'SNL' has always brought politics. Here's what works – and why

As a comedy nerd who watched Saturday Night Live Since I stumbled upon reruns of the first episode in the mid-1970s, I'm convinced that SNL has had a profound effect on how America views politics.

But the show has seemingly struggled in recent years, as the absurdity of modern politics has moved toward satire. Former President Donald Trump's references to myths about Haitian immigrants eating pets, his running mate JD Vance's comments about childless women, Vice President Kamala Harris having to defend stories about working at McDonald's as a young woman — it all feels like things that happened years ago instead of real life. sketch.

As a historic election, and as the show begins its landmark 50th season this week, SNL faces an ongoing challenge: to make America laugh — and think differently — about a political world that no one could have predicted when the show debuted back in 1975.

Already, the show is on summer hiatus for three of the most seismic political events of the year: President Joe Biden's terrible debate performance against former President Donald Trump, Biden's eventual decision to step aside for Vice President Kamala Harris, and Harris' dominating debate performance against Trump. They should hit the ground running on Saturday when comic actor Gene Smart hosts the show.

Political influence from the beginning

I decided to bounce some of my smartest theories about SNL's influence over time from Al Franken, who wrote some of the show's earliest political skits and worked there for years as a writer and performer before serving nearly ten years as a U.S. senator from Minnesota. did .

(Franken Resigned from the Senate in 2018 Amid allegations of misconduct from many women who accused him of inappropriately touching or kissing him. He denied some allegations, said he remembered others differently, apologized for making some women feel uncomfortable and He said he regretted resigning from office.)

When it comes to political satire, Franken says he and his fellow SNL writers had a very simple goal: craft stuff that would be funny to people who know a little — and a lot — about politics.

“We weren't trying to be liberal or conservative,” said Franken, who worked on the show at various times from 1975 through its first season in 1995, helping Dan Aykroyd write classic sketches featuring President Richard Nixon in his final days on Days in the Office and Dana Carve as George HW Bush. and Ross Perot are both in contention.

Quoting another legendary SNL writer, Jim Downey, he added, “We just tried to do something … that would reward people for knowing things, but not punish them for not doing … sketches that would be funny to everyone.” , but we were also trying to put in things that really, really, smart people could go, 'Oh I see. They put that in for me.'

SNL shapes our view of politicians through impressions

when Saturday Night Live In impersonating a politician, it manages a unique chemistry – exalting the thing about the person that is so funny that it can define them in the public mind. Often, it's something people already suspect about politicians, crystallizing how the public feels about their policies or candidacies.

When John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008, Tina Fey created a devastating take on the vice-presidential candidate as a superficial dimwit given to folksy sounding word salad in speeches and interviews. Some people even told politicians that “I can see Russia from my house” – one of Faye Palin's jokes. announced during the speech That the real Palin never said.

Was Gerald Ford a clumsy dolt? That may be because of how Chevy Chases Played him In the show's first season, however, Ford was a former champion athlete. Aykroyd handled Nixon and Jimmy Carter – nailing Nixon's scruffy villainy and Carter's broad smile and youthful appeal, despite wearing a mustache that neither politician possessed. Dana Carvey's take on George HW Bush as a stern patrician given to his extensive flaunting of arms led people to confuse Carvey's jokes with what the real-life president said and did.

And there was Darrell Hammond's game against Al Gore During a debate sketch in 2000Gore plays to a shattering effect as an oblivious technocrat obsessed with the word “lockbox.” “I think so [that sketch] elected Bush,” Franken said, describing how Gore's team allegedly used the sketch to coach the vice president on future debate performances.

But sometimes impressions are not enough

Because so much of the show's political insight comes from impressions, it creates problems when SNL doesn't find the right approach. Everyone from Jason Sudeikis to Woody Harrelson and Jim Carrey have played him, but the show hasn't really found a great caricature of Joe Biden.

When I say they had the same problem with Barack Obama, Franken agrees. “[It] It was like trying to climb a smooth, vertical wall,” he says of lighting up Obama. “He really had nothing to hold on to. You can make an impression of his voice… but there [weren’t] There's really been a lot of footwork there.”

Donald Trump's problem may be the opposite: too many legs. Alec Baldwin nails Trump's self-absorption, while James Austin Johnson captures the former president. stream of consciousnessFinding things funnier or more absurd than what he's done in real life remains a challenge, though.

This weekend, though Maya Rudolph looks poised to nail Harris' impressive feat, the question remains: Who will play the key figure opposite Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and his GOP counterpart J.D. Vance — and what will those impressions tell us about politics? ? (I mean a “cold open” focused on preparing for the Walz and Vance vice presidential debates on Saturday.)

Helping audiences process political ideas beyond impressions

There are influential SNL sketches that speak to political ideas beyond stirring up politicians, often in the name of helping viewers process powerful ideas.

one of my favorite A bit from 2016Where Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock sit at an election watch party surrounded by white people. With Trump's election assured, white people are shocked that America has elected a candidate with such overt race and sexuality issues, while Rock and Chappelle – as black men familiar with America's hypocrisies – are not.

When politicians appear as themselves

Especially before the rise of social media, the best way for a politician to try to move beyond how SNL portrayed them was to appear as themselves in sketches on the show. Obama, Palin, Hillary Clinton, even Nikki Haley used this tactic, subtly pushing back against the most offensive parts of the parodies to pop up looking like good sport.

McCain, who called Saturday Night Live Creator and showrunner Lorne Michaels a friendProvided one of the most notable cameos He debuted on the SNL episode in November 2008 just before the presidential election with a look While the senator — flanked by Fey as Palin and his real-life wife Cindy — played fake merchandise on the QVC home shopping channel, When Will Trump Come? Do it for real With his own Bible and luxury watch.

But one of the most infamous political cameos dates back to the show's earliest days, when Ford's press secretary Ron Nessen hosted the show in 1976 and pre-taped his boss saying the show's legendary opening phrase, “Live from New York, it's Saturday night.”

Franken said he asked Nessen to host the show at an event for Ford — later, he said, Michaels reminded him it wasn't his job to hand out invitations to host — but they didn't really go easy on the president for the episode. “We had a lot of fun with them and the Ford family was not appreciative,” adds Franken. “And I think right after that he lost to Reagan in South Carolina…they hated it.”