saturday night lies
TRANSCRIPT
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8/13/2019 Saturday Night Lies
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52 TOWNHALLJanuary 2014
October, shortly after her
controversial MTV Video
Music Awards act, Miley
Cyrus hosted an episode of
Saturday Night Live. She gave audiences another R-rated per-
formance by donning a brown wig to cover her blond Mohawk and
grinding to the song, We Did Stopa spoof of her summer hit,
We Cant Stop.
Who was Cyrus supposed to be?
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), partying with a flamboyant
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), portrayed by cast member
Taran Killam. Bachmann (Cyrus) and Boehner (Killiam) were
celebrating the successful shutdown of the federal government,
thus proving they could do whatever they want.
Ha.
Politically themed duds like these suggest that SNLs
producers may have an agenda other than laughs and ratings.
Certainly the show has mocked members of both political
parties in the past, but history suggests the jokes have more
often than not been one sided. The parodies may seem like
theyre all in good fun, but survey experts, political science
professors and students make a strong case that SNL can have
a noticeable impact at the polls.
THE SNL EFFECT
Kevin Daley, a junior at Canisius College who did undergraduate
work on humor in politics, sees an inextricable link between
comedy and Capitol Hill.Comedic impressions can have the multi-faceted effect of
entrenching ideological voters while persuading undecidedsa
rare feat in American politics, Daley says.
His theory is corroborated by some empirical evidence.
Mike Dabadie, co-founder of Heart + Mind Strategies, a
communications strategy consultancy, helps conduct a post-
election survey each presidential election cycle to gauge the
scope of what he and his team refers to as The SNL Effect. In
2008, they surveyed 1,049 voters to determine if SNLs political
satires had any influence on November 4.
There was an absolute impact, Dabadie told Townhall.
There was an extremely high viewership [of SNL] in 2008.
Sixty-seven percent said theyd seen the skits.So, how exactly did the votes pan out?
SNL in 2008 had a huge advantage for Obama, Dabadie
explained. He had a 20 point advantage over McCain of those
who saw SNL 59 percent of people who saw SNL voted for
Obama, 40 percent for McCain.
These numbers may reflect that those who watch SNL are
already likely to vote Democrat, but as Daley suggested, the
show has the potential to sway independents as well. The
positive impact SNL had on Obamas 2008 campaign can
perhaps be explained by the comedic efforts of one woman
Tina Fey.
THE FEY EFFECT
The high viewership and political advantage for Obama,
Dabadie inferred, was likely due to former SNL writer and cast
member Tina Feys wildly popular impersonation of Sarah Palin.
There was a media intensity around Palin and Feys
characterthere was such a likeness and a connection.
Fey introduced her Palin impression to SNL fans onSeptember 13, 2008 for the shows 34th season premiere. Her
faux press conference with fellow SNL alum Amy Poehler as
Hillary Clinton was then played on straight news shows for
months to come.
In her best Alaskan accent, Fey spewed a number of airheaded
statements and appeared more interested in winking at the
camera than talking public policy. Feys ditsiest line, which
Palin never actually said in real life, also became her characters
most memorable moment, I can see Russia from my house.
After NBC aired the skit, people started believing the
Russia line belonged to Palin and not her TV doppelganger.
TOP:This Oct. 5, 2013 photo released by NBC shows guest host MileyCyrus, lef, and Kenan Thompson in a scene from the late-night comedyseries Saturday Night Live, in New York. (AP/NBC, Dana Edelson)
BOTTOM:Actress Tina Fey, lef, plays Gov. Sarah Palin, and actress AmyPoehler plays Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday Night Live inNew York. Online viral videos have become a staple of American politics.(AP/NBCU Photo Bank, Dana Edelson)
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To some degree, therefore, the politician became more famous
for her SNL characters fictional taglines than any of her actual
policy stances or accomplishments a confusion which seemed
to take its toll come Election Day.
Sixteen percent said it did [impact their vote], Dabadie
explained. Ten percent say it negatively impacted their view of
the McCain/Palin ticket.
