Saturday Night Live hopes to be politically incorrect - Tina Fey to play Sarah Palin?
Posted on September 12th, 2008 by Hot Momma
Rap superstar Lil Wayne, swimmer/host Michael Phelps and SNL star Amy Poehler will kickoff the new season of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live’s “strategery” for the new season isn’t surprising considering the timing of the presidential elections. BC’s late-night comedy sketch show launches its 34th year Saturday (11:30 ET/PT), capitalizing on what it often does best: satirizing and parodying politicians.
The 2008 presidential race “is the story everyone’s following, and our best kind of moments are when the whole country is paying attention,” says executive producer Lorne Michaels, who has guided the tomfoolery from Chevy Chase’s pratfalls as a clumsy Gerald Ford to Will Ferrell’s parody of a syntax-challenged George W. Bush.
SNL’s writers and cast, who hosted and lampooned Barack Obama, John McCain and Hillary Clinton last season, plan a fall campaign almost as ambitious as the candidates. Before the Nov. 4 election, NBC will air seven fresh SNL shows, three live Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday specials and an election-eve special. “If it were up to us, there’d be an election every year,” says head writer and Weekend Update co-anchor Seth Meyers. Fred Armisen’s Barack Obama remains a work in progress although Amy Poehler’s Hillary Clinton was a hit.
Democratic contender Barack Obama is expected to make an appearance, perhaps on the premiere show this weekend.
McCain, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin could also appear in upcoming shows. “Hopefully, I’d like to get all of them,” says Michaels. Michaels also confirmed that Tina Fey as Sarah Palin could still happen.
In a conference call yesterday promoting tomorrow’s 34th-season opener, Michaels said that talks about a Fey return to “SNL” - if only for a cameo - are “ongoing.” But he also indicated that the gig could still go to Casey Wilson, a relative newcomer.
Fey left the show two years ago, while Wilson joined this year. And who might play Michelle Obama? Said Michaels, “My hope was that I’d get Maya Rudolph to do that … ” (She left last year.) Meanwhile, in the same conference call, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps said he’s “getting really really excited” about his “SNL” debut as guest host, calling it “a completely new experience but something that’s gonna be pretty fun.”
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