhaps your love of Tina Fey > spilled over onto the those sketches. Perhaps Fey's on-screen > chemistry won over the crowd, despite the fact the material itself was > somewhat stilted. (SNIP)
> Tiny Fey already looked like Palin, and anybody who has seen more than > eight minutes of "Fargo" has done that impression at some point. On > modern SNL, the face and voice combo is half the battle (anyone > familiar with the classic years knows little to no attempt was made to > mimic the person being satirized, i.e. - Dan Akroyd as Tom Snyder or > Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford). > > One of the sketches was an almost word-for-word recitation of Palin's > actual CBS interview... hardly a lot of writing to be done there. The > others weren't awful, but they also weren't any better than the jokes > made on half a dozen other late night shows. > > So, that's my theory, that the writing of the Fey sketches was no > better than any typical SNL segment, but Fey fans are more willing to > forgive a certain level of pablum to see their girl on stage. Only a neandertal would not at least consider the possibility that you are correct.....OK - I considered it, and you are wrong. I do love me some Tina Fey, no doubt about that (a deep and pure love that preceded her work on 30 Rock). But I have also been able to be critical of her work on SNL. Even Ted Williams made more outs than hits in his career, and the same is true of even the best comedians. Indeed, precisely because she looked so much like her I anticipated Fey's Palin skits to be pedestrian. But they were not. Her work here is not just impersonation - she has consistently identified and put the spotlight on a core element of Palin and her role in this moment of political/pop (and never have the two been more entwined before) culture. Much of one of the skits was word for word from the Katie interview - but of course that was the comment being made. I mentioned earlier that I thought her take on the "say it ain't so Joe" line that you had predicted in almost real time she would use in her skit was real art. She could have just impersonated Palin giving that line, or had her flub the line, or had her not understand the origin of the line, or any number of other obvious approaches that no doubt would have gotten a line. instead she merely alluded to the line, tying it in with the other iconic moment from that debate (Can I call you Joe?). I am not saying it was Shakespeare, but i do think it shows a subtly and intelligence that transcends most of what we see from SNL - particularly in its mostly ham fisted attempts at political satire over the years. That said, I think Fey would be well served to keep any future Palin appearances few and far between. I know SNL likes to bring the real person into contact with the impersonator, but they have done that enough that it has lost its shock value, and it is in danger of being lame. If Palin really wants on the show, they should have her appear as Fey in the beginning of Weekend Update, telling a few stridently liberal feminist jokes. They wouldn't even need Fey to be there, it would be cute, humanize her while still getting in a few digs at the elite, and then they could move on --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Like TV only smarter. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