Daley explained SNLs reach in 2008, Feys oft-mentioned
Palin performances had the dual effect of confirming left wing
stereotypes about conservatives while raising legitimate concerns
about Palins fitness for office among independent voters.
And SNL continued to attack Palin after Obama was elected.
In 2012, the show aired a fake movie trailer called Palin 2012,
that portrayed an apocalyptic world in which Sarah Palin was
president, warning viewers, Planet Earth is going rogue. Did
SNL make a Lieberman 2004 or an Edwards 2008? horror
film? Nope.
SURPRISING CONFESSIONS
SNL has mocked its share of Democratic politicians too. Cast
member Jay Pharoah, for instance, recently parodied President
Obama as a clueless bystander unaware of his own health care
law. However, such hits on Democrats are the exception, not
the rule.
Former SNL prime time player Chevy Chase has even
admitted that harming Republicans drove his bumbling
portrayal of President Gerald Ford. Ford, who played linebacker
for the University of Michigan, was among the fittest presidents
the United States has ever had. But Chase somehow managed
to make Americans believe Ford used his ties as Kleenexes,
walked into walls, and fell off ladders. He turned one of our
most athletic presidents ever into a guy who couldnt walk and
chew gum, Dr. Kevin Hardwick, a political science professor at
Canisius College, told Townhall.
In the opening skit of one particular episode, Ford (Chase),clumsily fell down a whole flight of stairs before announcing,
Live from New Yorkits Saturday Night! Apparently Chase
didnt mind almost giving himself concussions in his attempt
to paint Ford as daft.
Days before the 2008 presidential election, Chase gave a
surprising and brutally honest interview with CNNs Alina
Cho. Reporting on the impact SNL has had on politics since
the 1970s, Cho introduced Chase by stating, Some believe his
portrayal of Gerald Ford as a bumbling buffoon cost Ford the
election in 1976. The journalist urged her guest to provide
insight on this point and this fascinating exchange ensued.
Cho:You mean to tell me in the back of your mind you were
thinking, Hey, I want Carter ...Chase:Oh, yeah.
Cho:And Im going to make him look bad.
Chase: Oh yeah. What do you think theyre doing now,
you think theyre just doing this because Sarahs funny? No, I
think that the show is very much more Democratic and liberal-
oriented, that they are obviously more for Barack Obama.
Chase is not the only SNL cast member to admit that politics
trumps humor at SNL.
Like Chase, Will Ferrell also pleased viewers with a wildly
popular political impression that he eventually admitted was
influenced by political ideology. As George W. Bush. Ferrell
HEART
+ MINDSTRATEGIES(1,049 people surveyed)
76 percent of those surveyed said theywatched SNL during the 2008 election.Of those who saw Tina Feys Palin skits, 15percent say it negatively impacted their viewof the McCain/Palin ticket. 10 percent say SNLimpacted their vote in 2008.
FREQUENT SOURCES OF ELECTION
NEWS OF MILLENNIALS, PEOPLE
AGED 16-32:
68% Network News
58% Online Aggregator (Yahoo!, Google) 56% Cable News
52% Facebook or Twitter
50% Political Satire Shows
(The Daily Show, The Colbert Report,
Saturday Night Live)
50% News Website
44% Newspaper
37% Late Night Talk
(The Tonight Show, Late Night)
Source: Comedy Central/TRU Insight survey (online 25 minute
survey of 1,020 Millennials).
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constantly made the 43rd president sound unintelligent by
making up words such as strategerie and confusing common
phrases: Im gonna be around for a long time, on the job,
making the tough decisions 24/7thats 24 hours a week,seven months a year.
Ferrell would later tell the A.V. Club in an exclusive interview,
I had a couple of opportunities to go and meet him [Bush],
and I declined, partly out of comedic purposes, because when
I was on the show [Saturday Night Live] at the time, it didnt
make sense to really meet the people that you play, for fear of
them influencing you. And then the other side of it is, from a
political standpoint, I dont want to meet that guy.
