My email to Saturday Night Live

[LisaM]

They won't respond - they never do - but why in the heck won't they replay their piece with W. fiddling while DC burns?

8/31/2004


I noticed that you allowed the RNC to "steal" your theme and opening for their convention last night.

While I appreciate that they are in New York and it is reasonable for this to happen, it did bring to mind a question that has been bothering me for some time. Before the final outcome of the 2000 'selection', you ran a piece where Will Ferrell, playing G.W. Bush, was sitting around Washington D.C. while the whole place lapsed into chaos while the city was bombed.

As you know, this prediction more or less came true. Yet you have never replayed this piece since September 11th. Why not? You've mocked other death and other criminals (the Unabomber comes to mind, for one, Franco, a ruthless dictator for another) - but you seem afraid to show this piece again. You'll show Tina Fey's obsession with throwing up, blood, and other bodily fluids over and over, skits I find far more offensive, but you will not show your prescient piece on George W. Bush. Now, you allow the Republicans to use your theme to run their sham of a convention.

I think this tells me all I need to know about the direction of your show. I think it's unfair, and I wish you would show that piece on Bush again. Your viewers need to be reminded that he was asleep at the switch on September 11th. Do you have the guts to show it?

Thank you for taking my comments.

[pagerbear]

1. Well done!

[bobroberts]

2. FWIW

I thouht the music was very similar, but not identical..and not sure how you could copyright the part going in and out of cabs

on edit: basically, I doubt SNL could have prevented it

[LisaM]

3. Well, I put "steal" in quotes

but they definitely took the look and feel and I am presuming that they got permission from GE.