In 2008, Saturday Night Live pulled out all the stops with their political parodies. From the mediocrity of some of their past seasons, they rose to the occasion this year. Here is a list of the five best Saturday Night Live sketches of 2008.
1) Ever since John McCain announced that Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin would be his running mate, SNL fans hoped that Tina Fey would portray the governor because of their striking resemblance. She did not disappoint. The SNL season premiere on September 13, 2008 featured a parody of a fake Sarah Palin/Hillary Clinton press conference. Tina Fey gave an impeccable impersonation Sarah Palin, and Amy Poehler portrayed Hillary Clinton. This was the best sketch because it fulfilled the public’s anticipation of the return of Tina Fey. Fey was able to pick up the governor’s distinctive Alaskan accent. The chemistry between the two actresses is evident in this skit, making it one of the best of the year.
2) On September 27, 2008, Fey reprised her role as Sarah Palin. In this sketch, she and Poehler teamed up again. This time Poehler, as Katie Couric, and Fey depicted an interview where Palin was stumbled on a number of questions. It was a classic because again Fey picked up all the nuances of Palin, and Poehler effortlessly portrayed Couric’s interview style. Fey gave the exact answer that Palin gave to one of the questions during the interview.
3) On October 4, 2008, again Fey impersonated Sarah Palin. This time she and Jason Sudeikis as Joe Biden performed a skit parodying the vice presidential debate that took place during the week. Queen Latifah made a guest appearance as the debate’s moderator Gwen Ifill. Besides Fey’s dead on impersonation, the subtle facial expressions by Queen Latifah made this skit funny.
4) As part of a long-standing SNL tradition, politicians often appear as themselves on the show to present themselves as assessable individuals. After Tina Fey’s dead on impersonations of Sarah Palin, many wondered if the Alaskan governor would make an appearance on the show. On October 18, 2008, she appeared on the show. The two women intercepted one another in the opening show’s opener. However, the sketch that stood out in this episode was Weekend Update. Sarah Palin appeared with Amy Poehler. Supposedly, the governor was supposed to do a rap; however, she refused to do so. Instead, Poehler, who was due to have her baby at any moment, performed the rap that talked about Alaska and other campaign topics.
5) Finally, the November 1, 2008 opening sketch featured the real John McCain and Fey as his running mate. McCain poked fun at himself and the fact that Barack Obama was able to raise more money for airtime than him. They formatted the skit as if they were selling their campaign on QVC. McCain’s wife Cindy appeared with her husband, and it made fun of continued speculation that Palin would be running in 2012.