SNL producer Lorne Michaels, however, regardless of his
former employees declarations, denied any such bias on the
show. He told Cho, Were not partisan. And were not putting
on anything that we dont believe is funny.Whether SNLs effects on voters are intentional or uninten-
tional, theres no doubting the show has the unique opportunity
to spread a message far and wide. As Chase told CNN, When
you have that kind of a venue and power where you can reach so
many millions of people and youve become a show that people
watch, you know, you can affect a lot of people, and humor does
it beautifully, because humor is perspective and has a way of
making judgment calls.
(AP/Charles Sykes)
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As even cast members admit, SNLs political agenda, coupled
with the millions of viewers in their hands in each Saturday,
proves to be a dangerous combination.
THE 2012 ELECTION
Readers increasingly alarmed by SNLs political influence may
find some temporary solace knowing it declined in 2012, along
with the shows viewership. Obamas advantage with those who
had seen the election-related parodies dropped from 20 points
to 12, according to Dabadie. This can be attributed, in part, tothe fact that the cast had no characters as strong as Chases
Ford or Feys Palin.
That doesnt mean the production team and cast didnt
work with who they had, however. Jason Sudeikis, portraying
Republican candidate Mitt Romney, cast the former
Massachusetts governor as an out of touch politician who
couldnt relate to middle class Americans because of his wealth.
He first cemented this characterization during SNLs 38th
season premiere.
Pharoah, playing Obama, opened the season by stating his
campaign had a secret weapon: Mitt Romney. The camera
then panned to Romney (Sudeikis),
holding a town hall with voters, I
understand the hardships facing
ordinary Americans. For example,
this summer, one of my horses
failed to medal at the Olympics.
Pharoah then deadpanned, Stick
with whats barely been workin, or
take your chances with that.
SNLs portrayal of Romney as
an out-of-touch politician reflected
the real life efforts of the Obama
campaign. In September of 2012,
for instance, the presidents team
released a damning ad called,
Heavy Load, which accused
Romney of turning a blind eye to
the struggles of the middle class,
suggesting he was only interested in
catering to the elite.
MILLENNIALS AND COMEDY
SNLs political bent is particularly
troubling considering where young
voters get their news.
A research study that Com-
edy Central conducted with
TRU Insights and Insight Re-
search, released less than three
weeks before Election Day 2012,
showed that half of Millennials
get their election news updates
from political satire shows such
as Comedy Central late-night talk
programs or Saturday Night Live.Despite these numbers, some
Millennials insist they are not so
persuaded by SNL when deciding
who gets their vote.
I feel like their prime has passed a while ago, Alexander
Morales, a Guilford College student told Townhall. During
the past election, I did find some of their impressions amusing,
although completely ineffective in changing my vote if that
was the intent of their sketches. I really think that SNL is no
longer the trendsetter for political satire anymore. I think that
shows like the Daily Show and Colbert Report are contenders
for that spot.
SNL may be losing political clout with some of its viewers,but Dabadie still foresees the show having an impact in 2016.
For two election cycles now, at a minimum at least 15 percent
of voters polled said SNL impacted their votes.
As long as SNL is Live from New York!, it will bring Capitol
Hill to viewers living rooms whether politicians like it or not
an unnerving reality for conservatives considering the show
has a history of saving its most memorable punch lines and
outrageous impressions for the GOP.
Cortney OBrien is a Web Editor for Townhall.com.
I THINK THAT THESHOW IS VERY MUCHMORE DEMOCRATIC ANDLIBERAL-ORIENTED,THAT THEY AREOBVIOUSLY MORE FORBARACK OBAMA.
I THINK THAT THESHOW IS VERY MUCHMORE DEMOCRATIC ANDLIBERAL-ORIENTED,THAT THEY AREOBVIOUSLY MORE FORBARACK OBAMA.
(AP/NBC, Dana Edelson)
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