The other night, when Bill Clinton went on Late Show with David Letterman to shill his heavy book, Gothamist was thinking about rumors that Clinton was weighing an offer to host Saturday Night Live. While Darrell Hammond's Clinton impression was great, the memory of Phil Hartman, playing a McDonald's eating, smooth talking Secret Service nightmare is burned in our memory. Whether it's stuffing a Sausage McMuffin in his mouth and almost choking (luckily Rob Schneider was on hand to give him some soda) or explaining foreign situations with french fries, Hartman and that season's writers defined Clinton. You can catch Hartman's performance on SNL reruns, or on the SNL: Best of Phil Hartman DVD. And in another SNL presidential spoofing vein, check out White House West where Will Ferrell plays a Crawford-enjoying Dubya.
There's a video compilation of SNL's Clinton-Lewinsky scandal sketches, with Hammond as Clinton, Molly Shannon as Monica, Ana Gasteyer as Hillary, and in a brilliant stroke of casting, John Goodman as Linda Tripp. Other SNL takes on presidental types (and wannabes): Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford, Dana Carvey as George Bush, Darrell Hammond as Al Gore, Norm MacDonald as Bob Dole, and Dan Ackroyd as Nixon and Jimmy Carter, not to mention The X-Presidents. Also, there's the book Live From New York, the extremely comprehensive (just no Eddie Murphy) look at SNL.
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The COPS sketch where the police arrived to find Bill bruised in the kitchen with an abusive Hillary hiding in the closet was classic. Hartman was great in the sketch. I can't stand Darrell Hammond though. It seems like he gets the voice down and memorizes two-three key gestures. He then struggles to read the prompter, butchers the timing and when he remembers throws in one of the gestures. Maybe his sketches are thrown in last-minute to be more timely, but his stuff always makes me cringe....
Phil Hartman's death was a tragedy that I still mourn to this day.
Well Hartman as Clinton had to eat the food, because of the Warlords... 'member? *lol*
Going on SNL would be a bad thing for Clinton's presidential legacy, let me tell you, although you can almost feel the lust coming off off the former band nerd.
It's one thing to do a five minute skit, which is fine, or Nixon doing a "sock it to me," but an ex-President, who should be on DL diplomatic missions to Pakistan, or Egypt, spending his "Out of the Arena" years on 30 Rock doing sketch comedy is wholly unbecoming of a statesman.
he's just a cave-man lawyer.
clinton's still as charming as ever. i saw him outside of tavern on the green yesterday evening. he answered questions for thirty minutes. everyone expected him to leave after being peppered by a few question, but he just stayed for more and more. it's obvious that he loves the attention, and what better way to satiate his public cravings than by hosting snl.
Waiting until after the election would be a good idea. No need for Clinton to either embarrass the Democrats and Kerry or upstage Kerry. There was that concern with his book over the last month or so and it's a valid point for him to consider.
Does anyone know of a link to a video stream of the Clinton/Letterman interview?
Putting Clinton front and center does Kerry a favor. People may have forgotten how nice it was to have a President who had a brain and could think on his feet.
Every time I see King George, he's trapped behind a podium reading prepared speeches while attendees have been put through background checks and made to sign loyalty oaths just to make sure they won't throw him off-script by shouting or holding a sign. Check out this photo from yesterday for the ULTIMATE example.
This all pales next to Kerry, who walks around the stage, mic in hand, riffing on whatever is in the news that day.
Bill Clinton only serves to remind us of what we no longer have and desperately need.
just testing plz dont mind
just testing plz dont mind