Our economy is in a downward spiral, and it seems that everything suffers these days. One exception though, is Saturday Night Live, which has seen a huge increase both in demand for ads and in ratings.
Thanks to the political environment, Saturday Night Live ratings have shot up 46 percent over the last year, while shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are only up 16 percent from last year. Viewership for SNL has been so great that NBC has added a Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday to its lineup for two more weeks before the election.
Directly responsible for these ratings booms is the show’s skewering of the election. Perhaps the best thing to happen to SNL in recent years is the gift of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, complete with her Alaskan accent and Tina Fey glasses. Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impression has delivered the most entertaining and memorable skits of the season, including quips such as, “I can see Russia from my house.”
Politics Prof. Paul Freedman, who teaches PLAP 314, “Mass Media and American Politics,” explained some of the parodies’ appeal.
“I think political humor is appealing because it sharpens and concentrates what can be a complex reality into a simple, clever nugget,” he said. The skits “help us to makes sense of the political world, offer a lens through which to view the various political actors, especially during an election campaign. It’s also the case that ... laughter offers a way to reduce our anxiety about the unknown, especially when it comes to politics.”
One frequent criticism of SNL has been that it is leftist in its portrayals of the candidates. Upon watching the skits, however, they provide a fairly even tilt. Though Sarah Palin is probably the most parodied player in the election, it seems that no one has been able to escape the SNL treatment, which has even been extended to moderators Gwen Ifill and Tom Brokaw. On its political leanings, Lorne Michaels, the show’s creator, told MSNBC, “We don’t come at it from a partisan place ... You won’t get laughs unless we got something right.”
This is supported by the fact that even Barack Obama has been parodied in recent sketches. In last Thursday’s parody of the second presidential debate, a heading read, “Terrorist William Ayers is my best friend,” while Obama explained to audience members, “Now, I’m only telling you this because I’m so far ahead in the polls right now it’s not going to matter.”
The question that remains to be answered though is how these skits might affect the election. Clearly, Saturday Night Live is now a part of this election season. It is a frame through which many people view the candidates. First-year College student Alana Dreiman explained how the skits influence her view of the election. “The skits don’t sway my vote, they only further support my reasoning for voting for my preferred candidate,” she said. “I don’t think that they will influence voters who are already decided on their candidates; however, I think that some of the skits may influence undecided voters. Living in a society where SNL, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are the most popular forms of receiving news information, votes could definitely be influenced.”
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