When former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was the surprise pick by Senator John McCain as his running mate in 2008, Tina Fey's life was turned upside down. As executive producer Lorne Michaels put it, there was no question that Tina had to play Sarah on Saturday Night Live, even though she was quite busy with her own show 30 Rock and had left SNL. Being a trouper, Tina accepted the challenge. She didn't play the diva and say "no way," she just put her nose to the grindstone and did both shows. Therefore, it had to be with a real sense of "good deeds are rewarded" that on Saturday night, Tina Fey won an Emmy award for her SNL / Sarah Palin appearances.
Ironically, when Fey won her Emmy -- or the Schmemmys, as Kathy Griffin calls the Creative Emmys which are held before the broadcast Emmys -- she didn't thank Sarah Palin.
When her name was announced as best guest actress in a comedy series, Tina thanked Lorne Michaels and her parents "who are lifelong Republicans, for their patience."
There's no question that Tina earned this honor. Her impersonation of Sarah Palin was spot on, and it went far beyond just looking like her. Fey captured the speech patterns, the inflection and the gestures. During the re-creation of Palin's interview with Katie Couric SNL really nailed Mrs. Palin by using her own words. They didn't write jokes, the just replicated the interview transcript. With Amy Poehler patiently blinking in wonderment like Katie, Tina just played Sarah plain and flummoxed.
The Emmys don't always get it right, but in this instance, they did. Bravo, Tina, but just to prove that you're a class act, send Sarah a thank you note.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-13-2009 @ 9:39PM
C. Hernandez said...
Maybe it's just me, but I think thanking Palin for being such a buffoon would the the exact opposite of class.
Reply
9-13-2009 @ 9:59PM
erica said...
No, no. She needs to thank John McCain for picking that joke of a running mate in the first place.
(Note to self: don't pick a VP candidate that looks just like a famous comedianne.)
Reply
9-13-2009 @ 11:47PM
Laughs said...
"SNL really nailed Mrs. Palin by using her own words. They didn't write jokes, the just replicated the interview transcript."
That's not true at all. Palin never said she could see Russia from her house, among other things.
You shouldn't use daily kos as a reference. It makes you look the hack you say Palin is.
Reply
9-14-2009 @ 1:46AM
Ausin said...
Maybe not "from her house," but definitely "from Russia"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXL86v8NoGk
9-14-2009 @ 1:43AM
No1Dad said...
"That's not true at all. Palin never said she could see Russia from her house, among other things."
You've gotta love the irony of people calling Palin the dummy when it's they believe everything they hear on Saturday Night Live.
disclaimer: I personally hope she decides never to run for elected office ever again.
9-14-2009 @ 2:58AM
Paul said...
Besides, what you quoted was referring to the Katie Couric interview. That sketch didn't mention Russia at all, from my recollection, as that quote (or slight misquote) was from the Charlie Gibson interview linked by Ausin.
9-14-2009 @ 11:36AM
Oneiroi said...
You're right, it's an alteration of what she said. The main point of the comment, is that Alaska is close to Russia. The "from my house" part, I don't think is the crux of the joke (although it makes the line funnier).
The joke is, in my opinion, that her saying her proximity to Russia gave her any foreign policy experience (whether that be from an island or her house).
Here is the quote: "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."
She then declined any specifics of how that proximity changed affected her governorship.