NYT:'SNL' Sends Up VP Debate With Fey, Queen Latifah

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-TV-SNL.html

It's starting to feel like Tina Fey is running for vice president.

Fey again returned to ''Saturday Night Live'' to play Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as the sketch comedy show continued to pull out all the stops in its election year season. Queen Latifah dropped by to portray Thursday's debate moderator, PBS's Gwen Ifill, and cast member Jason Sudeikis stepped into the role of Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden.

The ''SNL'' take on the week's political events has become a dependable part of the news cycle this fall, offering near-immediate parodies of the presidential candidates, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, and their running mates. The show -- particularly the opening sketches -- have resonated with higher ratings for the NBC program and increased traffic on its Web site where early-to-bed viewers catch the talked-about sketches in the days after.

Saturday night's opening sketch of the VP debate appeared likely to garner similar buzz thanks to Fey's popular Palin impression. Winking and giving answers not always directly related to Queen Latifah's questions, Fey's Palin said that if she was elected, her decisions would be guided by considering ''what would a maverick do?''

At the end of the segment, she asked with flute in hand, ''Are we not doing the talent portion?''

[StClone]

1. Huffington Post has Vid up

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

[stopbush]

2. DU has vid on the homepage

[dubeskin]

3. I would take Fey over Palin anyday

At least she'd be funny.

[pokerfan]

4. "I believe marriage is ..."

"... meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers."

"Look, I love John McCain. He is one of my dearest friends. But at the same time, he’s also dangerously unbalanced. He’s bad at his job, and mentally unstable. As my mother would say, God love him, but he’s a raging maniac. And a dear, dear friend."

[monmouth]

5. Queen Latifah did a great job too. I love her....n/t

[bdamomma]

7. Queen Latifah almost looked like Gwen

I bet it had Gwen laughing.

[question everything]

6. SNL needs a black female member

I was wondering who she was... until heard all the reports this morning.

Of course, a white man impersonates Obama and he is pretty good at it but perhaps now would be a time to look for a talented black woman.